Simmie Knox

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Left to right: Congressman Robert Ney, Simmie Knox and Congressman Chaka Fattah

Simmie Knox (born 1935) is an African American painter who was chosen to paint the official White House portrait of former United States President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.

1 Biography
2 Portrait commissions
3 Paintings
4 External links

[edit] Biography

A graduate of Tyler School of Art at Temple University (BFA, Magna Cum Laude, MFA) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Simmie Knox as an artist has specialized in oil portraiture since 1981. Prior to that, he taught at various colleges, universities, and public schools in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. During the 1970's, Simmie exhibited as an abstract artist and worked for the Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C. In 1971, he participated in the Thirty-Second Biennial of Contemporary American Painting at The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. with his abstract art.

He turned to portraiture after years of painting a wide variety of paintings because he found that there is nothing more challenging and interesting to paint than the human face. He states "I think that a good portrait is the most difficult thing for an artist to bring off successfully. Not only must you get an accurate likeness, but you must also create a good painting. Somehow you must convey a subject's character, spirit, and personality; and everything must communicate the dynamism of the subject."

Simmie has been commissioned by private individuals, organizations, and institutions and has painted portraits of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, a U.S. cabinet member, U.S. congressmen and state senators, a mayor of New York City, respected civic leaders, sports figures, entertainment celebrities, educators, judges, religious leaders, military officers, businessmen, and private individuals.

[edit] Portrait commissions

1997 MR. CLARENCE M. MITCHELL, JR. - The Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. Hall - University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
1997 DR. MELVIN SABSHIN - American Psychiatric Association - Washington, D. C.
1997 MRS. HAZEL O'LEARY - Department of Energy - Washington, D. C.
1996 HON. CARLOS ROMERO BARCELÓ - La Fortaleza - San Juan, Puerto Rico
1996 HON. WILLIAM H. GRAY, III - Cannon House Office Building - Washington, D.C.
1996 BETTIE EUBANKS - Atlanta, Georgia
1996 DR. JOHN HOPE FRANKLIN - Duke University - Durham, North Carolina
1996 DR. WILLIAM CLEVELAND - Atlanta, Georgia
1996 MR. AND MRS HENRY AARON - Atlanta, Georgia
1996 MR. CLARENCE M. MITCHELL, JR. - The Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. Courthouse - Baltimore, Maryland
1996 MRS. JUANITA J. MITCHELL - The Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. Courthouse - Baltimore, Maryland
1996 MR. JAMES GILLIAM - Beneficial Corporation - Wilmington, Delaware
1995 MR. MUHAMMAD ALI - Michigan
1995 DR. JOHN V. ATANASOFF (invented first electronic computer), Cosmos Club - Washington, D.C.
1995 BISHOP JOHN T. WALKER (of the National Cathedral) - St. Paul's School - Concord, New Hampshire
1995 SENATOR HERMAN HOLLOWAY - State House - Dover, Delaware
1995 MR. AND MRS. ED GORDON - New York
1994 JUDGE WILLIAM C. PRYOR - Superior Court - District of Columbia
1994 COL. ROSEMARY MCCARTHY - U.S. Army Nurse Corp (retired) - Washington, D.C.
1994 JUDGE FRED UGAST - Superior Court - District of Columbia
1994 JUDGE JOHN R. HARGROVE - U.S. District Court - District of Maryland - Baltimore, Maryland
1993 THE WASHINGTON URBAN LEAGUE, INC. - Washington, D.C.
1993 MAYOR AND MRS. DAVID DINKINS - The Schomburg Collection - New York, New York
1992 JUDGE AUBREY ROBINSON - U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia - Washington, D. C.
1972 - 1992 MR. AND MRS DONALD GLECKLEN - Newtown Square, Pennsylvania
1992 JUSTICE THURGOOD MARSHALL - City Courthouse - Baltimore, Maryland
1992 JUDGE JOSEPH C. HOWARD - U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland - Baltimore, Maryland
1992 JUDGE JOSEPH C. HOWARD - Baltimore, Maryland
1992 PROFESSOR JANET DICKERSON - Dean, Swarthmore College - Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
1984 - 1992 MR. AND MRS. THOMAS BURKE AND FAMILY - Ketchum, Idaho - collection of 12 portraits
1983 - 1991 MR. WILLIAM COSBY AND FAMILY - Shelburne, Massachusetts - collection of 12 portraits
1990 SENATOR VERDA WELCOME - State House - Annapolis, Maryland
1990 JUDGE THEODORE NEWMAN - District of Columbia Court of Appeals - Washington, D.C.
1989 JUDGE SPOTTSWOOD ROBINSON - U.S. Court of Appeals - Washington, D.C.
1989 JUSTICE THURGOOD MARSHALL - U.S. Supreme Court Building - Washington, D.C.
1989 DR. DOROTHY HEIGHT - National Council of Negro Women - Washington, D.C.
1989 MESSR. JEAN CLAUDE IRONDELL AND FAMILY - Antibes, France - collection of seven portraits
1985 JUDGE H. CARL MOULTRIE - The H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse - District of Columbia
1977 REVEREND PETER SPENCER - King Memorial Foundation - Wilmington, Delaware
1977 ALEX HALEY - State House - Nashville, Tennessee - two portraits
1977 MARY STRICKLAND SCOTT - Links, Inc. - Los Angeles, California
1976 DR. MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE - State House - Columbia, South Carolina (Dr. Bethune has become the first Black and the first woman of any race to be memorialized by a portrait that will hang permanently in the State House of South Carolina.)
1975 FREDERICK DOUGLASS - Museum of African Art (Smithsonian Institution) - Washington, D.C
1974 DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR - The Martin Luther King, Jr. Communications Center - Bowie State College - Bowie, Maryland