Some years ago, I was at a gallery in the Washington, DC, area, and almost bought an etching by artist Joseph Holston. I don’t remember the image in the etching but it was apparently something that moved me. But not enough, I suppose, because I didn’t buy it.
I’ve known Holston’s name for years, and every now and then I’d see some of his works in galleries or at art shows. But I had never stumbled on any of his pieces at auction – where I could get them at a price that worked for me.
All that changed a week or so ago when I was previewing items at an auction I’ve begun to frequent. Stacked among the still lifes and landscapes and portraits was a Holston etching titled “Rhythm Reunion” showing a quartet of stylized musicians playing their hearts out. I knew I wanted that etching and would take it home with me after the auction the next day.
It was not the only item, though, that captured my attention. On a table in another room were several disparate pieces of African wood figures: a flat box contained about eight small carvings of different shapes, while some larger hefty pieces, including a mother seated nursing her baby, stood not too far away. The one that really caught my eye was an unusual carved figure with wooden head and rusted cone-shaped metal body.
On the day of the auction, most of the carvings sold for reasonable prices. Bidding on the box lot went up to $100, and I was in the thick of it. I wanted to donate them to a silent auction to raise scholarship money for the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists. Finally, though, the price got too high for me.
I did not relent, though, on the wood and metal figure. I stuck with the bidding, which, fortunately, didn’t go as high as the box lot. It’s a lovely piece that became even more precious after I got it home, examined it and found out that it was actually a musical instrument. I realized that the heavy loose red strap on one side was actually a stick for striking the metal, and the red string loop on the other side was for carrying the figure around the neck. Nice.
That made my day, along with the etching by Holton, which I was also able to wrangle from the clutches of another bidder. Holston works out of a studio in Takoma Park, MD, straying not too far from where he was born in Chevy Chase, MD, in 1944. He started out as a commercial artist, according to a bio on his website, but gave that up in 1971 after studying art for a summer in Santa Fe, NM (a place that would inspire anyone).
He creates paintings, etchings and serigraphs. He does all the work himself on his original prints, according to his website, from drawing on the plates to the final printing. I’ve seen more of his etchings and serigraphs than paintings, and have found them to be affordable. His style is described as abstract cubist, and his works seem to have a rhythm to them, just like the piece I got at auction. You can almost feel the guys playing.
“Creating work is like writing a play,” Holston says on his website. “Every piece is intended to establish a dialogue between me and the viewer. I want the characters in my work to engage viewers so completely that they are drawn into and become a part of each individual composition.”
One of his most dramatic creations is a collection of 50 paintings, drawings and etchings about slavery and the Underground Railroad that has been on tour since 2008. Likened to a musical score, the series – called “Color in Freedom: Journey along the Underground Railroad” – boldly recounts the story in four movements: Unknown World, Living in Bondage, Journey of Escape and Color in Freedom.
A retrospective of his limited edition prints from 1974 to 2010 is on tour, and will be at the African American Museum in Philadelphia from April 3 to June 22, 2012. I will definitely make sure I stop by.
