110

Charles Searles

(1937-2004)

Untitled.

Oil on linen canvas, 1974.
Signed and dated in oil, lower right.
42 x 72 in. (106.7 x 182.9 cm.), Frame: 43 x 73 in. (109.2 x 185.4 cm.)

  • Provenance:
    The artist, Jeff Donaldson
    Thence by descent to Jameela Donaldson.
  • Notes:
    Born and raised in Philadelphia, Searles enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1967. He gained national attention with the inclusion of his 1970 painting, News, in the 1971 exhibition of Contemporary Black Artists in America at the Whitney Museum of American Art. In 1972, Searles graduated, following in the footsteps of his friends and fellow PAFA students Barkley Hendricks (1967) and James Brantley (1971). With his 1971 William Emlen Cresson Memorial European Traveling Scholarship award, Searles travelled to Nigeria, Ghana, and Morocco after graduation. After returning from Africa, Searles began teaching art at the Ile Ife Cultural Center in Germantown, where he also played percussion in the Afro-American Dance Ensemble. This series was inspired by the repetitive movements of the Ife Ife dancers and the bright mixture of patterns in their dress. Other paintings from this series are found in the collections of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, La Salle University, and the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art.
  • Condition:
    Please contact the Specialist for the auction to request a condition report.

    Condition reports and additional images are provided as a courtesy and should be used by you to aid in the formation of your own opinion regarding condition. All material is sold subject to Swann's standard Terms and Conditions of Sale as published in our catalogues and posted on our website, and include the following terms: (1) all property is sold "as-is"; and (2) works cannot be returned on the basis of condition.

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April 2, 2026 12:00 PM EDT
New York, NY, US

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