Hayward Oubre (1916-2006) by BLACK ART AUCTION

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H AY WA R D O U B R E (1916-2006)

E D U C AT I O N

Hayward Oubre was born in New Orleans in 1916 to parents of black and French ancestry. Young Hayward displayed an early aptitude for art while attending parochial school in New Orleans. After graduation, he attended Dillard University from 1935-1939, where he was involved in both the art and athletic programs. In addition to working as an illustrator for the college newspaper and full time as a janitor to support his studies, he participated in football and track. He graduated in 1939 as the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very first art major. After graduation from Dillard, Oubre traveled to Atlanta to further his studies under Hale Woodruff, Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, and to a lesser extent, Fred Flemister, for 18 months at Clark Atlanta University. It was at Woodruffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s urging, that Oubre went to the Tuskegee Institute in 1941 to assist with projects for the new student union building being built on its campus. A highlight of his experience at Tuskegee was meeting George Washington Carver, who was by that time enjoying a true celebrity status for his achievements.

Oubre in his Dillard University sweater

Oubre and his award winning mural, Dillard University

Oubre working at Tuskegee

Master Sergeant Hayward L. Oubre, US Army

Oubre was then drafted into the Army where he served (1941-1943) with distinction as a master sergeant in the 97th regiment, consisting of 3,700 black engineers. They were tasked with the construction of the 1522 Alcan Highway, a military supply route which connected posts in Alaska with the mid continental United States. These men and their amazing accomplishments were finally recognized 50 years later, in 1993, and Oubre spoke at the Pentagon, where he was honored for his service.

Oubre wed Juanita Bernice Hurel in 1945. Hayward had met Juanita when they were students at Dillard. The couple decided to attend graduate school at the University of Iowa. Oubre worked toward his MFA , and was the third African American to receive such a degree there. Juanita studied Speech and Drama.

Juanita and Hayward

Oubre, University of Iowa

Elizabeth Catlett, Mother and Child, c. 1956

Houston Chandler, Gorilla, c. 1946

Although Oubre worked in many mediums throughout his career, he seemed to gravitate toward printmaking and sculpture in the 1940s. This is understandable due to the principal artistic influences he had encountered as a student: in Atlanta, he studied under sculptor Nancy Elizabeth Prophet; and although Hale Woodruff, his other teacher, was certainly a painter, in the early 1940s, he invested a considerable amount of energy to printmaking. The murals at Talladega College had been installed in 1939, and in the following years leading up to 1943—when he left for New York on a Rosenwald Scholarship, Woodruff continued to execute linocuts (now commonly known as “Selections from the Atlanta Period”) on similar subjects. At the University of Iowa, Oubre came in contact with two other artists who focused on sculpture and printmaking: Elizabeth Catlett and Houston Chandler. The stylistic influence of these artists is evident in his early sculpture.

Street Vendor, c. 1946; oil/canvas

Charles White, Fight for Freedom, c. 1945; tempera/board

His efforts in painting had a similar feel. Street Vendor, 1946, is a powerful, successful image of social realism, but also reminiscent of work done by a number of African American artists in the mid-1940s. The same year, Oubre began exhibiting at the Atlanta University Annuals. The Atlanta Annuals (Annual Exhibition of Drawings, Paintings, Sculpture and Prints by Negro Artists) were initiated by Hale Woodruff in 1942. This annual platform brought an awareness of black artists around the country of their contemporaries, and according to Floyd Coleman, “No other exhibition program in the history of African American art—the earlier Harmon Foundation Exhibitions—notwithstanding—contributed more to the development of the Black artist.” A year later, in 1947, three of his works were accepted in Atlanta; two etchings, Silent Sentinel and Entanglement, and a painting, Vase of Flowers. Silent Sentinel won the Second Atlanta Purchase Award for Print. Oubre’s graphic work was highly influenced by Argentine printmaker, Mauricio Lasansky, who began teaching at the University of Iowa in 1945. Lasansky established the first MFA program for printmaking in the country at Iowa. Both artist’s self portraits were included in an exhibit, “A New Direction in Intaglio: The Work of Mauricio Lasansky and His Students” at the Walker Art Center and the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center (1949).

Self Portrait, c. 1948; etching

Mauricio Lasansky, Self Portrait

CAREER Oubre graduated from Iowa in 1948 and spent the next three decades as an educator, developing art departments at Florida A&M University (1948-49), Alabama State College (1950-65), and Winston Salem State University (1965-81). During his tenure at Winston Salem, he published A Concise Study of Color Mixing and Color Relationships and received a copyright for his 3 intensity color wheel, which corrected the color triangle originally devised by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Juanita worked as a professor of Speech and Drama and was the President of the National Association of Dramatic Arts and Speech Arts. He continued to show his work in exhibitions and was an almost permanent fixture in the juried exhibitions held at Atlanta University between 1946 and 1969. Fifty-five of his works were shown at the exhibitions. He received eight awards and two honorable mentions combined. The year 1956 marked a turning point in Oubre’s career and in his art. He was disappointed with the quality of work that was selected for first prize (at the Atlanta Annuals). “I went to wire because I was mad,” Oubre said. “I’m going to do something to make people see that I am an unusual artist,” he thought.

Oubre’s revised Color Wheel

A student with Crown of Thorns, Atlanta University

With a technical ability culled from his stint with the Army engineering corps combined with his ingenious artistry, Oubre set about creating his first wire sculpture, Proud Rooster, which was ultimately rejected from the Atlanta University juried exhibition in 1956. He did not allow this to deter him and continued to work on his process. His sculptures were created entirely from old wire hangers twisted together by hand using pliers and a wire cutter. The completed form was sprayed with various colors of enamel and mounted on a hollow plinth. The next sculpture he entered in the 16th annual exhibition (1957), Crown of Thorns, won first prize and remained a part of the university’s permanent collection. “I use wire clothes hangers like a tailor uses thread.” Oubre equated the structure of his sculptures to those of bridges and skyscrapers because they are strong, flexible, and mostly hollow. “This is engineering,” he said of his work. Often regarded as the “Master of Torque” and the “Master of the Stabile”, Oubre received considerable recognition and acclaim for his wire sculptures and earned comparisons to Alexander Calder. Upon retiring from his academic career in 1981, Oubre returned to Winston-Salem to serve as curator of the Selma Burke Art Gallery.

F R I E N D S , A S S O C I AT E S , A N D S T U D E N T S

NCA Conference, Lincoln University, 1954

Oubre met James Parks, an artist and teacher at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, most likely through Juanita, who taught speech and drama there for a time. Parks formed the NCA (The National Conference of Arts was originally the National Conference of Art Teachers in Negro Colleges) in 1954, and members included James Porter, Samella Lewis, Phillip Hampton and Oubre, among others. The title, “NCA” was formally adopted in 1959 in Atlanta, under the leadership of Margaret Burroughs. The photo shows an NCA conference at Lincoln University in 1954. Those pictured include: Jimmy Moseley, Samella Lewis, F. Spellman, Phillip Hampton, Juanita Moulon, James Porter, Eugene Brown and Hayward Oubre. Oubre also knew Albert Wells from Atlanta University. Wells was part of the “Outhouse School” associated with Woodruff; Wells was also a member of the NCA. Oubre had met Dr Isaac Scott Hathaway at Alabama State. Dr Hathaway was well known for his busts and “death masks” of famous African Americans. Oubre had also crossed paths with John Biggers at Florida A&M and again at Alabama State in 1949. Charles Alston was on a Guggenheim fellowship in Atlanta when Oubre studied there. Oubre spoke very highly of Alston and Woodruff as artists and people in an oral interview given to Camille Billops. In that same interview, Oubre discussed the notion put forth to allow white artists to exhibit in the Atlanta Annuals: “They couldn’t. Mr. Woodruff wanted them to (because he went to NYU which was integrated) but they ran a survey among Black artists and the idea was refused. I knew that this show was instigated because blacks did not have a chance to show, but because I think so much of democracy I voted in favor of whites coming in.” Gregory Ridley, William Anderson, Herman Kofi Bailey, Floyd Coleman, Noah Jemison, Arthur Britt, Paul Gary, John Feagin, and Harper Phillips were students of Oubre who continued to produce art professionally.

WORK

Student posing with The Ram, which is on display at the C. G. O’Kelly Library, Winston-Salem State University Oubre posing with his sculpture, Crescendo

Oubre was an artist, but he was equally interested in science and nature. He likened his wire sculptures to structural engineering, and the subject matter of many of his paintings was space and astronomical phenomena. Post-war America was fascinated with atomic energy and eventually, the space race. Modernism in design was prevalent in buildings, automobiles, furniture, etc. Not unlike Charles Eames’ use of new materials discovered for war-time purposes in the design of household furniture, Oubre incorporated engineering and scientific discoveries into the subject of his art. His paintings became collages, incorporating a mixture of paint and resin to create an unusual surface. Some of his abstract wire sculptures resembled models for atomic particles with titles sounding like chemical reactions. Even typical subjects such as The Prophet or Tribal Chief take on a modernist aesthetic based on the material and the use of positive and negative space in the composition. In 1960, he exhibited Cosmic Forces at the Atlanta Annuals and in 1962, the year American John Glenn orbited the Earth, Oubre exhibited Flight into Space, which won the first WAOK Radio Purchase Award. Oubre’s subjects were by no means limited to scientific themes. In 1965, he executed the wire sculpture, Hollow Yes Man (alternate title, No Heart), which he claimed was a statement about the dangers of “mindless power”. His etching Entanglement, from 1947, addressed the black man’s struggle with racism (represented by the snake). The Fatal Count, 1965, depicts a boxer, knocked out and bleeding. In a strictly literal sense, it might seem to depict the knockout of Sonny Liston by Muhammad Ali in their rematch fight of that year, but Oubre’s work frequently had more than one level of meaning. First of all, that one round knockout was hardly brutal enough to be titled “fatal”; in fact it was controversial in that many people were not even sure Liston was actually hit at all. It is much more likely this work speaks to the events of a horribly violent year in racial relations in the U.S. Malcolm X was assassinated, Jimmie Lee Jackson was killed in Perry County, and the violence in Selma, Alabama had all occurred by March, and then the Watts Riots in L.A. took place in August of the same year. In Oubre’s sculpture, all African Americans are represented by the boxer, fighting for equality and justice. “I am proud to be a black man.” “I want to be a black who is a damn accomplished man.” Because of his light complexion and French last name, Oubre was often mistaken for white, which put him in an uncomfortable place, having to hear the negative things whites said about blacks in private, while simultaneously feeling the full effects of racism on an African American male. Oubre refused to pass for white. Despite this, he felt that his art was shut out of the black community for being deemed not black enough by black writers and art historians. He became disillusioned with the art market and preferred to simply make art rather than exhibit or sell his work for many years. He very rarely sold his sculptures and kept them on display in his home.

EXHIBITIONS

INDIVIDUAL Florida A & M University, Tallahassee Fort Valley State College, Fort Valley, Georgia James G. Hanes Community Center, Winston-Salem, North Carolina Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Missouri Savannah State College, Savannah, Georgia Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois Southern University Branch, New Orleans Winston-Salem State University, North Carolina Spirit Square Gallery, Charlotte, North Carolina Greenville County Museum of Art, North Carolina; Deborah Force Fine Art, New York; Difficult to Impossible Steve Turner Contemporary, Hayward Oubre: Wire Sculpture from the Sixties Clark Atlanta University Art Galleries, Atlanta Bowie State College, Bowie, Maryland

GROUP Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia Jacksonville Art Museum, Jacksonville, Florida Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul, Minnesota Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, Dorchester, Massachusetts Southeastern Center of Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, North Carolina Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; Challenge of the Modern: African American Artists, 1925-1946 Winston-Salem Delta Fine Arts, Winston-Salem, North Carolina Atlanta University Annuals, Atlanta, Georgia Northwest Printmakers Exhibit, Seattle, Washington Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa Ball State Gallery, Muncie, Indiana

Isaac Delgado Museum, New Orleans, Louisiana Six States Exhibition, Omaha, Nebraska John and Mable Ringling Museum, Sarasota, Florida Stillman College, Tuscaloosa, Alabama Brockton Fourth Annual, Brockton, Massachusetts Madison Gallery, New York Alabama State College, Montgomery, Alabama; Exhibition of Prize-Winning Works from the Collection of Atlanta University David C. Driskell Center, University of Maryland; Tradition Redefined: The Larry and Brenda Thompson Collection of African American Art University of Delaware, Wilmington, Delaware; In Remembrance: Artists from the Paul R. Jones Collection Benton Convention Center, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Reflections: The Afro-American Artist: An Exhibit of Paintings, Sculpture, and Graphics Diggs Gallery, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Ascension: Works by African American Artists of North Carolina Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; In Search of Missing Masters: The Lewis Tanner Moore Collection of African American Art Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey; Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s-40â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s by African=American Artists University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware; African American Art: The Paul R. Jones Collection Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Art, Brooklyn, New York; From Challenge to Triumph: African American Prints & Printmaking, 1867-2002.

PRIZES 1939 1947 1947-49 1955 1957 1962 1963 1964 1968

Fine Arts Club, New Orleans; (Mural panels featuring abstract patterns of campus life, watercolor compositions, and sculptures of Negro heads) Iowa State Fair; First Prize Atlanta University Atlanta University Atlanta University; Second Prize for Verily I Say Unto You Atlanta University Emancipation Proclamation Centennial; Third Prize in sculpture Atlanta University Atlanta University

Hayward Oubre devoted his life to learning his craft, producing an impressive body of work, exhibiting, and teaching others. He never moved at a paceâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;rather, he pushed himself in each phase, always demanding more of himself and others, and this catalog and exhibit is a testimony to that. While his styles, his materials, and his subjects changed over the years, his expectations of himself did not. Oubre was also not afraid to take chances. He did it in his artwork, and he was vocal to institutions about problems and needed changes. His courage was perhaps his greatest attribute. Oubre once said that he would have been a rich man if he had been white. It is well known that few African American artists had serious representation in New York in the 1940s-50s, and in smaller cities it was difficult to gain enough momentum to capture national recognition and develop patrons. It is possible Oubre was correct in his statement, but perhaps along with that wealth would have come pressure to compromise, and it is clear in the case of Hayward Oubre that he was not for sale.

WORKS ON PAPER.................................14 PAINTINGS..............................................23 SCULPTURES..........................................41

Self Portrait c. 1948 etching 22 1/8” x 14 1/8” signed, titled, and dated artist’s proof

Exhibited: “Remembering the Atlanta University Art Annuals”, Clark Atlanta University Art Galleries (2003); Atlanta University Art Annuals: Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture and Prints by Negro Artists, 1948, Purchase Prize Winner; The Magnificent Seven, Hayward Oubre’s Students: Works from the Paul R. Jones Collection (2003), p. 14 (illus.); A New Direction in Intaglio: the Work of Maurico Lasansky and His Students, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (1949). Illustrated: “Tracing the Rise of Afro-American Art in North Carolina” (N.E. Pendergraft); American Negro Art, Cedric Dover, p. 55.

Entanglement c. 1963 graphite/paper 20” x 16 1/2” labels verso

Exhibited: Greenville County Museum of Art, North Carolina; From Difficult to Impossible, Deborah Force Fine Art, NY Entanglement was a subject manifested by Oubre in various mediums: graphite, etching, and wire sculpture. The etching was used by Scribner in 2004 for the cover art of the paperback version of Charles Johnson’s book, Oxherding Tale. Oubre said the subject depicted the struggle with racism, represented by the white snake.

Silent Sentinel c. 1947 etching 18” x 11 3/4” signed and dated artist’s proof labels verso

Exhibited: Greenville County Museum of Art, North Carolina; From Difficult to Impossible, Deborah Force Fine Art, NY; “Remembering the Atlanta University Art Annuals”, Clark Atlanta University Art Galleries (2003); Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s-40s by African American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams (il. 32); Remembering the Atlanta University Art Annuals, Clark Atlanta University Art Galleries (2003); Atlanta University Art Annuals: Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture and Prints by Negro Artists, 1947, Purchase Prize Winner.

(Portrait) c. 1962 drawing/board 20â&#x20AC;? x 11 1/2â&#x20AC;? signed and dated

(Man and Woman) c. 1962 drawing 16 1/4” x 12” signed and dated

Untitled c. 1953 drawing 13 1/2” x 8” signed and dated

(Untitled) c. 1963 drawing on board 20â&#x20AC;? x 11â&#x20AC;? signed and dated

(Conflict) c. 1963 drawing 20â&#x20AC;? x 12 5/8â&#x20AC;? pencil signed and dated

Aftermath c. 1947 etching 10 1/2” x 13 1/4” pencil signed and dated artist’s proof

Exhibited: Atlanta University Art Annuals: Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture and Prints by Negro Artists, 1949

Prodigal Son c. 1956 oil on canvas 34 3/8” x 26” signed and dated labels verso

Exhibited: Long Beach Museum of Art, “Exultations: 20th Century Masterworks by African American Artists, June-August, 1995”; Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, exhibition of the same name, illustrated in catalog, p. 20.

Interior Scene c. 1949 oil on canvas 36 1/4” x 28”

Still Life with Blue Vase c. 1950 oil on canvas 39 1/4” x 28”

Illustrated in The Hornet Tribune, the newspaper of Alabama State College, where Oubre was Teacher of the Year, May 1965.

Within These Portals c. 1960 oil on canvas 48â&#x20AC;? x 20â&#x20AC;? pencil signed and dated label verso

Exhibited: Atlanta University Art Annuals: Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture and Prints by Negro Artists, 1960

Family Group c. 1958 oil on canvas 46â&#x20AC;? x 18 1/4â&#x20AC;? signed indistinctly remnants of label verso

Exhibited: Atlanta University Art Annuals: Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture and Prints by Negro Artists, 1958 (label verso)

Atomic Energy c. 1966 oil on canvas 40” x 30” labels verso

Exhibited: From Difficult to Impossible, Greenville County Museum of Art, North Carolina; Deborah Force Fine Art, NY

Untitled c. 1960 oil on board 22” x 12” signed and dated faintly

Untitled c. 1960 resin and oil collage on board 34 1/4” x 16 1/4”

Betrayal

Untitled

c. 1955 oil on canvas 34” x 24” signed and dated LR, Oubre 1955 signed and titled on stretcher

c. 1961 oil on board 16 1/2” x 12 1/4” signed and dated

Exhibited: Atlanta University Art Annuals: Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture and Prints by Negro Artists, 1958

Untitled

c. 1960 oil on board 10 1/2” x 13 3/4” signed and dated

c. 1960 oil on canvas 34” x 24”

Counterpoint c. 1961 oil on board 22 3/4” x 12” label verso

Exhibited: Atlanta University Art Annuals: Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture and Prints by Negro Artists, 1961

Above the City c. 1961 oil on board 22” x 17 3/4” signed and dated

The Big Bang c. 1963 oil on canvas 16 3/8â&#x20AC;? x 26 1/4â&#x20AC;? signed and dated

Exhibited: Unidentified venue, label verso (Alabama State College listed as return address)

Untitled

c. 1965 oil on board 24” x 20” signed and dated

c. 1965 oil on board 19 3/4” x 23 7/8” signed front and verso

From The Terrace

Earth Satellite

c. 1965 oil on board 24” x 19 7/8” i.d. tag front

c. 1965 oil on board 24” x 20” signed and dated

label verso

titled verso

Exhibited: Unidentified venue, label verso

Festive Pavilions

Nightmare

c. 1965 oil on canvas 21 3/8” x 19 1/8” signed

c. 1965 oil and collage on canvas 18” x 24” signed and titled verso

label verso

Exhibited: Atlanta University Art Annuals: Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture and Prints by Negro Artists, 1965

Guardian Figure c. 1966 oil and collage on canvas 52” x 16 1/4” signed and dated labels verso

Exhibited: Festival of the African People, Los Angeles, CA, 1968 (label verso); From Difficult to Impossible, Deborah Force Fine Art, NY; Greenville County Museum of Art, North Carolina

Boxers c. 1952 oil and resin on canvas 32” x 18 1/2” signed and dated

Lunar Robot c. 1966 oil on canvas 36” x 26” signed and dated label verso

Exhibited: Atlanta University Art Annuals: Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture and Prints by Negro Artists, 1966

Portrait of a Bird

Mannequins

c. 1969 oil on canvas 18” x 14”

c. 1967 oil on board 24” x 20” signed and dated

label verso

Exhibited: Unidentified venue, label verso (Alabama State College listed as return address)

labels verso

Exhibited: Atlanta University Art Annuals: Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture and Prints by Negro Artists, 1968 ; From Difficult to Impossible, Deborah Force Fine Art, NY; Greenville County Museum of Art, North Carolina

Exhibited: From Difficult to Impossible, Deborah Force Fine Art, NY; Greenville County Museum of Art, North Carolina; Southern Illinois University, 1969; Talledega College, 1961; Atlanta University Art Annuals: Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture and Prints by Negro Artists, 1959 Illustrated: “Tracing the Rise of Afro-American Art in North Carolina” (N.E. Pendergraft); “Remembering the Atlanta University Art Annuals”, Clark Atlanta University Art Galleries (2003), catalog to the exhibit, p. 3; American Negro Art, Cedric Dover, pl. 55; Design; The Magazine of Creative Art, 1962, p. 79. (“The Art of Wire Sculpture: A Project by Hayward Oubre”.); American Visions: The Magazine of Afro-American Culture (Oct/Nov. 1997), p. 27.

Young Horse c. 1960 wire sculpture 60 1/4” x 18 1/4” x 60 1/2” label on base

Mother and Child (alternate titles: “The Fountainhead of Mankind” and “Gestation”) c. 1957/1976 bronze 32 1/2” x 22” x 21”

Illustrated: American Negro Art, Cedric Dover, pl. 78; Additional ref: Artist’s personal photographs; Image, “Who is Paul Jones? (A Master Collector Donates Priceless Art Collection to Universal of Delaware)”, p. 15 (2003). Collector Paul Jones is pictured with Oubre’s bronze, included in the collection gifted to the University of Delaware.

Eternal Woman c. 1956 plaster 30” x 9 3/8” x 8 3/8” label on base

Exhibited : Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture, and Prints by Negro Artists, Atlanta University (Annuals), 1957

Pondering c. 1955 plaster 20 1/2” x 12” x 13” signed and dated on base

Exhibited: Atlanta University Art Annuals: Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture and Prints by Negro Artists, 1955

Untitled c. 1955 wood 29 3/8” x 9 3/8” x 6 1/2” signed

Exhibited: “Hayward Oubre: A Retrospective”, Spirit Square Middleton McMillan Gallery (date unknown). “Head of Christ” is illustrated in a newspaper clipping, “Artists of Color”, announcing the exhibition. Illustrated: Design; The Magazine of Creative Art, 1962, p. 79. (“The Art of Wire Sculpture: A Project by Hayward Oubre”.) Head of Christ was executed roughly two years after Oubre’s similar work, Crown of Thorns, which won the first annual purchase prize offered at the Atlanta Annuals ($250). Oubre was not overtly religious, and approached the subject equally to nudes or abstracts.

Head of Christ c. 1959 wire 30 3/4” x 14 1/4” x 14 3/4” titled on base

Exhibited: Unidentified label on base (possibly Atlanta University) Prior to 1956, Oubre had exhibited seven sculptures at the Atlanta University Annuals, all of which were traditional in execution; the mediums were bronze, ceramic, wood and stone. Proud Rooster was the first submission of his new wire stabiles, and it was rejected (label on base). A year later, the committee turned 180 degrees, not only accepting his second attempt, Crown of Thorns , but awarded him best of show, purchasing the work for their permanent collection.

Proud Rooster c. 1956 wire 21 1/4” x 10 3/4” x 17” label on base

Tribal Chieftain c. 1957-62 wire 29” x 11 1/4” x 14” titled on base

African Maiden c. 1957 wire 30” x 12 1/2” x 14 1/4” label on base

Pygmy c. 1957 wire 45 1/2” x 14 3/4” x 12” labels on base

Exhibited: Atlanta University Art Annuals: Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture and Prints by Negro Artists, 1960; a second unindentified label on base

Seated Woman c. 1964 wire 48” x 22” x 12 1/4” label on base

Exhibited: 10th Annual...., 1964 (possibly Sarasota Art Association); Atlanta University Art Annuals: Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture and Prints by Negro Artists, 1964 (Second Atlanta Purchase Award). Illustrated: American Visions, The Magazine of Afro-American Culture , Nov. 1997, p. 27; additional ref: artist’s files (images); Design; The Magazine of Creative Art, 1962, p. 79. (“The Art of Wire Sculpture: A Project by Hayward Oubre”.)

Sight of Music c. 1960 wire 41” x 19” x 19” titled on tape in pen on base

The Sign of the Ram c. 1960 wire 38” x 18” x 19” pencil titled on base

Prophet c. 1958 wire 71 1/2” x 22 1/4” x 17 7/8” label on base

Exhibited: Unidentifiable exhibition label on base with title visible (1957) Illustrated: Design; The Magazine of Creative Art, 1962, p. 79. (“The Art of Wire Sculpture: A Project by Hayward Oubre”.); Sun Storm Fine Art, Fall, 1996, p. 50, “Hayward L. Oubre, African American ‘Renaissance Artist’”.

Eternal Flame c. 1960 wire 43 1/2” x 23 1/2” x 14 3/4” label on base

Exhibited: North Carolina Artist Annual Exhibition, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC (label on base, no date, c. 1960) Illustrated: American Visions: The Magazine of Afro-American Culture (Oct/Nov. 1997), p. 26.

The Oracle c. 1959; exhibited in 1963 wire 36” x 10 1/2” x 21 1/2” dated and titled in pencil label, 1963

Exhibited: Atlanta University Art Annuals: Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture and Prints by Negro Artists, 1963 ( label on base). Illustrated: Design; The Magazine of Creative Art, 1962, p. 79. (“The Art of Wire Sculpture: A Project by Hayward Oubre”.)

Topless No More (alternate title: Woman with Brassiere) c. 1961 wire 62 1/2” x 23” x 15” label on base

Exhibited : Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture, and Prints by Negro Artists, Atlanta University (Annuals), 1961; 10th Annual Exhibition, Sarasota Art Association, 1961 Illustrated: American Visions: The Magazine of Afro-American Culture (Oct/Nov. 1997), p. 27. The magazine article claims Oubre said this subject was “a tribute to a waitress at a topless bar who, to protest a local ordinance outlawing toplessness, donned a bra and shed everything else.”

The Blossom c. 1969 wire 39 3/4” x 23” x 21 1/2” label on base

Exhibited: North Carolina Artist Annual Exhibition, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC, 1982

Radar Tower c. 1960 wire 43” x 19” x 16 1/4” no base

Torso c. 1965 wire 39 1/2” x 23” x 12 3/4” unidentified, partial label on base

Iconoclast of the Third Kind c. 1989 wire 62” x 29 3/8” x 15 3/8” titled in pencil on base

Bouquet of Voids c. 1960 wire 34” x 18 1/2” x 16” titled on base

Exhibited: Unidentified label on base. Illustrated: Sun Storm Fine Art, Fall, 1996, p. 50, “Hayward L. Oubre, African American ‘Renaissance Artist’”.

Hollow Yes Man c. 1965 wire 59” x 21 3/4” x 10” label on base

Exhibited: Unidentifiable exhibition label, dated. Illustrated: American Visions: The Magazine of Afro-American Culture (Oct/Nov. 1997), p. 28. Oubre discusses this sculpture at length in an oral interview and a newspaper article. It was created as a protest to the oppressive nature of raw power wielded by nameless people of authority and executed by minions without reason.

Clutches of Fate c. 1960 wire 46 1/2” x 21 1/2” x 16” signed in pencil

The Trap c. 1960 wire 40” x 16 1/2” x 21 1/2” titled in pen label on base

Exhibited: Art Directions Gallery/ Madison Gallery (location and date unknown, 1960)

Bongo Drummer c. 1960 wire 64” x 25 1/4” x 27 1/8” titled on base

Illustrated: Design; The Magazine of Creative Art, 1962, p. 79. (“The Art of Wire Sculpture: A Project by Hayward Oubre”.)

Photographer c. 1960 wire 76” x 34” x 25”

Untitled c. 1960 wire 53 1/4” x 34 1/2” x 12 1/4” signed and dated, 1960

Configuration c. 1963 wire 35 1/4” x 16 3/4” x 17” dated in pencil titled; carved in base and on tape

The Battered Boxer c. 1960 wire 28 3/4” x 9 3/4” x 14” signed on base

Crescendo c. 1967 wire 64” x 24 1/2” x 23 3/4” titled two labels on base

Exhibited: North Carolina Artist Annual Exhibition, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC, 1967 (partial label on base)

Entanglement c. 1969 wire 44 1/4” x 17 1/2” x 19 1/4” label

Exhibited: Lenexa/National 3-Dimensional Art Show, April 26-28, 1985, Lenexa KS (label base). Illustrated: The Sentinel, (Winston-Salem newspaper), Dec. 27, 1975, p. 8.

Iconoclast (alternative title, “High Priest”) c. 1969 wire 58 3/4” x 22 5/8” x 12 1/2” titled on base

Illustrated: Design; The Magazine of Creative Art, 1962, p. 79. (“The Art of Wire Sculpture: A Project by Hayward Oubre”.) The International Review of African American Art, vol. 11, number 3, 1994, p. 35 (“Black Colleges and the Development of an African American Visual Arts Tradition”, Floyd Coleman.)

Variations c. 1969 wire 37 1/2” x 14 1/2” x 15 1/2” titled on tape on base

The Fatal Count c. 1965 wire 71 5/8” x 38” x 9” signed and dated LR on face of board

Exotic Plant Form c. 1971 wire 59 1/4” x 24 1/4” x 20 1/8” signed and titled on base

Exhibited: Unidentified label on base. Illustrated: Winston-Salem Journal (newspaper), “Living” , January 19, 1976, p. 11.

Hitch Hiked c. 1960 wire 45” x 21” x 19” titled partial unidentified label on base

Counterpoise c. 1981 wire 72” x 15 3/4” x 18”

H AY WA R D O U B R E ( 1 9 1 6 - 2 0 0 6) Tyler Fine Art in association with John Toomey Gallery is pleased to present a retrospective exhibition and sale of the works of artist Hayward Oubre. Hayward Oubre’s art was met with critical success from the time he graduated Dillard University in New Orleans, as its first fine art major in 1939, throughout his long career as an artist and teacher, his repeated award-winning participation in the ever-important Atlanta (University) Annuals, to most recently, with its inclusion in the museum exhibition, Tradition Redefined: The Larry and Brenda Thompson Collection of African American Art. Oubre was a talented painter, printmaker and sculptor, trained by two of the best: Hale Woodruff and Elizabeth Prophet. He won numerous awards for his work in all mediums. Oubre was also a dedicated life-long educator, holding positions at Florida A & M University, followed by Alabama State College and finally Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina, retiring in 1981. Perhaps it was what Oubre didn’t do—what he refused to do—that was his greatest contribution. He didn’t automatically accept the standard: he developed a concise study of color mixing and color relationships that challenged the long-standing “color triangle” developed by Johann Wolfgang Goethe; he rejected the popular trends and the entries submitted for art exhibitions, calling for a higher standard and more innovative and challenging approach—and devised a technique of making sculptures from twisting common coat hangers without the use of welds or solder. Regarded as the “master of stabile”, his work was often compared to Alexander Calder. The exhibition includes etchings, drawings, paintings, and sculpture in four mediums: wire, painted plaster, wood and bronze. The works span 40 years, from the 1940s to the 1980s—virtually his entire career as a professional artist.

All works will be available for preview by appointment only at the John Toomey Gallery, Chicago. For more information on this preview, please contact Thom Pegg at (708) 383-5234 or thom@treadwaygallery.com. A limited preview will be available by appointment only April 17 - May 17 at Tyler Fine Art, St. Louis, MO. For more information on this preview, please contact Thom Pegg at (314) 378-2165 or thom@treadwaygallery.com.

WE ARE CURRENTLY SEEKING CONSIGNMENTS FOR OUR THIRD AUCTION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ART HELD AT THE JOHN TOOMEY GALLERY IN CHICAGO ON JUNE 6. PLEASE CONTACT THOM PEGG AT (708) 383-5234 OR THOM@TREADWAYGALLERY. COM. Rashid Johnson (American, b. 1977), Introductory Image to a Twenty Image Suicide Documentary, c. 2005; xerox/paper, 66” x 85”

TYLER FINE ART

is an important resource for both buying and selling quality works of art in the following categories: African-American art, American modernism, American scene, regionalist works from Missouri, Illinois and Indiana, early modernism and abstraction, magic realism, and surrealism. We are always interested in buying and consignment. We offer consulting to collectors, having provided valuable advice to both private collectors and public institutions for decades in the areas we specialize.

Norman Lewis (American, 1909-1979), Musicians, c. 1947; oil/masonite, 24” x 18”

Thom Pegg currently acts as the Director of African American Art for the Toomey-Treadway Auction Chicago . A full range of auction services are available.

This painting by Walter Ellison sold for a world record price of $67,100 in the December 6, 2014 auction.