Sylvester Britton (born 1926, South Side of Chicago) began his art studies at the Abraham Lincoln Center, later pursuing formal training in Mexico City at the School of Painting and Sculpture before returning to enroll at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He went on to live and exhibit in Paris and Sweden, funding his trip back to Chicago by designing and selling Christmas cards.

Back in the United States, Britton helped revitalize the South Side Community Art Center, where he served as gallery director, and he exhibited regularly at Chicago’s 57th Street Art Fair. His work appeared at the Oak Park Library (IL), Atlanta University; Art Institute of Chicago; and the South Side Community Art Center. Britton received the Art Institute of Chicago’s Eisendrath Prize in the 59th Exhibition of Artists of Chicago and Vicinity for the oil painting, Apples and Figs. In 2018, the Smart Museum in Chicago included his work in The Time is Now! Art Worlds of Chicago’s South Side, 1960–1980.

untitled

1971; mixed media collage, 12 x 10 inches, signed and dated