South Carolina Artists: Merton D. Simpson

Merton D. Simpson was an artist, musician, and gallerist from Charleston, South Carolina. With early support and influence from William Halsey, Laura Bragg, and other Charleston artists and patrons, Simpson went on to become an influential abstract expressionist as well as a collector and gallerist with a focus on African art. 

Born in Charleston in 1928, Simpson spent much of his childhood in hospitals for treatment of diphtheria and rheumatic fever. While recuperating, he drew and sketched, and began to develop an interest in art. As he recovered, his interest grew, and his talent was discovered by Charleston artist and arts educator William Halsey. From the age of 13, Simpson was tutored privately by Halsey, as he was barred from taking art classes at the segregated, city-run Gibbes Gallery. Upon his 1949 graduation from Burke High School in Charleston, Halsey and Laura Bragg, former director of the Charleston museum, sponsored Simpson’s first solo art show. That year, Simpson became the first African American to earn a fellowship from the Charleston Scientific and Cultural Education fund, and he moved to New York to further his arts education. 

In New York, Simpson dove into his studies and made invaluable connections with local artists. He attended NYU during the day; was accepted to Cooper Union and took classes there by night; and worked at the frame shop of Herbert Benevy, where he made connections with and learned from countless local artists, including those of the New York School movement. His influences grew to include artists such as Max Weber, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Hale Woodruff, Robert Motherwell, and more. Their influence can be seen in his evolving artistic style and approach to creativity, and Simpson would later credit his time at the frame shop as having played a vital role in his education.

Simpson enlisted in the Air Force in 1951, and spent three years assigned to special service as an official Air Force artist, painting portraits of a number of military commanders - including future president Dwight D. Eisenhower - some of which remain on display in the Pentagon today. He returned to New York to continue his focus on his art, and soon had paintings featured in exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum. As his reputation grew, he also expanded his style and connections, finding inspiration in the School of Paris and establishing a residence in the French capital. 

Simpson divided his time between New York and Paris, and in the 1950s established his own art gallery in New York City, which became well known for its collection of African Tribal arts as well as works by his fellow artists. He became a member of the Spiral Group, formed to connect African American artists to discuss and contribute to the fight for Civil Rights. Artists such as Simpson, Hale Woodruff, Romare Bearden, and Al Hollingsworth worked for racial equality, with an approach to activism that included involvement in the March on Washington, as well as the creation of an aesthetic movement that related to -and became symbolic of - their struggle. 

In the 1960s, social and political shifts had a profound effect on Simpson’s style. After witnessing the Harlem Riot of 1964, he created his Confrontation series of paintings, which utilized collage techniques and expressive brushstrokes to render black and white faces in intense, confrontational pairings.  

Beyond painting, Simpson was a lifelong musician - he played the saxophone, and as a child in Charleston he played with the famed Jenkins Orphanage Jazz Band, despite the fact that his parents were both still very much alive. His art collection - initially comprising works by contemporary artists such as Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti, Paul Klee, Amedeo Modigliani, and others inspired by African art - soon expanded to include and promote African artworks. In the 1970s, he traveled frequently to West Africa, and he became known as one of the preeminent dealers of African and Tribal art. This influenced his own work, too, and in later years his pieces incorporated fragments of African textiles and sculptural elements reminiscent of Tribal pieces. 

More Charleston Artists:

Alfred Hutty | Alice Ravenel Huger Smith | Elizabeth O’Neill Verner |Ned Jennings | William Halsey | Jasper Johns