Arthello Beck Jr. (1941-2004, Texas), nighttime farm scene, dated 2004, oil on canvas, framed, with personal inscription on back

sight: 13" x 10.5", frame: 18" x 21"

Provenance: A Dallas, Texas collection

Arthello Beck Jr.'s paintings and sketches were among those selected for inclusion in a touring exhibition of athlete Grant Hill's collection of African-American artists. Hill, who began collecting art in emulation of his father, Calvin Hill, particularly cited Beck's painting Confrontation (1969) as an influence, saying, "I grew up with this painting, and just as my father is attached to it because it reflects the historic struggle of the black male, so am I." In 2007, a local campaign was organized to rename the South Dallas Cultural Center in Beck's honor. Although a petition was signed by over 850 residents, the City Council voted unanimously to reject the proposal, choosing instead to give his name to a gallery within the center. The decision met with controversy on both sides, as proponents felt that a gallery within the building was not a sufficiently prominent honor, while others argued that the center's current name brings honor to a section of town that is often maligned and that a majority of the petition's signers lived outside the South Dallas area.

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