This powerful and graphically composed image of a black man with white angel wings was painted in a realist style by African American artist Thomas Blackshear. Oil on canvas laid on board. Initialed lower left. The Circular Halo is a relief and made of Gold Leaf.
Titled on the reverse " The Watcher" Provenance: Private collector who acquired it from the artist. Framed 44 x 63.
Blackshear attended the Art Institute of Chicago and then the American Academy of Art in Chicago. He was a successful illustrator and is an inductee in the Society of Illustrators’ Hall of Fame. Starting in the 80s he was quite prolific with clients such as major ad agencies, National Geographic Magazine, George Lucas Studios and Universal Studios.
Blackshear designed illustrations for numerous postage stamps issued by the United States Postal Service (USPS) for Black Heritage series. A touring exhibit of his Black Heritage works premiered in 1992 at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. Blackshear also illustrated the USPS book I Have A Dream: A Collection of Black Americans on U.S. Postage Stamps (1991)