'The Art of Simmie Knox': Presidential Portrait Artist Visits Morgan Thursday, April 11, 2013, 1-4 PM, Murphy Fine Arts Building - Recital Hall

Dr. Eric Conway of Morgan State University writes:

Hello everyone,

Simmie Knox, the artist mostly known for the White House Presidential portrait of William Jefferson Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton will visit Morgan on Thursday, April 11, 2013 at 1-4PM in the Recital Hall at the Murphy Fine Arts Center.  Simmie Knox will visit Morgan as part of the MSU Artist Lecture Series.  Please feel free to attend and participate in this free lecture.

Eric Conway

The Visual Arts Department presents the 

MSU Artist Lecture Series 

Thursday April 11, 2013 from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. in the 

Carl J. Murphy Fine Arts Building - Recital Hall 

2201 Argonne Drive, Baltimore, MD 21251

A graduate of Tyler School of Art at Temple University (BFA, Magna Cum Laude, MFA) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Simmie Knox as an artist has specialized in oil portraiture since 1981. Prior to that, he taught at various colleges, universities, and public schools in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. During the 1970's, Simmie exhibited as an abstract artist and worked for the Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C. In 1971, he participated in the Thirty-Second Biennial of Contemporary American Painting at The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. with his abstract art.

He turned to portraiture after years of painting a wide variety of paintings because he found that there is nothing more challenging and interesting to paint than the human face. He states "I think that a good portrait is the most difficult thing for an artist to bring off successfully. Not only must you get an accurate likeness, but you must also create a good painting. Somehow you must convey a subject's character, spirit, and personality; and everything must communicate the dynamism of the subject."

Simmie has been commissioned by private individuals, organizations, and institutions and has painted portraits of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, a U.S. cabinet member, U.S. congressmen and state senators, a mayor of New York City, respected civic leaders, sports figures, entertainment celebrities, educators, judges, religious leaders, military officers, businessmen, and private individuals.