Eddie Arning (1898-1993), "Old Taylor", pastel on paper, sight: 25.5 x 20 in., frame: 32.5 x 26.5 in.

The following is from Rob Cogswell, Director of the Booher Library, Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. Cogswell writes: "My wife and I were two of the five friends of Eddie Arning from the time he started painting until his death." Eddie Arning was born near Kenney, Texas in 1899, the child of German immigrant parents. A true Outsider Artist, when he was in his twenties, he was committed to the state mental institution, and his family could not recall why. A crafts instructor at the hospital, Helen Mayfield, encouraged him to begin drawing on paper with wax crayons around 1965. In the hospital he painted only subjects from childhood memory, images from farm life. His work earned him attention, and he was provided professional oil-base crayons and high quality paper. He had no training and only wanted to make a "nice picture." His work has personal symbolism, including figures with raised arms. Before 1970, he was released to a private nursing home. He produced many works while there, moving into a period when he depicted modern subjects. He continued painting after he moved in with his sister in McGregor, Texas, around 1973, but eventually, having produced some 2,500 paintings, he lost interest in painting. He died on October 15, 1993, at the age of 94. His work is popular among both Folk art and Outsider art collectors. Eddie Arning has 22 works in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution.

Very good