Earlier this month, WHYY reported that a previously lost painting by the late William H. Dorsey “representing 19th-century Black wealth and high culture in Philadelphia” was purchased for $10 at New Life Thrift in Glenside.
According to the story, the untitled watercolor (pictured above) is an 1864 landscape painted by William Henry Dorsey, a 19th century artist, collector, and curator of the American Negro Historical Society collection.
The work “is believed to be the only existing painting by the artist from a prominent Black family who once displayed works at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts,” WHYY wrote.
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It was purchased by Andy Robbins, a 50-year-old human resource executive, in the summer of 2023. Advised to seek an appraisal, he instead donated the piece to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported today that their current exhibit, Voices, Visions, and Ventures: Recent Acquisitions, is showcasing Robbins’ find.
“There are so many Black artists from the 19th century whose work has been lost,” Michiko Quinones, who runs the 1838 Black Metropolis website, said. “This painting is one more piece of evidence there was a thriving, Black community that existed in Philadelphia before the end of the Civil War. The buildings are there, but the artifacts have been scattered.”
According to the story, Robbins comes from a family of artists, and his parents have been on the Antiques Roadshow.
“What caught my eye was the frame,” Robbins told The Inquirer. “It reminded me of something from the 1860s or ‘70s and the brushstrokes were just so well done. I knew this was bigger than me. It deserved to be in a place where the public can see it.”
The Inquirer included additional details about the late Mr. Dorsey. An excerpt:
William Dorsey grew up wealthy, yet, according to an 1896 article in The Philadelphia Times, he worked as a messenger for Mayor William S. Stokely. He inherited a fortune when his father died. So, although he was a married father of six, he could indulge in his passions: collecting art and painting.
Dorsey was a meticulous scrapbooker, saving newspaper articles, minutes from church, abolitionist and Black social club meetings, and photographs dating to the Revolutionary War. Du Bois consulted Dorsey’s scrapbooks in researching The Philadelphia Negro.
Two rooms in Dorsey’s home on 206 Dean Street — now South Camac Street — were devoted, according to The Philadelphia Times article, to the “history, progress, and productions” of the African Race.
In 1897, Dorsey joined 15 prominent Black men to form the American Negro Historical Society. Other members included Robert Adger member of the Banneker Institute, and Henry L. Phillips, rector of the Church of the Crucifixion. The goal: to preserve the history of Black Americans.
“Very cool find for sure, but given its history, I felt like it deserved to be available to the public,” Robbins told Glenside Local.
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Photo: Andy Robbins