*SAM MIDDLETON (1927-2015) 'Regatta Bij Hoorn'

American artist Sam Middleton was a hidden figure in the modernist movement. Middleton grew up in Harlem at the height of the Harlem Renaissance. He was immersed in the vibrant cultural and musical scene of the era, becoming acquainted through performances at the Savoy Ballroom with jazz music, watching masters like Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker play live in the 1950s, and was inspired to translate the spontaneity of their music to works on paper, later influencing the legendary Duke Ellington to refer to Middleton as the "painter of music."

Middleton struggled as an artist in the United States, due to his race and status, but continued to refine his technique, studying with other Black creatives like Beauford Delaney. In 1956, Middleton won a scholarship to the Institute Allende in San Miguel Allende, Mexico, and studied in Mexico for the next several years. In 1959, after significantly advancing his technical skill and having the opportunity to showcase his art, Middleton travelled to Europe to paint, living in Spain, Sweden, France, and Denmark before settling in the Netherlands in 1961.

Middleton moved to the Netherlands as part of a wave of African American artists, along with Deborah Simon, Sherard Van Dyke and Lorina Harris. He remained in Europe to escape racism and lack of opportunity for African Americans in the United States, but was uninvolved with the civil rights movement. Because of his expatriate status, and the fact that his artwork wasn’t focused on his race, Middleton’s paintings are largely absent from African American art collections in the United States. He did, however, become a figure in the Dutch art community, and opened his doors to other African American artists who came to the Netherlands, helping them gain traction in Europe. Middleton was able to display exhibitions of his artwork in a prominent Dutch art gallery, an opportunity that was limited to very few Black artists in America. He lived in Amsterdam for many years but, fascinated by the landscape, settled in Oterleek and Schagen in North Holland in 1973. Music, (both classical and jazz) and the landscape of North Holland, created the climate of his abstract expressionist work. Middleton’s style evolved to reflect newfound inspirations, like the expansive tulip fields and extensive low lands with polders. His paintings became fuller and softer, while maintaining their distinct jazz connections.

MIddleton died peacefully in Schagen on the 19th July 2015 aged 88.