The Last Time I Saw Purvis

By ©10 Daniel Aubry

My last encounter with Miami artist Purvis Young was in New York. I had the pleasure of taking him to lunch at Sylvia’s in Harlem for ” rib sticking ” Southern food. Chitlins, corn bread, collared greens, the works……On the wall next to our table were photos of the many celebrities for whom Sylvia’s is an obligatory destination above 125th street. Among them was ex-president Clinton, whose office is within easy walking distance.

As we were leaving the restaurant and getting into my car, Purvis shyly asked whether we could stop by and take a look the Apollo Theater.

He said he’d love see the place where so many of his Jazz and Blues heroes had performed. We took in the Apollo and Times Square, which he also wanted to visit, before I deposited Purvis at the home of a major collector, where he and his manager were staying.

Somewhere among Purvis’s belongings his wife Eddie May may find a baseball cap emblazoned with the word ” Harlem ” in sequins which I purchased from a street vendor for Purvis that day. That was the last time I was to see Purvis in this life but his massive presence will remain with me always.

There’s an old Russian saying which goes: “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.”

Purvis was an archetypal “hedgehog” and the one big thing he knew is that he was born to paint.

Now Purvis rests among the Angels which he painted so assiduously all of his adult life. The same Angels which appeared to him in his prison cell as a teenager and told him that a new life as an artist would be waiting for him outside.

And what a life it’s been ! What an amazing out-pouring of creativity, of artistic growth and exploration.

A ” Great Soul ” has left us….

Fortunately Purvis Young’s work will continue to inspire and give pleasure, not just to us, but to future generations.
Of that I am absolutely certain.

Miami Artist Purvis Young Dead at 67

We have just learned from one of Purvis Young’s lifelong friends that Purvis passed away this morning in Miami.

Purvis had just turned 67 on February 4th of this year.

Those of us who had the privilege of being his friend know that a “ great soul “ has been taken from us. Purvis Young was a true and consummate artist who lived entirely for his art. He leaves behind a colossal body of work which has already given pleasure to countless people who have seen it in the over sixty museums in in which his vibrant expressionistic paintings have been shown.

Purvis Young will live on through his paintings and in the memory of his friends and myriad collectors.

Current Exhibition: True to Life – Katie O’ Hagan

Katie O’Hagan grew up in a small village in northern Scotland, where she spent her childhood sketching the customers who came in for a pint at her father’s pub. When she was sixteen years old, she won second prize in a competition to design a poster for a popular Scottish band. This brought her to the attention of her high school art teacher and at his urging she jettisoned her prior plans to join the merchant navy and instead entered the Edinburgh College of Art, where she studied metal work and silversmithing. After graduating, Katie moved to New York City, where she started tending bar and resumed her childhood habit of drawing the customers who came in for a drink. However, it wasn’t until she picked up a set of oil paints in 2004 that she began to take herself seriously as an artist. “From the beginning, it was something I could automatically work with,” she recalls. She took three days of classes with the renowned portrait artist Paul McCormack – the only formal painting instruction she’s ever had – and began pursuing portraiture in earnest. “I love abstract work,” she says, “but it’s not my realm. All I’ve ever been good at or wanted to do is render a likeness.” In addition to William Merritt Chase and John Singer Sargent, her influences include Odd Nerdrum, Burton Silverman and David Leffel. Her work has shown in “Art Along on the Hudson” at the Cuneen Hackett Art Center in Poughkeepsie, and in several galleries in Beacon, New York. A former resident of the East Village, she currently lives in Beacon with her husband John, an architect, and their two daughters.