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Purvis Young
Purvis Young (February 4, 1943 – April 20, 2010) was an American artist of Bahamian descent. Young's work is celebrated at the museum and institutional level while also finding a home in many private collections as well, with a following that included Brice Marden, Jane Fonda, Damon Wayans, Jim Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, and others. In 2006 a feature documentary titled Purvis of Overtown was produced about his life and work. His work is found in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Centre Pompidou, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Pérez Art Museum Miami, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and others. In 2018, he was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame.
Purvis Young was born in Liberty City, a neighborhood of Miami, Florida, on February 2, 1943. As a young boy, his uncle introduced him to drawing, but Young lost interest quickly. He never attended high school.
As a teenager, Young served three years (1961–64) in prison at North Florida's Raiford State Penitentiary for breaking and entering. While in prison he would regain his interest in art and began drawing and studying art books. When released, he began to produce thousands of small drawings, which he kept in shopping carts and later glued into discarded books and magazines that he found on the streets. He proceeded to move into the Overtown neighborhood of Miami. Young became attracted to a vacant alley called Goodbread Alley, which was named after the Jamaican bakeries that once occupied the street; he started living there in 1971.
In the early 1970s, Young found inspiration in the mural movements of Chicago and Detroit, and decided to create a mural of inspiration Overtown. He had never painted before, but inspiration struck and he began to create paintings and nailing them to the boarded up storefronts that formed the alley. He painted on wood he found on the streets and occasionally paintings would "disappear" from the wall, but Young didn't mind. About two years after starting the mural, tourists started visiting the alley, mainly white tourists. Occasionally, Young sold paintings to visitors - tourists and collectors alike - right off the wall. The mural garnered media attention, including the attention of millionaire Bernard Davis, owner of the Miami Museum of Modern Art. Davis became a patron of Young, providing him with painting supplies as well. Davis died in 1973, leaving Young a local celebrity in Miami.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he explored other inspirations by watching historical documentaries about war, the Great Depression, commerce, and Native American conflicts and struggles in the United States. In 1999 the Rubell family, notable art collectors from New York and creators of the Rubell Museum, purchased the entire content of Young's studio, a collection of almost 3,000 pieces. In 2008 the Rubells donated 108 works to Morehouse College In January 2007, Purvis was selected as the Art Miami Fair's Director's Choice Exhibition, sponsored by Grace Cafe and Galleries and the Bergman Collection, at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Young also helped to establish a number of outdoor art fairs in South Florida that continue today.
Sometime between 1998 and 2003, Purvis was commissioned to develop a mural at the Bakehouse Art Complex -- one of three surviving murals by the artist. The mural was commissioned in part as a community service project and was facilitated by Rosie Gordon Wallace, who is a prominent Miami curator and a friend of the artist. The mural preceded the influx of street art in the area (which began in the mid-to-late 2000s). It remains an important record of the neighborhood's cultural and social history.
With artistic success came monetary gain, and Young failed to maintain his estate. Before his death, he became involved in a legal battle with former manager Martin Siskind. Young sued Siskind for mismanagement of funds. In response, Siskind successfully petitioned for Young to be declared mentally incompetent, and Young's affairs were placed in control of legal guardians. According to friends, Young was not incompetent and was left destitute by the procedures. Siskind stated that he and Young had settled the suit amicably and that Young retained ownership of 1,000 paintings and was financially stable.
Young suffered from diabetes, and toward the latter years of his life, he had other health problems, undergoing a kidney transplant in 2007. He died on April 20, 2010 in Miami from cardiac arrest and pulmonary edema. He is survived by his two sisters Betty Rodriguez and Shirley Byrd, and his brother Irvin Byrd. There are conflicting reports about his relationship with Eddie Mae Lovest, the primary beneficiary of his will. According to some sources, she was his partner; however, Lovest has stated that they "never was married. Never was boyfriend and girlfriend." Instead, she says of the relationship that they were "the best of friends".
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Purvis Young
Purvis Young (February 4, 1943 – April 20, 2010) was an American artist of Bahamian descent. Young's work is celebrated at the museum and institutional level while also finding a home in many private collections as well, with a following that included Brice Marden, Jane Fonda, Damon Wayans, Jim Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, and others. In 2006 a feature documentary titled Purvis of Overtown was produced about his life and work. His work is found in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Centre Pompidou, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Pérez Art Museum Miami, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and others. In 2018, he was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame.
Purvis Young was born in Liberty City, a neighborhood of Miami, Florida, on February 2, 1943. As a young boy, his uncle introduced him to drawing, but Young lost interest quickly. He never attended high school.
As a teenager, Young served three years (1961–64) in prison at North Florida's Raiford State Penitentiary for breaking and entering. While in prison he would regain his interest in art and began drawing and studying art books. When released, he began to produce thousands of small drawings, which he kept in shopping carts and later glued into discarded books and magazines that he found on the streets. He proceeded to move into the Overtown neighborhood of Miami. Young became attracted to a vacant alley called Goodbread Alley, which was named after the Jamaican bakeries that once occupied the street; he started living there in 1971.
In the early 1970s, Young found inspiration in the mural movements of Chicago and Detroit, and decided to create a mural of inspiration Overtown. He had never painted before, but inspiration struck and he began to create paintings and nailing them to the boarded up storefronts that formed the alley. He painted on wood he found on the streets and occasionally paintings would "disappear" from the wall, but Young didn't mind. About two years after starting the mural, tourists started visiting the alley, mainly white tourists. Occasionally, Young sold paintings to visitors - tourists and collectors alike - right off the wall. The mural garnered media attention, including the attention of millionaire Bernard Davis, owner of the Miami Museum of Modern Art. Davis became a patron of Young, providing him with painting supplies as well. Davis died in 1973, leaving Young a local celebrity in Miami.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he explored other inspirations by watching historical documentaries about war, the Great Depression, commerce, and Native American conflicts and struggles in the United States. In 1999 the Rubell family, notable art collectors from New York and creators of the Rubell Museum, purchased the entire content of Young's studio, a collection of almost 3,000 pieces. In 2008 the Rubells donated 108 works to Morehouse College In January 2007, Purvis was selected as the Art Miami Fair's Director's Choice Exhibition, sponsored by Grace Cafe and Galleries and the Bergman Collection, at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Young also helped to establish a number of outdoor art fairs in South Florida that continue today.
Sometime between 1998 and 2003, Purvis was commissioned to develop a mural at the Bakehouse Art Complex -- one of three surviving murals by the artist. The mural was commissioned in part as a community service project and was facilitated by Rosie Gordon Wallace, who is a prominent Miami curator and a friend of the artist. The mural preceded the influx of street art in the area (which began in the mid-to-late 2000s). It remains an important record of the neighborhood's cultural and social history.
With artistic success came monetary gain, and Young failed to maintain his estate. Before his death, he became involved in a legal battle with former manager Martin Siskind. Young sued Siskind for mismanagement of funds. In response, Siskind successfully petitioned for Young to be declared mentally incompetent, and Young's affairs were placed in control of legal guardians. According to friends, Young was not incompetent and was left destitute by the procedures. Siskind stated that he and Young had settled the suit amicably and that Young retained ownership of 1,000 paintings and was financially stable.
Young suffered from diabetes, and toward the latter years of his life, he had other health problems, undergoing a kidney transplant in 2007. He died on April 20, 2010 in Miami from cardiac arrest and pulmonary edema. He is survived by his two sisters Betty Rodriguez and Shirley Byrd, and his brother Irvin Byrd. There are conflicting reports about his relationship with Eddie Mae Lovest, the primary beneficiary of his will. According to some sources, she was his partner; however, Lovest has stated that they "never was married. Never was boyfriend and girlfriend." Instead, she says of the relationship that they were "the best of friends".