Rare opportunity to acquire an original portrait oil painting by important Tennessee artist Dewitt Jordan (1932 ? 1977)(DeWitt W. Jordan Jr.) entitled FRANCO CORELLI (Subject) | Oil on Canvas | Signed by the artist in the lower right corner of canvas "Dewitt Jordan" | Housed in a large period gold carved wood frame | Approx. Size:

Provenance: "PAINTINGS FOR OPERA GALA: Artist Dewitt Jordan, a former Memphian living in Helena. Ark., and Nancy Tatum discuss his artwork, which will be featured at the upcoming Opera Gala at The Peabody in March 1973. The two hanging panels are of opera singers Vera Little of Memphis and Franco Corelli. In the foreground is one of Mr. Jordan's paintings owned by Mrs. Tatum and her husband, Wiley Tatum." The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tennessee), 1973. Mr. Jordan later gifted the painting to the owner, another prominent Tennessee (Memphis) artist.

DeWitt Jordan (1932-1977) was an African-American artist and native of Nashville, TN. He was born December 1, 1932 and his family soon moved to Helena, Arkansas where they ran a funeral home. Later in life, Jordan moved back to the South and began operations in Memphis, TN. His credence for his work has always been: "I try to paint people as they are, the common black people who helped to make America?people who believe in god, go to church, love, cry, work hard, and eventually die, like all other people. The worth of a person is not determined by his color, by where he lives, or how much property he possesses, but by the kind of person he is." Tennessee State Museum