CHARLES MCGEE (1924 - 2021) Untitled (Still Life).
Oil on masonite board, 1952. 610x406 mm; 24x16 inches. Signed and dated in oil, lower right.
Provenance: private collection, Michigan.
This still life is one of the earliest paintings by this important Detroit artist to come to auction. Beginning in 1947, Charles McGee was attending art classes part time at the Society of Arts and Crafts in Detroit (now the College for Creative Studies). In 1951, he studied oil painting with the director Sarkis Sarkisian and was a classmate of Hughie Lee-Smith. From this early, academic beginning, McGee's work evolved into the large, vibrant and multimedia constructions that he is known for today. His works are now in many museum collections, including the Detroit Institute of Arts, Howard University and Clark Atlanta University. In 2009, Dr. Julia R. Myers curated the first major retrospective of his work with the exhibition and catalogue Energy, Charles McGee at Eighty-Five at Eastern Michigan University. The artist recently passed away on February 4th of this year. Myers pp. 6-7.
