Collect: American Art Featuring 'Touching the Sun' - The Collection of Dr. Julian Katz and Dr. Sheila Moriber Katz

Please note that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the present lot will go to the Julian and Sheila Katz Scholarship Fund at the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine. To learn more about Dr. Julian Katz and Dr. Sheila Moriber Katz, please visit our website. For other works from the Katz Collection, see lots 69 - 90. 

Hailing from the Overtown neighborhood in Miami, Florida, Purvis Young pioneered a unique blend of collage and painting that drew from the experiences of African Americans in the southern United States. As a young boy he was introduced to drawing by his uncle, despite initially losing interest, Young's trajectory took a significant turn during his teenage years after serving a three-year stint in North Florida's Raiford State Penitentiary for breaking and entering. It was behind bars that Young rediscovered his passion for art, immersing himself in drawing and studying art books.

In the early 1970s, inspired by the mural movements in Chicago and Detroit, Young embarked on a transformative journey. Despite having no prior professional painting experience, he felt compelled to adorn the boarded-up storefronts of a vacant alley in Overtown, dubbed Goodbread Alley, with his creations. Using found wood from the streets as his canvas, Young fearlessly displayed his works, undeterred by their occasional disappearances. His murals attracted attention, particularly from tourists, and he began selling paintings directly off the wall.

Young's groundbreaking initiative caught the eye of Bernard Davis, a wealthy art patron and owner of the Miami Art Museum, who became a staunch supporter, providing him with essential painting supplies. This partnership propelled Young into the realm of cult contemporary artists, with his works finding homes in prestigious institutions such as the American Folk Art Museum, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

In recognition of his significant contributions to the art world, Purvis Young was posthumously inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 2018.