Figure Sitting
Marion Perkins was one of Chicago's foremost Renaissance sculptors and was known for his compact and expressive carved stone heads and figures. Using stone from derelict city buildings, Perkins transformed his rough found materials into realist forms skillfully carved in a manner similar to European modernist sculptors and believed the style befit the African American themes he chose to represent. "Figure Sitting," with its evenly polished surface and compressed form, is an early work predating a more mature style the artist developed in the 1940s and '50s. While a juxtaposition of textures is more evident in later works, "Figure Sitting" is no less emotive with its striking expression and pensive posture.
The Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art
One of the most important collections of African American visual art dating from the 18th century to the present, the collection includes 62 works from Edward Bannister, Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Robert S. Duncanson, Richard Hunt, Jacob Lawrence and others. This collection forms the foundation of a multidisciplinary center for the study, understanding and appreciation of African American art and culture. Items from the collection have previously rotated in the Evans Center Gallery and through unique exhibitions such as the 2012 "Life's Link: A Fred Wilson Installation," and the 2017 travelling exhibition of Jacob Lawrence's work.