Philip Perkins (Tennessee, 1907-1970) oil on canvas portrait of a young man in a red and blue leotard sitting with crossed legs on the floor of an interior space, rendered in shades of blue, green, grey, and tan. Unsigned. Illegible ink inscriptions en verso of frame. Housed in a gilt wood frame. Sight - 38 5/8" H x 31" W. Framed - 46 1/4" H x 39" W. American, mid 20th century. Provenance: the estate of Kent Cathcart, Nashville, Tennessee. Note: this lot is accompanied by a June 25, 1954, copy of a letter from the artist Philip Perkins bequeathing this painting (along with several others) to his longtime friend, Kent Cathcart. Biography: Philip Perkins received critical acclaim for his geometric, cubist influenced work of the 1940s and his abstract expressionism in the 1950s. He was born in Waverly, Tennessee and studied at Vanderbilt University and the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1932 he moved to Paris, France, where he studied under Jean Marchaud, Louis Marcoussis, and Fernand Leger. In 1934 he exhibited at the Salon D'Automne and the Salon de Tuileries. In 1940 he moved to New York City and in 1947 participated in the International Surrealist Exhibition. He spent seven years teaching art at the University of Tennessee in Nashville (1948-1955) but went back to Europe for several more years before returning to Nashville in 1961.

Areas of craquelure to face and neck with possible inpainting, largest 1/2". Areas of paint loss, largest 1/2". Possible dampstaining, en verso of canvas. Light buckling, left and right of canvas. Areas of loss, natural age related shrinkage to frame, largest 16 1/4". Gap between canvas and frame, top edge.