St. Augustine Church, undated, oil on canvas, 23.5 x 17.5 inches

Frank Wyley (1905-1978) was born in Long Beach, Miss. He moved to New Orleans at the age of five, where he lived until his death. He worked as a porter and taught himself to paint and make prints through studying books and magazines. Influenced by Paul Cezanne, Raoul Dufy, Henri Matisse and Georges Roualt, his work ranges from portraiture to Cubist still-lifes to New Orleans cityscapes. The Amistad Research Center and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art

"St. Augustine is a tight little town. You see and feel the prejudice everywhere"

Jacob Lawrence, American Painter