Mixed media on masonite board, including string collage, 1953. 1219x902 mm; 48x35 1/2 inches. Signed and dated in acrylic, lower right.
Provenance: private collection, Illinois.
This striking modernist painting is a large and scarce, early work by this artist. Born 1922 in Kansas City, Missouri, Phillip Jewel Hampton was an artist and educator whose practice was inspired by the traditions of the Old Masters and the progressiveness of social realism. In 1943 he was drafted through selective service into the U. S. Army and served two years in World War II. Hampton eventually received a BFA in illustration from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1951 and an MFA in 1952. That year Hampton joined the teaching staff of the Savannah State University to build an art and design program, and by the mid-1950s, his work shifted to abstraction. Hampton's long career as an educator culminated with his retirement from Southern Illinois University in 1992, after which he was honored with the title Professor Emeritus. Lahs-Gonzales pp: 2-5.
