Paul F. Keene Jr.

Paul Farwell Keene Jr.
Born	(1920-08-24)August 24, 1920 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Died	(2009-11-26)November 26, 2009 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Spouse	Laura 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. As a self-described “abstract realist,” his story reflects both the accomplishments and the difficulties of African American artists in the 20th century.

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 (“Q”).

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.

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.

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.

He was the son of Paul F. Keene Sr and 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.

Work and awards

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.

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.

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.

External links

• AskArt
• philly.com
• dolan/maxwell