LOS ANGELES, CA.- Advocate, scholar and collector Gordon W. Bailey recently gifted 16 artworks to the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans LA. The gift includes works by Leroy Almon, Eddie Arning, Roy Ferdinand, Daniel Johnston, Barbie L’Hoste, John K. Lawson, Jake "J.T.” McCord, Samuel Pace, Juanita Rogers, Welmon Sharlhorne, and Herbert Singleton.

“We are an institution dedicated to telling the story of the South through the region’s visual arts, and Mr. Bailey’s important gift will prove crucial in that endeavor,” said Bradley Sumrall, Curator of the Collection. “His advocacy and support of artists and the art of the American South, especially the visionary outliers, is truly inspiring. This collection adds significantly to the Museum’s holdings, allowing us to more fully define our region through the artists that give voice to the culture.”

Highlights from Bailey’s gift include: Untitled (fox hunter), a large mixed media piece on paper by Arning; Johnston’s Follow Your Dreams gifted in honor of the late singer/songwriter’s, life-long friend and collaborator Brett Hartenbach; Atlas, a life-sized mixed media skeleton, and a paper collage on wood, The Bard of Beer, by the popular former area artist, John K. Lawson, known widely for his recycled Mardi Gras bead works; Samuel Pace’s mixed media tribute to the legendary John Coltrane; several rare atypical drawings of superheroes—Molecule Man, The Cylinder, and Torch—by New Orleans’ own Welmon Sharlhorne and a unique scrapbook he complied during a stint of incarceration; and an evocative painted wood bas relief by Herbert Singleton.

L’Hoste, Lawson, McCord, Pace and Rogers are new additions to the Ogden’s permanent collection.

“My first interaction with the Ogden was during Prospect 3 Notes for Now when I was asked by my friend Franklin Sirmans, then P3’s Artistic Director, now the Director of the Perez Art Museum Miami, to loan several Herbert Singleton works for the exhibition Herbert Singleton: Inside Out/Outside In which was hosted by the Ogden. Bradley Sumrall impressed me with his depth of knowledge and his commitment. During subsequent chats with Bradley, it became clear to me that the Ogden was particularly suited to care for these works.”


Samuel Pace, United States, born 1952, Coal Trane, c. 2018, mixed media on matt board, 20 x 14 in. (50.80 x 35.56 cm), Ogden Museum of Southern Art, Gift of Gordon W. Bailey.


Over the past 15 years, Bailey has made many important multi-piece gifts to a number of museums. Most recently, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville (MOCA JAX), Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, Palm Springs Art Museum, Pérez Art Museum Miami, and Smithsonian Museum of American Art received significant works from his collection.

Ogden Museum of Southern Art

Located in the vibrant Warehouse Arts District of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana since 1999 and open to the public since 2003, Ogden Museum of Southern Art invites visitors to experience and learn about the artists and culture of the American South. Ogden Museum is home to a collection of more than four thousand works, making it the largest and most comprehensive repository dedicated to Southern art in the nation, with particular strength in the genres of Self-Taught art, Regionalism, photography and contemporary art. The Museum is further recognized for its original exhibitions, public events and educational programs, which examine the development of visual art alongside Southern traditions of music, literature and local craft.

The Museum is located at 925 Camp Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70130. For more information visit ogdenmuseum.org or call 504.539.9650.