Black crayon on textured wove paper, 1963. 610x405 mm; 24 1/2x16 inches. Signed and dated in pencil, lower margin.
Provenance: gift from the artist; private New York collection.
This drawing is a very good example of how Norman Lewis used both the tone and material of black to give an abstract form atmosphere. In this year, Norman Lewis with Romare Bearden founded the important Spiral Group, which called for black artists to re-address the social and political aspects of their work in response to the unfolding events of the Civil Rights struggle. Lewis was its first chairman and joined Hale Woodruff, James Yeargans, Charles Alston, Emma Amos, Calvin Douglass, Perry Ferguson, Reginald Gammon, Alvin Hollingsworth, Felrath Hines, William Majors, Richard Mayhew, Earle Miller and Merton Simpson in meetings at Bearden's Chinatown studio.
