1. Ellis Wilson was an African-American artist associated with the Harlem Renaissance.
14 Facts About Ellis Wilson
1. 2.
Ellis Wilson later attended the Kentucky Normal and Industrial Institute in Frankfort for two years, but was only allowed to take courses in agriculture and education.
3.
Interested in studying art, Wilson left school at 19 and moved to Chicago where he studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
4.
Ellis Wilson completed his art studies in 1923 and lived in Chicago for the next five years, seeking work as a commercial artist.
5.
Ellis Wilson moved to Harlem, New York from Chicago after hearing Alain Locke speak at a Chicago art exhibition titled "The Negro in Art Week" in 1927.
6.
Ellis Wilson moved the following year where he joined the Harlem Artists Guild and worked at a brokerage house.
7.
When Ellis Wilson first arrived in New York, black artists could not exhibit their work in mainstream galleries.
8.
Ellis Wilson became an active member of the Harlem Renaissance, a collaborative effort to promote and exhibit the work of black artists.
9.
Ellis Wilson participated in many of the exhibitions associated with the movement.
10.
Ellis Wilson worked for the Federal Art Project from 1935 to 1940.
11.
Ellis Wilson was commissioned to create triptychs for US Army and Navy chaplains.
12.
Ellis Wilson was very interested in Haiti and visited the country after receiving an award from the Terry Art Institute in 1952.
13.
Ellis Wilson is most noted for his paintings of Haitian people and culture.
14.
Ellis Wilson's painting "Funeral Procession" was featured in the American television NBC sitcom The Cosby Show, in Season 2, "The Auction".