William Edmondson, born in 1874, left the cornfields of Tennessee for a better job in Nashville, first working in railroad stores and then as a custodian in one of the city’s hospitals. In 1931, around the time the hospital closed, he had a vision: it told him to become a sculptor. In 1932, Edmondson began carving gravestones for the city’s black cemetery. By 1937, he had a portfolio of freestanding sculptures and was the first Black American artist to have a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. It’s been more than 80 years since that show, and the Barnes Foundation—with 60-plus works on view—is now positioning Edmondson’s art in proper historical context. The exhibition also asks hard questions about the “relationship between Black cultural production and the American museum.” —Clara Molot