''Funeral Procession'' is the name of a painting by

Ellis Wilson Ellis Wilson (20 April 1899 – 2 January 1977) was an African-American artist associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Biography Early life Wilson was born in 1899 in Mayfield, Kentucky. His parents were Frank and Minnie Wilson. Frank Wilson ...

, which went from obscurity to notoriety in 1986, when it was featured heavily in the episode " The Auction" of the TV series ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class African- ...

s second season. In the episode,

Clair Huxtable Clair Huxtable is a fictional character who appears on the American sitcom ''The Cosby Show'' (1984–1992). Portrayed by actress Phylicia Rashad, Clair, the wife of Cliff Huxtable and mother of their five children, is the matriarch of the show' ...

states that Wilson was her great-uncle, and that her grandmother had owned the painting until she had to sell it in order to pay her medical bills. After discovering that it is being sold at auction, she places an $11,000 winning bid and her husband

Cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

hangs it over the fireplace in the family living room, where it stays for the remainder of the eight-season series. The actual painting is displayed as part of the Aaron Douglas Collection at the

Amistad Research Center The Amistad Research Center (ARC) is an independent archives and manuscripts repository in the United States that specializes in the history of African Americans and ethnic minorities. It is one of the first institutions of its kind in the United ...

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, Louisiana. Ellis Wilson was born on April 20, 1899, in

Mayfield, Kentucky Mayfield is a home rule–class city and the county seat of Graves County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 10,017 as of the 2020 United States Census. History 19th century Mayfield is in the center of the Jackson Purchase, an eig ...

, and died on either January 1 or 2, 1977. The most he ever got for one of his paintings was about $300.Ellis Wilson Timeline
at ket.org

References

African-American art The Cosby Show Paintings by Ellis Wilson Funerals Paintings in Louisiana Christian processions {{20C-painting-stub