Purvis Young

Inspired by old masters such as El Greco, Young painted elongated, expressionistic figures in dynamic groups. He created his paintings and drawings on a variety of found supports, including panel, paper, and—as in this example—books. Sometimes I Get Emotion from the Game is filled with drawings of men playing basketball and football. As the book’s title and imagery suggest, Young viewed sports as a space of freedom and release from the oppressive conditions that governed the lives of the Black men he knew.

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