The titles tell the story. “Wash Day,” “Alabama,” “Makin’ Pie,” “American Negro Exposition” all awaken the imagination.
The titles help us remember. “Captured,” “Sorrow” and “Race Relations” all bring memories, often poignant or painful.
The title of this show emphasizes that the works are vital, and they are. Tyler Fine Art’s current exhibition, The Parkway Collection of Important 20th Century African-American Works of Art, calls forth the question, “Why haven’t we seen more art from this period in galleries and museums?”
Walter Ellison’s “Bronzeville” presents a small, but a keyhole view of a black Chicago community. Goodwill abounds. One young man lifts his arms in greeting to all who may pay attention. Two men, one wearing a topcoat and another a railway cap, shake hands. Others carry traveling bags over their shoulders. A well-dressed woman, her vermilion dress accented with white necklace and shoes, wears a hat topped with flowers. Utopian hopes are embodied in the “welcome” banner, strung overhead.
Clusters of people fill the promenade, which is ringed with a façade of shop fronts. Yet dark brooding tenements are just behind this screen of vitality and congeniality. The symmetrical composition is more evocative of a shallow stage than a real neighborhood.
The artist’s palette is of bronzy tones, olive greens and yellow ochre, highlighted with splashes of vermilion. Glazes bring richness to the colors, painted on a simple board. Although drawn with receding perspective, the painting has a lovely patterned flatness. It is executed with a careful intelligence that never falls into pickiness.
“Makin’ Pie,” Palmer Hayden’s somewhat larger work, employs lemon yellows and ochres, greens and browns to present a domestic scene. A woman’s large figure dominates the canvas, as she toils with apparent love for home, food and simple life. She wears comfortable slippers and a yellow apron; cheerful blue flowers adorn her dress, as she works at a sturdy wood table set with apples, eggs and a clay pitcher. Beneath the table, a dog snoozes, possibly awaiting a few crumbs to fall to the floor. In the background, a broom rests against the doorframe, and freshly washed towels hang to dry. A clock reveals that it’s almost lunchtime. A basket under the table is empty; clothes have been folded and put away. Dishes are stacked in the cupboard. Everything in the picture speaks of tranquility and peace. One can almost hear the woman singing, imagining family that will soon enjoy her pie.
Another fine work is John Wesley Hardrick’s portrait of a youth. The title figure in “A Seasoned Angler” stands as a strong shape against a clapboard building. His simple stick fishing pole, with its red and white cork bobber, leans against the structure. The complex personality of the young man comes through. He looks directly at us with a twinkle in his eye, yet he maintains a bit of shyness and wariness. It’s clear he’s had a variety of experiences in his young life.
But my favorite in the show is Hughie Lee-Smith’s “Urban Street Scene.” This horizontal painting, a bit more than a foot high by two feet wide, portrays people of various ages along the sidewalk outside an auto service store which – we learn from the sign painted on the boarded-up window — has moved. The light is early evening, a glow from the sunset lingering on. The colors have been subtly applied — yellow, pink, steely grays and greens, along with rich umbers. Three youths huddle on a bench to the left of the doorway. A man visits with two women on the sidewalk; three children sit on the sidewalk, a youth in the background. Another man pushes a wheelbarrow down the sidewalk, finishing a day’s labor. The street is clean; the trash barrels have been filled. Amid the big city, these subjects convey genuine community, yet there is also a hint of isolation and quiet sadness.
The exhibited artists present their experiences – primarily of urban life – in honest, warm and heartfelt settings and in a variety of styles. Each displays his own version of early 20th-century style, reflective but not imitative of his African heritage. At a time when much art seems to avoid simple emotion, these works uphold the dignity of hard work, the reward of companionship and community.
In the shadow of Washington University, 5-year old Tyler Fine Art offers an enriching cultural experience, to be found nowhere else in St. Louis and in few other art markets. This show, curated by Thom Pegg, is well worth seeing. I hope several of these works stay in town, where they would make fine museum acquisitions.
• The Parkway Collection of Important 20th Century African-American Works of Art continues through Sept. 28 at Tyler Fine Art, 282 N. Skinker Blvd.
