Selections from the Collection of Jonathan Clark and Lane Igoudin, Ph.D.
Collectors love collectors (and not just themselves). When an artwork is brought to the market from an established collection, there is a level of interest and excitement that is beyond the individual painting or sculpture. Of course, the documented provenance is always a good thing, because it eases the mind about the source of the artwork, but it goes beyond that: people are curious about what other collectors chose to own and hang in their homes. It comes with a stamp of approval. For young collectors especially, that’s not a bad way to think: these guys know what they are doing and they chose this. Acquiring works from other collectors combines the experience and know-how of both parties to help make the decision.
BLACK ART AUCTION is honored to represent a selection of artwork from the collection of Jonathan Clark and Lane Igoudin, Ph.D. in the May 18th auction. The couple has collected art with an emphasis on art by African Americans for decades in their home in Los Angeles, California.
Jonathan grew up in a large and traditional African American family in rural California, so African American culture has always been present in their home - from the music to the books to the food that Jonathan had carried over from his parents, who were born in the Deep South.
They learned to appreciate many Black artists and artistic schools that have flourished around the country, and their tremendous creative contribution to the art world. They are at a point in their lives when downsizing a bit seems like a reasonable concept---albeit, that is always tough for true collectors—but they are glad to know that others will enjoy some of the pieces from the collection as much as they have.
In addition to the paintings included in this auction, the couple has enjoyed works in their home by Charles McGee, Mavis Pusey, Sam Gilliam, Delilah Pierce, Augustin Cardenas, Daniel LaRue Johnson, Richmond Barthe, Richard Dempsey, Richard Watson, Romare Bearden, Richard Yarde, Lois Mailou Jones, Fred Jones, Lester Johnson, Camille Billops, Robert Reid, Sam Middleton, Randell Henry, Vincent Smith, Richard Mayhew, Ernest Crichlow, and many others.
Arvie Smith (b. 1938)
“I am an artist and educator. My paintings have always been based on the Black man’s state of mind, ever-evolving in the layers of complex history and the day’s political, social, and cultural displays. I confront omissions and violations in American history, and I am fascinated by the commonplace allegiance to the denial of truths running through the hall of our government.”
Lot 25, HOO DOO VOO DOO CRAZY QUILT, 2004; oil on canvas, 68 x 61-1/2 inches
signed and dated verso. Estimate: $10,000-20,000
Smith studied at the Hoffberger School of Painting (Maryland Institute College of Art), Pacific Northwest College of Art (Portland), and the Studio Art Centers International (Italy). His work was included in The Afro-futurist Manifesto: Blackness Reimagined, Venice Biennale Personal Structures: Time, Space, Existence (2022); Literary Muse, UTA Artist Space (Los Angeles); Reclaiming Racist Stereotypes, Reginald F. Lewis Museum; Constructing Identity (2017), Petrucci Family Foundation Collection; Hallie Ford Museum of Art (2022); APEX, Portland Art Museum (2017). He is represented in the collections of Delaware Art Museum, David Driskell Center, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Portland Art Museum.
From Monique Meloche Gallery:
Arvie Smith transforms the history of oppressed and stereotyped segments of the American experience into lyrical two-dimensional master works. His paintings use common psychological images to reveal deep sympathy for the dispossessed and marginalized members of society in an unrelenting search for beauty, meaning, and equality.
Ulysses Marshall (b. 1946)
“My artwork is a gift to me from my Grandmom. Through her stories, as she worked on her patchwork quilts, she instilled in me my goal as an artist: to use these stories, these tales, to share the plight, pride, dignity, and courage of a people whose lives have been bent but not broken. ”
From Galerie Myrtis: Marshall studied at Albany State University and the Maryland Institute College of Art. Marshall's paintings have been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions including The Corcoran Gallery of Art; National Vietnam Veterans Museum; Woodmere Art Museum; John Heinz History Museum; Williams College; DeMenil Art Gallery; and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum. He works as a painter, collagist, and paper-doll maker.
Lot 41, Girl with an African Bird, n.d.; oil and mixed media on canvas, 39 x 29 inches
signed. Estimate: $6,000-8,000.
James Hiram Malone (1930-2011)
Lot 57, Untitled, People in the Street, n.d.; oil on canvas, 23 x 44 inches, signed. Estimate: $4,000-6,000.
James was born on March 24, 1930 in Winterville, Georgia to Ralph and Sarah Lena Echols Malone. In 1932, the family to Atlanta’s Buttermilk Bottom with hopes of attaining a better life. With encouragement from his mother and an elementary school teacher, James began to express himself visually at an early age. The earliest exhibition occurred during his junior year in high school. During his senior year, his paintings won him international recognition and a scholarship to attend Morehouse College where he majored in art.
Malone tried to attend Atlanta’s High School of Art but was denied admission (likely due to his race). Instead, he joined the U.S. Army, and his military career spanned over a nine-year period. He became the first person of color to hold the Fort Jackson post of Art Coordinator NCO and an instructor of the 3431 Army Services Unit Craft Shop. Later, he became the U.S. Army Chief Illustrator in the Special Services Division.
Malone left the military and requested entrance again into Atlanta’s High School art program. Denied yet again, the school offered him a voucher to attend an art school up north, at Detroit’s Center for Creative Studies Art and Design College. There, he earned his Associate of Arts degree. He worked for a variety of companies— always the first and only Black in the art department. His employment ranged from a small agency to K-Mart International Headquarters with a team of hundreds. During his stay in Michigan, he spearheaded fundraising for the landmark African American History Museum, documented the 1967 riots in paintings, cartoons and writing, and created the Michigan Chronicle Newspaper’s cartoon, “Brother,” and “I’m Dreaming of Colored Christmas” greeting cards.
Malone was hired by the Atlanta Journal Constitution as an advertising graphic artist, and was later promoted to senior graphic designer. He created the cartoon panel “Malone’s Atlanta”, and a literacy guide, (Say) “Simply Apply Yourself”.
Until his passing, Malone remained an avid community activist, lobbyist, and volunteer for Hosea’s Feed the Hungry and Homeless Program and a columnist for the crusading newspaper, Street Beat.
Malone, in 2005, organized and curated, “Homecoming: 20th Century African American Masters Art Exhibition” at the City Gallery East, Atlanta, Georgia, featuring twenty-two artists. His work is included in Expanding Tradition, Selections from the Larry D. And Brenda A. Thompson Collection (various venues).
(Source: thehistorymakers.org)
Dudley Charles (b. 1945)
Lot 58, Untitled Abstract Figures, c. 1989; oil on canvas, 22 x 27-1/2 inches, signed verso. Estimate: $4,000-6,000.
Charles grew up in Plaisance, Guyana. His talent as a young artist led to him being introduced to sculptor Donald Locke, who was known as the “Father of Guyanese Art”. Locke was serving as the art master of Queen’s College in Georgetown, Guyana at the time. Locke suggested Charles visit a class he was leading called Group 67. Among the students in the class was artist Philip Moore. In 1970, Moore left Guyana to become an artist-in-residence at Rutgers and Princeton Universities, and once there, recommended Charles for a post at the National History and Art Council. Charles jumped at the opportunity and remained in the post until 1989. In 1973, Charles was chosen to represent Guyana in the XII Bienal Internacional de São Paulo. Four years later, the Guyanese government sent him to Nigeria as part of a delegation of the nation’s artists in the World Black and African Festival of Art and Culture (FESTAC). He was included in the London exhibit, Contemporary Caribbean Art (1986), the Art for Life exhibit (1988) at the Art Museum of the Americas in Washington DC, and he was included in Samella Lewis’ book, Caribbean Visions: Contemporary Painting and Sculpture.
(Source: A Conversation with Dudley Charles, February 27, 2014)
Stefanie Jackson (b. 1958)
Jackson was born in Detroit, Michigan and earned her B.F.A. from the Parsons School of Design in 1979; she received a M.F.A. from Cornell University in 1988. Her work combines elements of surrealism with African American visual traditions, addressing social and cultural issues.
She was awarded grants from the Georgia Council for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2002, she received the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Award for her commitment to artistic achievement. Her work has been included in many important exhibitions including at the African American Museum (Dallas), Tubman Museum (Macon, GA), the African American Museum (Philadelphia), and Expanding Tradition, Selections from the Larry D. And Brenda A. Thompson Collection (various venues).
Lot 131, Joy Inside My Tears, 2016; oil on canvas, 48 x 72 inches, signed and dated. Estimate: $10,000-15,000.
Khalif Tahir Thompson (b. 1995)
Lot 74, Rayshown and Terry, n.d.; oil and collage on canvas, 38-1/2 x 56 inches, signed. Estimate: $10,000-20,000.
A rising star among emerging Black artists, Khalif Tahir Thompson (born Queens, New York, 1995) has, in just a few years since obtaining their BFA from SUNY Purchase, been receiving acclaim for their multi-layered, figural representations of Black life and experience. More than just portraits of distinct individuals, the works are also layered with symbolic associations through letters and numbers, suggesting the many facets of an individual’s identity. Thompson’s process contributes to this effect. They begin with an abstracted background, over which they layer elements of paper, fabric, and paint, moving at last towards vividly realized representational forms. Contemporary collectors, Bill and Christena Gautreaux, recently promised a major work by the artist to the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City, MO.
“Through my practice, I chronicle the lived and imagined experiences of and between human beings. I believe painting can be a tool in considering the emotional, psychological complexity of an individual’s story and identity. Creating imagery that connects one to the realm of another, I alter perception and invoke empathy towards my subjects, depicting their reality across a visceral lens. Focusing on portraiture and figuration, my subjects include family, friends, and cultural figures placed in constructed settings. I render my subjects in oil paint, incorporating mixed media, collage, and handmade paper to build the abstracted environments in which they exist.
The works submitted are a selection of paintings examining a range of subjects, with regards to cultural figures, romantic, familial relationships, and individual identity. This work essentially examines my interest in seeing and understanding the likeness and lived experience of people. Through the different subjects’ primary gaze, the work connects the viewer to them, establishing a relationship that garners insight and introspection. The atmosphere of each piece hosts distinct environments that fluctuate from tangible to ethereal, framing the viewers’ perception towards their pain, joy questioning, resolve, and role in the world in which they live.”
untitled, Three Musicians
1951-1955
oil on canvas
42 x 23 inches
signed
Estimate: $30,000-40,000
Paul F. Keene, Jr. (1920-2009)
Keene was born in Philadelphia and studied at the Tyler School of Art at Temple University. He later traveled to Paris and studied at the Academie Julian (1949-1951). In Paris, Keene worked with Fernand Leger and exhibited with Leger and Picasso at the Salon de Mai. When he returned from Europe, Keene was awarded a fellowship to travel to Haiti, and he set up a studio there. Keene is regarded as a strong abstract colorist and expressionist painter. His work is included in the collections of the Woodmere Museum, Afro-American History and Culture Museum (Philadelphia), Brandywine Workshop, Dallas Museum, Delaware Museum, Howard University, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Benny Andrews (1930-2006)
Born in Madison, Georgia, the son of sharecroppers, Benny Andrews studied at Fort Valley State College (1948-50). After serving in the Korean War with the United States Air Force, he attended the School of the Art Institute in Chicago (1954-58), studying with Jack Levine and Boris Margo. He was generally viewed as an outsider, unyielding to the trends of abstraction at the time he was developing at the Art Institute. His work focused on figurative social commentary depicting the struggles, atrocities, and everyday occurrences in the world, especially in the African American community. In his drawings, paintings, and collages, Andrews continued to pursue representational art, which has been his focus throughout his long career. “Benny Andrews is a remarkable draftsman whose work is characterized by great economy of means,” Patricia P. Bladon wrote in Folk: The Art of Benny and George Andrews. “He infuses his drawings with the same integrity and passion which characterize his large-scale paintings.”
As his career flourished he continued to speak out on the inequalities facing African American artists and helped found the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition with fellow artist Cliff Joseph. He spent 29 years teaching art at Queens College and served as the Director of the Visual Arts program, a division of the National Endowment for the Arts (1982-84). His work received both critical praise and commercial acceptance. Elected to the National Academy of Design in 1977, he was awarded premier fellowships and exhibited widely in this country and abroad.
Today, his work is found in the collection of many major museums, including the Brooklyn Museum of Art, NY; Detroit Institute of Art; Morris Museum of Art, GA; Hirshorn Museum, Washington D.C.; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.
His work was featured in the exhibition Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power, and recently been on view in the exhibitions War Within War Without: MOMA’s Permanent Collection, NY; Seeing Differently: The Phillips Collects for a New Century, The Phillips Collection, Washington DC; and 50 x 50: Stories of Visionary Artists from the Collection, San Jose Museum of Art, CA.
Lot 47, Big Tree, 1967; oil on canvas, 17-3/4 x 15-1/2 inches, signed and dated. Estimate: $4,000-6,000.