Benjamin Britt was always a mystery to me. He seemed to be on the periphery of my thoughts, never fully formed, almost an illusion. I would hear his name in snatches, but it was hard…
Tag: African American art
The ‘blossoming’ of artist Tom McKinney
Posted in Art
I became acquainted with the works of artist Tom McKinney when I first started buying art from a framer before I discovered auctions. I bought a print awash in dark tones titled “Lazy Afternoon,” of…
It’s been more than a month since I self-published my book “ART WITH HEART: How I Built a Sweet Collection by Buying Cheap at Auction.” The book tells the story of how I amassed a…
Connecting with a 19th-century Black history & art collector
Posted in Art, Black history, Books, and Ephemera/Paper/Documents
William Henry Dorsey was not only an artist but a collector. That’s not unusual. What is unusual is that he was both at a time when Black folks were struggling to survive the dehumanization of…
The mystical talents of artist Otto Neals
Posted in Art
Otto Neals was born with talent, but he never stopped pushing himself. He mastered watercolor after years of trying. “Watercolor was very difficult for me. But I loved it so much that I kept going…
My auction buddy Sly had picked up the painting at an estate sale at a house. Even in the middle of a pandemic, he can’t seem to stay home and stop buying stuff to add…
Hair-care labels by African American designer Charles Dawson
Posted in Art, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Uncategorized
It took a minute for the revelation to sink in. There in front of me were images of some of the hair-care product labels I had picked up years ago at a collectibles’ show. They…
Jazz in the name of artist Verna Hart
Posted in Art
My friend Al couldn’t believe it. And neither could I. I had bumped into him at an art show and sale at a gallery in Wilmington, DE, some years ago when a jazz painting by…
As I drove down the narrow one-way street tight with cars on both sides, I kept an eye out for artist Dindga McCannon’s house. Look for the purple steps, she had told me after I…
The two sisters had come to the auction with enough money – they thought – to buy a painting by their Uncle Henry. They wanted to give it to his grand-daughter. They waited and waited…