 Albert Sperath |
“I want to paint! My life is dedicated to painting, and what is more — to painting the Negro. There is so much to paint and so little time,” said Ellis Wilson in 1941. Wilson’s passion for painting took him from his hometown of Mayfield, Ky., to New York City, and by capturing the everyday lives of African Americans, his works helped pave the way for the success of other African-American painters in the mid- to late 20th century. Kentucky Muse follows his life and career in an encore presentation of the KET documentary Ellis Wilson––So Much to Paint, airing Sunday, Feb. 17 at 10/9 p.m. CT on KET2 and Tuesday, Feb. 19 at 9/8 p.m. CT on KET1.
Born in 1899, Wilson grew up in a time of segregation and prejudice. Though his artistic interest and ability were apparent from an early age, few opportunities existed for him in Mayfield. In 1919, he moved to Chicago to attend the Art Institute. In 1928, he arrived in Harlem, New York, where a renaissance of black creativity in the arts was under way.
In the mid-1940s, Wilson embarked on a trip that would change the course of his work, traveling to Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina to sketch and paint scenes from the daily lives of African Americans using bold shapes and vivid colors. Though he was adamant that there was no such thing as “black art” — only art made by black people — Wilson strived to capture African-American life with feeling and understanding throughout the remaining decades of his life.
Though he never attained great fame or fortune while alive, Wilson attracted renewed attention beginning in the 1980s, when his painting “Funeral Procession” was featured in an episode of the television series The Cosby Show. In 2000, Murray State University hosted a major retrospective of his work. In addition to providing a moving account of Wilson’s life, the documentary introduces the efforts of Albert Sperath, curator of the Murray show, to locate Wilson paintings lost over time.
Ellis Wilson––So Much to Paint is presented as a Kentucky Muse encore presentation. The 2000 documentary was produced and directed by Guy Mendes. A grant from the Kentucky Humanities Council provided major funding for this program.
