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Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection An important selection of historical and contemporary works of art by African American artists from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection, presented by Black Art Auction. October 17, 2026 / 11 AM CST Please visit the dedicated website for information regarding the auction, in-depth profiles on the artists included, a documentary film, and other features, by using the QR code below.

Exhibitions and Venues

This Postman Collects: The Rapture of Kerry and C. Betty Davis

Clark Atlanta University Art Galleries, GA, 2016

Seen Useen: The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection and the Northeast Ohio Response

The Artists Archives of the Western Reserve and The Sculpture Center, Cleveland, OH, 2019

Memories & Inspiration: The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection of African American Art Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK, 2020

University of Richmond Museums, Richmond, VA, 2020 Appleton Museum of Art, Ocala, FL, 2021 Lyman Allyn Art Museum, New London, CT, 2021 David Owsley Museum of Art, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, 2021 Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV, 2022 Arthur R. Berry Gallery at Albany State University, Albany, GA, 2022 Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN, 2022-2023 Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, OH, 2023 August Wilson African American Cultural Center, Pittsburgh, PA, 2023 Carnegie Arts Center, Turlock, CA, 2023 Oklahoma State University Museum of Art, Stillwater, OK, 2024 Susquehanna Art Museum, Harrisburg, PA, 2024 Sardoni Art Gallery at Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, PA, 2024 –2025 Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Laurel, MS, 2025 Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, VA, 2025 The Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Williamette University, Salem, OR, 2025

Kerry Davis, with Larry and Brenda Thompson.

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Introduction

by Brenda and Larry Thompson Our dear friend Freddie Styles introduced us to Kerry Davis. Freddie is a superb artist, collector, and curator with a discerning eye. He wanted us to know Kerry and repeatedly emphasized that Kerry, then a postman, had a collection far superior to many in Atlanta who had greater means to purchase art. It would take us a year or two before we would have a chance to meet Kerry and Betty to learn that Freddie’s observations were correct. When we met the Davises, we learned they were not only “good” people, but avid art collectors with a passion equal to our own. Like Larry and me, Kerry had the initial “passion,” and like Larry, he made a point of involving his wife, Betty. And like us, the Davises had deliberately searched for each of the objects that composed their collection. Kerry read art history books, visited museums (especially Clark Atlanta), and labored to find fine art works that were important and that contributed to the canons of art history. For living artists and families of deceased artists, Kerry worked to be supportive whether through a loan of money or an art purchase. More often, one would see him simply transporting their artwork, helping the artist set up works for display, or shipping works off to a potential buyer or auction. He became their “dealer,” not in exchange for money, but because the artist needed help and he appreciated their work. We began the quest to get others to see the Davis collection by having Greg Staley, a Washington art photographer, photograph the collection, with Freddie Styles directing. When Larry finally saw these photos, and then the works, Larry was so impressed with the collection that we prevailed upon Tina Dunkley, who was then director at the Clark Atlanta University Center, to curate an exhibition of the Davis Collection which we would sponsor. The exhibition opened in Winter 2016, entitled This Postman Collects: The Rapture of Kerry and C. Betty Davis.

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The Atlanta University Center hosting this exhibition mattered for two reasons: First, the Atlanta University Center is home to 5 historically Black colleges, including Clark Atlanta University. Clark Atlanta University also houses the Clark Atlanta University (CAU) Galleries, created to house the purchase prizes from the Atlanta Annuals, started by Hale Woodruff in 1942. The Annuals allowed African American artists to participate in art competitions that Jim Crow laws otherwise prevented. Purchase prizes were given in several areas, and these prizes became part of the permanent collection of the CAU Galleries. Second, the CAU Galleries represented the museum Kerry and Betty visited, which familiarized them with artists who formed the core of their collection. The CAU Gallery exhibition, This Postman Collects, was a huge success. In the summer of that same year, I began working with David Furchgott, founder of International Art and Artists, whose Board I eventually joined. IAA’s mission is to increase cross-cultural understanding of art nationally and internationally. Once again, we thought the Davis Collection would be a great fit not just because it contained great works, but because it was a visual testimony that would inspire others. With Dr. Amalia Amaki’s help, Kerry prepared the collection for consideration by IAA. Eventually, David and the IAA Board believed the Davis Collection could be a fine example of the IAA mission, and so IAA accepted the collection for tour. The IAA exhibition was called Memories and Inspiration: The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection of African American Art. Perhaps the success of the exhibition can be judged by the fact that Memories and Inspiration traveled to 17 museums. After more than 30 years of knowing Betty and Kerry, they remain passionate and continue supporting artists and collectors. I am reminded that in 2019 Larry and I hosted a party for Richard Hunt at our Atlanta home. The party was to celebrate Hunt’s exhibition, Richard Hunt: Synthesis, curated by Dr. Shawnya Harris at the Georgia Museum. Richard told me that he felt Shawnya’s curation was one of the best jobs ever at organizing his retrospective. Our Atlanta party was just an added touch and a chance for Richard to see old friends and supporters. However, an

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

hour into the party, Richard, our guest of honor, had not arrived. A phone call told us Richard had gotten lost in a complicated, isolated part of Atlanta. Since it would have been too hard to direct him, I asked Kerry and another artist, Vandorn Hinnant, to drive to where Richard was located and bring Richard, our honoree, to the party. Not only did Kerry and Vandorn save the party, but it also provided Kerry a chance to authenticate a Hunt work Kerry owned - a double win!! One last story about Kerry occurred on a Saturday in 2025, when he called to say our “brother”, Freddie Styles’ house had been consumed by fire—All was lost. It was heartbreaking. Kerry assured me that Freddie was safe, but he had lost so much of his art and his own very carefully assembled collection. I could hear Kerry thinking aloud of who we had to call to get Freddie settled. A neighbor, Carl Christian, and Mike Harris helped save the day. This is just one small example of why so many artists are willing to trust their works with Kerry. Assembling a collection of this magnitude requires considerable work and research. For more than 35 years, the Davises have done just this. It’s a pleasure to peruse the images and enjoy the calm, still excitement each one provides. Larry and I have found that buying from carefully assembled collections has been meaningful, allowing us to consider another collector’s vision and integrate it into our own. Thom Pegg, as always, has done a masterful job capturing the essence of the Davises’ quest for beauty and preservation of history. I thank Thom’s Black Art Auction for making these works available to collectors who will cherish these examples of American art history. C

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The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection, An Observation by Cleophus Thomas, Jr. Esq.

When I first learned of an impressive art collection gathered by an African American postman, I said, as a former U.S. President once said in a debate, “There you go again.” In this case, the “you” (as in “you people”) was a Negro postman. In Slavery Attacked: Southern Slaves and Their Allies 1619-1865 by Merton Dillon, at page 55 (1990 LSU paperback edition) one reads:

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Evidence of black striving and fear of contamination from abroad led to official measures aimed at security. Nearly all slave states in the 1790s enacted laws to prevent admission of slaves from the West Indies, and state officials redoubled vigilance to detect spies and hurl black invaders. Domestic carelessness needed remedy as well. “After the scenes which St. Domingo has exhibited to the world, we cannot be too cautious,” observed Postmaster General Gideon Granger, himself a native of Connecticut. Granger warned southerners of a danger arising from within the postal service. “The most active and intelligent” slaves, he observed, “are employed as post riders. These are the most ready to learn, and the most able to execute. By traveling from day to day, and hourly mixing with people, they must, they will acquire information. They will learn that a man’s rights do not depend on his color. The will, in time, become teachers to their brethren.” The objectionable practice, it goes without saying soon was ended.

Charles Alston (1907-1977), Untitled, Study for Walking, c. 1958; gouache on card stock, 9-1/2 x 18 in, signed with stamp. Collection of Kerry and C. Betty Davis.

10 Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

In the 20th century, often the best a Black person could do, after doing their best, was get a job in the post office. Before the 1960s, lawyers of color who were brilliant and won major cases still made no money and often, after a successful day of practice, went to work at night at the post office. In the New York Times obituary of Dovey Johnson Rountree, one reads:

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As a Washington lawyer, she helped secure a landmark ban on racial segregation in interstate bus travel in a case that originated in 1952 — three years before Rosa Parks refused to yield her seat in Montgomery, Ala. Ms. Roundtree graduated from law school in 1950. Admitted to the District of Columbia bar the next year, she went into practice with a classmate, Julius Winfield Robertson. In 1962, despite a storm of protest from its members, she became the first African-American admitted to the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia. There was little remunerative work for Robertson & Roundtree at first. Committed to helping disenfranchised clients, the partners were often paid, Ms. Roundtree recalled in a 1994 interview, with “two dozen eggs, a bag of greens and leftover poundcake.” Mr. Robertson moonlighted on the night shift at the post office.

In 1978 I entered Oxford University in England as a Marshall Scholar. Randall Kennedy was at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Another African American student was at Oxford then, whose name escapes me. The three of us have one thing in common. We were all children of parents who worked at the U.S. Post Office. In the realm of art, there is, of course, Herb and Dorothy Vogel and their heralded collection. Herb was a postal worker. So for me, the collection of Kerry and C. Betty Davis was not anomalous or surprising. After I learned of it, I went to Atlanta University and was there when it was exhibited, and Kerry was interviewed. It was a wonderful experience, and the collection is beautiful. It impressed me, but did not surprise me. It is a stunning achievement. Typical of a Black U.S. postal worker.

Keep Hope Alive, Cleophus Thomas, Jr. Esq.

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Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Plates

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Derrick ADAMS (b. 1970)

Style Variation 2 (Waves), 2020

screenprint/ archival inkjet print 27 x 20 inches signed, dated, titled, and numbered, 30/30 published by Tandem Press

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Derrick ADAMS (b. 1970)

Style Variation 3 (High Top), 2020 screenprint/ archival inkjet 27 x 20 inches signed and numbered, 30/30 published by Tandem Press

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Ron ADAMS (1934-2020)

Rorschach Riddle, 1992 mixed media, brush ink, gouache, and pen on green/gray paper 53 x 38 inches signed and dated

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

William E. ARTIS (1914-1977)

Michael, 1940/2002 cast bronze with dark brown patina (from a terracotta image, 1940) 9 x 7 x 5-1/2 inches (without base) 3 x 5 x 5 inches (base) signed

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Radcliffe BAILEY (1968-2023)

Untitled, 2005 mixed media collage 36 x 24-1/2 inches signed and dated verso

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Romare BEARDEN (1911-1988)

Dancer, c. 1982 color lithograph 18-1/2 x 14 inches, full margins 28-1/8 x 22-1/4 inches (sheet) signed and numbered, 11/50

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Romare BEARDEN (1911-1988)

Jazz II Deluxe, 1980

color screenprint 26-3/4 x 37-1/2 inches, full margins signed

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

John Thomas BIGGERS (1924-2001)

Above My Head, 1964

lithograph 9 x 12 inches, full margins signed, dated, titled and numbered, 8/9

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Camille BILLOPS (1933-2019)

Study for KKK Boutique, 1994

pen drawing on paper 14 x 11 inches (image) 21 x 18 inches (sheet) signed, dated, titled , inscribed, NYC

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Kay BROWN (1932-2012)

Black Goddess, 1972 color etching and aquatint 10 x 7 1/2 inches (image), full margins signed, dated, titled, and numbered 3/25

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Kay BROWN (1932-2012)

Sister Alone in Rented Room, 1972

etching and aquatint 20 x 16 inches (image) signed, dated, titled and numbered, 9/50

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Samuel Joseph BROWN (1907-1994)

Untitled, 1941 tempera on paper 9 x 6-1/2 inches signed and dated

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Beverly BUCHANAN (1940-2015)

Fall Line Series I, 1982

acrylic on canvas 20 x 24 inches signed signed, titled, and dated verso

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Beverly BUCHANAN (1940-2015)

Shack With Chair, 1989 acrylic, foam board, and red thread 20-1/2 x 7 x 11 inches signed and dated on verso

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Calvin BURNETT (1921-2007)

Race Riot (Children at Play), 1980-1985-1992 colored pencil drawing 40 x 60 inches signed and dated

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Margaret BURROUGHS (1915-2010)

Students of DuSable, 1965 color woodblock 16 x 18 inches, full margins signed, dated, and titled

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A Portrait of an Art Eco-System, The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection by Thom Pegg, Black Art Auction

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I like collectors of African American Art because there’s a sense they are doing something historically and culturally important.1 —Dr. Amalia Amaki

Kerry Davis grew up in Atlanta with his parents, Johnny and Dorothy Davis, and five siblings, one, his twin brother, Jerry. The only art he recalls hanging on the walls was reproduction prints of The Trinity: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy, and Jesus. His father served in the U.S. Navy during WWII, and when Kerry was a child, he worked for Atlantic Steel Company and also drove a cab part-time. Dorothy was a stay-at-home mom until the children grew up and then became a teacher at a local elementary school. Kerry’s father was his role model, so it came as no surprise that he joined the military - the United States Air Force. He was discharged in 1979 and joined the U.S. Postal Service the following year, where he worked for 30 years. His father’s first priority was providing for the

family, but he liked to have a few things just for himself, and Kerry mirrored that idea, even as a young boy, collecting model cars and comic books. Kerry Davis began collecting art in the early 1980s. At 21, he bought a small house in Atlanta and decided he wanted to make the interior more visually appealing. Rather than buy generic “pictures” to hang on the walls, he planned to choose artwork that reflected his ethnicity. Kerry’s cousin, who lived in New York, knew about art and told Kerry about artists such as Romare Bearden and Jacob Lawrence. Shortly after that conversation, Lawrence became the focus of an exhibition at the High Museum in Atlanta, titled The American Painter, and Davis had the good fortune to meet the artist. His enthusiasm for art, and especially art made by Black artists, began to gain momentum.

“

Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden were my introduction to African American art. Because that was the only thing I saw or read about or it

1 Bowman, Elmer L., director. Memories and Inspiration: The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection of African American Art. Dr. Amalia Amaki, International Art and Artists, 2021.

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

was in the news at the time. From there I just kind of explored the contemporaries of Lawrence and Bearden and people in their circle; mostly the New York artists because they were heavily in that area. But then David Driskell’s Two Centuries of Black American Art really kind of opened up my eyes and exposed me to many different artists. And so it kind of started from the books because I really didn’t have the money. And then, as it turned out, those works were pretty pricey, because I was coming from nowhere and almost went straight to the top.2

Kerry was particularly fond of printmakers. He loved Rembrandt. He appreciated the work involved in creating etchings, and the intimate relationship with the medium during the process. Kerry and Betty’s collection today includes numerous examples of finely executed prints of various types. Kerry James Marshall’s Untitled (Woman), 2010, a hardground etching and aquatint on Somerset white paper, is a fine example of how the artist combines these two distinct techniques to create a dramatic image. The etching, done first,

In 1986, Kerry purchased Jacob Lawrence’s color screen print, General Toussaint L’Ouverture, for $750 from an ad in the back of International Review of African American Art. He was likely drawn to that image because he had lived his entire life in uniforms - Boy Scout, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Postal Worker. 2 Dunkley, Tina Maria. This Postman Collects, The Rapture of Kerry and C. Betty Davis, 2016. Quote from Kerry Davis. Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) General, 1986 color screenprint on Bainbridge Two Ply Rag paper 28-3/8 x 18-1/2 inches General Toussaint L’Ouverture is based on the 20th image from Lawrence’s original series of 41 paintings from 1938.

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employs fine linear details, and then the aquatint process adds varied tonal areas using stop-out varnish. The combined process allows Marshall’s subject to become reminiscent of a silhouette, a traditional method of portraiture. African American artists such as Kara Walker and Aaron Douglas employed the silhouette as social commentary to present how the Black body is made metaphorically and literally invisible.

“

Allan Rohan Crite stated that he preferred the linoleum block print when rendering religious subjects and the lithograph for secular subject matter. Priest (1937) is an excellent example of this and reveals the artist’s skill in using the medium.

With linoleum block I do the ecclesiastical things; it fits more or less in that. I did do one or two secular things in linoleum but for me it isn’t that type of medium. When I used linoleum, I used to think in terms of doing liturgical themes. With the multilith press, of course, I do liturgical things -- I’ve been doing these church bulletins -- but then I do other things -secular things, etc. I’ve been going out into the streets and making drawings using the plate as a drawing pad, so I can make my drawings right on the spot.3

Howardena Pindell’s Number Series #2, 2003-2004, is an etching with collage elements. Pindell extends her interest in combining multiple media into a single

3 Oral history interview with Allan Rohan Crite, 1979 January 16-1980 October 22. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

work in her printmaking practices. Like her unique pieces, her multiples are labor-intensive, making the relationship between the artist and artwork intimate and cerebral. She uses sequences of numbers more like a language than mathematical meaning. This removes an “exactness” and allows for a more personal symbolism, relating to memory and perspective.

Kerry met Reginald McGhee around 1985 at a thrift store McGhee owned in Atlanta. McGhee was a Black photographer who had moved to Atlanta from Harlem. McGhee was researching for the upcoming exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, Harlem on My Mind (1968), when he discovered another photographer, James VanDerZee, along with 50,000 negatives, in his studio.

Greatly impressed by VanDerZee’s images, McGhee was determined to see VanDerZee’s work featured in the exhibit. Later, when VanDerZee and his wife fell on hard times and were evicted from their home, McGhee helped them salvage as much inventory as possible. McGhee knew many New York artists, including Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden, and eventually introduced Kerry to his large circle of artist friends. He also encouraged Kerry to purchase a copy of Two Centuries of Black American Art by David Driskell. Books were an important resource for the young collector, as they were for many other Black collectors: Melvin Holmes, James Parker, and Jerome Gray. This was because the work of Black artists was still not commonplace on the walls of museums. One exception to that was the permanent collection at Clark Atlanta University. CAU was the location of the annual Exhibition of Paintings, Prints, and Sculpture by Negro Artists of America, which was founded in 1942 by Hale Woodruff and ran through 1970. The CAU museum is largely comprised of former purchase prize winners from the annual exhibitions. Davis regularly visited the campus to study its permanent collection.

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He shared how he acquired his Richard Dempsey painting in This Postman Collects, The Rapture of Kerry and C. Betty Davis (in the catalog accompanying the exhibit, p.16). Kerry remembers discovering the painting on an auction website several years ago. He recognized the artist’s style because he had seen a similar painting by Dempsey in his visits to CAU. He bought it and later confirmed it was authentic.

mail. He would strike up a conversation and get invited in to discuss their art. Kerry is incredibly perceptive, and he uses every experience as a learning opportunity. In this way, he continued his art education. C. Betty (Frazier) Davis grew up the daughter of a minister in Philadelphia. She worked as a television news producer. A friend of hers, knowing that she had an interest in art, introduced her to Kerry.

“

A friend told me about Kerry and his art collection. Like him, I had bought a few modest art pieces to decorate my house, so I was intrigued. But, of course, when I actually saw Kerry’s collection, I was so impressed. And his passion for art was contagious.

Betty said in an interview: Kerry believed he needed to understand the artists as people in order to understand their art, and adopted that as a large part of his collecting plan. He used his carpentry skills to get “in” with the artists, making frames, helping pack and ship art, and setting up exhibits, bartering his labor for artwork. This system benefited both the artist and the collector. While walking his mail routes, he visited gallery owners along the way and even individuals who received art in the

34 Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

“

I knew about art, but didn’t really know art. I knew the big names like Bearden and Lawrence, but he [Kerry] opened up a whole new world to me.

They say that on their first date, they looked at the paintings and prints in Kerry’s home and talked art. The pair connected on many levels, including their faith, but their strong interest in Black art was unique. They married in 1994 and five years later bought a new home in Clarkston, a suburb of Atlanta. That

home was directly next door to Reginald McGhee’s residence. He saw it up for sale one day and recommended the Davises look at it. The couple bought it and have lived there since. Kerry has described the network between him, Betty, and the various artists in his collection as an art ecosystem. There’s a distinction to that descriptor that does not always exist between a collector and an artist. For Kerry, this environment—these friendships—are ever-present. Dr. Amalia Amaki, a close friend of the Davises herself, says Kerry builds these relationships for the long run—not just long enough to acquire a desired work.

It’s where they live, literally and figuratively. Many of their friends and acquaintances refer to the Davis’ home as an “in-home museum”. Kerry has said that some people he knew would feel intimidated by a museum, but in the environment of a friend’s home, would engage with the artwork, ask relevant questions, and offer opinions. Dr. Amalia Amaki reflects:

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The Davises have created a community of relationships through the process of collecting art. 4

“The rewards have been mutual”, writes Kerry Davis in his essay aptly titled, A Pleasant Journey.

For Betty, it’s similar: she loves the artists first and then the art. 4 Bowman, Elmer L., director. Memories and Inspiration: The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection of African American Art. Dr. Amalia Amaki, International Art and Artists, 2021.

Photos: Freddie Styles, Kevin Cole, and Lionel Lofton

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“

Our lives have been greatly enriched by the close interaction experienced with artists we have gotten to know over the years. Learning first hand about their personal interests, histories, creative processes, and interpretations of life community and the world have enhanced our appreciation for their work and deepens our affection for them as friends. It has been encouraging to witness the growth and development of many, the continued advancement and stability of the careers of others, and the broader discovery within the art world of those emerging and under appreciated artists we have enjoyed as friends.”5

5 Tousley, Mindy, et al. Seen Unseen: The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection and the Northeast Ohio Response, Artist Archives of the Western Reserve, Cleveland, 2019, p. 13.

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Photos: (clockwise from the top) Kerry and Betty with Larry and Brenda Thompson, and Freddie Styles; The Davises and David Driskell; Kerry and Allan Rohan Crite; Kerry in the studio with Richard Hunt.

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Donald CAMP (b. 1940)

Quinton Morris, 1994 casein monoprint 30 x 22 inches signed and dated

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Elizabeth CATLETT (1915-2012)

Survivor, 1983

woodcut 9-1/4 x 7-1/2 inches (image) signed, dated, titled and numbered, 934/1000

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Ralph CHESSÉ (1900-1991)

Family, 1943 gouache and mixed media 5 x 7 inches signed and dated

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Claude CLARK (1915-2001)

Sister and Brother, 1949 oil on board 9 x 12 inches

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Claude CLARK (1915-2001)

At the Crossing, c. 1955 oil on board 12 x 9 inches signed

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Irene CLARK (1927-1984)

Young Girl, n.d. oil and mixed media on board 15-1/2 x 8 inches signed

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Irene CLARK (1927-1984)

Flute Player, n.d. oil and mixed media on board 25 x 5-1/2 inches signed

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Kevin COLE (b. 1960)

Urban Data with Urban Soul II, 2009 mixed media on paper 26 x 18-1/2 inches signed, dated, and titled

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Allan Rohan CRITE (1910-2007)

Priest, 1937

linocut 8 x 6 inches signed and dated

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Emilio CRUZ (1938-2004)

Figures in a Landscape, 1965 oil pastel on paper 8-3/4 x 12-1/4 inches signed and dated

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Richard DEMPSEY (1909-1987)

Waterfront, 1950

oil on canvas 20 x 24 inches signed and dated

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Milton DERR (b. 1932)

Aftermath of Katrina, 2005 oil on Yuppo paper 20 x 26 inches signed, dated, and titled

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Aaron DOUGLAS (1899-1979)

Man Striving to be Man, 1957 (conceived, later printing) zinc plate etching on paper 5 x 3-1/2 inches

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

David DRISKELL (1931-2020)

The Maine Suite Portfolio

Jacob Wrestling With the Angel, 2015

linocut 15-1/2 x 11-1/2 inches (image) 21 x 15 inches (sheet) signed, dated, titled, and numbered 10/30

The Guardian, 2012

linocut 14-3/4 x 11-3/4 inches (image) 21 x 15 inches (sheet) signed, titled, dated, and numbered 10/30

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David DRISKELL (1931-2020) The Maine Suite Portfolio

Woman Resting, 2010

linocut 10-1/2 x 11 inches (image) 20 x 15-1/4 inches (sheet) signed, dated, titled, and numbered 10/30

The Rocker, 2012

linocut 21 x 15 inches (sheet) signed, dated, titled, and numbered, 10/30

The Legend, 2013

linocut 12 x 11-1/4 inches signed, dated, titled, and numbered 10/30

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Minnie EVANS (1892-1987)

untitled, 1948 crayon on brown paper 12 x 9 inches signed and dated

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Bob GREENE (b. 1947)

Boy With Flute, c. 1970

gelatin silverprint 11 x 7-1/2 inches (image) 14 x 11 inches stamped verso

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Bob GREENE (b. 1947)

Untitled (Figure in the Rain), n.d.

gelatin silverprint 11 x 8 inches (image), full margins stamped verso

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Eugene GRIGSBY (1918-2013)

Bountiful, 1998 color woodblock print 8-1/4 x 5-1/4 inches (image), full margins signed, dated, titled, and numbered, A/P I

56 Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Theodore “Teddy” GUNN (1931-2020)

Nude, c. 1970 oil on canvas 39 x 29 inches

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Theodore “Teddy” GUNN (1931-2010)

Winter Landscape, 1969 acrylic on canvas board 16 x 20 inches signed and dated

58 Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

John Wesley HARDRICK (1891-1968)

(Late) Fall Landscape, c. 1935 oil on board 8 x 10 inches signed

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The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection: A Life in Art and Cultural Stewardship by Carter B. Cue Introduction

Amid the growing institutional focus and recognition of the African American artist in the last two decades, some of the most profound contributions have emerged from individuals driven by a passion beyond the pale of ancestral patrimony. Kerry Davis, a retired postal letter carrier, and his wife, C. Betty Davis, a former television news producer, have built one of the nation’s most respected art collections focused on African American culture in their modest Georgia home. According to art historian and professor M. Akua McDaniel:

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Kerry and C. Betty Davis have carved out a unique place for themselves in the world of American art collectors. Unlike most connoisseurs, the Davises have amassed an impressive body of artworks created by some of the country’s most important and lesserknown African American artists on a modest, middle-class income rather than from resources acquired through wealth and power. 1

The Birth of a Collection: On a Shoestring Budget

Kerry Davis has told numerous interviewers and writers that his initial forays into art collecting stemmed from a desire to decorate the walls of his first purchased home—a small starter house

in Atlanta, Georgia, in the 1980s—with non-descript, albeit forgettable, artworks with an African American cultural motif. Later, after reading books and becoming better acquainted with African American art history and artists, these early unmemorable art purchases were replaced with the works of classical artists such as Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden. But as working-class Americans, Kerry and Betty were mindful of prioritizing daily expenditures against their shared love of art, what they could afford, and what they loved so much they could not live without. In a May 15, 2003 interview, Kerry said that they had on occasion foregone luxuries such as household appliances, new cars, and expensive vacations to help fund a “must-have” art purchase. He recalled that after his mother’s death, he used his meager share of an inherited insurance policy to buy a Jacob Lawrence graphite drawing from Seattle art dealer Francine Seders. As a result of his daily postal route delivering mail to businesses like art galleries, frame shops, and auction houses, Davis learned what artists were exhibiting where, and every now and then, if an estate sale held any works of art. The latter came via print ads for the sale of items from the estate of Juanita Poitier, the ex-wife of actor Sidney Poitier.

1 McDaniel, M. Akua. “Introduction.” This Postman Collects: The Rapture of Kerry and C. Betty Davis. Atlanta: Clark Atlanta University Art Galleries, 2016, p. 8.

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Attending his first auction, Davis relied on what he’d read in Ebony magazine: Sidney Poitier was friends with the artist Charles White and collected his work. This knowledge, along with a sparsely attended auction, allowed Davis to bid on and win the linocut Solid as a Rock (My God is Rock). Another aspect of the Davises’ collecting journey involved an extensive, informal network of fellow collectors, artists, frame shop owners, a few museum professionals, and a few art dealers in Atlanta. With the advent of the Internet and the digital shopping platform eBay, works by artists unknown or unappreciated by the greater art world ended up in the Davis Collection– at a shoestring budget cost! The Davis collecting approach underscores a basic truth: thoughtful, meaningful art collections often start with humble, sincere intentions. This, combined with a burning desire to own

beautiful works of art, a bit of luck, intentional reading, studying art history, and developing one’s aesthetic eye by going to museums and galleries, proves that the average person can develop a stellar art collection– on a shoestring budget!

A Museum in ‘a Home’

What began as a quest to furnish a modest suburban home eventually morphed into something unexpected after they relocated to the Atlanta suburban enclave of Clarkston. Their simple adherence to the learned values of Southern hospitality– opening the doors of one’s home to family, friends, neighbors, and church members for a meal or general visitation– transformed their living space into an informal cultural salon, gallery, and art gathering space. The artist Leon Nathaniel Hicks (also a part of the Davis Collection), on a visit to the Davis home, enthusiastically declared that Kerry and Betty lived in ‘a museum in a home’.

Photo: Kerry Davis and Carter B. Cue

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Artist and former Clark Atlanta University Museum director Tina M. Dunkley described the Davis Collection as

“

a dynamic assemblage of over 300 works of art… consisting of salon-style installation of vibrant paintings, works on paper, and sculpture that vie for visitors’ attention with no intention of letting their gaze rest upon the affable owners.

Thus, Kerry and Betty’s welcoming spirit of humility, generosity, and curiosity about the arts has served as a robust catalyst for community arts empowerment and creative engagement.

Curating Across Voices and Mediums

Over a period of 40 years, Kerry and Betty Davis have assembled an extensive body of works in a multiplicity of mediums. While intentionality grounded in popularity, sales potential, and market trends can foreground financial outcomes in the art world, the Davis approach to appreciating and buying art was undergirded by the simple, or, as some might consider it, sacred, notion that “visual records of African American experiences should be protected, preserved and shared,” while seeking to “preserve cultural memories and provide our community with sources of history and inspiration.” Being their own curators in addition to being exuberant collectors and artists’ Aides-de-camp, the museum professional

and seasoned art dealer visiting the Davis home would see an

“

impressive assortment of landscapes, narratives, portraitures, abstraction, and sociopolitical subjects… by illustrious artists like Aaron Douglas, Elizabeth Catlett, Richard Hunt, John Wilson, Alma Thomas, Norman Lewis, Mildred Thompson, Al Loving, Sam Gilliam, and many more.2

The collection’s breadth does more than showcase aesthetics; it reveals a tapestry of experiences and dialogues that span generations, geographies and emotional depth.

Relationships Over Transactions While commercial galleries provide specific services such as ease of purchase, reliability and knowledge of the canon (for a certain class of art collector); there are some (usually out of sheer necessity) brave souls who strike out on their own, in an attempt to decipher the mood and mentality of artist and artwork. Whether intentional or not, Kerry and Betty Davis frequently forged deep, lasting, familial relationships with the artists whose work eventually “made the cut” and became a part of the Davis Collection. These relationships also reflect another of Kerry and Betty’s core human values and art collecting philosophy: respect for the artist and their humanity over the acquisition of artwork, which in and of itself has no soul. As collectors and

2 Dunkley, Tina M. “This Postman Collects.” This Postman Collects: The Rapture of Kerry and C. Betty Davis. Atlanta: Clark Atlanta University Art Galleries, 2016, p. 13

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

caretakers of culture and art, Kerry and Betty are admired and respected by artists, longstanding collectors, would-be collectors, museum professionals, and family members. As friends, supporters, and confidantes to many artists, Kerry and Betty have received more than one gift of a valued work of art that holds special meaning beyond any perceived fiscal value.

Preserving Memory & Collector Aesthetic Legacy

At the center of the Davis Collection is a genuine commitment and heartfelt dedication to cultural memory and African Diasporic visual narratives. While these concepts might seem meaningless and vague to a wide swath of compulsive personalities ensconced in the equally intrusive, market-oriented 21st-century contemporary art world, these abstract folkways nonetheless encapsulate the very essence of Kerry and Betty as people, collectors, and humanitarians.

drawing, or sculpture obtained has its own unique story and carries a particular memory and a reminder of the curiosity that inspired the collectors to seek it out in the first place. Through moments of discovery, soul-searching, and reflection, the collector often learns that the true value of their collection lies not in the physical works themselves or their fiscal value, but in something far deeper: the experiences and artists that shaped the acquisition. As the active, acquisitive art collecting journey of Kerry and C. Betty Davis concludes, we are reminded of the artistic fulfillment and appreciation for the endless wonders art provides. C

The personal encounters and visual memoirs in the Davis Collection create an encyclopedic archive of everyday stories and the subtle constellations of human experience that illuminate how private lives shape broader cultural histories.

The Conclusion of the Collector’s Journey

In the end, the collector’s journey reveals itself as far more than the pursuit of rare objects — it becomes a path toward understanding, connection, and personal transformation. Each painting, print,

Black Art Auction

Edwin HARLESTON (1882-1931)

A Colored Grand Army Man, 1925 pastel on tan paper 16-1/2 x 13 inches (image) signed

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Palmer Cole HAYDEN (1890-1973)

Le Grand Bay, 1937 oil on canvas 20 x 26 inches signed

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Leon HICKS (b. 1933)

Engraving XIII, 1995-1996

engraving 35-1/2 x 70-1/2 inches (plate) 42 x 79-1/4 inches (sheet) signed, dated, and titled with artist proof

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Leon HICKS (b. 1933)

Appalachian Sequela #3, 1967

engraving 26 x 16 inches (image) full margins signed, dated, titled, and numbered 8/10

Appalachian Sequel #5, 1967

engraving 26 x 16 inches signed, dated, titled, and numbered, 5/10

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Alvin HOLLINGSWORTH (1928-2000)

untitled, c. 1970 oil on canvasboard 14 x 11 inches signed

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Sedric HUCKABY (b. 1975)

American Dad, 2015 color lithograph on Somerset England paper 30 x 22 inches signed and numbered 23/30

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Thomas HUDSON (contemporary)

Maulstick, n.d.

oil on board 24-1/4 x 17 inches signed

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Manuel HUGHES (b. 1938)

Arc Series, 1987 pastel and colored pencil on brown paper 19-1/2 x 25 inches signed

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Manuel HUGHES (b. 1938)

Cigar on a Ledge, c. 1970 oil on canvas wrapped around plywood 9-1/2 x 13 inches signed

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Richard HUNT (1935-2023)

untitled, 1987 welded steel sculpture 26-1/2 x 38-1/2 x 22 inches

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Harlan JACKSON (1918-1993)

Improvisation #13, 1973 oil and collage on canvas 18 x 24 inches signed; titled on stretcher verso artist label with date and title, catalog #66

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Wadsworth JARRELL (b. 1929)

Blue Lou, Lou Rawls, c. 1980 acrylic on canvas 27-1/2 x 36-1/2 inches signed

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Fred D. JONES, Jr. (1913-1996)

Couple, n.d. watercolor and ink on paper 9 x 7 inches signed

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Fred D. JONES, Jr. (1913-1996)

Untitled (At Supper), c. 1975 watercolor on paper 11 x 11 inches

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Fred D. JONES, Jr. (1913-1996)

Woman With a Rose, 1959 mixed media on brown paper 24 x 18 inches signed and dated

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Lois Mailou JONES (1905-1998)

Nice, France, c. 1950 watercolor on paper 19 x 24 inches signed and titled

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Lois Mailou JONES (1905-1998)

St. Michelle (France), 1958 watercolor on paper 18-1/2 x 23-1/2 inches signed and titled

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Theodore “Teddy” JONES (b. 1938)

Akuaba Mask in the Tradition of the Ashanti People (Ghana), 2011

copper repoussé and twine 14 x 14 inches (copper: 10-1/2 inches diameter) 44 x 14 inches (overall size) signed, dated, and titled on verso

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Theodore “Teddy” JONES (b. 1938)

The Sacred Heart of Jesus, 2015 copper repoussé, wood and yarn assemblage 21-1/2 x 10-1/2 inches (board only) yarn extends 14 inches below board signed and dated, titled verso

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Gwendolyn KNIGHT (1913-2005)

Nuns in a Landscape, 1941 gouache and watercolor on paper 12 x 17-1/2 inches signed and dated

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Leon Lank LEONARD (1922-1993)

Jester, c. 1959 mixed media on board 23-1/2 x 15-1/2 inches

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Norman LEWIS (1909-1979)

Untitled, 1964

oil on paper 23 x 33 inches signed and dated

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Samella LEWIS (1923-2022)

Field, 1968 lithograph 24 x 18 inches (full margins) signed, dated, titled and numbered, 22/25

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Donald LOCKE (1930-2010)

King and Queen (Homage to Moore), 1987 bronze, fabric, and wood 18-3/4 x 20 x 13-1/2 inches signed, dated, and numbered, 5/10

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Lionel LOFTON (b. 1954)

Playground Delight I, c. 2020 mixed media and acrylic on heavy paper 24 x 18 inches signed and titled

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Alvin D. LOVING, Jr. (1935-2005)

Crotch on Fire, 1980 paint and torn paper collage on gray linen 52 x 52 inches

Black Art Auction

Eric MACK (b. 1987)

PNO-28.76, 2002/2003 mixed media on canvas 71 x 46 inches signed; signed, dated and titled verso

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

William MAJORS (1930-1982)

Burning Bush, 1967

etching 20-1/4 x 15-1/2 inches, full margins signed, dated. titled, and numbered, 34/110

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Kerry James MARSHALL (b. 1955)

Untitled, (Handsome Young Man), 2010 etching and aquatint on Somerset white paper 16 x 12 inches (image) 24 1/2 x 18-1/2 inches (sheet) signed, dated, titled, and numbered, 39/50 printed and published by Paulson Bott Press, Berkeley, CA

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Kerry James MARSHALL (b. 1955)

Untitled (Woman), 2010 hard ground etching and aquatint on Somerset white paper 16 x 12 inches (image) 24 1/2 x 18-1/2 inches (sheet) signed, dated, titled, and numbered, 39/50 printed and published by Paulson Bott Press, Berkeley, CA

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Ealy MAYS (b. 1959)

Ballerina, c. 2010 oil and acrylic on canvas 30-1/2 x 19 inches signed

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Frank NEAL (1915-1955)

Sailors, c. 1940 gouache on board 11-1/2 x 8 inches signed

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Frank NEAL (1915-1955)

Wash Day, c. 1940 gouache 16 x 20 inches signed

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Joseph NORMAN (b. 1957)

Untitled (Portrait), 2015 charcoal on paper 29 x 22 inches signed and dated

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Bruce ONOBRAKPEYA (b. 1932)

Afieki I

Ekhena

1979 two linocut prints 9-1/4 x 6-3/4 inches (image) full margins (each same size) signed, dated, titled, and numbered 163/250, and inscribed, Lagol

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Hayward OUBRE (1916-2006)

Stevedore, 1970/2015

bronze, later casting 5 x 4 x 5 inches signed and dated, 12/1970

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Joe OVERSTREET (1933-2019)

Study for Black Star Line, 1990

charcoal on paper 18 x 11-1/2 inches signed label verso: Kenkeleba House, 214-16 East Second Street, New York, New York, 10009

100

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Gordon PARKS (1912-2006)

Women Welders at the Landers, Frary, and Clark plant, New Britain, CT, 1943 gelatin silverprint 9 x 7 inches (image) unsigned, numerals written in pencil verso

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101

James PHILLIPS (b. 1945)

Study for the Race Card Series, 2016 mixed media on board 20 x 15 inches (image) signed

102

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Howardena PINDELL (b. 1943)

Constellations, 2014 open bite etching in white on black wove paper 30 x 22 inches signed, dated, titled, numbered, 39/100, blind stamp

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103

Howardena PINDELL (b. 1943)

Number Series #2, 2003-2004

collage and etching 9 x 12 inches (image) 14-3/4 x 17-3/4 inches (sheet) signed, dated, titled and numbered, 2/40

104

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Stephanie POGUE (1944-2002)

Field of Flowers, 1976 colored etching and aquatint 6 x 11 inches, full margins signed, dated, and titled, with artist proof

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105

Stephanie POGUE (1944-2002)

Waiting for the Bus, n.d.

etching 7 x 11 inches (image) 11-1/2 x 15 inches (sheet) signed, titled, and numbered, C.S. II, 5/10

106 Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Robert Dennis REID (1924-2002)

Untitled (Blue/Green), c. 1970 collage and oil on canvas 44 x 41-1/2 inches signed

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107

Robert Dennis REID (1924-2002)

Landscape with African Flowers, Duras, France, 1992

watercolor and pencil on Arches paper 30 x 22-3/4 inches signed, dated, and titled

108 Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Landscape with Figures and Trees #14, Duras, France, 1987 watercolor and pencil on Arches paper 30 x 22-3/4 inches signed, dated, and titled

Robert Dennis REID (1924-2002)

Blue Landscape, 1987 watercolor and pencil on Arches paper 30 x 22-3/4 inches signed, dated, and titled

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109

John Thomas RIDDLE, Jr. (1933-2002)

Perfect Planning, 1982

screenprint 33 x 22 inches (image) signed, dated, titled and numbered inscribed, APC 2, Red Sky

110

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

John Tarrell SCOTT (1940-2007)

Icarus, Lucifer's Fight, c. 1970 color collograph on wove paper 39-1/2 x 25-1/2 inches, full margins signed, titled, and numbered, 4/10

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The Movement of the Spirit: Biblical Allegory in The Davis Collection by Chenoa Baker, independent arts curator and writer

The Kerry Davis and C. Betty Davis Collection1 was founded on a belief in the importance of preserving “a spectrum of approaches to the black image” as a means of “consol[ing] the psyche and contribut[ing] to a more authentic articulation of the self.” As a microcosm of African American art, the collection also reveals how artists have used spirituality to articulate that self. Religion has long been a source of spiritual devotion and cultural expression for Black Americans, while Biblical stories have provided a language through which artists could explore struggle, liberation, identity, and the possibility of transformation. As Common Wealth: Art by African Americans in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston notes,

“

religion and spirituality formed an important bulwark against the racism, social, economic, and political challenges Black Americans faced in everyday life.”

In the Davis Collection, artists turn Biblical narratives into dynamic encounters between the human and the divine, giving form to faith through movement, tension, and the body. In John Tarrell Scott’s Icarus, Lucifer’s Fight (n.d.), William Majors’ Burning Bush (1967), and David Driskell’s Jacob Wrestling With the Angel (2015), spirituality is never static. Each artist depicts an encounter between the human and the otherworldly through a body or form in motion. Across these works, Biblical allegory becomes more than a vehicle for illustrating familiar stories. It becomes a way of making spiritual experience physical, giving shape to states of uncertainty, conflict, revelation, and surrender. The divine is not simply something these figures observe. It is something they fall toward, move through, and wrestle with. Spirituality and the melding of cultures in New Orleans, where John Tarrell Scott

1 Memories & Inspiration: The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection of African American Art – International Arts & Artists, www.artsandartists.org/exhibitions/memories/. Accessed 4 Sept. 2026.

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Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

was born, educated, and later returned to teach, informed his practice. An artist and educator who chaired Xavier University’s art department for several years, Scott developed a “kinetic visual language” that, as critic Holland Cotter writes,

“

filtered the spirit of the African diaspora through a modernist lens.2

In Icarus, Lucifer’s Fight, that movement becomes a fall. Scott collapses two stories of transgression and punishment into a single figure, bringing Greek mythology and Christian theology into contact with the visual language of the African diaspora. The result is a body suspended between earthly and spiritual realms, caught in motion but denied a clear destination.

The title Icarus, Lucifer’s Fight brings together two figures who are defined by their fall from above. In Greek mythology, Icarus escapes Crete with his father, Daedalus, using wings made of wax, only to fly too close to the sun and plummet to his death. Lucifer, according to Christian tradition, similarly falls from heaven after attempting to challenge God’s authority. In Scott’s embossed etching, these two narratives become one contorted body. Rendered in black and white, the figure's neck, arms, and chest appear crumpled into the lower plane of the composition. Scott replaces anatomical realism with geometry: the biceps become stacked ovals, the folds around the eyes become circles, and the halo or afro is constructed from small rectangular forms, giving the head a mosaic-like quality. Yet despite this attention to the figure, there is no access to its interior. The eyes have no pupils, leaving the face strangely unreadable

and forcing the viewer to interpret the body through posture rather than expression. That tension intensifies in the wings. Bold red forms fold across much of the composition, nearly enveloping the figure, while fragments of a knee, calf, and shin emerge above them without revealing the full limb. The body seems to continue beyond the edges of the image. Scott therefore denies us a stable sense of where the figure begins or ends, making the body feel like a force caught mid-fall. Its suspended state becomes a visual metaphor for the spiritual and existential uncertainty embedded in both stories: what happens after the fall, and what remains when the body is caught between worlds?

2 John Tarrell Scott Biography & Life Story | Askart, www.askart.com/artist/john_tarrell_scott/110123/ john_tarrell_scott.aspx?alert=info. Accessed 4 Sept. 2026.

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Scott's figure is caught in the downward motion of a fall, and William Majors turns toward another kind of spiritual movement: revelation. William Majors was an artist, educator, and member of the Spiral Collective (formed in 1963 to address art and the Civil Rights Movement that also encouraged a wave of Black abstraction). This move to New York and joining the Spiral Collective coincided with a shift to printmaking and a change in his visual language to be more abstract and gestural. A turning point in his career was a Whitney fellowship to Florence in 1960. When he returned in 1963, he created a famed series of 18 etchings depicting the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes, garnering him a prize at FESTAC ‘77. Ecclesiastes, part of the Wisdom books of the Bible, shares the meaning of life through highlighting seasonal agricultural metaphors to demonstrate the passage of time, human toil, vanity, and world order/ disorder. According to the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields,

“

monochromatic abstract etching layers geometric shapes of recognizable crescents and rectangles around a turbulent center. As the eye moves inward, the forms become increasingly convex and concave, loosening into organic shapes. Fine lines radiate outward from the center, simultaneously suggesting a bush, a flame, and something in motion. The image does not simply depict a burning bush. It seems to move like one. That movement is important because the Biblical story itself is an encounter in motion. Moses is wandering through the wilderness when he sees something that should be impossible: a bush engulfed in flame that does not burn. He stops.

Majors wanted to explore these big ideas while also getting away from traditional religious imagery during the 1960s, a time of political and social change. He turned to abstraction and the use of both linear and biomorphic shapes to articulate the sense of scale and mystery.3

These ideas are continued in a moment in Exodus where Moses has a divine encounter in the wilderness through an enigma: a bush that is on fire but does not become singed. In this pivotal moment of Moses’ life, he can hear God’s voice clearly. Therefore, William Majors’ Burning Bush contains the same energy as that charged moment for Moses. The

He turns toward it. Then he hears God’s voice. The miracle is not only what Moses sees but the way the sight interrupts his movement through the landscape. The burning bush becomes a threshold between the earthly and divine worlds.

3 Ecclesiastes III:8, collections.discovernewfields.org/art/artwork/78896. Accessed 4 Sept. 2026.

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Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Majors’ abstraction similarly suspends the viewer between recognition and mystery. At first, the eye searches for something familiar: a flame, a plant, perhaps a figure. But the closer one looks, the less stable the image becomes. Its forms seem to expand, contract, and spiral away from the center. The viewer is pulled into the same state of uncertainty that defines Moses’ encounter: seeing something recognizable while confronting something that cannot be fully explained. The movement in Burning Bush does not end with the Biblical story. It begins to recall another tradition of spiritual embodiment. The vortex at the center of Burning Bush recalls the swirling silhouette of West African masquerade dances, in which dancers can become nearly indistinguishable from the raffia costumes that surround them. The body disappears into motion. What emerges is an embodied presence, a spirit made visible through movement. Robert Farris Thompson describes the “choreographic modalities” that connect Black people throughout the Western Hemisphere to Africa and to the forms of movement that traveled across the diaspora. Seen through this diasporic visual vocabulary, Burning Bush takes on another resonance. This is where the work becomes especially powerful. The burning bush is a Biblical image of divine presence, but in Majors’ hands, that presence is not static. It swirls. It radiates. It gathers force. Burning Bush dates to 1967, a year marked by the continued struggle for civil rights and the emergence of Black Power. Rather than illustrating that political turmoil directly, Majors channels the instability and urgency of the period into abstraction. Where Majors finds the divine in the

movement of an abstract form, David Driskell finds it in the physical struggle of the human body. Like Scott and Majors, Driskell was an artist and educator whose practice drew from the

cultural histories around him. He worked across painting, sculpture, collage, and printmaking, absorbing different artistic languages without separating them from his personal and cultural history. Critic John Yau writes that Driskell “never tried to fit in or accommodate his work to prevailing, white, avant-garde styles.”4 That approach is especially evident in Jacob Wrestling With the Angel, where a Biblical story becomes an intimate meditation on struggle, uncertainty, and faith. In Genesis, Jacob spends the night wrestling with an angel, though some translations identify the figure as God. Jacob refuses to release him

4 “David Driskell.” DC Moore Gallery, www.dcmooregallery.com/artists/david-driskell?view=slider%237. Accessed 4 Sept. 2026.

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until he receives a blessing. It is a strange encounter: Jacob is fighting with the divine, but he is also seeking something from it. The struggle is therefore both physical and spiritual, an act of resistance that becomes an act of surrender. In Jacob Wrestling With the Angel, Driskell uses four colors to distinguish the figures, rendered in black, from the surrounding lines and marks. Yet the scene does not depict Jacob in the midst of combat. Instead, Driskell shows the aftermath: an angelic figure folded around another figure in an embrace. The struggle has become contact. That choice changes the Biblical encounter from a scene of conflict into one of intimacy. The multicolored lines surrounding the figures create a textured, almost pointillist surface, but they also seem to radiate outward from the embrace, keeping the energy of the struggle alive even after it has ended. Driskell's marks make the encounter feel less like a distant Biblical event than an emotional state unfolding in the present. Driskell's own reflections on Jacob deepen this reading. Discussing Eugène Delacroix's depiction of the same subject, he described the struggle as “earthly,” connecting the Biblical story to the uncertainties of lived experience. He later explained, “I’m trying to make sense of the world around me and trying to see how I fit in,” adding that “that is the struggle.” For Driskell, Jacob's wrestling is not simply an ancient story of faith. It becomes a metaphor for the ongoing work of finding one's place in

116

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

an uncertain world. His Jacob Wrestling With the Angel turns that struggle inward, transforming the physical encounter between Jacob and the divine into a meditation on what it means to remain in contact with uncertainty long enough to receive something from it. The word Jacob appears against a black field on the left side of the print, grounding the scene in the humanity of the figure. The movement of the spirit here is not escape or revelation, but endurance: staying with the divine until struggle becomes intimacy. Taken together, Scott’s Icarus, Lucifer’s Fight, Majors’ Burning Bush, and Driskell’s Jacob Wrestling With the Angel reveal spirituality as something restless and embodied. Scott gives us the falling body, suspended between earth and heaven. Majors gives us the swirling form, caught between flame, bush, and spirit. Driskell gives us the wrestling body, refusing to release the divine until it receives a blessing. Their Biblical references are therefore more than illustrations of familiar stories. Each artist uses the Bible as a point of departure, transforming its narratives through the visual languages of abstraction, movement, color, and the body. In their hands, faith becomes something that can be felt as much as seen. That is what makes these works so resonant within the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection because the collection preserves artwork as ways of thinking, remembering, and understanding the self.C

Black Art Auction

117

Jewel Woodward SIMON (1911-1996)

Margaret Jewel, her Doll Irene, and Pony, c. 1950 watercolor on paper 15-1/2 x 13 inches (image) signed

118

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Alec SIMPSON (contemporary)

It's a Big World, Galaxy Series, 2017 monoprint with metallic inks on black paper 22 x 30 inches signed, dated, titled, and numbered 1/1

Black Art Auction

119

Louis SLOAN (1932-2008)

Landscape, 1974

oil on board 9-1/2 x 12 inches signed and dated

120

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Louis SLOAN (1932-2008)

Waterfall, n.d. oil on board 15 x 9 inches signed

Black Art Auction

121

William E. SMITH (1913-1977)

Pay Day, 1938

linocut 8-1/4 x 6 inches signed and titled

122 Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Freddie STYLES (b. 1944)

Landscape in Red, Black, White, Silver I, 2000 acrylic and metallic paint on paper with collage 18 x 24 inches signed and dated

Black Art Auction

123

Alma THOMAS (1891-1978)

Untitled, 1967 watercolor on Arches paper 22 x 29 inches signed and dated

124

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

June DeLairre TRUESDALE (contemporary)

VanDerZee, 1980

photograph 4 x 7 inches signed, dated, and titled

Black Art Auction

125

Leo TWIGGS (b. 1934)

Icons of a Lesser Image, 1981 batik on linen 24 x 17 inches signed

126 Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Eugene Roy VANGO (b. 1941)

untitled, n.d. acrylic on canvas 24 x 18 inches signed

Black Art Auction

127

Eugene Roy VANGO (b. 1941)

untitled, n.d. acrylic on canvas 24 x 36 inches signed

128 Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Walter Henry WILLIAMS (1920-1998)

Fighting Cock #3, 1964

color woodcut print 21-1/2 x 27 inches signed, dated, titled and numbered 11/200

Black Art Auction

129

John Woodrow WILSON (1922-2015)

Dialogue Study, 1973 felt tip pen and graphite drawing 3 x 5 inches acquired directly from the artist

130

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Hale Aspacio WOODRUFF (1900-1980)

The Jesters, n.d.

serigraph 5 x 7 inches, full margins signed and titled

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131

Hartwell YEARGANS (1915-2005)

Formal Attire, 1969

etching 9 x 6 inches (image), full margins signed, dated, titled and numbered, A/P II

132

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

Hartwell YEARGANS (1915-2005)

New Clothes, 1970

etching 9 x 6 inches, full margins signed, dated, titled, and numbered A/P VII

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133

Works 1. Derrick Adams (b. 1970) Style Variation 2 (Waves), 2020 screenprint/ archival inkjet print 27 x 20 inches signed, dated, titled, and numbered, 30/30 published by Tandem Press 2. Derrick Adams (b. 1970) Style Variation 3 (High Top), 2020 screenprint/ archival inkjet 27 x 20 inches signed and numbered, 30/30 published by Tandem Press 3. Ron Adams (1934-2020) Rorschach Riddle, 1992 mixed media, brush ink, gouache, and pen on green/gray paper 53 x 38 inches signed and dated; label on verso with title: Lewallen Contemporary, 129 W. Palace Ave, Santa Fe, NM 4. William E. Artis (1914-1977) Michael, 1940/2002 cast bronze with medium to dark brown patina (from a terracotta image, 1940) 9 x 7 x 5-1/2 inches (without base) 3 x 5 x 5 inches (base) signed 5. Radcliffe Bailey (1968-2023) Untitled, 2005 mixed media collage 36 x 24-1/2 inches signed and dated verso, 6/15/05 6. Romare Bearden (1911-1988) Dancer, c. 1982 color lithograph 18-1/2 x 14 inches, full margins 28-1/8 x 22-1/4 inches (sheet) signed and numbered, 11/50

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Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

7. Romare Bearden (1911-1988) Jazz II Deluxe, 1980 color screenprint 26-3/4 x 37-1/2 inches, full margins signed Gelburd/Rosenberg GG#100. 8. John Thomas Biggers (1924-2001) Above My Head, 1964 lithograph 9 x 12 inches, full margins signed, dated, titled, and numbered, 8/9 9. Camille Billops (1933-2019) Study for KKK Boutique, 1994 pen drawing on paper 14 x 11 inches (image) 21 x 18 inches (sheet) signed, dated, titled , inscribed, NYC 10. Kay Brown (1932-2012) Black Goddess, 1972 color etching and aquatint 10 x 7 1/2 inches (image), full margins signed, dated, titled and numbered 3/25 11. Kay Brown (1932-2012) Sister Alone in Rented Room, 1972 etching and aquatint 20 x 16 inches (image) signed, dated, titled and numbered, 9/50 12. Samuel Joseph Brown (1907-1994) Untitled, 1941 tempera on paper 9 x 6-1/2 inches signed and dated 13. Beverly Buchanan (1940-2015) Fall Line Series 1, 1982 acrylic on canvas 20 x 24 inches signed; titled, dated and signed verso label from Hammonds House Museum

14. Beverly Buchanan (1940-2015) Shack With Chair, 1989 acrylic, foam board, and thread 20-1/2 x 7 x 11 inches signed and dated on verso 15. Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) Race Riot (Children at Play), 1980, 1985, 1992 color pencil drawing 40 x 60 inches signed and dated 16. Margaret Burroughs (1915-2010) Students of DuSable, 1965 color woodblock 16 x 18 inches, full margins signed, dated, and titled 17. Donald E. Camp (b. 1940) Quinton Morris, 1994 casein monoprint 30 x 22 inches signed and dated 18. Elizabeth Catlett (1915-2012) Survivor, 1983 woodcut 9-1/4 x 7 1/2 inches (image) signed, dated, titled and numbered, 934/1000 19. Ralph Chessé (1900-1991) Family, 1943 gouache and mixed media 5 x 7 inches signed and dated 20. Claude Clark (1915-2001) Sister and Brother, 1949 oil on board 9 x 12 inches 21. Claude Clark (1915-2001) At the Crossing, c. 1955 oil on board

12 x 9 inches signed 22. Irene Clark (1927-1984) Young Girl, n.d. oil and mixed media on board 15-1/2 x 8 inches signed 23. Irene Clark (1927-1984) Flute Player, n.d. oil and mixed media on board 25 x 5-1/2 inches signed 24. Kevin Cole (b. 1960) Urban Data with Urban Soul II, 2009 mixed media on paper 26 x 18-1/2 inches signed, dated, and titled 25. Allan Rohan Crite (1910-2007) Priest, 1937 linocut 8 x 6 inches signed and dated 26. Emilio Cruz (1938-2004) Figures in a Landscape, 1965 oil pastel on paper 8-3/4 x 12-1/4 inches signed and dated 27. Richard Dempsey (1909-1987) Waterfront, 1950 oil on canvas 20 x 24 inches signed and dated 28. Milton Derr (b. 1932) Aftermath of Katrina, 2005 oil on Yuppo paper 20 x 26 inches signed, dated, and titled

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29. Aaron Douglas (1899-1979) (after) Man Striving to Be Man, 1957 (conceived, later printing) zinc plate etching on paper 5 x 3-1/2 inches 30. David Driskell (1931-2020) Jacob Wrestling With the Angel, (from the Maine Suite Portfolio), 2015 linocut 15-1/2 x 11-1/2 inches (image) 21 x 15 inches (full sheet) signed, dated, titled, and numbered 10/30 31. David Driskell (1931-2020) The Guardian, (from the Maine Suite Portfolio), 2012 linocut 14-3/4 x 11-3/4 inches (image) 21 x 15 inches signed, dated, titled, and numbered 10/30 32. David Driskell (1931-2020) The Rocker, (from the Maine Suite Portfolio), 2012 linocut 21 x 15 inches (sheet) signed, dated, titled, and numbered, 10/30 33. David Driskell (1931-2020) Woman Resting, (from the Maine Suite Portfolio), 2010 linocut 10-1/2 x 11 inches (image) 20 x 15-1/4 inches (sheet) signed, dated, titled and numbered 10/30 34. David Driskell (1931-2020) The Legend, (from the Maine Suite Portfolio), 2013 linocut 12 x 11-1/4 inches signed, dated, titled, and numbered 10/30 35. Minnie Evans (1892-1987) Untitled, 1948 crayon on brown paper

136 Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

12 x 9 inches signed and dated 36. Bob Greene (b. 1947) Boy With Flute, c. 1970 gelatin silverprint 11 x 7-1/2 inches (image) 14 x 11 inches stamped verso 37. Bob Greene (b. 1947) Untitled (Figure in the Rain), c. 1970/1980 gelatin silverprint 11 x 8 inches (image), full margins stamped verso 38. Eugene Grigsby (1918-2013) Bountiful, 1998 color woodblock print 8-1/4 x 5-1/4 inches (image), full margins signed, dated, titled, and numbered, A/P I 39. Theodore “Teddy” Gunn (1931-2020) Nude, c. 1970 oil on canvas 39 x 29 inches 40. Theodore “Teddy” Gunn (1931-2020) Winter Landscape, 1969 acrylic on canvas board 16 x 20 inches signed and dated 41. John Wesley Hardrick (1891-1968) (Late) Fall Landscape, c. 1935 oil on board 8 x 10 inches signed 42. Edwin Augustus Harleston (1882-1931) A Colored Grand Army Man, 1925 pastel on tan paper 16-1/2 x 13 inches (image), irregular-shape matting signed

43. Palmer Cole Hayden (1890-1973) Le Grand Bay, 1937 oil on canvas 20 x 26 inches signed

50. Manuel Hughes (b. 1938) Arc Series, 1987 pastel and colored pencil on brown paper 19-1/2 x 25 inches signed

44. Leon Hicks (b. 1933) Engraving XIII, 1995-1996 engraving 35-1/2 x 70-1/2 inches (plate) 42 x 79-1/4 inches (sheet) signed, dated, and titled with artist proof

51. Manuel Hughes (b. 1938) Cigar on a Ledge, c. 1970 oil on canvas wrapped around plywood 9-1/2 x 13 inches signed

45. Leon Hicks (b. 1933) Appalachian Sequela #3, 1967 engraving 26 x 16 inches (image), full margins signed, dated, titled, and numbered 8/10

52. Richard Hunt (1935-2023) Untitled, 1987 welded steel sculpture 26-1/2 x 38-1/2 x 22 inches

46. Leon Hicks (b. 1933) Appalachian Sequela #5, 1967 engraving 26 x 16 inches signed, dated, titled and numbered, 5/10

53. Harlan Jackson (1918-1993) Improvisation #13, 1973 oil and collage on canvas 18 x 24 inches signed; titled on stretcher verso artist label with date and title, catalog #66

47. Alvin Hollingsworth (1928-2000) Untitled, c. 1970 oil on canvasboard 14 x 11 inches signed

54. Wadsworth Jarrell (b. 1929) Blue Lou, (Lou Rawls), c. 1980 acrylic on canvas 27-1/2 x 36-1/2 inches signed

48. Sedric Huckaby (b. 1975) American Dad, 2015 color lithograph on Somerset England paper 30 x 22 inches signed and numbered 23/30 printed by P.R.I.N.T. (The Print Research Institute of North Texas) at the University of North Texas, Denton, Texas

55. Frederick D. Jones, Jr. (1913-1996) Couple, c. 1960 watercolor and ink on paper 9 x 7 inches signed

49. Thomas Hudson (contemporary) Maulstick, 2018 oil on board 24-1/4 x 17 inches signed

56. Frederick D. Jones, Jr. (1913-1996) Untitled (At Supper), c. 1975 watercolor on paper 11 x 11 inches 57. Frederick D. Jones, Jr. (1913-1996) Woman With a Rose, 1959 mixed media on brown paper 24 x 18 inches signed and dated

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58. Lois Mailou Jones (1905-1998) Nice, France, c. 1950 watercolor on paper 19 x 24 inches signed and titled

65. Samella Lewis (1923-2022) Field, 1968 lithograph 24 x 18 inches (full margins) signed, dated, titled and numbered, 22/25

59. Lois Mailou Jones (1905-1998) St. Michelle, France, 1958 watercolor on paper 18-1/2 x 23-1/2 inches signed and titled

66. Donald Locke (1930-2010) King and Queen (Homage to Moore), 1987 bronze, fabric, and wood 18-3/4 x 20 x 13-1/2 inches signed, dated, and numbered, 5/10

60. Theodore Jones (b. 1938) Akuaba Mask in the Tradition of the Ashanti People (Ghana), 2011 copper repoussé and twine 14 x 14 inches (copper: 10-1/2 inches diameter) 44 x 14 inches (overall size) signed, dated, titled on verso 61. Theodore Jones (b. 1938) The Sacred Heart of Jesus, 2015 copper repoussé, wood and yarn assemblage 21-1/2 x 10-1/2 inches (board only) yarn extends 14 inches below board signed and dated; titled verso 62. Gwendolyn Knight (Lawrence) (1913-2005) Nuns in a Landscape, 1941 gouache and watercolor on paper 12 x 17-1/2 inches signed and dated 63. Leon Lank Leonard (1922-1993) Jester, c. 1959 mixed media on board 23-1/2 x 15-1/2 inches 64. Norman Lewis (1909-1979) Untitled, 1964 oil on paper 23 x 33 inches signed and dated

138 Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

67. Lionel Lofton (b. 1954) Playground Delight I, c. 2020 mixed media and acrylic on heavy paper 24 x 18 inches signed and titled 68. Alvin D. Loving, Jr. (1935-2005) Crotch on Fire, 1980 paint and torn paper collage on gray linen 52 x 52 inches 69. Alvin D. Loving, Jr. (1935-2005) The Raymond Johnson Dance Company (Crotch on Fire), 1980 offset lithographic poster 30 x 24 inches signed and numbered 87/200 70. Eric Mack (b. 1987) PNO-28.76, 2002/2003 mixed media on canvas 71 x 46 inches signed signed, dated, and titled verso 71. William Majors (1930-1982) Burning Bush, 1967 etching 20-1/4 x 15-1/2 inches, full margins signed, dated, titled and numbered, 34/110

72. Kerry James Marshall (b. 1955) Untitled (Handsome Young Man), 2010 etching and aquatint on Somerset white paper 16 x 12 inches (image) 24 1/2 x 18-1/2 inches (sheet) signed, dated, titled, and numbered, 39/50 printed and published by Paulson Bott Press, Berkeley, CA 73. Kerry James Marshall (b. 1955) Untitled (Woman), 2010 hard ground etching and aquatint on Somerset white paper 16 x 12 inches (image) 24-1/2 x 18-1/2 inches (sheet) signed, dated, titled, and numbered, 39/50 printed and published by Paulson Bott Press, Berkeley, CA 74. Ealy Mays (b. 1959) Ballerina, c. 2010 oil and acrylic on canvas 30-1/2 x 19 inches signed 75. Frank Neal (1915-1955) Sailors, c. 1940 gouache on board 11-1/2 x 8 inches signed 76. Frank Neal (1915-1955) Wash Day, c. 1940 gouache 16 x 20 inches signed 77. Joseph Norman (b. 1957) Untitled (Portrait), 2015 charcoal on paper 29 x 22 inches signed and dated

78. Bruce Onobrakpeya (b. 1932) Afieki I and Ekhena, 1979 linocut prints 9-1/4 x 6-3/4 inches (image), full margins (each same size) signed, dated, titled, and numbered 163/250, and inscribed, Lagol 79. Hayward Oubré (1916-2006) Stevedore, 1970/2015 bronze, later casting by artist’s estate 5 x 4 x 5 inches signed and dated, 12/1970 80. Joe Overstreet (1933-2019) Study for Black Star Line, 1990 charcoal on paper 18 x 11-1/2 inches signed label verso: Kenkeleba House, 214-16 East Second Street, New York, New York, 10009 81. Gordon Parks (1912-2006) Women Welders at the Landers, Frary, and Clark plant, New Britain, CT, 1943 gelatin silverprint 9 x 7 inches (image) unsigned, numerals written in pencil verso 82. James Phillips (b. 1945) Study for the Race Card Series, 2016 mixed media on board 20 x 15 inches (image) signed 83. Howardena Pindell (b. 1943) Constellations, 2014 open bite etching in white on black wove paper 30 x 22 inches signed, dated, titled, and numbered, 39/100, blind stamp

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84. Howardena Pindell (b. 1943) Number Series #2, 2003-2004 collage and etching 9 x 12 inches (image) 14-3/4 x 17-3/4 inches (sheet) signed, dated, titled and numbered, 2/40

91. John Thomas Riddle, Jr. (1933-2002) Perfect Planning, 1982 screen print 33 x 22 inches (image) signed, dated, titled, and numbered inscribed, APC 2, Red Sky

85. Stephanie E. Pogue (1944-2002) Field of Flowers, 1976 colored etching and aquatint 6 x 11 inches, full margins signed, dated, and titled, with artist proof

92. John Tarrell Scott (1940-2007) Icarus, Lucifer’s Fight, c. 1970 color collograph on wove paper 39-1/2 x 25-1/2 inches, full margins signed, titled, and numbered, 4/10

86. Stephanie E. Pogue (1944-2002) Waiting for the Bus, c. 1970 etching 7 x 11 inches (image) 11-1/2 x 15 inches (sheet) signed, titled, and numbered, C.S. II, 5/10

93. Jewel Woodward Simon (1911-1996) Margaret Jewel, Her Doll Irene, and Pony, c. 1950 watercolor on paper 15-1/2 x 13 inches (image) signed

87. Robert Dennis Reid (1924-2002) Untitled (Blue/Green), c. 1970 collage and oil on canvas 44 x 41-1/2 inches signed

94. Alec Simpson (contemporary) It’s a Big World, Galaxy Series, 2017 monoprint with metallic inks on black paper 22 x 30 inches signed, dated, titled, and numbered 1/1

88. Robert Dennis Reid (1924-2002) Landscape with African Flowers, Duras, France, 1992 watercolor and pencil on Arches paper 30 x 22-3/4 inches signed, dated, and titled 89. Robert Dennis Reid (1924-2002) Landscape with Figures and Trees #14, Duras, France, 1987 watercolor and pencil on Arches paper 30 x 22-3/4 inches signed, dated, and titled 90. Robert Dennis Reid (1924-2002) Blue Landscape, 1987 watercolor and pencil on Arches paper 30 x 22-3/4 inches signed, dated, and titled

140

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection

95. Louis Sloan (1932-2008) Landscape, 1974 oil on board 9-1/2 x 12 inches signed and dated 96. Louis Sloan (1932-2008) Waterfall, n.d. oil on board 15 x 9 inches signed 97. William E. Smith (1913-1977) Pay Day, 1938 linocut 8-1/4 x 6 inches signed and titled

98. Freddie Styles (b. 1944) Landscape in Red, Black, White, Silver I, 2000 acrylic, metallic paint, and collage on paper 18 x 24 inches signed and dated 99. Alma Thomas (1891-1978) Untitled, 1967 watercolor on Arches paper 22 x 29 inches signed and dated 100. June DeLairre Truesdale (contemporary) VanDerZee, 1980 photograph 4 x 7 inches signed, dated, and titled 101. Leo Twiggs (b. 1934) Icons of a Lesser Image, 1981 batik on linen 24 x 17 inches signed; label verso with title

105. John Woodrow Wilson (1922-2015) Dialogue Study, 1973 felt tip pen and graphite drawing 3 x 5 inches acquired directly from the artist 106. Hale Woodruff (1900-1980) The Jesters, n.d. serigraph 5 x 7 inches, full margins signed and titled 107. Hartwell Yeargans (1915-2005) Formal Attire, 1969 etching 9 x 6 inches (image), full margins signed, dated, titled, and numbered, A/P II 108. Hartwell Yeargans (1915-2005) New Clothes, 1970 etching 9 x 6 inches, full margins signed, dated, titled, and numbered A/P VII

102. Eugene Roy Vango (b. 1941) Untitled, n.d. acrylic on canvas 24 x 18 inches signed 103. Eugene Roy Vango (b. 1941) Untitled, n.d. acrylic on canvas 24 x 36 inches signed 104. Walter Henry Williams (1920-1998) Fighting Cock #3, 1964 color woodcut print 21-1/2 x 27 inches signed, dated, titled, and numbered 11/200

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Acknowledgements Kerry and C. Betty Davis, along with Black Art Auction would like to offer a very special thanks to: Brenda and Larry Thompson, Cleophus Thomas, Jr., Chenoa Baker, Donnell Walker, Kenneth Prince, Carter B. Cue, Wesley Law (photographer), Eric Key, William Robinson, and Linda Singletary-Brown

® 2026 Black Art Auction

Selections from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection Pages