Purvis Young

Purvis Young was a self-taught African-American artist whose work was often a blend of painting/drawing with elements of collage of inner-city life and conflict, filled with the energy and syncretism of the urban Black culture. An extremely prolific creator, much of his idiosyncratic works of the art rides on attention, choice, and free-swinging composition, distinguished by lyric and suggestive imagery that describes a fraught yet inspired experience most associated with his living in the Overtown neighborhood of Miami. Purvis Young Art for Sale on Bidsquare's online auction features the artist's authentic paintings in contemporary style in mixed media, paint, wood, and other media.

About Purvis Young

Born on February 4, 1943, in Liberty City, FL, Purvis Young never had any formal art training. It was during his incarceration in the 60s that he began drawing seriously. Young’s brushy, dreamlike paintings and drawings were on found objects, including scrap metal, book pages, discarded cardboard, doors, old utility bills, and discarded envelopes. Developing his own vocabulary of recurring images, Purvis Young Artworks are richly colored depictions of wild horses, urban landscapes,coil-shaped abstractions, figures, holy men, angels, among others, which filter the motifs of the lives of Black Americans.

Purvis Young art work is highly influenced by Western art history that serves as a critique of social injustice. Young drew inspiration from Old Masters such as Rubens, El Greco, Cezanne, Rembrandt, and Van Gogh, among others, spending many hours studying their books in public libraries. His paintings were presented along the boarded-up storefronts of a vacant alley in Overtown where he lived. Young’s installation/mural grew in scope and invention, and his creative oeuvre soon attracted the attention of the media and art world acclaim. Today, his works of art are included in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, private collections, and many galleries.

Quick Facts about Purvis Young

• The collectors' following of Purvis Young artworks include Jane Fonda, Dan Aykroyd, Jim Belushi, Damon Wayans, among others.
• A feature documentary about the life and work of Purvis Young entitled Purvis of Overtown was produced in 2006.