Collection catalogue published 2019
This publication documents the extraordinary collection gift from New Jersey-based collector Ronald Maurice Ollie and his wife, Monique McRipley Ollie, adds significant depth and breadth to the Museum’s holding of works by African American artists. Among the highlights of the collection are important groupings of work by Ed Clark and Al Loving showcasing these artists’ fascination with formal experiment; Stanley Whitney’s richly colorful “Out into the Open,” in which the artist invigorates a long modernist tradition of the grid in abstract painting; and Sam Gilliam’s radical draped painting, “Half Circle Red,” where the canvas stretcher has been removed.
Works on paper number among the great strengths in the collection. Robert Blackburn’s iconic lithograph “Faux Pas” places him squarely at the origin of post-war printmaking in America. Numerous drawings and collages represent multiple generations of artists ranging from Normal Lewis and Herb Gentry, whose careers began in the mid-20th century; to Gilliam and Clark, who came of age in the 1960s and 1970s; to Whitney and James Little, who are at the heights of their careers.
Authors: Elizabeth Wyckoff, Simon Kelly, and Rehema C. Barber with Alexis Assam, Heather A. Hughes, Hannah Klemm, Molly Moog, Gretchen L. Wagner, and Abigail Yoder
Details: 64 pages, 25 illustrations; 9 x 10.5 inches, softcover. Published and produced by the Saint Louis Art Museum
