Purvis Young
acrylic and mixed media on cardboard
Art measures 18 x 29.25 inches
Frame measures 24.5 x 34.5 inches
Signed lower right
#007001

The painting is an expressive, abstract work by Purvis Young with a strong emphasis on dynamic brushwork and a limited color palette dominated by deep reds, off-whites, and subtle accents of earthy brown, red and yellow. The raw energy of the painting depicts a stylized street scene rendered in fast brush work and energetic, calligraphic style. The heavily textured with visible impasto, scraping, and layered brushstrokes create a sense of depth and energy with hints of underlying colors like red and brown peeking through. A wonderful example of the urban or social expressionism style, with the thick, tactile paint application and the way the thrown paint emerges from the white “chaos,” gives it a dramatic, almost sculptural presence on the two-dimensional surface, giving the piece a raw, aged, or weathered quality, almost like an old fresco or a heavily worked surface. The overall style appears to be influenced by Abstract Expressionism, as seen in the work of Willem de Kooning or Franz Kline, with its gestural energy combined with elements of figurative abstraction. The painting is signed by the artist lower right. It comes housed in a matted frame under glass, and hanging wire on verso ready to be displayed.