Russ Thompson
Nature's Printing Press

About the Item

Nature's Printing Press Gouache, tempera, pigments and ink on masonite board, 1967 Signed lower left corner (see photo) Thompson was part of the late 1960’s Black Emergency Cultural Coalition along with Benny Andrews The Black Emergency Cultural Coalition Inc. (BECC) was organized in January 1969 by a group of African American artists in response to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's "Harlem on My Mind" exhibit, which omitted the contributions of African American painters and sculptors to the Harlem community. Part of a series of works the artist created in 1967. The tree motifs vary as does the color of the background. Please see photo of another work from the series. Condition: Excellent/very good Three tiny while flecks in the green border of the painting Image size: 10 1/4 x 9 1/2 inches Painting board size: 20 x 16 inches Frame size: 25 1/2 x 21 1/2 inches Russ Thompson (Born 1922- Jamaica Part of the late 1960’s Black Emergency Cultural Coalition along with Benny Andrews The Black Emergency Cultural Coalition Inc. (BECC) was organized in January 1969 by a group of African American artists in response to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's "Harlem on My Mind" exhibit, which omitted the contributions of African American painters and sculptors to the Harlem community. Members of this initial group that protested against the exhibit included several prominent African American artists, including Benny Andrews and Clifford R. Joseph, cofounders of the BECC. The primary goal of the group was to agitate for change in the major art museums in New York City for greater representation of African American artists and their work in these museums. Studied: Pratt Inst.; Carlyle College; NY Sch. Mod. Photography Exhibited: MoMA; BM, 1968; Nordness Gals., NYC; Phila. Civic Center; Ruder & Finn FA, 1969; Smithsonian Inst.; Mount Holyoke College, 1969; BMFA, 1970; RISD, 1969; Mem. Art Gal., Rochester, NY, 1969; SFMA, 1969; Contemp. Arts Mus., Houston, TX, 1970; NJ State Mus., 1970; Roberson Center for the Arts & Sciences, Binghampton, NY, 1970; UC Santa Barbara, 1970; Plaza Hotel, NYC; Westchester Art Soc. Gal. (prize); Nassau Community College; Brooklyn Pub. Lib.; Allentown (PA) Art Festival; Quinnipiac College, CT; Parrish Art Mus.; NY State Pavillion; Huntington Township Art Lg. Awards: Mitchell College, CT; BM; Armonk Lib. Show Award; Bedford Hills Lib. Show Award. Sources: Cederholm, Afro-American Artists. Public Collections: Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Brooklyn Museum Museum of Modern Art, New York Smithsonian American Art Museum Exhibitions: MOMA Brooklyn Museum, 1968 Nordness Galleries, NYC Smithsonian Institution Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1970 Rhode Island School of Design, 1969 San Francisco Museum of Art, 1969 Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, 1970 Parrish Art Museum Courtesy of Afro-American Artist; a biographical directory THOMPSON, RUSS (Born Jamaica, 1922) Painter. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, 1922. Studied at the Pratt Institute; Carlyle College; New York School of Modern Photography. Works: Cloud Flowers ; My Breath Is One with the Clouds ; The Acrobats; Relatives; Thoreau; Clothes to the Body; America- Amer- ica; Hanging Garden; Poor Room, Rich Room; Epigram a Bromide; Passage, 1969 (wood, epoxy, iron). Exhibited: Museum of Modern Art; Brooklyn Museum Fence Show, 1968; Nordness Gal- leries, NY; Phila. Civic Center; Ruder & Finn Fine Arts, 1969; Smithsonian Institution; Mount Holyoke College, 1969; Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 1970; Rhode Island School of Design, 1969; Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, NY, 1969; San Francisco Museum of Art, 1969; Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, 1970; NJ State Museum, 1970; Roberson Center for the Arts & Sciences, Binghamton, NY, 1970; Art Galleries, Univ. of Cal. at Santa Barbara, 1970; Plaza Hotel, NYC; Westchester Art So- ciety Gallery; Nassau Community College; Brooklyn Public Library; Allentown (Pa.) Art Festival; Quinnipiac College; Parrish Art Mu- seum; NY State Pavillion; Huntington Town- ship Art League. Collections: Frederick Douglass Institute, Wash- ington, DC; Spiro & Levinson Corp.; Mr. William Haber; Mr. & Mrs. B. Friedman; Mr. & Mrs. Samuel J. Rosen; Mr. David Scribner; Unigraphic Corp.; Mr. Benny An- drews; Jeanne Paris; Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Strauss. Awards: Westchester Art Society; Mitchell College, Conn.; Brooklyn Museum; Armonk Library Show Award; Bedford Hills Library Show Award. Sources: Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Afro- American Artists: New York/ Boston, 1970; Nordness Galleries. 12 Afro-American Artists, 1969; Mount Holyoke College. Ten Afro- American Artists, 1969; Ghent, Henri. “The Community Art Gallery,” Art Gallery, April 1970; Paris, Jean. “Black Art Experience in Art,” Long Island Press, Jamaica, NY, June 14, 1970; Ruder & Finn Fine Arts. Contemporary Black Artists’, Brooklyn College. Afro-Amer- ican Artists: Since 1950, 1969; Walker, Roslyn. A Resource Guide to the Visual Arts of Afro- Americans, South Bend, Ind., 1971. NEW YORK (NY). Acts of Art, Inc. Rebuttal to Whitney Museum Exhibition: Black Artists in Rebuttal at Acts of Art Gallery. 1971. Unpag. (20 pp.) exhib. cat., 54 b&w illus., brief biogs. of 48 artists. The text consists of an unsigned foreword (probably by Nigel L. Jackson, director of Acts of Art); a reprint of Z. D. Allen's review of the exhibition, "Rebuttal to the Whitney," from Chelsea Clinton News (Apr. 15, 1971). The catalogue was published after the show opened. Artists included: Benny Andrews, James Belfon, Betty Blayton, Lynn (Chuck) Bowers, Vivian Browne, Calvin Burnett, Jo Butler, Robert Carter, Art Coppedge, Adger Cowans, Joseph Delaney, J. Brooks Dendy, III, James Denmark, Reginald Gammon, Moses Paul Groves, Lester Gunter, Byron Hall, William Charles Henderson, II, Leon Hicks, Nigel L. Jackson, Kenneth Vrook Johnson, Cliff Joseph, Philip Martin, Kenneth Matthews, Richard Mayhew, Dindga McCannon, Alexander S. McMath, Ademola Olugebefola, William Payne, James Phillips, Kenneth Radcliffe, Junius Redwood, Enid Richardson, Gregory Ridley, Jr., Haywood (Bill) Rivers, Donald J. Robertson, Philippe G. Smith, Ann Tanksley, Bob Thompson, Russell Thompson, Robert Threadgill, Lloyd Toone, Bennie White, Timothy Wilkins, Walter H. Williams, Ed Wilson, Frank W. Wimberley, Hale Woodruff. Sq. 8vo, stapled tan wraps, lettered in brown, illus. of wire sculpture by James Denmark.. BOSTON (MA). Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists. Afro-American Artists: New York and Boston. May 19-June 23, 1970. 92 pp. exhib. cat, 67 b&w illus. of work by 69 artists, exhib. checklist. Intro. by Edmund B. Gaither. Important early exhibition. Includes Emma Amos, Benny Andrews, Ellsworth Ausby, Malcolm Bailey, Ellen Banks, Romare Bearden, Robert Blackburn, Betty Blayton, Ronald Boutte, Lynn Bowers, Frank Bowling, Marvin Brown, Calvin Burnett, Dana C. Chandler, John Chandler, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Ed Clark, Eldzier Cortor, Ernest Crichlow, Emilio Cruz, Avel DeKnight, Henry DeLeon, Stanley Pinckney, James Denmark, Reginald Gammon, Felrath Hines, Alvin C. Hollingsworth, Bill Howell, Zell Ingram, Gerald Jackson, Daniel L. Johnson, Milton Johnson, Ben Jones, Lois Mailou Jones, Tonnie O. Jones, Cliff Joseph, Harriet Kennedy, Hughie Lee-Smith, Norman Lewis, Tom Lloyd, Al Loving, Richard Mayhew, Edward McCluney, Jr., Algernon Miller, Joe Overstreet, Louise Parks, Stanley Pinckney, Jerry Pinkney, John W. Rhoden, Bill Rivers, Mahler Ryder, Raymond Saunders, Thomas Sills, Al Smith, Vincent D. Smith, Richard Stroud, Alma Thomas, Bob Thompson, Lovett Thompson, Russ Thompson, Lloyd Toone, Luther Vann, Paul Waters, Richard Waters, Jack White, Yvonne Williams, John Wilson, Hale Woodruff, Richard Yarde. Sq. 4to, pictorial self-wraps. First ed. PHILADELPHIA (PA). School District and Museum of the Philadelphia Civic Center. Afro-American Artists, 1800-1969. December 5-29, 1969. 40 pp., list of over 100 artists. Important exhibition juried by Al Hollingsworth, Reginald Gammon and Louis Sloan. Intro. Randall J. Craig mentions many artists not in the exhibition. Exhibition includes: Emma Amos, Benny Andrews, Ralph Arnold, James Ayers, Frederick Bacon, Joseph C. Bailey, Janette Banks, Edward M. Bannister, Richmond Barthé, Harry W. Bayton, Romare Bearden, Betty Blayton, James Brantley, Arthur Britt, Charles E. Brown, Samuel J. Brown, Reginald Bryant, Barbara Bullock, Selma Burke, Calvin Burnett, Margaret Burroughs, Frederick Campbell, Barbara Chase-Riboud, LeRoy Clarke, Louise Clement, Eldzier Cortor, R. J. Craig, Nicholas Davis, William Day, Avel DeKnight, J. Brooks Dendy, James Denmark, Reba Dickerson (a.k.a. Reba Dickerson-Hill), Thomas Dickerson Jr.,

Creator:

Russ Thompson (1922, Jamaican)

Dimensions:

Height: 10.25 in (26.04 cm)Width: 9.5 in (24.13 cm)

Medium:

Acrylic

Movement & Style:

Abstract

Period:

1960-1969

Condition:

Gallery Location: