Art Brokerage: (1941-2000) Johnnie Lee Gray died in 2000, an obscure painter from Spartanburg, S.C., who served in Vietnam, struggled with alcoholism and late in life embraced charismatic Christianity. But the self-taught artist once made a prediction to his wife, Shirley Sims Gray: "I'll be famous after I die, you know." In a way, Gray has been proved right. Although it may be a bit early to talk about fame, Johnnie Lee Gray's work is gaining the respect and recognition he and others felt were his due. Johnnie Lee Gray lived in a segregated rural community in the 1950s. His paintings depict the triumph of the human spirit and its ability to rise above any indignity. New York Life sponsored the first-ever national exhibition of his work. "By exhibiting his work nationwide, we not only grant Johnnie Lee Gray his rightful place among American artists, we also honor his subjects. Although, in their time, the people in his paintings may have been on the invisible outer edges of U.S. society, they will now never be forgotten."