The Art of Avel de Knight

Notes Wikipedia:

Avel de Knight (1923-1995) was an African-American artist, art educator, and art critic. His works are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Walker Art Center, and the University of Richmond Museums.

De Knight was born in New York. His birth year has been given as 1921, 1923, 1925, 1931, and 1933. His parents immigrated to the United States from Barbados and Puerto Rico. He is the younger brother of René DeKnight.

De Knight studied art at the Pratt Institute from 1941-1942. He joined the Army and served in a segregated unit until the end of World War II. In 1946, he moved to Paris where he used the G.I. Bill to attend the École des Beaux-Arts, Académie de la Grande Chaumière, and the Académie Julian.

De Knight painted watercolors and often practiced the gouache painting technique. He taught at the Art Students League of New York and the National Academy School of Fine Arts.

Above: “Angel: The Voice” (1984), pastel on paper, 15 x 15 in.

Visual artist and art professor Stephen J. Tyson, cousin of Avel de Knight and curator of his estate, shared the following in a conversation on the Style Free Podcast on April 9, 2022, the 99th anniversary of de Knight’s birth.

One of the things you find in Avel’s work is the influence of people like Gustave Moreau, the late nineteenth century French symbolist painter who [like de Knight] worked with pastels. Avel was [also] inspired by the life of the mind, of the imagination. He became friends with the writer Jean Cocteau who was also very close friends with Picasso. So being in this milieu of artists who were traversing boundaries – not staying confined conceptually, visually – I think that this spirit of freedom is something that Avel embraced and then exuded through his work; not right away [but] the seeds were sown in France [in the 1940s] and they would later manifest in the mid to late 1960s in his work.

Above: “Arab” (1967), commercial print, 18 x 22 in.

The erotic drawings featured in this post were created by de Knight in the 1940s. Most are from the estate of his close friend, the French artist Julien Outin (1923-2005).

Very little has been written or discussed about de Knight’s personal life and the ways in which his sexuality informed and influenced his art. This is a great pity as it would add much to our appreciation and understanding of his artistic legacy.

Above: “André” (1967), oil on paper, 13½ x 12 in.

Notes the University of Richmond Museums:

De Knight’s mostly figurative art has been called poetic, lyrical, and symbolist in style. Dream imagery reappears as frequently as classical and African art references. His veils of colors, created by various media, suggest movement, atmosphere, and emotion in these history-laden works.

Above: Untitled (1982), oil on paper, 8 x 8 in.

Above: “Sacred Stones” (1994), pastel on paper, 39.75 x 29 in.

Wrote de Knight: “My ‘mirage’ paintings incorporate within the spatial confines of their ever-receding horizons symbols of personal imagery in which the human element plays the dominant role. . . . The emerging painting magically coalesces and breathes a life of its own.”

Above: “Two Youths” (c. 1950s), mixed media on paper.

Above: Untitled (c. 1974), pen and ink wash on paper, 9½ × 10½ in.

Writes Stephen J. Tyson:

If we want to have an understanding of [de Knight’s] work, we must allow silence to be an acknowledged part of our exploratory journey. De Knight’s work invites us to take this step. It seems to ask us if we are willing to go beyond viewing his skillful technique as an end in itself. Are we willing to see it as a vehicle through which the artist shapes his silence? As we continue to explore the artist’s work, we begin to see an outward continuity of common features: the contemplative figures, deserts, angels, radiant lights, plants, seascapes, shells, masks, and pyramids.

. . . The pyramid, in addition to being a marvel of technical skill in engineering, was designed to house deceased royalty. This particular structure of African antiquity would later become a recurring image in [de Knight’s] Mirage Series. He regarded the mirage experience as involving the advancement toward an unreachable or unattainable goal or ideal. The pyramid itself represents an ideal. With this form, together with the reduction of human presence and the atmosphere of mystery, he appears to be grappling with the themes of death and eternal life. They would become more explicit in his work toward the end of his life.

Above: “Charbourg” (1985), watercolor on paper, 11½ x 12½ in.

Related Off-site Links:
• Avel de Knight
• Avel de Knight: American Artist
• Visions Beyond: The Artistic Legacy of Avel de Knight
• Avel de Knight’s Myths and Mirages
• Oral History Interview With Avel De Knight, July 22, 1968
• The Avel de Knight Facebook Page
• Who Is Avel de Knight?
• A Conversation About the Artist Avel de Knight

See also: The Art of Frank-Joseph Frelier | Claudio Bravo | John Singer Sargent | Salem Beiruti | Ismael Álvarez | Stefano Junior | Alireza Shojaian | Frédéric Bazille | Saul Lyons | Barkley L. Hendricks | Alexis Vera | Mauna Nada | Ego Rodriguez | Liam Campbell | Richard Vyse | David Jester | Aaron Moth | Travis Chantar | Douglas Simonson | Guglielmo Plüschow | Vilela Valentin | Dante Cirquero | Nebojsa Zdravkovic | Brenden Sanborn | Wilhelm von Gloeden | Richard Haines | John MacConnell | Leo Rydell Jost | Jim Ferringer | Juliusz Lewandowski | Felix d'Eon | Herbert List | Joe Ziolkowski

Leaping Hare

Image: Photographer unknown.

See also the previous posts:
• The Ghostly Mountain Hare
• Snowshoe
• Across Winter Fields
• Afoot
• Field Runners
• Running Hare

Morning Light

Image: Subject and photographer unknown.

See also the previous posts:
• Setting Free
• Phallus
• Hard
• Morning Light – November 24, 2019
• Morning Light – August 2, 2011
• Morning Light – June 18, 2009
• Bel Homme – September 25, 2013
• Rethinking the "Normal" Penis (Part I)
• Rethinking the "Normal" Penis (Part II)
• Spiritual Phallicism
• The Divine Masculine Principle

Festive Hares

Image: Kate Green.

See also the previous posts:
• Christmas Hare
• Hare’s Christmas
• Christmas Hare and Moon
• The Christmas Leveret
• Bel Homme – December 24, 2021
• Bel Homme – December 24, 2015
• Hare Décor – December 15, 2018
• Hare Décor – December 13, 2012

Selfie

Images: Subjects/photographers unknown.

Honoring the Darkness While Remembering the Light

Writes Kalia Kelmenson . . .

The Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year, [is here]. [Beyond it comes] the birth of a new year. This is a potent time for honoring the darkness that surrounds us, seeking the wisdom it holds, and creating space for light that is making its way into being.

Darkness brings an opportunity to live more deeply in every moment. In meditation, we close our eyes to limit the distraction from the outside world. When we are visited by grief, sadness, and despair, that kind of darkness seems to envelope everything around us. And yet, when we try to escape it, the darkness burrows its way deeper into our hearts.

The question then becomes: How do we honor the darkness while remembering the light?

Darkness is a time for release. We can unburden ourselves of the tethers we no longer wish to be bound by. We can sit with whatever emotions are living within us, feeling their depths and their contours, honoring their power. And then we can release the stories we have built around them that create the architecture that keep them anchored to us.

When we are complete with the honoring of the dark, we can begin to let in the light.

Light a single candle and let the flickering flame envelope your awareness. Begin to dream of what you want to spark the light for in your life. Let the intentions you hold in your heart begin to make their way into the light.

With the power of the cycles of nature surrounding us at this time, our intentions become amplified. Feel the fanning of the flames of your deepest desires and let yourself know the truth of what you are moving toward.

Write down your intentions for this next cycle, the places you will live into with all of your heart. Revisit these writings daily, and remember the sensations you felt while writing them down, the deep knowing that inhabited all of you.

As you go through your days, notice what you are bringing into the light of your awareness, what you are igniting with your attention. Ask yourself if that is what you want to be moving towards. If it is, keep moving towards it; if not, redirect your focus so that with each moment you are moving towards the light that was born from the seed of stillness in the dark.

May we all know how to harness the power of the dark, and move more powerfully toward the light.

– Kalia Kelmenson

See also the previous posts:
• Winter Solstice
• The Return of the Sun
• Let the Spiral Turn and Turn
• Winter Solstice Blessing
• Light-Bearer
• Sol Invictus
• Winter Hare
• December Hare

Image: “Luna Moon Hare at the Winter Solstice” by Wendy Andrew.

Bel Homme

Image: Subject and photographer unknown.

Across Winter Fields

Image: Photographer unknown.

See also the previous posts:
• Afoot
• Field Runners
• Running Hare

Ansu

Ansu Kabia is a British actor best known for his role as Moses in Miss Scarlet and The Duke (2020-present).

He is also known for playing James Richards in the 2018 three-part BBC television series The Long Song (right), Ruthven Sykes in The Sandman (2022), and Tybalt in Branagh Theatre Live’s production of Romeo and Juliet (2016).

Above and below: Ansu Kabia as Tybalt in Branagh Theatre Live’s production of Romeo and Juliet.

The Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company in partnership with Picturehouse Entertainment, broadcast Romeo and Juliet live from the West End’s Garrick Theatre to more than 1,200 cinemas worldwide on July 7, 2016.

Above: Charles Dance as Sir Roderick Burgess / Magus and Ansu Kabia as Ruthven Sykes in The Sandman (2022), an American fantasy drama television series based on the 1989–1996 comic book written by Neil Gaiman.

Above and below: Ansu Kabia as Moses in Miss Scarlet and The Duke, a Victorian era crime drama created by Rachael New and starring Kate Phillips as Miss Eliza Scarlet and Stuart Martin as Scotland Yard Detective Inspector William Wellington (aka The Duke).

Notes Wikipedia: “Eliza Scarlet is determined, clever, and wily. Series writer and creator Rachael New took inspiration for the character from Jane Austen’s Elizabeth Bennett (Pride and Prejudice). Born into a middle-class family, Eliza uses her appearance as a refined Victorian lady to her advantage when working on cases. But underneath Eliza is scrappy and feisty, much to many people’s surprise, which works in her favour. William and Eliza work on numerous cases together, though she is uncredited, causing disputes between them. Eliza employs the services of a known criminal, Moses, much to William’s annoyance. Moses is amused by Eliza’s gumption and they connect as outsiders to society.”

Says Ansu about his character in Miss Scarlet and The Duke: “I think my favorite thing about playing Moses is how in the shadows he lives. He’s completely self-possessed, knows who he is, confident about who he is. He’s a survivor, someone who can work his way through any situation.”

Continues Ansu: “Moses and Duke have a complicated relationship with each other. Moses would try to avoid Duke as much as possible, and Duke could try and catch Moses, if he can, which he can’t. But we have a mutual love and respect for Eliza, so that’s what brings us together.”

See also the previous posts: Jordan | Andre | Lakieth | Joe | Mark | Jason | Jamie | Lyriq | Philip | Don | LeBron | Jayjay | Donald | Geremy | Jerome | Solomon | Colin | Luis | Nyle | Philip | Charlie | Sukdeep | Rafael | Mon Bel Ami | Saaxiib Qurux Badan

Images: Photographers unknown.