Acrylic on linen canvas, 1998. 610x508 mm; 24x20 inches. Signed and dated in acrylic, lower left.
Provenance: acquired directly from the artist; private collection, Philadelphia.
A native Philadelphian, Columbus Knox's talent was recognized early by both his teachers and his older brother who was also an artist. Knox took art classes at St. Simon's Church and received a community scholarship from Central High School to attend the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Arts (now the University of the Arts in Philadelphia). After a tour of duty in World War II, he finished his studies, working with such professors such as Albert Gold, John Lear, Henry C. Pitz and Kirk Merrick.
Columbus Knox's painting Project Blues is in the permanent collection of the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, South Carolina. His work has been included in exhibitions at the Woodmere Art Museum, African-American Museum of Philadelphia, the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, the University of Pennsylvania and the Free Library of Philadelphia. Through his affiliation with the Minority Resource Arts Council and as the former art director for The West Philadelphia Art Alliance's Celebrating Art, Knox provided inspiration for young emerging artists and for people who may have had limited exposure to art galleries and museums. Knox worked as an art director for the Philadelphia based U.S. Naval Supply Depot, and was a graphic designer and illustrator for other government agencies. In the 1980s, he retired as a visual media specialist for the Federal Office of Mining and Safety.
