Inspired by old masters such as El Greco, Young painted elongated, expressionistic figures in dynamic groups. He created his paintings and drawings on a variety of found supports, including panel, paper, and—as in this example—books. Sometimes I Get Emotion from the Game is filled with drawings of men playing basketball and football. As the book’s title and imagery suggest, Young viewed sports as a space of freedom and release from the oppressive conditions that governed the lives of the Black men he knew.
Purvis Young
American, 1943–2010
Sometimes I Get Emotion from the Game, 1980s
Ballpoint pen and marker on paper glued to found book
The Morgan Library & Museum, gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation from the William S. Arnett Collection and purchase on the Manley Family Fund; 2018.106
© Larry T. Clemons / Gallery 721 / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York