Original Black Folk art painting on wood by famous LEON KENNEDY in Smithsonian.

Pricing & History

Sold for
Start Free Trial or Sign In to see what it's worth.
Sold Date
Source eBay

Painting of Blue Face on wood Plate SIGNED by LEON KENNEDY “Blue and White Face” Drawing Measures: 10" x 10” x 1" Condition: Excellent condition with gallery marking and sticker on back. From an Exhibit @ Inferno Gallery. Materials: Paint, pen, and pencil on wood Subject: Face Date: 2015 Signed and dated on front and back. This work by Leon Kennedy is documented and archived for provenance, to be published by Bay Artwork. It is included in his digital catalogue raisonné. African-American spiritual visionary Leon Kennedy (b. 1945, Houston, Texas) uses mixed media on found objects to paint ecstatic visions, memory paintings, and urban life portraits. Kennedy is featured on several pages of Rosnak's "Contemporary American Folk Art" (Abbeville, 1996), and in Betty-Carol Sellen's important survey, "Self Taught, Outsider, and Folk Art" (McFarland & Company, 1999). In 1997, the Smithsonian Institution purchased 200 significant works from the renowned Rosenak collection for an undisclosed sum estimated to be near $2M. This acquisition included a bed-sheet by Kennedy. The 1997 Folk Art Messenger, Vol. 10, No.3, reported that the acquisition makes the Smithsonian American Art Museum the world's preeminent repository for American self-taught art. "It is our desire to see them as part of the history of 20th-century American art," said Chuck Rosenak. Mentioning Kennedy, the article notes these works were the first American collection exhibited at the Collection de l'Art Brut, Switzerland, which "testifies to its quality and uniqueness." The Leon Kennedy masterwork now resides at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, while photos of Kennedy and other materials of Kennedy's are available for study at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Collections Smithsonian American Art Museum. The House of Blues. American Visionary Art Museum. Ames Gallery Solo Exhibitions 2009 – A440 Gallery, AMERICAN VISIONARY, San Francisco, CA 2005 – Kings Gallery, San Francisco Unitarian Universalist Church 2000 – Oakland City Hall, Oakland, CA 1996 – Good Samaritan Baptist Church, Oakland, CA 1995 – La Pena Cultural Center, Berkeley, CA 1992 – West Berkeley Senior Citizens Center, Berkeley, CA 1988 – Richmond City Hall, Richmond, CA Group Shows – New York Outsider Art Fair 2007 – Revolving Museum, Lowell, MA, "Race Class Gender" 2006 – American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, MD, "Race Class Gender" 2005 – Robert Cargo Gallery, PA, "The Dream Lives On" 2005 – Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA 2003 – Black Box, Oakland, CA, "Absolute Reflection" 2000 – San Francisco Arts Commission "Extraordinary Artists," The Ames Gallery 2000 – SOMArts Gallery, San Francisco, CA 1999 – Visual Aid's "Big Deal" 1997 – Collection de l'Art Brut, Lausanne, Switzerland 1996 – Sheppard Art Gallery, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, "Memories and Visions" 1994 – African American Museum, Dallas, TX 1994 – Skyline College, San Bruno, CA, "Emerging Talent: African American Artists of CA" 1992 – California State University, Hayward, CA, "Vernacular Art" 1992 – 2000 – Berkeley Civic Arts Commission, Berkeley, CA (Windows Project) 1991 – Creative Growth Art Center, Oakland, CA, "The Gospel Connection" with Louis Estape Bibliography Contemporary American Folk Art: A Collectors Guide . ROSENAK, CHUCK and JAN ROSENAK, New York: Abbeville, 1996. The Folk Art Messenge r. Vol. 10, No. 3, Spring, Summer 1997. Self Taught, Outsider, and Folk Art. Betty-Carol Sellen, (McFarland & Company, 1999). Black Creation: A Quarterly Review of Black Arts and Letters . Vol. 4 (Fall 1972). Beauford, Fred, ed. The Black Artist in America: An Index to Reproductions , THOMISON, DENNIS. Metuch... read more

Items in the Price Guide are obtained exclusively from licensors and partners solely for our members’ research needs.

Flag item for content or copyright

If this item contains incorrect or inappropriate information please contact us here to flag it for review.

If you are the originator/copyright holder of this photo/item and would prefer it be excluded from our community, contact us here for removal.