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FEATURE

SOMETHING TO SAY

The McNay presents 100 Years of African American Art By Fred Olin, MD

On February 8th, my wife and I were privileged to be present at mon had to choose; the car and the painting cost about the same.
the opening of an exhibit at the McNay that features a number of The portrait is viewable at the McNay, but the Ferrari isn’t. As we
pieces of African American art collected by Dr. and Mrs. Harmon walked through the exhibit, there were several pieces that basically
W. Kelley, and held by their Harmon and Harriet Kelley Foundation stopped me in my tracks. One was Rose Piper’s spooky “The Con-
for the Arts. Additionally, there are a few pictures from other col- juring Woman,” and another was the evocative “The Night Letter”
lections. It is the museum’s first ever survey of African American by Eldzier Cortor. The latter piece has everything I like in portraits;
art. Running simultaneously in another part of the same gallery is it makes one speculate on the subject’s personality, thoughts or sit-
“30 Americans: Rubell Family Collection” which is dedicated to uation. Although the painting is not of a specific person, I looked
more contemporary African American art. They are each very much at it and wondered what message the subject, a young woman, had
worth experiencing, and will be available until May 6th. received that has upset her so. You can see “The Night Letter” on
The Kelleys acquired “Portrait of My Wife” by Horace Pippin the McNay’s site, www.McNayart.org, by following the links to the
when Dr. Kelley was considering buying a Ferrari. They had ad- exhibit and then on to the “Related Gallery” where only a few of
mired the painting for a long time, and when it came available, Har- the works hanging are illustrated.

26 San Antonio Medicine • April 2018