A Journey in Color: The Art of Ellis Wilson

“At a time when most folks saw the world as black and white, young Ellis Wilson watched colors dance across the canvas.” A Journey in Color: The Art of Ellis Wilson tells the story of a young man’s determined path to become a classically trained artist. Growing up in rural Kentucky in the early twentieth century, Wilson needed to convince his family and neighbors that art was a path worth choosing over becoming a farmer or teacher. And he had to find an art school that judged him for his talent and not for the color of his skin. How Wilson saw the world influenced his vibrant, groundbreaking art, as well as the lifelong pursuit of his dream “to paint all the time―everything of interest and beauty. The narrative includes Wilson’s own words, gleaned from his Guggenheim Fellowship applications and his personal papers archived at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art. A Journey in Color: The Art of Ellis Wilson is beautifully illustrated in watercolors that reflect his era and his artistic journey.