When Fulton Leroy Washington, 66, began painting in prison, he never imagined his work would be hanging in a renowned art museum one day. But Washington’s talent made room for him and now the Compton artist’s lost prison painting – and a replica of it – hang in two separate museums.
Known affectionately as Mr. Wash, Washington painted an estimated 75 works annually while serving a 20-year sentence for nonviolent drug offenses he maintains he is innocent of. According to the Los Angeles Times, Washington’s sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama in 2016 and he’s living and creating art in Compton while still trying to prove his innocence.
Of all of his works, however, a painting known as “Mondaine’s Market” – which he created for a fellow inmate named John Mondaine to capture his legacy – is particularly special. The work depicts Mondaine, along with his grandson, as floating heads above the store he once owned.
“He wanted a painting describing his legacy,” Washington told the LA Times of Mondaine’s request. “He came to me and said he wanted a picture of the store. He figured he was probably going to die in prison, and he wanted to be in the sky, surrounded by clouds, with his family.”
The detail in the painting is intricate and impressive, according to Hammer Museum curators Lauren Mackler and Myriam Ben Salah.
“He’s a really skilled painter with a unique sense of composition,” Mackler said. “But the level of detail in that particular painting, personifying and animating the figures and architecture, was really exciting. There are worlds within worlds in the Mondaine painting.”
The duo saw the Compton artist’s portrait online and wanted it for the show. However, there was one problem. Washington had lost track of the painting and couldn’t track it down. So Mackler and Salah asked him to recreate it.
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While he initially said no because of the detail of the original, Washington decided he would make an attempt.
“But trying to paint a complex picture like that from a photograph?” Washington said. “The details were super small. First I said: ‘No.’ Two or three times. Then, finally: ‘OK, I’ll try.’”
This time he decided to do it bigger and bolder on a four-by-five-foot canvas. “I’d never had the opportunity to paint in oil that large before, it was an opportunity,” Washington said. “But in making it a larger picture, it required new techniques — the thickness of the paint, the precision of the brushes, how long the paint takes to dry. I still painted with the same brushes I painted with in prison, but it was harder. There were new decisions.”
While Washington was working on the replica, he eventually tracked down Mondaine in Kansas City, Missouri and was able to get the original. He noticed distinctions between the two pieces but was proud of his accomplishment in replicating it. He also “felt oddly melancholic” as he questioned whether he gave each piece the same care and attention.
“It made me question myself,” Washington said. “Are the energies of paintings equal in terms of detail, depth, the amount of time?”
Washington’s questions, however, did not prevent both the Hammer Museum and Huntington from displaying the original and replica of Mondaine’s Market, respectively.
It’s an accomplishment Washington doesn’t take lightly or for granted.
“You get a second shot at a few things,” Washington told the L.A. Times. “This was one of them. A chance to do things differently. That’s a positive. I feel so blessed.”
