The Estate of Larry T. Clemons is pleased to announce a Purvis Young painting recently donated to the Bernard & Shirley Kinsey Foundation for Arts & Education is now on display at Auburn University as part of the Kinsey African American Art & History Collection Exhibit at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art through December 30, 2022.
Photo – Purvis Young Artwork, 1980’s, Untitled ©
Mr. Clemons was a prolific collector and gallery owner, who fell in love with Purvis Young’s artwork and Purvis Young the person. Their relationship began professionally and progressed into a lifelong friendship. Mr. Clemons devoted much of his career to promoting Purvis Young’s artwork. In his later years, he meticulously catalogued the many personal items, photos, and documents he had preserved pertaining to Mr. Young.
Purvis Young (February 4, 1943 – April 20, 2010) was a prolific American artist from the Overtown neighbourhood in Miami, Florida. Self-taught, Young’s work was often a blend of collage and painting/drawing utilizing discarded objects to tell the stories of the African American experience in the south. His work can be found in the collections of the Smithsonian African American Art Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and others.
The Estate of Larry T. Clemons selected the Kinsey African American Art & History Collection because it celebrates the achievements and contributions of Black Americans from 1595 to the present. Considered one of the most comprehensive surveys of African American history and culture outside the Smithsonian Institution, the exhibition of the same name features primarily the shared treasures amassed by Shirley and Bernard Kinsey during their five decades of marriage. The collection includes paintings, sculptures, photography, rare books, letters, and manuscripts that offer a well-rounded look at the African American experience and provide new perspectives on the nation’s history and culture.
