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A man of many talents and dogged determination, Merton Daniel Simpson was an acclaimed Abstract Expressionist, amateur jazz musician, and preeminent dealer of African and tribal art.
Simpson’s success as an artist and art dealer almost never happened. During his youth in Charleston, South Carolina, Simpson suffered from diphtheria and was necessarily hospitalized for much of his childhood. Bedridden for long periods of time, Simpson entertained himself by drawing: his early subjects included Mickey Mouse and Dick Tracy cartoons before advancing to copies after paintings published in art magazines and journals available to him through the Charleston Library. Gradually, Simpson gravitated toward painting.
Few opportunities for instruction or exhibition were available to an aspiring Black artist living in segregated Charleston in the 1940s. Simpson’s chance encounter with local portrait painter Jean Fleming precipitated an introduction to William Halsey, another Charleston artist and Director of the Studio Program at the Gibbes Gallery. Struck by Simpson’s evident talent, Halsey taught the young artist about drawing, composition, and mixing paint. He even encouraged Simpson to begin dabbling in abstraction. In 1949, Simpson left Charleston to attend New York University
In New York City, Simpson attended Cooper Union during the day, studying under Robert Gwathmey, and took evening courses at New York University. Abstract Expressionism, which was at the height of its popularity in New York during the early 1950s, made a lasting impression on Simpson. His painting style became noticeably more abstract and gestural during these years. Over the course of his career, Simpson’s work was included in important exhibitions at such prestigious institutions as the Guggenheim Museum, University of Michigan, and Krasner Gallery.
In the 1960s, Simpson was a member, along with fellow artists Charles Alston, Romare Bearden, Hale Woodruff, and others, of the Black art collective known as the Spiral Group.
Simpson's work is held by the Brooklyn Museum, Gibbes Museum of Art, and Greenville County (SC) Museum of Art, among others.
A man of many talents and dogged determination, Merton Daniel Simpson was an acclaimed Abstract Expressionist, amateur jazz musician, and preeminent dealer of African and tribal art.
Simpson’s success as an artist and art dealer almost never happened. During his youth in Charleston, South Carolina, Simpson suffered from diphtheria and was necessarily hospitalized for much of his childhood. Bedridden for long periods of time, Simpson entertained himself by drawing: his early subjects included Mickey Mouse and Dick Tracy cartoons before advancing to copies after paintings published in art magazines and journals available to him through the Charleston Library. Gradually, Simpson gravitated toward painting.
Few opportunities for instruction or exhibition were available to an aspiring Black artist living in segregated Charleston in the 1940s. Simpson’s chance encounter with local portrait painter Jean Fleming precipitated an introduction to William Halsey, another Charleston artist and Director of the Studio Program at the Gibbes Gallery. Struck by Simpson’s evident talent, Halsey taught the young artist about drawing, composition, and mixing paint. He even encouraged Simpson to begin dabbling in abstraction. In 1949, Simpson left Charleston to attend New York University
In New York City, Simpson attended Cooper Union during the day, studying under Robert Gwathmey, and took evening courses at New York University. Abstract Expressionism, which was at the height of its popularity in New York during the early 1950s, made a lasting impression on Simpson. His painting style became noticeably more abstract and gestural during these years. Over the course of his career, Simpson’s work was included in important exhibitions at such prestigious institutions as the Guggenheim Museum, University of Michigan, and Krasner Gallery.
In the 1960s, Simpson was a member, along with fellow artists Charles Alston, Romare Bearden, Hale Woodruff, and others, of the Black art collective known as the Spiral Group.
Simpson's work is held by the Brooklyn Museum, Gibbes Museum of Art, and Greenville County (SC) Museum of Art, among others.
