Merton Daniel Simpson was an American abstract expressionist painter and African and tribal art collector and dealer.
23 Facts About Merton Simpson
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At the age of 13 Simpson was discovered by local artist William Halsey who took Simpson under his wing.
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Merton Simpson frequently went in to privately work with his mentor Halsey.
4.
Merton Simpson became the first African American to receive a prestigious five-year fellowship from the Charleston Scientific and Cultural Education fund and left South Carolina in 1949 for New York City after he finished high school.
5.
Merton Simpson attended New York University for the first year and got accepted by Cooper Union.
6.
Merton Simpson took classes at NYU during the day and Cooper Union at night.
7.
Merton Simpson got a job at the frame shop of Herbert Benevy.
8.
At NYU Merton Simpson became acquainted with Hale Woodruff, William Baziotes and Robert Motherwell.
9.
Out of all the colleges Merton Simpson attended in New York, he credited the frame shop for giving him his real education.
10.
Merton Simpson enlisted in the Air Force in 1951 and went to Griffiss Air Force Base near Utica, New York for basic training.
11.
Merton Simpson did a portrait of base commander General Howell and assigned him to Special Service.
12.
Merton Simpson played in the Air Force Band, but was told that there was a greater need for artists.
13.
Merton Simpson's title was official Air Force artist and he spent his time in service painting a number of military commanders including Chief of Staff General Nathan Farragut Twining and General Dwight D Eisenhower who paid Simpson $100 for painting his portrait.
14.
Merton Simpson divided his time between Paris and New York where he set up his own gallery in the 1950s.
15.
Merton Simpson was a member of the historic Spiral which was formed by fellow artists and colleagues Romare Bearden, Charles Alston, Norman Lewis, and Hale Woodruff on July 5,1963.
16.
The social and political movements of the decade in general and the Harlem Riot of 1964 which Merton Simpson witnessed firsthand had a particular impact on his painting.
17.
Merton Simpson was drawn to African and tribal art after seeing some sculptures that Paul Robeson, Julius Carl Clark, and Hale Woodruff had in their personal collections.
18.
Merton Simpson learned much about African and tribal art by visiting the gallery of Julius Carlebach, a dealer in rare items.
19.
Merton Simpson began collecting and dealing modern artists alongside the traditional indigenous works of art from Africa.
20.
Merton Simpson learned to play the saxophone, tenor sax, clarinet and flute as a youth in Charleston.
21.
Merton D Simpson married Beatrice Houston, his childhood sweetheart from South Carolina in 1954.
22.
In 2010, Mr Merton Simpson received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the College of Charleston, his artwork and select items from his collection featured in the "Divine Influences" exhibition at the Wilmer Jennings Gallery in New York City, a fifty-year solo retrospective exhibition at Hampton III Gallery in South Carolina, and had a major museum exhibition of his "Confrontation" paintings at the Greenville County Museum of Art among other milestones that year.
23.
Merton Simpson filed for a failed legal guardianship of his father subsequently leading to financial challenges, the gallery's closure, and legal disputes within the family and with the court-appointed legal guardian Ann Pinciss Berman up to and after Mr Simpson's death on March 9,2013.