Mose Ernest Tolliver (American, 1919-2006). House paint on wooden board, n.d. Signed at bottom, just left of center. A wonderful folk art interpretation of a cornucopi created by self-taught Outsider Artist Mose Tolliver, also known as Mose T like the signature on his paintings which usually features a backwards "S" like this example. Delineated in house paint (as was Tolliver's practice) on plywood, the composition presents an abundance of delectable delights - a tasty ear of corn, a ripe banana, a juicy pear, a crisp red apple, a cluster of grapes, and a variety of squashes - spilling out of the Horn of Plenty. All is delineated in a colorful palette of warm red, orange, yellow, and green hues against a lemon yellow background. A special painting by Mose Tolliver set in a custom frame. Size: 23.75" L x 23.5" W (60.3 cm x 59.7 cm) Size of frame: 27.125" L x 26.75" W (68.9 cm x 67.9 cm)

Mose Tolliver was one of twelve children born to sharecroppers Ike and Laney Tolliver in the Pike Road community near Montgomery, Alabama. He only attended school until the third grade. According to Toliver, "I didn't like school. I remember I wanted to be outdoors working with my older brothers or even stacking wood … One thing I remember about our farm house - it was just a shack, but my Mama had pictures all over the walls." His family moved to Montgomery, Alabama in the thirties where he worked odd jobs to help support the family. He married his childhood friend Willie Mae Thomas in the forties, and the couple had thirteen children. Mose did not begin creating art until the sixties after suffering a serious injury to his legs when a load of marble fell from a forklift as he was sweeping in a furniture factory. Art provided Tolliver with solace from the pain and boredom that resulted from this tragic accident.

In the first article published about Tolliver he declared, "I'm not interested in art. I just want to paint my pictures." Nevertheless, the art world took notice. For example, Dr. Robert Bishop, former Director of the Museum of American Folk Art, stated about Mose's artworks, "You can hang him beside a Picasso, and you have the same kind of creativity and deep personal vision." (Montgomery Advertiser, February 1981). One year later, Toliver's work was included in the blockbuster exhibition entitled, "Black Folk Art in America 1930-1980" at Corcoran Gallery in Washington D.C. thus introducing him to the art world at large. Tolliver's artwork has been exhibited at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Philadelphia College of Art, the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, the American Folk Art Museum in New York (a retrospective), and the Corcoran Gallery of Art. His works have been collected by Birmingham Museum of Art, Akron Art Museum, Smithsonian's National Museum of American Art, and University of Michigan Museum of Art.

Provenance: ex-private Bishop Family Trust collection, the Trust of the late Bill Bishop, a noted antiquarian with shops in Scottsdale, Arizona and Allenspark, Colorado, USA, acquired before 2010

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#173121

Signed by the artist at the bottom of the composition, just left of center. Painting was created on a found piece of plywood which shows expected imperfections and fissures. Painting as a few minor scuffs, stains, and nicks/chips, but otherwise presents with vivid imagery and vibrant hues. The frame has an attractive distressed finish as well as scuffs and chips/losses as shown. Fitted with suspension wire and ready to display.