Annie Lee (1935-2014)
2001
acrylic on canvas
48 x 26 inches
signed
Commissioned for Sears, Roebuck, and Co., in celebration of Black History Month, and included in the 2001 Black History commemorative calendar.
In 2022, Grammy winning singer, Lizzo, paid tribute to Chicago artist Annie Lee during a performance on Saturday Night Live. The scene opened on the blue bedroom from the iconic painting, Blue Monday. Lizzo, dressed in a white nightgown and exhausted, rises and sings her hit, Break Up Twice, bringing life to the painting. Viewers familiar with Black art recognized the scene immediately.
Much like her contemporary Varnette Honeywood (1950-2020), Annie Lee is well-known for her depictions of African-American life which have been featured in television shows such as The Cosby Show and A Different World. Born in Gadsden, Alabama and raised on Chicago’s South Side, Ms. Lee did not begin to paint professionally until the age of 40. She attended Wendell Phillips High School and received a scholarship to Northwestern University, but declined to marry and raise her family.
After a series of personal tragedies, Ms. Lee took time to receive art instruction at Loop Junior College, Mundelein College, and the American Academy of Art. For an additional eight years, she studied for her Master’s degree at Loyola University at night, while working days as a chief clerk for the Northwestern Railroad. It was this job that was the inspiration for Blue Monday, which was a self-portrait. Although her figures are painted without facial features, these figures retain the vibrant expressive emotion of their personalities. By painting without faces, Annie allows the viewer to project themselves or people that they know into the painting. At age 50, Lee held her first gallery show and prints were made of four of her original paintings. Eventually, she opened Annie Lee and Friends Gallery in Glenwood, IL. In 1997, Sandy USA became the exclusive licensee of resin figurines based on her paintings. Marketed under the name Sass n’ Class, these figurines provided a three dimensional aspect to her work. She also created high fashion dolls, decorative housewares, and kitchen tiles.
“I try to make the movement of the body express the emotion. And people can use their imaginations.”
Ms. Lee was an avid supporter of the Tom Joyner Foundation. The Tom Joyner Foundation was founded in 1998 by the former nationally syndicated radio personality. The mission of the Foundation is to support historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) with scholarships, endowments and capacity-building enhancements. Lee donated time and her artwork to support this cause. The foundation created the Annie Lee Memorial Arts Scholarship after her death.
“Annie Lee has established herself internationally not only as an artist, but a respected and business savvy entrepreneur. Her noted ability to convey feelings through the faceless subjects of her paintings has won her a place in history as one of the icons of African American art. Annie is as iconic to the world of African American art as Michael Jordan is to basketball. She has rightfully earned her place among the great artists of our race. Her success is not only based on her skill as a painter, but on her ability to touch us at our core. Her art reflects on our history, our families, our struggles, our joy, our strengths, our weaknesses, our pride, our idiosyncrasies and on the faith that sustains us The Joyner Foundation emphasized, she is “OUR” Annie Lee.”
The Annie F. Lee Art Foundation was founded in 2015, by Lee’s grandson, Abe Ilo, Sr., president/co-founder of ALP - Annie Lee Presents. It’s mission is to continue the legacy and vision of renowned artist, Annie F. Lee, showcasing her life story and promoting Black excellence as it is presented in her artwork.
Selected group exhibitions include:
Divining: Sapphire and Crystal; Artemisia Gallery, Chicago, IL; (1992)
Art for the Soul: Annie Lee and J. Anthony Brown; International Visions Gallery, Washington D.C. (2005)
TEN; International Visions Gallery, Washington D.C. (2007)
Black Artists: Image Makers and Historians; Museum for East Texas Culture, Palestine, TX. (2010)
Exhale: Women Breathing Life Through Art; Cleveland Public Library, OH. (2012)