CHARLES L. SALLÉE, JR. (1911 - 2006) Boogie Woogie.
Etching, 1941. 150x89 mm; 5 7/8x3 1/2 inches, full margins. Signed and titled in pencil, lower margin. A good impression of this very scarce print.
Illustrated: James A. Porter, Modern Negro Art, Howard University Press, Washington, DC, 1992, p. 276.
We believe this is the first print by this artist, and only his second work, to appear at auction. Swann Galleries sold a painting by Sallée on February 19, 2008.
In 1936, Charles Sallée was the first African American to graduate from the Cleveland Institute of Art. Sallée was a leader and teacher of the Karamu group in Cleveland, an artist colony for various writers, artists, dancers and actors, which included Hughie Lee-Smith and William E. Smith. He contributed greatly with his mural painting and printmaking for the WPA during 1936 -1941.
