Oil on cotton canvas, 1971. 2083x1778 mm; 82x70 inches. Signed, titled, dated and inscribed "New York" in ink, verso.
Provenance: the artist; ARA Art Corporation, New York, with the label verso; private New York collection.
This aptly titled painting is the first of Bill Hutson's 1970s abstract paintings, and his largest, to come to auction. We have located only one other large canvas from his brief, first period in New York--his Sasa of the First Creation Crossing a Bone Path North by Northeast, 1971, was exhibited at the Newark Museum, May 13 - September 6, 1971. In 1971, Huston moved to New York after living and working in Europe since 1963. While in Rome the year before his return to the States, Hutson was inspired to paint imaginary symbols and signs derived from African philosphy. Once back in New York, he sublet Joe Overstreet's studio at 186 Bowery, and met Al Loving, Bob Blackburn, Melvin Edwards and many other New York artists. Loving also introduced Hutson to the dealer William Zierler, who purchased several of the paintings he had made in Paris. After winning the Cassandra Foundation Award, Hutson returned to France in 1972.
Hutson describes himself as essentially a self-taught artist, educator and amateur archivist who traveled extensively for exhibitions, work and research. Hutson's work is found in many private and public collections, including the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Brandywine Graphic Workshop, the Columbus Museum of Art, Franklin and Marshall College, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Newark Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the National Museum of Southern Australia. Jones p. 15.
