Artist: Purvis Young
Title: Untitled (Trucks and Cars)
Medium: Original Oil Painting on 1/8" Plywood
Size: 24" x 50"
Year: ca 1990
Condition: In the style of found art with an intentionally weathered appearance. Expected imperfections include heavy creasing, unfinished edges, and marks
Documentation: Includes a Certificate of Authenticity from the Purvis Young Foundation
Purvis Young's "Untitled (Trucks and Cars)" is a striking original oil painting on 1/8" plywood, measuring an impressive 24 x 50 inches. The large-scale composition exemplifies Young's signature style, blending raw, expressive brushwork with found materials to create a powerful visual narrative. Transportation, a recurring theme in Young's work, serves as a metaphor for movement, migration, and the pursuit of opportunity. His depictions of trucks and cars often symbolize the struggles and aspirations of urban life, reflecting both the hardships and resilience of marginalized communities.
True to Young's unconventional approach, this piece embraces the aesthetics of found art, featuring an intentionally weathered appearance. Visible imperfections such as unfinished edges, heavy creasing, and surface marks contribute to its raw authenticity, echoing the artist's belief that beauty can be found in the discarded and overlooked. His use of oil paint on plywood enhances the textural depth of the composition, giving the piece a sense of urgency and motion.
Young's work is deeply rooted in social commentary, drawing attention to themes of displacement, perseverance, and hope. "Untitled (Trucks and Cars)" captures this dynamic, making it both a historical document of its time and a timeless exploration of the human experience.
This piece includes a Certificate of Authenticity from the Purvis Young Foundation. It is currently unframed, though framing options are available upon request.
About Purvis Young
Purvis Young (1943–2010) was an American self-taught artist whose raw, expressive paintings captured the essence of life in Miami's Overtown neighborhood. Born and raised in one of the city's most historically significant yet economically disadvantaged communities, Young's work became a visual chronicle of urban struggle, resilience, and hope. Through a distinctive blend of abstraction, figuration, and collage, he transformed discarded materials into vibrant narratives, cementing his legacy as one of the most important outsider artists of the 20th century.
Young's artistic journey was unconventional. He spent his early years navigating the harsh realities of poverty and systemic oppression, leading to a brief period of incarceration in his teenage years. It was during this time that he immersed himself in art, studying books on Renaissance masters and Mexican muralists. Inspired by the power of visual storytelling, Young embraced painting as his medium of expression, developing a style that was both deeply personal and universally resonant.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Young transformed a stretch of Overtown's abandoned buildings into an open-air gallery, known as "Goodbread Alley." He covered the walls with his paintings—vivid, emotionally charged depictions of horses, angels, cityscapes, and protest scenes. His work spoke to themes of social justice, migration, war, and spirituality, offering an unfiltered reflection of the world around him. Without formal training or access to traditional materials, Young painted on whatever he could find—scrap wood, cardboard, and even old doors—turning discarded objects into powerful statements of artistic defiance.
Despite his lack of institutional support early on, Young's talent did not go unnoticed. In the 1980s and 1990s, collectors and art enthusiasts began to recognize the significance of his work, propelling him from the streets of Overtown to the walls of major museums and galleries. His paintings were acquired by institutions such as the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the American Folk Art Museum, and the High Museum of Art, solidifying his place in the canon of American art.
Young's work remains a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. His ability to capture both the beauty and hardship of urban life through an unfiltered, intuitive process continues to inspire artists and audiences alike. Even after his passing in 2010, his legacy endures, serving as a reminder that great art does not require privilege or formal training—only a relentless passion to tell one's truth.