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Maltby Sykes
American, 1911–1992
The art of Maltby Sykes reveals an evolution of styles—from Southern Regionalism to Modernist abstraction—over a career that spanned fifty years. Sykes, originally from Aberdeen, Mississippi, realized that he wanted to be an artist while he was still in high school in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and he sought instruction at the University of Alabama. He took steps to advance his career by serving apprenticeships in the tradition of the artist-as-craftsman. Lacking access to advanced art schooling in the South, he created his own curriculum of on-the-job training. Working first in Birmingham alongside portraitist Wayman Adams, who would go on to introduce him to artists in Elizabethtown, New York like George C. Miller, a fine-art lithographic printer. In 1935, Sykes traveled to Mexico City to the home of internationally renowned artist Diego Rivera where they would work together on murals for the Hotel de Reforma. During this partnership, Sykes learned about more than just art from Rivera. His skills were enhanced by a greater understanding of the world and its people, beyond his home in Alabama. He once remarked: “In the course of a lifetime artists do, in fact, develop several visual personalities. They are witnesses of their time and it is inevitable that their work should reflect the succession of ideologies, technologies and social attitudes that occur.” (1)
(1) Maltby Sykes, quoted in "The Spirit of the Modern: Drawings and Graphics by Maltby Sykes" (Athens, GA: Georgia Museum of Art, 2004), p. 14
American, 1911–1992
Still Life with Avocado
1954
Object Type:
Drawing
Dimensions:
20 1/2 in. x 26 3/8 in. (52.07 cm x 66.99 cm)
Medium and Support:
Ink and polymer on paper
Accession Number:
1983.0003.0025
Credit Line:
Gift of the artist
The art of Maltby Sykes reveals an evolution of styles—from Southern Regionalism to Modernist abstraction—over a career that spanned fifty years. Sykes, originally from Aberdeen, Mississippi, realized that he wanted to be an artist while he was still in high school in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and he sought instruction at the University of Alabama. He took steps to advance his career by serving apprenticeships in the tradition of the artist-as-craftsman. Lacking access to advanced art schooling in the South, he created his own curriculum of on-the-job training. Working first in Birmingham alongside portraitist Wayman Adams, who would go on to introduce him to artists in Elizabethtown, New York like George C. Miller, a fine-art lithographic printer. In 1935, Sykes traveled to Mexico City to the home of internationally renowned artist Diego Rivera where they would work together on murals for the Hotel de Reforma. During this partnership, Sykes learned about more than just art from Rivera. His skills were enhanced by a greater understanding of the world and its people, beyond his home in Alabama. He once remarked: “In the course of a lifetime artists do, in fact, develop several visual personalities. They are witnesses of their time and it is inevitable that their work should reflect the succession of ideologies, technologies and social attitudes that occur.” (1)
(1) Maltby Sykes, quoted in "The Spirit of the Modern: Drawings and Graphics by Maltby Sykes" (Athens, GA: Georgia Museum of Art, 2004), p. 14
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