Columbus Knox

Columbus P. Knox (1923–1999) was a painter, muralist, illustrator and printmaker. He was a mainstay at the annual Rittenhouse Square Fine Arts Show in Philadelphia, the oldest outdoor art exhibition in the country. His works are in museums and private collections. Knox created his own style of painting: using brushstrokes that resembled a rake being pulled through sand.

Early life and education

Columbus Pearl Knox was born on September 14, 1923, to Mary B. and William P. Knox who had moved from Virginia to Philadelphia to build a better life for their family. He learned to draw by looking over the shoulder of his older brother Norman as he drew. He copied what he saw. At age seven, he used small pieces of plaster of paris to draw on the streets in South Philadelphia where he grew up. In school, his teacher allowed him to decorate the bulletin board and classroom, and he illustrated his assignments with his artwork. After school, he headed over to the community center at St. Simons Church to draw and paint.

After the war he resumed his arts education and attended the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art (now University of the Arts) while freelancing at Leonard Studios Mural Arts Co. and his brother's company, Reliance Art Service.

Knox was chosen for commissions, illustrated comic and coloring books, posters and calendars, and participated in many local exhibitions, making him a well-known artist and go-to person. He was a familiar face at the Rittenhouse Square Fine Arts Show, which began in 1928 as the Rittenhouse Clothesline Exhibition.

He painted a life-size portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that hangs at the school that bears the name of the civil rights leader.

He exhibited often with the West Philadelphia Cultural Alliance's annual “Celebrating the Arts” and illustrated the organization's fundraising calendars. He also was a perennial artist in October Gallery's annual Art Expo in Philadelphia.

Knox was represented in a Free Library of Philadelphia exhibit of prints by Black artists living in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Several of those works were by artists who participated in the Works Projects Administration during the Depression, including Samuel J. Brown Jr., Dox Thrash and Raymond Steth. The prints were in the collection of the library, which mounted the exhibit in 1992"

In 1952, Knox helped create an “exotic frame-background” for a fashion show sponsored by the United Negro Assembly, of which he was a member of its Art Committee. The organization held an event at the Pyramid Club that year to encourage Black businesses to advertise. The event presented advertising art, layouts and copy by Black artists and ad designers.

In 1984, he illustrated an anti-graffiti comic book written by a Philadelphia School District educator. The workbook, which featured a multicultural group of friends, grew out of a 1976 book titled “Quadrus & Goliath” by Alvin Lester Ben-Moring. It was designed as an education tool in the middle grades.

In 1994, Knox exhibited at the MARC Studio Art Museum in “Untold West,” featuring three artists who used the American West as a theme in their works. The exhibit included the works of Ellen Powell Tiberino, Horace Pippin, Barbara Bullock, Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, Jacob Lawrence, Benny Andrews, Roland Ayers, Romare Bearden, Avel de Knight, Barkley Hendricks, Paul Keene, Raymond Saunders, Louis B. Sloan, Ed Wilson, Henry Ossawa Tanner and Joshua Johnson. In 1988, he was represented in an exhibit at the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum in Philadelphia of works from its collection. Titled “Rejuvenating a Collection: Ford Foundation Artists and Acquisitions,” it featured 32 works from some “prominent” local artists.

Later years Knox's paintings took on a religious theme.

His “Black Madonna” was shown at the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies in “Art and Religion: The Many Faces of Faith.” The exhibit included commentary from the artists on the subject. Knox wrote of his experiences as a Black soldier during World War II, noting that Black soldiers had to turn in their weapons while whites did not, that two his best friends were killed by whites and that Black soldiers were told they would not be discharged because they lied about being in combat.

Knox's work was included in the 2015 exhibition We Speak: Black Artists in Philadelphia, 1920s-1970s at the Woodmere Art Museum.

Collections

African American Museum in Philadelphia The Melvin Holmes Collection of African American Art Free Library of Philadelphia, Print and Picture Collection Philadelphia School District, Martin Luther King High School The Building Gallery, 1973 Rittenhouse Square Clothesline Exhibition, 1975 Peirce Junior College, 1986 West Philadelphia Regional Library, 1988,1989 Heritage Art Gallery, 1989, 1990 Esther M. Klein Gallery, University City Science Center, 1990 University of the Arts, Haviland Hall Gallery, 1991 Crescent Boat Club #5, Boat House Row, 1993 Chosen Image African American Art Gallery, 1994 Dizyners Gallery, 1997, 1999, 2000 Minority Arts Resource Council, William J. Green Federal Building, 1997 Woodmere Art Museum 2008, 2015