"Untitled Reclining Woman" by James Denmark 

29.5 x 23 in watercolor on paper, framed, (1984)

James Denmark, born in Winter Haven, Florida in 1936, is part of an artistic family. He was exposed to color and form at an early age by his grandmother, a wire sculptor and quilt artist. His grandfather was a bricklayer noted for his unique custom designed molds and his mother was gifted with an intuitive eye for design and detail. This rich beginning is the root of James Denmark's creative expression. Denmark earned his Master of Fine Arts Degree at Pratt Institute of Fine Arts in New York. During this period he was heavily influenced by the abstract expressionists Jackson Pollock, Clifford Still, and William de Kooning. The African-American masters Norman Lewis, Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence and Ernest Crichlow instilled in him and appreciation of African American artistic heritage.