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Purvis Young"Wild White Horses" Contemporary Outsider Urban Expressionism Painting Framed20th Century
20th Century
About the Item
The painting is an expressive, abstract work by Purvis Young with a strong emphasis on dynamic brushwork and a limited color palette dominated by deep reds, off-whites, and subtle accents of earthy browns and lavender. The raw energy of the painting depicts stylized figures on horses, rendered in a loose, energetic, calligraphic style. The heavy texture with visible impasto, scraping, and layered brushstrokes that create a sense of depth and energy with hints of underlying colors like red and brown peeking through. A wonderful example of the urban or social expressionism style, with the thick, tactile paint application and the way gives it a dramatic, almost sculptural presence on the two-dimensional surface, giving the piece a raw, aged, or weathered quality, almost like an old fresco or a heavily worked surface. The overall style appears to be influenced by Abstract Expressionism, as seen in the work of Willem de Kooning or Franz Kline, with its gestural energy combined with elements of figurative abstraction. The painting is signed by the artist in the upper left corner. It comes housed in wooden frame, matted and under glass, with hanging wire on verso ready to be displayed.
Art measures 12 x 20.5 inches
Frame measures 18.25 x 26.5 inches
Purvis Young was born in Liberty City, a neighborhood of Miami, Florida, on February 2, 1943. He was first introduced to drawing by his uncle, a local sign painter, and Young developed as a self-taught artist, whose work served as a visual pulse for Miami’s Overtown neighborhood. Young’s creative turning point occurred during a three-year prison sentence in his late teens. Deprived of formal art training, he spent his time in the prison library studying the masterpieces of Rembrandt and Van Gogh, developing a style that would later merge classical influences with raw, urban expressionism.
Upon his release in the mid-1960s, Young settled in Overtown, a community then struggling with the impacts of urban renewal. In the early 1970s, he gained fame for transforming a derelict passageway known as Goodbread Alley into an outdoor gallery. He nailed hundreds of his paintings to the walls of abandoned buildings, using discarded materials like plywood and cardboard as his canvases to bring his community's stories to light.
Young’s art is defined by a distinct set of spiritual and social symbols. He frequently painted wild horses to represent freedom, angels with halos to signify goodness, and "Big Brother" eyes to critique government surveillance. His figures often appear elongated and fluid, a technique he adapted from El Greco, used to convey the movement and energy of life in the inner city.
By the end of his life, Young had transitioned from a local outsider artist to an internationally recognized figure in Social Expressionism. His prolific output, created from the scraps of the streets he documented, is now featured in prestigious institutions like the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He remains a central figure in American vernacular art, celebrated for turning urban decay into profound spiritual commentary. Purvis Young died on April 20, 2010, in Miami, Florida.
PROVENANCE: Estate of a Private collection Fort Lauderdale, FL; Private Collection Manhattan, New York; Lilac Gallery Collection. The piece will be stamped from Lilac Gallery on its verso.
- Creator:Purvis Young (1943 - 2010, American)
- Creation Year:20th Century
- Dimensions:Height: 18.25 in (46.36 cm)Width: 26.5 in (67.31 cm)Depth: 0.5 in (1.27 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:The artwork is in good condition, and this painting was created and framed by the artist using found objects, showing some ordinary wear and minor imperfections consistent with the manufacturing period (please see the listing pictures for details).
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:Seller: 0070001stDibs: LU98218054922
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