ABOUT SAM MIDDLETON

Sam Middleton (1927-2015) was an African-American artist known for his abstract expressionist works and collage. He was born on November 28, 1927, in Harlem, New York City, and he passed away on August 31, 2015, in the Netherlands.

Middleton's early life in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance exposed him to a vibrant cultural milieu that included jazz music, which would later be a signi cant in uence in his art. He attended the High School of Music & Art in New York, which further cultivated his artistic talents. However, the racial tensions and limited opportunities for black artists in the United States at the time led him to leave the country in the 1950s.

Middleton's travels took him through various countries, including Mexico, Sweden, and Spain, before he eventually settled in the Netherlands in 1961. Europe o ered him the artistic freedom and acceptance that was harder to nd in America. It was here that he developed his signature style, characterized by a rich use of color, abstract forms, and the incorporation of materials like sand and paper into his paintings, which gave them a textured, three-dimensional quality.

His works were often inspired by jazz music, with its improvisational nature and rhythmic complexity mirrored in his visual compositions. Middleton's pieces are celebrated for their vibrant energy and the emotional depth they convey, often exploring themes of African heritage, identity, and the African-American experience.

Throughout his career, Sam Middleton exhibited widely across Europe and the United States. His art has been collected by numerous institutions, including the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

Middleton's legacy is that of an expatriate artist who found his voice away from his homeland, blending European modernist techniques with the African-American cultural heritage to create a unique and compelling body of work.