Paul Keene (American, 1920-2009)
Three Brothers, 1998
Lithograph, ed. 24/100
29 7/8 x 21 1/2 in.
Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art, St. Petersburg College, gift of James G. Sweeny in memory of Martha M. Sweeny, 2020.4.13
Published by the Brandywine Workshop and Archives, Philadelphia, PA. Printed by Robert “Bob” Franklin.
Born in 1920, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Paul F. Keene, Jr., was an artist and educator who helped to elevate the visibility of African American artists. As a painter, printmaker and muralist, Keene’s abstract realism work expressed the accomplishments and difficulties of African Americans in the twentieth century through vibrant color and the influences of jazz music.
Keene earned three degrees (Bachelor of Fine Arts, Science/Education and Master of Fine Arts degrees) and taught at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art. Joining the Air Force after college in World War II, Keene was a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen. Under the G.I. Bill, he studied at the Academie Julian in Paris and co-founded Gallerie 8, a collective of American artists. In the 1950s, he received Whitney fellowships to exhibit with Pablo Picasso and Fernand Léger in Haiti and he taught at the Philadelphia College of Art. He later left his professorship to establish a new art department at Bucks County Community College, in Pennsylvania, where he retired in 1985.
Keene worked closely with the Brandywine Workshop for over 20 years producing prints, including Three Brothers. Keene’s work is collected by the British Museum in London; the Nigerian National Museum; the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; among others.
Artura.org – Paul Keene, Three Brothers (1998) offset lithograph
https://artura.org/Detail/title/16156
Paul Keene Estate – Dolan/Maxwell