56

Pheoris West

(1950-2021)

Scream.

Oil on canvas, 1974.
Signed and dated lower right. Titled on a typed label on the stretcher bar, and inscribed "#30" in oil, verso.
44 x 40 in. (111.8 x 101.6 cm.)

  • Provenance:
    Kenmore Galleries, Philadelphia (label).
    [with] Woodmere Art Gallery, Philadelphia (label).
    Private collection, California.
  • Notes:
    Scream is an excellent example of the early painting of Pheoris West and typifies his first mature period of painting after attending Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. A Philadelphia nightclub scene, Scream shows West's interests in incorporating movement, Afro-centric symbolism and music that continue through his practice. Another work from his 1970s period is in the collection of North Carolina Central University Art Museum and was included in the 1999 landmark exhibition "To Conserve a Legacy: American Art from Historically Black Colleges and Universities."

    Born in Albany, New York, West studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, from 1970-74, and then earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale University in 1976. That year West joined the faculty at the College of Arts at Ohio State University. He taught as a professor of art there until until he suffered a debilitating stroke in 2016. Over a forty year career, West had solo exhibitions with Peg Alston Arts, New York, the Studio Museum in Harlem and several Ohio university galleries. His paintings today are in many collections including the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, Howard University, the Ohio State University, the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati and the Petrucci Family Foundation of African American Art. St. James pp. 560-562.
  • Condition:
    Please contact the Specialist for the auction to request a condition report.

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November 13, 2025 12:00 PM EST
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