Dos Folkies Gallery: Outsider - Self-taught - Art Brut

About the Artist

Was Mose Tolliver Born in 1915 or 1920?  Maybe it was 1918.  We may never know Mose’s exact age, but one thing the world knows is that Mose Tolliver is one of the most celebrated, often imitated, American Folk Artists of our time.   Mose died in 2006, but not before creating a legacy for himself and the Tolliver family.  His art is simple and direct, but does not lack depth.   Mose was not just about birds, self  portraits and erotic women.  He  painted themes related to civil rights, fantasy, family, nature, transportation and religion.  Mose may never have painted if he had not been left disabled when a pallet of marble fell off a forklift, crushing his ankle and severely damaging tendons.  Left disabled and depressed, Mose’s former employer encouraged him to take up painting as a hobby.  Mose painted exclusively with house paints, usually on recycled wood products, and sometimes furniture and ceramics.  His work was featured at the Corcoran Gallery in association with The Smithsonian Institute’s exhibition of Black Folk Art In America 1930-1980.