Using an innovative technique he called “rough collage,” Benny Andrews created vivid portraits of everyday people that mixed painting with pieces of clothing and other textural materials.
Andrews grew up in a family of sharecroppers in rural Georgia, his creativity nurtured by his father, who was a self-taught artist, and his mother, who believed in the importance of education. He was the first in his family to complete high school and attended Fort Valley State College on a 4-H Club scholarship. Andrews was limited by the lack of art courses available to him at Fort Valley, and in 1950 he enlisted in the Air Force and served in the Korean War. On the G.I. Bill, he studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). While fellow students focused on Abstract Expressionism, Andrews developed his own expressive style; one of his earliest portraits was of the janitors at SAIC. After he graduated in 1958, he moved to New York. Andrews’s first solo show was in 1960 at Paul Kessler Gallery in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
Visibility and social justice were at the forefront of Benny Andrews’s paintings, which meditated on scenes of daily life, drawing on memories of the artist’s childhood in the South. His subjects included his family members as well as other artists, such as Alice Neel, Norman Lewis and Howardena Pindell.
A longtime educator, including for three decades at New York’s Queens College, Andrews avidly promoted opportunities for Black artists, such as cofounding with Clifford R. Joseph the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition in 1969, which advocated for inclusion in museum exhibitions. One of his final works —completed between 2004 and 2006 — was the Migrant Series in which he retraced the forced relocation of Indigenous people on the Trail of Tears, the Dust Bowl migration and the displacement of Hurricane Katrina survivors.
Andrews’s work has continued to garner acclaim after his death in 2006, with posthumous exhibitions including “Benny Andrews: Portraits, a Real Person Before the Eyes” at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery in New York in 2020.
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Woman with Flowers
By Benny Andrews
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Benny Andrews, American (1930 - 2006) Title: Woman with Flowers Year: 1976 Medium: Oil and Collage on Canvas, signed and dated l.r. (and ...
Oil, Canvas
$2,200
H 31.5 in W 39.38 in D 1.58 in
French Contemporary Art by Karine Bartoli - Bateau pour Formentera
By Karine Bartoli
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas Karine Bartoli was born in 1971 in Ajaccio. She enrolled at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts in Marseille where she graduated in 1997. Since then she has ...
Oil, Canvas
Don't Get Caught
Located in New York, NY
Female centric painting. On th edge.
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
181
By Punk Me Tender
Located in New York, NY
Vibrant piece. Oil on canvas. Silver aluminum mirrored butterfly with diamond dust. Artist's signature style. He is collected worldwide. Not signed but COA will be provided. ...
Canvas, Oil
Instababe
By Jackie Gordon
Located in New York, NY
Innocence of childhood. Portrait. About the Artist: My art is a visual recording of the powerful imagines that occur regularly in life, distilling them down and preserving the ...
Canvas, Oil
$5,251
H 31.5 in W 17.72 in
"Portrait of a little girl in bordeaux" Oil cm. 37 x 70
By Igor SMEKALOV
Located in Torino, IT
Interior, Little girl ,minimal,bordeaux,red, Igor SMEKALOV (Orenburg, 1965) 1965: he was born in Orenburg, where he lives and works. 1984: he graduated in Art. 1990-'95: he regular...
Canvas, Oil
$1,510
H 27.17 in W 32.29 in D 1.19 in
Distant Days II by Dylan Lloyd, Floral Art, Meadow Art, Landscape painting
By Dylan Lloyd
Located in Deddington, GB
Distant Days II by Dylan Lloyd [2022] original and hand signed by the artist Oil on Canvas Image size: H:76 cm x W:60 cm Complete Size of Unframed Work: H:76 cm x W:60 cm x D:2.5...
Canvas, Oil
$205
H 5.91 in W 5.91 in D 0.79 in
A Wintry Walk Home, Figurative Cityscape Art, Modern Style Painting Textured art
By Eleanor Woolley
Located in Deddington, GB
A Wintry Walk Home [December 2022] A Wintry Walk Home is an Original Painting by Eleanor Woolley. The low winter sun throws shadows on the pavement as people walk home, early evening. Lovely pinks and mauves make up this painting, the bright white of the setting sun draws our eyes into the distance. The contrasting shades of darkening purples create the shaded doorways of the buildings of Montpelier, Cheltenham. Additional information: Original Oil Paint on Canvas Image size: H 15 cm x W 15 cm Complete Size of Unframed Work: H 15 cm x W 15 cm x D 2cm Sold Unframed Please note that insitu images are purely an indication of how a piece may look Eleanor Woolley artist is with Wychwood Art. was born in the Channel Island of Jersey, and moved to Gloucestershire where she was drawn to the outdoors, always taking walks in the landscape. Her first true love for painting came from an inspirational Art...
Canvas, Oil
$6,302
H 19.69 in W 19.69 in D 0.79 in
Timeless Contemporary Oil Painting on Canvas, Unframed, 50x50 cm
By Svetoslav Stoyanov
Located in Roma, IT
Oil painting, 2019. Certificate of authenticity by the author. In this piece, I've melded the tangible depth of realism with the thought-provoking essence of surrealism. My brushstr...
Oil, Canvas
Reckless
By Jim Molloy
Located in New York, NY
Oil painting of car on a curve. Sunglasses hang from the steering wheel. Tone is engaging, fun with universal appeal. About the artist: Molloy...
Canvas, Oil
$14,004
H 39.38 in W 39.38 in D 0.79 in
The Island Abstract Oil Painting Colors Red Blue Green Grey Brown Orange Purple
By Vassil Stoev
Located in Sofia, BG
"The Island" is an abstract painting by Maestro Vassil Stoyev, About the artwork: TECHNIQUE: oil painting STYLE: abstract, Contemporary Edition : Unique, signed Weight: Approxima...
Canvas, Oil
Lego my PBJ
By Jim Molloy
Located in New York, NY
Oil painting of lego blocks and a half eaten peanut butter & jelly sandwich. The implied narrative adds to the piece. Maybe a big brother just knocked the creation down and the ch...
Canvas, Oil
Dude
By Paul Fuentes
Located in New York, NY
Oil on canvas. Man on beach. About the artist: “There's a dry ironic twist to Paul’s paintings that give the work — while realistic — a postmodern f...
Canvas, Oil