James C. McMillan Paintings & Artwork for Sale | James C. McMillan Art Value Price Guide

Apr. 06, 2017
JAMES C. MCMILLAN (1925 - ) Contemporary Cubicle.
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
JAMES C. MCMILLAN (1925 - ) Contemporary Cubicle. Brush, ink and wash on wove paper, 1968. 635x457 mm; 25x18 inches. Signed, titled and dated in ink, lower right. Provenance: acquired directly from the artist; private collection, New York. Exhibited: Loss and Redemption: The Art of James C. McMillan, Bakersfield Museum of Art, Bakersfield, CA, 2009. Illustrated: Harris, Shawnya. The Art of James C. McMillan: Discovering An African-American Master, back cover image. James McMillan''s powerful drawing Contemporary Cubicle is a persistent contemporary work of art. With this existential depiction of an entrapped figure, McMillan symbolically describes the physical isolation and degradation endured by many African-Americans at the height of the Civil Rights struggle in 1968. The power of the drawing is enhanced by its continued relevance today - Contemporary Cubicle echoes the crisis of the large number of incarcarated African-American males to the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Swann Auction Galleries
Apr. 06, 2017
JAMES C. MCMILLAN (1925 - ) Afro-Thinker.
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
JAMES C. MCMILLAN (1925 - ) Afro-Thinker. Carved wood, 1953-56. 686x152x152 mm; 27x6x6 inches (not including the base). Incised with the artist''s name in lower left near the base, verso. Provenance: acquired directly from the artist; private collection, New York. Exhibited: Loss and Redemption: The Art of James C. McMillan, Bakersfield Museum of Art, Bakersfield, CA, 2009. Illustrated: Harris, Shawnya. The Art of James C. McMillan: Discovering An African-American Master, fig. 1, p. 4. This expressive figure is the first sculpture of James McMillan to come to auction. Afro-Thinker displays how McMillan developed his own aesthetic by combining modernism and social realism - in sculpture as well as painting. According to Harris, McMillan created Afro-Thinker after earning his MFA at Catholic University, Washington DC, when he learned to carve freestanding sculpture. McMillan''s used modern and African motifs to carve his version of Rodin''s famous sculpture. This work also shows the growing influence of other African-American artists of the 1940s, including Elizabeth Catlett, John Wilson, and in particular Charles White, with the figure''s enlarged hands and arms. Harris p. 20.
Swann Auction Galleries
Mar. 18, 2017
James McMillan, (American, b. 1925), To Be Alone, oil on board, 35.75" x 23.75"
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
James McMillan (American, b. 1925) To Be Alone oil on board 1960/1961 signed and dated 60 lower right titled and dated 61 on verso 35.75" x 23.75"
Ripley Auctions
Oct. 06, 2016
JAMES C. MCMILLAN (1925 - ) Contemporary Precipice/60s Symbols.
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
JAMES C. MCMILLAN (1925 - ) Contemporary Precipice/60s Symbols. Oil on masonite board, 1960-2010. 610x813 mm; 24x32 inches. Signed twice, "James McMillan '60" and "J McMillan 2010" in oil, lower right. With the artist's label on the frame back. Provenance: acquired directly from the artist; private collection, New York. Exhibited: The Art of James C. McMillan: Loss and Redemption - A Retrospective. African-American Aterlier, Inc. Greensboro, NC, 2011; Loss and Redemption: The Art of James C. McMillan, Bakersfield Museum of Art, Bakersfield, CA, 2009. James McMillan's powerful painting Contemporary Precipice/60s Symbols defty combines elements of surrealism and expressionism - McMillan conveys how the forces shaping the struggles of the 1960s are still very much with us today. The recently completed painting was exhibited for the first time in the artist's 2011 retrospective, and illustrated on the postcard for the exhibition. In addition to the private collections that lent to his retrospective, McMillan's work can be found in the the collections of Bennett College, North Carolina Central University Art Museum, Guilford College and Virginia State University.
Swann Auction Galleries
Dec. 15, 2015
JAMES C. MCMILLAN (1925 - ) Untitled (Seated Man at Table with Hammer).
Est: $15,000 - $25,000
JAMES C. MCMILLAN (1925 - ) Untitled (Seated Man at Table with Hammer). Oil on masonite board, 1960. 914x610 mm; 36x24 inches. Signed and dated in oil, lower right. Provenance: acquired directly from the artist; private collection, North Carolina. Born in Sanford, North Carolina, James C. McMillan was encouraged by his college-educated parents to pursue his interest in art. Talented and driven from a young age, McMillan graduated valedictorian from his high school class at the age of 15, and won a scholarship to Howard University in 1941. There McMillan studied under Alain Locke, Loïs Mailou Jones and James Lesesne Wells. Jones became his mentor, arranging for an illustration assistant position with the painter Ralston Crawford, and recommending him for Skowhegan. After Naval service during World War II, McMillan graduated in 1947 and earned a summer fellowship at the inaugural year of the Skowhegan School of Art in Maine, becoming its first African-American fellow. After three years of teaching at Bennett College for Women in Greensboro as the chair of their new art department, McMillan struck out for Paris, following in the footsteps of Jones, and attended the Académie Julian in 1950 on sabattical. McMillan returned to Bennett College in 1951, and then, while on another sabattical, earned his MFA in sculpture from The Catholic University in Washington, DC. In this striking, imaginary portrait, McMillan portrays a powerfully built man with a striped shirt and handkerchief sitting down for a meal in a dining hall. But this black man is not an ordinary worker, but a slave - he not only holds on to a sledge hammer in one hand, but has a shackle on his other wrist. This expressive painting shows how McMillan's figuration evolved after his social-realism of the 1940s and 50s. McMillan was certainly influenced by the work of other African-American artists, including Charles Alston, Charles White and John Wilson, but here we see the influence of modern European artists like Pablo Picasso and Georges Rouault whom he studied while abroad in Paris. In addition to the private collections that lent to his recent retrospective, McMillan's work can be found in the the collections of Bennett College, North Carolina, Central University Art Museum, Guilford College and Virginia State University. Harris pp. 11-17, 48.
Swann Auction Galleries
Dec. 05, 2015
James McMillan, (American, b. 1925), To Be Alone, oil on board, 35.75" x 23.75"
Est: $10,000 - $20,000
James McMillan (American, b. 1925) To Be Alone oil on board signed and dated 60 lower right, titled and dated 61 on verso 35.75" x 23.75"
Toomey & Co. Auctioneers
Apr. 02, 2015
JAMES C. MCMILLAN (1925 - ) Dark Corner.
Est: $12,000 - $18,000
JAMES C. MCMILLAN (1925 - ) Dark Corner. Oil on cotton canvas, 1960. 914x711 mm; 36x28 inches. Signed and dated in oil, lower right. Provenance: acquired directly from the artist; private collection, New York. Exhibited: The Art of James C. McMillan: Loss and Redemption - A Retrospective. African-American Atelier, Inc. Greensboro, NC, 2011; Loss and Redemption: The Art of James C. McMillan, Bakersfield Museum of Art, Bakersfield, CA, 2009. Illustrated: Harris, Shawnya. The Art of James C. McMillan: Discovering An African-American Master, fig. 54, p. 38. Born in Sanford, North Carolina, James C. McMillan was encouraged by his college-educated parents to pursue his interest in art. Talented and driven from a young age, McMillan graduated valedictorian from his high school class at the age of 15, and won a scholarship to Howard University in 1941. There McMillan studied under Alain Locke, Loïs Mailou Jones and James Lesesne Wells. Jones became his mentor, arranging for an illustration assistant position with the painter Ralston Crawford, and recommending him for Skowhegan. After Naval service during World War II, McMillan graduated in 1947 and earned a summer fellowship at the inaugural year of the Skowhegan School of Art in Maine, becoming its first African-American fellow. After three years teaching at Bennett College for Women in Greensboro as the chair of their new art department, McMillan struck out for Paris, following in the footsteps of Jones, and attended the Académie Julian in 1950 on sabatical. McMillan returned to Bennett College in 1951, and then, while on another sabatical, earned his MFA in sculpture from Catholic University in Washington, DC. From 1958-1961, McMillan had a summer fellowship for doctoral study in painting at Syracuse University. Dark Corner shows how McMillan's expressive figuration evolved after his social-realism of the 1940s and 50s. This work shows a more modernist approach to both the figure and the composition. McMillan was certainly influenced by the work of other African-American artists, including Charles Alston, Charles White and John Wilson, but here we see the influence of the European artists he saw and studied while abroad in Paris. The room and the view of the building through the window are painted in a proto-Cubist fashion. In addition to the private collections that lent to his recent retrospective, McMillan's work can be found in the the collections of Bennett College, North Carolina Central University Art Museum, Guilford College and Virginia State University. Harris pp. 11-17, 48.
Swann Auction Galleries
Apr. 02, 2015
JAMES C. MCMILLAN (1925 - ) Sharecroppers.
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
JAMES C. MCMILLAN (1925 - ) Sharecroppers. Charcoal on cream wove paper, 1950-51. 622x476 mm; 24 1/2x18 3/4 inches. Signed and dated in charcoal, lower right. Provenance: acquired directly from the artist; private collection, New York. Exhibited: The Art of James C. McMillan: Loss and Redemption - A Retrospective. African-American Atelier, Inc. Greensboro, NC, 2011; Loss and Redemption: The Art of James C. McMillan, Bakersfield Museum of Art, Bakersfield, CA, 2009. Illustrated: Harris, Shawnya. The Art of James C. McMillan: Discovering An African-American Master, fig. 3, p. 6.
Swann Auction Galleries
Oct. 09, 2014
JAMES C. MCMILLAN (1925 - ) Mother and Child.
Est: $15,000 - $25,000
JAMES C. MCMILLAN (1925 - ) Mother and Child. Oil on masonite board, 1952. 686x546 mm; 27x21 1/2 inches. Signed and dated in oil, lower left. Provenance: acquired directly from the artist; private collection, New York. Exhibited: The Art of James C. McMillan: Loss and Redemption - A Retrospective. African-American Aterlier, Inc. Greensboro, NC, 2011; Loss and Redemption: The Art of James C. McMillan, Bakersfield Museum of Art, Bakersfield, CA, 2009. Illustrated: Harris, Shawnya. The Art of James C. McMillan: Discovering An African-American Master, fig. 49, p. 35. This masterful mid-century painting by James C. McMillan is the artist's first painting to come to auction. Mother and Child is a significant work in the distinguished career of this figurative painter and sculptor, whose career and body of work is just beginning to receive national recognition. Born in Sanford, North Carolina, James C. McMillan was encouraged by his college-educated parents to pursue his interest in art. Talented and driven from a young age, McMillan graduated valedictorian from his high school class at the age of 15, and won a scholarship to Howard University in 1941. There McMillan studied under Alain Locke, Loïs Mailou Jones and James Lesesne Wells. Jones became his mentor, arranging for an illustration assistant position with the painter Ralston Crawford, and recommending him for Skowhegan. After Naval service during World War II, McMillan graduated in 1947 and earned a summer fellowship at the inaugural year of the Skowhegan School of Art in Maine, becoming its first African-American fellow. After three years teaching at Bennett College for Women in Greensboro as the chair of their new art department, McMillan struck out for Paris, following in the footsteps of Jones, and attended the Académie Julian in 1950 on sabattical. McMillan returned to Bennett College in 1951, and then, while on another sabattical, earned his MFA in sculpture from Catholic University in Washington, DC. Mother and Child shows how McMillan's adapted mid-century approaches to painting with social realism. This work was painted during his MFA period, or shortly thereafter, and shows his interest in both the social-realism of the period with a sophisticated color sense and balance. McMillan admired Hughie Lee-Smith and was influenced by the work of other African-American artists of the 1940s, including Charles Alston, Charles White and John Wilson. Mother and Child recalls his experiences of the segregated South, and the bleak lives of sharecroppers he would have seen in rural North Carolina. In her description of the painting, Shawnya Harris points out how "the old horsehoe is turned upside down, which, according to the artist, represents the presence of 'bad luck' in some southern communities." In addition to the private collections that lent to his recent retrospective, McMillan's work can be found in the the collections of Bennett College, North Carolina Central University Art Museum, Guilford College and Virginia State University. Harris pp. 11-15, 48.
Swann Auction Galleries