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{{short description|American artist and teacher}}
{{short description|American artist and teacher (1920–2009)}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox artist
|name = Paul Farwell Keene Jr.
|name = Paul Farwell Keene Jr.
| image = Photo of Paul F. Keene Jr.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = photo of Keene at the Tyler School of Art in the 1940s. Photo by [[John W. Mosley]]
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1920|8|24}}
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1920|8|24}}
|birth_place = [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], US
|birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
|death_date = {{Death date|2009|11|26}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|2009|11|26|1920|8|24|mf=y}}
|death_place = [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], US
|death_place = Warrington, Pennsylvania
|image =
|caption =
|other_names =
|other_names =
|education = [[University of the Arts (Philadelphia)|Philadelphia Museum School of Art]]
|education = Philadelphia Museum School of Art, Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Académie Julian
| field = painter, printmaker, educator
|spouse = Laura Mitchell
|spouse = Laura Mitchell
|children =
|children =
|movement =
|movement =
|organization =
|organization =
|monuments =
|monuments =
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}}
}}


'''Paul Farwell Keene Jr.''' (24 August 1920 – 26 November 2009) was a Philadelphia-area artist and teacher whose work helped raise the visibility of Black American artists. As a self-described “abstract realist,” his story reflects both the accomplishments and the difficulties of African American artists in the 20th century.<ref>{{cite web|title=Paul Keene|url=http://www.askart.com/askart/k/paul_f_jr_keene/paul_f_jr_keene.aspx}}</ref>
''' Paul Farwell Keene Jr.''' (24 August 1920 – 26 November 2009) was a Philadelphia-area artist and teacher whose work helped raise the visibility of Black American artists.<ref name="AskArt">{{cite web |title=Paul Keene Jr. |url=https://www.askart.com/artist/Paul_F_Keene_Jr/106984/Paul_F_Keene_Jr.aspx |website=AskArt |access-date=13 June 2022}}</ref> As a self-described "abstract realist," his story reflects both the accomplishments and the difficulties of African American artists in the 20th century.<ref>{{cite web |title=Profile: Paul F. Keene Jr. (1920-2009) |url=https://blackartstory.org/2020/11/27/profile-paul-f-keene-jr-1920-2009/ |website=black art story|date=27 November 2020 }}</ref>


==Biography==
==Personal life==


Keene was born on August 24, 1920, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.<ref name="PMA LibGuides">{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Synatra |title=Paul F. Keene Jr. |url=https://philamuseum.libguides.com/blog/Paul-F-Keene-Jr |website=PMA LibGuides at Philadelphia Museum of Art |access-date=13 June 2022}}</ref> He was the son of Paul F. Keene Sr and [[Josephine Bond Hebron]], co-founder of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Incorporated. In 1944, he married Laura Mitchell,<ref name="Philadelphia Inquirer">{{cite web |last1=Cook |first1=Bonnie L. |title=Acclaimed artist's works raised racial awareness |url=https://www.inquirer.com/philly/obituaries/20091213_Acclaimed_artist_s_works_raised_racial_awareness.html |website=Philadelphia Inquirer |date=13 December 2009 |access-date=13 June 2022 |language=en}}</ref> the great-great-granddaughter of abolitionist [[John Pierre Burr]]. They resided in Warrington, Pennsylvania with their son and daughter.
Keene was born in Philadelphia and died in [[Warrington, PA]]. He earned a reputation at a time when that was exceedingly difficult for artists of his race. He earned three degrees (B.F.A., B.Sc.Ed., and M.F.A.) and taught at [[Temple University]]’s Tyler School of Art and the [[Philadelphia College of Art]]. He was a member of the [[Omega Psi Phi]] fraternity.


Keene earned three degrees (B.F.A., B.Sc.Ed., and M.F.A.), and was also a member of the [[Omega Psi Phi]] fraternity.<ref name="Philadelphia Inquirer"/>
During World War II, Keene enlisted in the Air Force. He attained the rank of lieutenant and served with the Tuskegee Airmen in the 332nd Fighter Group. He used the GI Bill to study at the Academie Julian in Paris. While there, he helped found Gallerie 8, a collective gallery for American artists working in Paris.<ref>{{cite web|title=PAUL FARWELL KEENE JR.|url=http://articles.philly.com/2009-12-13/news/25269288_1_temple-university-s-tyler-school-art-critic-centre-d-art}}</ref>


==Biography==
Keene exhibited with Picasso and Leger at the Salon de Mai and through Whitney Fellowships directed courses at the Centre D'Art, Port-au-Prince, Haiti between 1952 and 1954.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dolan/Max|url=http://www.dolanmaxwell.com/artists/keene/bio.php}}</ref>
During [[World War II]], Keene served with the [[Tuskegee Airmen]] in the 332nd Fighter Group and attained the rank of lieutenant. Keene attended the [[Philadelphia Museum School of Art]], the [[Tyler School of Art and Architecture]], and the [[Académie Julian]].<ref name="Woodmere Art Museum1">{{cite web |title=Keene Jr., Paul F. |url=https://woodmereartmuseum.org/explore-online/collection/artist/paul-f-keene-jr |website=Woodmere Art Museum |access-date=13 June 2022 |language=en-gb}}</ref> He studied at the Academie Julian in Paris under the [[G.I. Bill]]. While in Paris, Keene was a founding member of [[Galerie Huit]],<ref name="Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution">{{cite web |title=Paul F. Keene papers, circa 1940-1987 |url=https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/paul-f-keene-papers-10164 |website=Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution |access-date=13 June 2022 |language=en}}</ref> a collective gallery for American artists. Keene exhibited with Picasso and Leger at the Salon de Mai and through Whitney Fellowships directed courses at the Centre D'Art, Port-au-Prince, Haiti between 1952 and 1954.<ref>{{cite web |title=PAUL F. KEENE, JR |url=https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/Lots/auction-lot/PAUL-F-KEENE-JR-(1920---2009)-Untitled?saleno=2599&lotNo=36&refNo=790563 |website=Swann Galleries}}</ref>


When Keene returned to the United States he began work as an associate professor at the Philadelphia College of Art. He later left for a professorship at Bucks County Community College (BCCC) in Newtown, Pennsylvania, where he helped to establish a new art department. Keene retired from teaching in 1985.
In 1952 Keene located to Haiti<ref name="Woodmere Art Museum1"/> where he studied and taught under a [[John Hay Whitney]] fellowship.<ref name="Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution"/> In 1954 he returned to the United States. He taught at [[Temple University]]’s Tyler School of Art, as well as the [[Philadelphia College of Art]], where he taught until 1968.<ref name="Woodmere Art Museum1"/> From 1968 through 1985 Keene taught at the [[Bucks County Community College]],<ref name="Bucks County Artists Database">{{cite web |title=Paul F. Keene |url=https://bucksco.michenerartmuseum.org/artists/paul-f-keene |website=Bucks County Artists Database |access-date=13 June 2022 |language=EN}}</ref> where he helped to establish a new art department.


In 1966 Keene painted a mural at the [[HBCU]] [[Johnson C. Smith University]] in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1971 Keene created a relief installation for the Fifty Ninth Street Baptist Church in Philadelphia. He had a two-decade-long association with the [[Brandywine Workshop]] and was the recipient of their [[James Van Der Zee|Van Der Zee]] Award in 1990.<ref name="Philadelphia Inquirer"/>
He was the son of Paul F. Keene Sr and [[Josephine Bond Hebron|Josephine Hebron]], co-founder of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, Incorporated. He married Laura Mitchell and they had a son and a daughter.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}


Keene died on November 26, 2009, in Warrington, Pennsylvania.<ref name="PMA LibGuides"/>
==Work and awards==


His works are in collections at the [[Philadelphia Museum of Art]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Paul F. Keene Jr |url=https://philamuseum.org/search/collections?filters=%7B%22artist%22%3A%5B%22Paul%20F.%20Keene%2C%20Jr.%22%5D%7D |website=Philadelphia Museum of Art}}</ref> the [[Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts]],<ref name="PAFA">{{cite web |title=Paul Farwell Keene Jr. |url=https://www.pafa.org/museum/collection-artist/paul-f-keene-jr |website=Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts |access-date=13 June 2022}}</ref> the African American Museum in Philadelphia, the Hampton University Museum in Virginia, the [[James A. Michener Art Museum]].,<ref name="Bucks County Artists Database"/> the [[British Museum]] in London,<ref>{{cite web |title=Paul Keene |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG83148 |website=British Museum}}</ref> the James E. Lewis Museum of Art at Morgan State University in Baltimore, the Nigerian National Museum, the Pennsylvania State Museum in Harrisburg, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Tucson Museum of Art, among others.<ref>{{cite web |title=Paul Keene |url=https://www.michenerartmuseum.org/mam_exhibitions/paul-keene-his-art-and-legacy/ |website=Michener Art Museum}}</ref>
Keene created a mural for Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C., in 1966; a large relief installation at Philadelphia's 59th Street Baptist Church in 1971; and a ceramic installation at the Guild House West in North Philadelphia in 1980.


Keene's work was also included in the 2015 exhibition ''[[We Speak: Black Artists in Philadelphia, 1920s-1970s]]'' at the [[Woodmere Art Museum]].<ref name="Woodmere Art Museum">{{cite web |title=We Speak: Black Artists in Philadelphia, 1920s-1970s|url=https://woodmereartmuseum.org/experience/exhibitions/we-speak-black-artists-in-philadelphia-1920s-1970s-95 |website=Woodmere Art Museum |access-date=13 June 2022 |language=en-gb}}</ref>
The American Negro Commemorative Society commissioned him to sculpt the Scott Joplin Sterling Silver Commemorative Medal, struck by the Franklin Mint in 1972.

His works are in collections at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the African American Museum in Philadelphia, the Hampton University Museum in Virginia, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the James A. Michener Art Museum, the British Museum in London, the James E. Lewis Museum of Art at Morgan State University in Baltimore, the Nigerian National Museum, the Pennsylvania State Museum in Harrisburg, the Dallas Museum of Art, Tucson Museum of Art, and the Woodmere Art Museum, among others.<ref>{{cite web|title=PAUL FARWELL KEENE JR.|url=http://articles.philly.com/2009-12-13/news/25269288_1_temple-university-s-tyler-school-art-critic-centre-d-art}}</ref>

Keene was the first recipient of the Woodmere Art Museum's George Beach Pioneer Award in 1998. The University of the Arts presented him with the Silver Star Award in 1976. He produced prints over two decades with the Brandywine Workshop, winning its Van Der Zee Award in 1990.


==References==
==References==
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==External links==
==External links==
* [https://dolanmaxwell.com/artists/40-paul-keene/works/ images of Keene's work] at Dolan Maxwell
*AskArt
*philly.com
*dolan/maxwell


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Latest revision as of 23:30, 15 December 2024

Paul Farwell Keene Jr.
photo of Keene at the Tyler School of Art in the 1940s. Photo by John W. Mosley
Born(1920-08-24)August 24, 1920
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DiedNovember 26, 2009(2009-11-26) (aged 89)
Warrington, Pennsylvania
EducationPhiladelphia Museum School of Art, Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Académie Julian
Known forpainter, printmaker, educator
SpouseLaura Mitchell

Paul Farwell Keene Jr. (24 August 1920 – 26 November 2009) was a Philadelphia-area artist and teacher whose work helped raise the visibility of Black American artists.[1] As a self-described "abstract realist," his story reflects both the accomplishments and the difficulties of African American artists in the 20th century.[2]

Personal life

[edit]

Keene was born on August 24, 1920, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[3] He was the son of Paul F. Keene Sr and Josephine Bond Hebron, co-founder of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Incorporated. In 1944, he married Laura Mitchell,[4] the great-great-granddaughter of abolitionist John Pierre Burr. They resided in Warrington, Pennsylvania with their son and daughter.

Keene earned three degrees (B.F.A., B.Sc.Ed., and M.F.A.), and was also a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.[4]

Biography

[edit]

During World War II, Keene served with the Tuskegee Airmen in the 332nd Fighter Group and attained the rank of lieutenant. Keene attended the Philadelphia Museum School of Art, the Tyler School of Art and Architecture, and the Académie Julian.[5] He studied at the Academie Julian in Paris under the G.I. Bill. While in Paris, Keene was a founding member of Galerie Huit,[6] a collective gallery for American artists. Keene exhibited with Picasso and Leger at the Salon de Mai and through Whitney Fellowships directed courses at the Centre D'Art, Port-au-Prince, Haiti between 1952 and 1954.[7]

In 1952 Keene located to Haiti[5] where he studied and taught under a John Hay Whitney fellowship.[6] In 1954 he returned to the United States. He taught at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art, as well as the Philadelphia College of Art, where he taught until 1968.[5] From 1968 through 1985 Keene taught at the Bucks County Community College,[8] where he helped to establish a new art department.

In 1966 Keene painted a mural at the HBCU Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1971 Keene created a relief installation for the Fifty Ninth Street Baptist Church in Philadelphia. He had a two-decade-long association with the Brandywine Workshop and was the recipient of their Van Der Zee Award in 1990.[4]

Keene died on November 26, 2009, in Warrington, Pennsylvania.[3]

His works are in collections at the Philadelphia Museum of Art,[9] the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts,[10] the African American Museum in Philadelphia, the Hampton University Museum in Virginia, the James A. Michener Art Museum.,[8] the British Museum in London,[11] the James E. Lewis Museum of Art at Morgan State University in Baltimore, the Nigerian National Museum, the Pennsylvania State Museum in Harrisburg, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Tucson Museum of Art, among others.[12]

Keene's work was also included in the 2015 exhibition We Speak: Black Artists in Philadelphia, 1920s-1970s at the Woodmere Art Museum.[13]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Paul Keene Jr". AskArt. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  2. ^ "Profile: Paul F. Keene Jr. (1920-2009)". black art story. 27 November 2020.
  3. ^ a b Smith, Synatra. "Paul F. Keene Jr". PMA LibGuides at Philadelphia Museum of Art. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  4. ^ a b c Cook, Bonnie L. (13 December 2009). "Acclaimed artist's works raised racial awareness". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  5. ^ a b c "Keene Jr., Paul F." Woodmere Art Museum. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  6. ^ a b "Paul F. Keene papers, circa 1940-1987". Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  7. ^ "PAUL F. KEENE, JR". Swann Galleries.
  8. ^ a b "Paul F. Keene". Bucks County Artists Database. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Paul F. Keene Jr". Philadelphia Museum of Art.
  10. ^ "Paul Farwell Keene Jr". Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  11. ^ "Paul Keene". British Museum.
  12. ^ "Paul Keene". Michener Art Museum.
  13. ^ "We Speak: Black Artists in Philadelphia, 1920s-1970s". Woodmere Art Museum. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
[edit]
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