Bass Museum of Art To Gift Purvis Young Works to the Black Archives

The Bass Museum of Art announced it would donate over 400 works of art by Miami artist Purvis Young to the Black Archives History and Research Foundation of South Florida, an unprecedented gift by the Museum to one of South Florida's largest African-American arts organizations. The gift comes on the...

By Nicole Martinez

June 3, 2015

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The Bass Museum of Art announced it would donate over 400 works of art by Miami artist Purvis Young to the Black Archives History and Research Foundation of South Florida, an unprecedented gift by the Museum to one of South Florida's largest African-American arts organizations. The gift comes on the heels of the Black Archives' exhibition “A Man Among the People: A Purvis Homecoming,” which includes many works from the Bass Museum Collection. The exhibition is currently on view at the Lyric Theater Cultural Complex.

Born in 1943 in Liberty City, self taught-artist Purvis Young painted images depicting urban life and the African-American experience, using anything from wood, walls and broken furniture as his canvas. His work is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institute, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the High Museum of Art, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The Black Archives executive director Timothy Barber notes that Young is "no doubt an important part of this community's rich culture" and that the Bass Museum's gift "returns the works of such a prolific visual artist back to his home in historic Overtown." The gift will be formally announced during a reception on June 5. The reception, held at the Black Archives, will run from 6 to 7:30 p.m. It will immediately followed by a Lyric Live performance.

The Bass Museum of Art is currently undergoing renovations of its interior gallery space, scheduled to re-open in fall 2016. Exhibitions and programs for the 2015-2016 season will be held as "bassX," a pop-up gallery space within the Miami Beach Public Library.

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