SHUT THE DOOR AND LISTEN FROM OUTSIDE

STEVEN S. POWERS
WINTER 2020
SHUT THE DOOR AND
LISTEN FROM OUTSIDE

STEVEN S. POWERS
SHUT THE DOOR AND LISTEN FROM OUTSIDE
"Shut The Door And Listen From Outside" is a statement from Oblique
Strategies, which is a set of cards each with a suggestion, directive, or
constraint created by the artists Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt to encourage
lateral thinking and to break creative blocks.
With this in mind, as an art dealer or collector, one may think, how will this
look if I see it indirectly? From a room away? Through a window? Obscured
through a crowd of people? Or as I quickly scroll through Instagram? This
question is not a shallow proposition—we often see a particular artwork from
an off-angle or perspective—not in optimal presentation. Indeed, if we think
about it, we likely first approached an artwork we came to love because it
looked good "from outside." It had something special going on from a small
section we gleaned through a crowd of people, or the composition came into
focus as we came towards it from another room.
As an artist, we may interpret this as another way of seeing. To purposely not
see clearly or overtly—to create something anew based on partial information
or hazy suggestions seen or heard. Or another way to look at a work in
progress. View it from the side, across the room, or without glasses to see a
fuzzy tonal map—does it still work for you?
Our next fair is:
The Outsider Art Fair: New York
January 16-19, 2020
Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 W 18th St, New York, NY 10011
Show information: outsiderartfair.com
W O R K S O F
& americana
A R T
109 3rd Place #2, Brooklyn, NY 11231 | 718.625.1715 or 917.518.0809 | stevenspowers.com | member: ADA

Folk Art Bacchus on Barrel (detail)
Northern France
Circa: Mid 19thC
Size: 7 1/2" (w) x 9 1/2" (h)

Dark Trees
Emile Brancha
Circa: 1930
Size: 36" (h) x
Provenance: G
York collection
Exhibited: Zab
1962.

Emile Branchard: Revisited
Room 521 in the expanded and rehung Museum of Modern Art is dedicated to
past director, Alfred H. Barr, Jr., and his groundbreaking exhibit of 1938,
"Masters of Popular Painting." The show focused on self-taught and artists
removed from the mainstream market or as they were called then, "folk artists,
or naives," today we may term them as "outsiders." Emile Branchard was one of
the artists represented in that seminal exhibit.
Branchard was born (1881) and raised on the streets of New York City and lived
in a large rooming house that his mother ran on Washington Square South. At
the age of thirty-seven, Emile Branchard, a former truck driver, longshoreman,
and policeman, found himself with tuberculosis and was forced to retire. He set
up a painting studio in the basement and created imagined landscapes. A border
of the house who recognized Branchard's talent entered a few paintings, without
his knowledge, to the Society of Independent Artists show of 1919. His works
were accepted and influential gallerist, Stephen Bourgeois offered him a solo
show later that same year (Bourgeois would then regularly exhibit his work until
1932).
Bourgeois remarked of Branchard's work at the Independent Show, "those two
small paintings appeared as the best
proof, that art is not a question of
colouristic or formalistic ability or
brush-acrobatics, but primarily a
question of vision."
rd (1881–1938)
24" (w)
raham Gallery; Zabriskie Gallery; Private New
.
riskie Gallery, ‘Emile Branchard,’ March/April
The progressive art cognoscenti of the
1920-30s advocated for artists on the
margins—artists that didn't rely on
painterly craft or apprenticeship to
express what they saw and how they saw

it. Holger Cahill wrote, "They are devoted to fact, as a thing to be known and
respected, not necessarily as a thing to be imitated. Surface realism means
nothing to these artists." Branchard himself stated, "I've never seen the ocean
or spent a day out of New York. All art is a dream."
“[Branchard was] Born like a poet
with a spontaneous gift.... Poets are
born and not made in schools. I
hope one day we will wake up to
the fact, that the art of rhythmical
painting is also a form of poetry
and unteachable.”
Branchard died in February
of 1938, just months before
the opening of the "Masters
of Popular Painting"
exhibit. In addition to the
five works hung at MOMA,
The Marie Harriman
Gallery held a memorial
exhibition later the same
year.
The noted art dealer Sidney
Janus included Branchard
—Stephen Bourgeois, 1932.
in his 1942 book, "They
Taught Themselves." Janus
recalls that when Branchard
wanted to paint, he would set up a canvas and while doing house chores, he
would pass the easel several times throughout the day—glancing at the blank
canvas and then "all at once [see] a picture upon it, and put it down in paint."
In addition to Janus, other New York galleries such as Graham Gallery and the
then young [Virginia] Zabriskie Gallery carried the torch for Branchard and
continued to exhibit his work in the 50s-70s. Additionally, the art dealer and
folk art advocate [Robert] Schoelkopf Gallery showed his work.

Through The Pines
Emile Branchard (1881–1938)
Circa: 1919
Size: 12 1/2" (h) x 16" (w)
Provenance: Bourgeois Galleries; Rabin & Krueger Gallery;
Private New York collection.
Exhibited: Bourgeois Galleries, ‘Emile Branchard,’
October/November 1919.

Branchard's work is held in several major museum collections including,
MOMA, The Met, The Hirshhorn, The Philadelphia Museum of Art,
Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the Albright-Knox Museum.
Selected Bibliography:
Harriman Marie, Memorial Exhibition, Emile Branchard. New York: Marie
Harriman Gallery, 1938.
Zabriskie, Virginia, Emile Branchard : March 26th through April 14th 1962.
New York: Zabriskie Gallery, 1962.
Bourgeois, Stephen, Exhibition of Painting and Drawings by Emile Branchard.
New York: Bourgeois Galleries, 1919.
Janus, Sidney, They Taught Themselves : American Primitive Painters of the
20th century. New York: The Dial Press, 1942.
Cahill, Gauthier, Cassou, & Miller, Masters of Popular Painting, Modern
Primitives of Europe and America. New York: The Museum of Modern Art,
1938.
Hemphill and Weissman, Twentieth-century American folk art and artists.
New York: E.P. Dutton, 1974.

Small Landscape
Emile Branchard (1881–1938)
Circa: 1920
Size: 5 1/2" (h) x 6 1/4" (w)
Provenance: Zabriskie Gallery; Private
New York collection.

Moulton Mill
George E. Morgan (1870-1969)
Oil on canvas board
Circa: 1963
Size: 20 (h)" x 16" (w)
Provenance: Anne K. Wardwell; Mr. & Mrs. Sumner and Helen
Johnston; Joe Wetherell; Raymond Saroff and Howard Rose; Peter Brams
One of Morgan’s larger works, this is an imagined arial view above
Moulton’s Mill, which was originally built in 1790 as Adams Mill and
located on Branch Brook, which gets its water from Rock Haven Lake, in
Newfield, Maine
Exhibitions: The Playhouse, Boothbay, ME 1963; Farnsworth Art
Museum, Rockland, ME, July 16 - October 11, 1998; The Center for
Intuitive and Outsider Art, Chicago, IL, February 5 - April 10,1999
Literature: UNEXPECTED ELOQUENCE, The
Edith Blum Art Institute, Bard College,
Annandale-on-Hudson, 1990, by Howard Rose
“George E. Morgan; Self Taught Maine Artist,”
FOLK ART MAGAZINE, Summer 1998, p. 30,
Chippy Irvine.

Ice Houses
George Morgan (1870-1969)
Dated: January 1963
Oil on canvas board
Size: 16" (h) x 20" (w)
Provenance: Anne K. Wardwell, Farmingdale, ME; Mr. & Mrs. Sumner and
Helen Johnston, CT; Joe Wetherell, North Salem, NY; Raymond Saroff and
Howard Rose, New York, NY; Peter Brams, Jackson Heights, NY
From the 1820s to the end of the century, the Kennebec River was part of a
flourishing ice trade. In the winters, ice from the river was cut into blocks,
packed in sawdust, stored in warehouses, and shipped all over the world (as
far as India).
Because of its purity, ice from the Kennebec was known worldwide as
“Kennebec Diamonds.”
Exhibitions: The Playhouse,
Boothbay, ME 1963Farnsworth Art
Museum, Rockland, ME, “George E.
Morgan: Self Taught Painter of
Maine” July 16 - October 11, 1998;
The Center for Intuitive and
Outsider Art, Chicago, IL, “George
E. Morgan: Maine Streets” February
5 - April 10, 1999.
Illustrated and discussed in:
UNEXPECTED ELOQUENCE, 1990.
Early postcard illustrating the Randolph Ice House & Mill.

Memory Painting of Kiva
Anonymous
Oil on plywood with taped labels
Circa: 1950-1960s
Size: 35" (w) x 18" (h)
A massive wave of Latvian immigrants came to the United States after
World War II. Having Suffered through Soviet and Nazi occupations,
hundreds of thousands fled and spent years in European refugee camps
before some of them immigrated to the United States in the early 1950s.
The work calls to mind the paintings of George Morgan, who composed
memory paintings from a bird's-eye's perspective. Intuitively we use this
aerial device as a method of recall.

The Disobidient Prophet
Signed, “Inez’
Oil on canvas board
Circa: 1950s-1960
Size: 16" (h) x 20" (w) (sight)
A label on the back reads, “Painted by the late - INEZ
- a former patient in Memoroal Hospital.
Purchased from her for $50.00.
—Mrs. B.L.S. November, 1961.”
Unfortunately we have not identified “Inez” or, “Mrs.
B.L.S.,” but objectively the naive painting is quite
good (we agree with Mrs. B.L.S.’s commitment).
I Kings 13:20-25 reads, “When the man of God had finished eating
and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his
donkey for him. As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road
and killed him, and his body was left lying on the road, with both
the donkey and the lion standing beside it.”

The Crucifixion
Lucia Wilcox (1902-1974)
Ink and watercolor on paper
Circa: 1972/73
Size: 14 1/2" (h) x 8 1/2" (w) (sight)
Provenance: Private New York Collection.
Lucia Wilcox painted this shortly after becoming blind from a tumor
pressing on her optic nerve.
An immigrant from Lebanon she moved to New York in 1938 and
settled in Amagansett in 1942 and was very close friends with Lee
Krasner, Jackson Pollock and Willem De Kooning.
Though Lucia (as she was simply known) struggled to gain traction
with her earlier work—her “blind” work found an audinece.
On painting blind she said, “I see better than anybody. I have
eliminated all the details. My mind is free of static. I don't have any
distractions.”
In 1974, shortly before her death, Lucia had a solo exhibition of her
“galaxy” paintings at the Leo Castelli Gallery.

Variations of the Cross
Mrs. George Dunham
Black ink on paper
Circa: 1940-1950
Size: 8”(w) x 10 1/2” (h) (each)
A collection of over one hundred variations of the
cross painted by a midwestern wife of a pastor.
Though the cross is now primarily associated with
Christianity, it is an ancient symbol used by past
cultures throughout time and the world over.
Iconographically there are four basic variations:
1) Crux quadrata (a cross of four equal arms);
2) Crux immissa (with a long stem ratio);
3) Crux commissa (based on the Greek letter tau or
“T”); and
4) Crux decussata (based on the Roman decussis or
10, “X”).

"Perpitraight, Peerless, Perponderant"
Melvin Way (1954-)
Black ink on paper
Circa: 2000
Size: 5 1/2" (w) x 4" (h) (sight)
The Outsider Artist Melvin Way suffers from schizophrenia,
bi-polar disorder, and diabetes.
Way has stated, “All my works have to go thru emissions, baptisms,
and transmigrations before I release them into the stratosphere, I
carry 500 drawings at a time in my raincoat, and they go thru rain
sleet and snow, sometimes staying in my pocket for 6 months at a
time.”
Art critic Jerry Salz says of Way’s work, “[He is] a mystic visionary
genius...one of the greatest living American artists. Melvin Way
makes knotted diagrams of numbers, letters, lines, and arrows that
look like alchemical equations.”

The Key To My Fantasy
Pen & Ink on canvas board
Circa: 1960-70
Size: 16”(w) x 20” (h)
This is a remarkable
illustration by an as of yet
unidentified artist. The
adeptly rendered nude
figure and intricate design
are masterfully worked and
executed.
Atypically, the substrate is
canvas board (not paper or
bristol board). The artist
must have used a steel pen
versus a mechanical
rapidograph-type pen as the
tips would have broken
over and over.

Folk Art Cane
Wood, paint, glass, ball bearings.
Circa: 1920-30
Size: 36" (h)
Provenance: American Primitive
Gallery; Peter Brams Collection.
Folk Art cane by a “known
unknown” carver. A small group of
carvings with stylistic similarities have
been shown to be related and carved by
the same hand. The most known of this
group is a particularly strange monkey
with an intense face. Several of these
figures (including the aforementioned
monkey) were donated to the American
Folk Art Museum by Dorothea and Leo
Rabkin, others have been found here
and there. Likely Midwestern origin.
What identifies carvings in this group
are their overall facial features, glass
eyes and unusual mouth treatment. The
cane herein is very similar to the
monkey.

Folk Art Carving of Big Foot
Wood, wood stain, paint and glass.
Circa: 1920-30
Size: 24" (h) x 10 1/2" (w) x 6 1/2" (d)
Sensational carving of a hairy
humanoid ape-man or Big Foot-like
figure.
The hardwood body and head are
carved from the solid while the jointed
arms and hands are strung like a doll—
the large feet are nailed on.

The Snake Handler
Oil on canvas
Circa: 1930
Size: 39”(w) x 69” (h)
Provenance: Larry Dumont Collection; Marna Anderson;
Frederick Hughes; Chris Huntington Collection, 1974
Large and engaging painting of an African-American woman
wearing a grass skirt handling three snakes in tall grass.
“Found in Bangor, Maine,” this sideshow or carnival banner
was featured in the seminal 1974 Folk Art auction of the Mr.
& Mrs. Christopher Huntington Collection.

Spirit Drawing
Slate, chalk
Circa: 1910-20
Size: 6 1/4" (w) x 10" (h)
Portrait of a man on slate with a message from
beyond in red chalk. This is the very best preserved
example of one of these slates that I have seen.
Transcription below.
“Dear Caran(?), Possessor of Earth Life, again I reach out from the
Land of Souls to you my dear --- of earth, I bring to you the joy
and comfort and health and peace of mind that you need in old
age, but you are just ripening like the beautiful fruit -- and the
orchard by and by gravitate to when you belong to the Shores of
Eternal Bliss and happiness, be of good cheer for I will receive
you into the summer C---- with upon --- and bid you welcome to
our heaven (?) over him and to be again as our whole family
never --- to part. For my love for you has grown in its purity and
as a Husband and Father I pray aimed a --- for you all angels.
Bless you, for I am always with you, Smith Stehl”

Wax Anatomical Model - Cross Section of a Head
C. Kellner
Wax, pigment
Circa: 1910-20
Size: 10 1/2" (w) x 11" (h)
A well detailed anatomical model of a cross
section of a human head further divided into
longitudinal sections.

Cyanotype of a Cadaver
Unique cyanotype photogram on paper
Circa: 1930-1940
Size: 13 1/2”(w) x 36” (h)
Provenance: Gary Edwards Gallery.
Though created for scientific purposes, this striking image of
the male body with its stark composition and delicate tonal
ranges of cyan has an unintentional air of reverence—a
haunting witness mark—not unlike the Shroud of Turin or a
Buddhist scroll.
This work is part of a small group of cyanotypes by the same
unknown photographer/physician. Others in the series are
held in the collections of MOMA, The Metropolitan Museum,
and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Reference: Burns and Wilson, Cyanotypes: Photography’s Blue
Period. Worcester Art Museum, 2016, pps.68-71

This small masterwork by Materson recalls a day when Materson as a young
teenager skipped school and played strip poker with a couple of older girls. The
event was exciting, but not in the way that he had imagined. His figure lay in the
scene like Christ with outstretched arms and a loincloth (tighty-whities).
From The American Visionary Art Museum, "Born March 15, 1954 in Milford,
Connecticut, Raymond Materson grew up in the Midwest. He earned a G.E.D. and
attended Thomas Jefferson College as a drama and philosophy major, but was
plagued by a serious drug problem. To support his habit, he committed a string of
robberies with a shoplifted toy gun, was eventually arrested and sentenced to 15
years in a state penitentiary in Connecticut. To keep himself sane Ray taught
himself to embroider, using unraveled socks for thread and a sewing needle
secured from a prison guard. He stitched miniature tapestries depicting life
outside prison walls and sold his works to other inmates for cigarettes. Most of
Materson's miniature embroideries include approximately 1,200 stitches per
square inch and measure less than 2.5 x 3 inches.
Since his release from prison in 1995, Ray has worked as a teacher, counselor,
caseworker, program director, design consultant and speaker. With the help of his
former wife Melanie, he published his autobiography, "Sins and Needles: A Story
of Spiritual Mending." In 2003, he became the first artist to ever receive the Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation's Innovators Combating Substance Abuse Award.
Materson's work has been featured in numerous exhibitions at The American
Museum of Folk Art in New York City, The American Visionary Art Museum in
Baltimore, MD, The Center for Contemporary Art in Seattle, WA, The Boston
Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The New Museum of Contemporary Art in New
York City to name just a few."
Provenance: Peter Brams Collection.
Illustrated & Discussed in: Sins & Needles, p.27

Public School Girls
Ray Materson (1954 –)
Unraveled socks
Circa: 1994
Size: 2 1/4" (h) x 2 3/4" (w) (sight)
12" (h) x 14" (w) (framed)

Two Figures
Frederick Hastings (1919-2013)
Steel, air-dried clay, paint, lead and masking tape
Circa: 1960-80
Sizes: (left) 6 5/8" (h) / (right) 4" (h)
The works of Frederick Hastings were discovered a few years ago, and much
of the details of his life and work remains a mystery. These two figures are
made from steel armatures, air dried clay, paint, and masking tape bikini
bottoms.
What is known is that he lived outside of Philadelphia, was an architect and
may have had family money. It is also known that he was into trains and
built elaborate sets.
The figures are very well made, with steel armatures or skeletons and then
carefully modeled with some air-dried clay or modeling putty. Most have
applied paper bikinis, and several have wigs of cotton or wool. Most of the
figures come with hand-made boxes, custom fit to accommodate the size
and posture of each.
At first glance, the figures appear hermaphroditic or trans-gendered.
However, none have genitals—just muscular bodies with breasts. And
though a significant effort is put into modeling and composing the figures,
there appears to be no attempt to idealize or beautify the faces—which are
often quite severe and grotesque.

Folk Art Fetish Figure
Wood, wheat paste/sawdust glue
composite, paint, pitch varnish
Circa: 1900
Size: 5 5/8" (h) x 1 1/2" (w)
I regard this small figure as one of the
most mysterious and striking figural
carvings that I have ever seen.
The body is carved from hardwood,
and the rest of the female figure has
applied composite features, including
her face, breasts, belly button, and
pubic area. The composite material
appears to be made from a wheat paste
mixed with glue and sawdust.
The result of the applied facial “mask”
looks like transplanted skin. The lips
of her face and vagina have traces of
applied dark red paint.
The whole is finished with a natural
tree pitch varnish.
One can only speculate why this doll
was carved. I have never seen a
similar, but believe it to be more fetish
in nature versus a simple play doll.

Induction Center
Thomas King Baker (1911 - 1972)
Watercolor, charcoal, and calendar scrap on craft paper
Size: 13 1/4"(h) x 9" (w) (sight)
Exhibited: Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art, MO, 1997
Illustrated and discussed in: Oh For Pity’s Sake, We’ve Already Seen This
Opera: The Art of Thomas King Baker; p. 37
Thomas King Baker was an insurance underwriter by day, self-taught,
basement artist by night. He and his wife, Mila Hoover, were middleclass
socialites and enjoyed the opera, galleries, museums and a vibrant
nightlife. King was friendly with local artists and was a collector. Among
friends and family, his art-making was a poorly kept secret—they knew
of his passion but were unaware of the extent of King’s breadth and body
of work. King never exhibited while he was alive.
King died from the effects of alcoholism in 1972.
In 1991, Thomas McCormick, an art dealer, stumbled upon a few
interesting paintings that he could not immediately identify. After some
detective work, McCormick figured out that the works were by Baker.
McCormick contacted Baker’s wife Mila, who was still alive and
cataloged a large cache of works that Mila had kept together.
King’s paintings, illustrations, and sketchbooks were exhibited at the
Albrecht-Kemper Museum in 1997.

In 2007, the bulk of King’s estate was donated to Intuit: The Center for
Intuitive and Outsider Art in Chicago.
The two works herein illustrate King’s use of scrap materials and his
gifted use of line and color. Like one of the works herein, King
produced several works with calendar fragments. King was not
ignorant of art history and contemporary art and the use of block
numbers on, “Induction Center,” is likely a nod to Jasper Johns.
Edward, Edward
Thomas King Baker (1911 - 1972)
Oil on shirt cardboard on craft paper
Size: 12" (h) x 9" (w) (sight)
Exhibited: Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art, MO, 1997
Illustrated and discussed in: Oh For Pity’s Sake, We’ve Already Seen This
Opera: The Art of Thomas King Baker; p. 58

Satan’s Strange Fruit
Anonymous
Graphite and crayon on paper
Circa: 1960s
Size: 11" (h) x 14" (w)
A graphically strong anonymous drawing with
demonic beasts and semi-mythological beings.

Study of a Male Nude &
Young Highlander with
Raised Arm
John Kane (1860–1934)
Circa: 1930
Pencil on note paper
Size: 8 1/2" x 5 1/2"
Provenance: Galerie St.
Etienne
A rare John Kane double-sided pencil sketch. Kane is regarded as one of the masters of selfartists.
On the above or recto, note how Kane makes room for the hands to complete the sketch—h
while drawing the figure's arms, so he placed them to the lower left. Above the hands, Kane
English painters that he must have been studying.
The verso illustrates a young boy in a Highlander outfit (Kane would use this figure in a few
The writing on this side lists the colors of the rainbow (Roy G. Biv).
References: The Highland boy relates to figures in the following; Highland Hollow, Scotch D
and Scotch Day, Kennywood (Arkus 68, 71 and 73).

taught American
e ran out of room
lists 18th-19thC
finished paintings).
ay at Kennywood
verso

Circus Figure
Elie Nadelman (1882-1946)
Circa: 1938-46
Size: 8 1/4” (height without base)
Signed with initials EN on reverse; inscribed 'Inwood Pottery New
York #4' on a label attached to reverse.
Provenance: Zabriskie Gallery, New York, May 6, 1970;
Private collection since.
Exhibitions: Nadelman Memorial Exhibition, MOMA, 1948; 'Elie
Nadelman, Sculptor of Modern Life,' Whitney Museum, 2003.
Literature: Barbara Haskell, 'Elie Nadelman, Sculptor of Modern Life,'
Whitney Museum, New York, 2003, p.190, fig. 212
One of the more dynamic of the Nadelman plaster figures. The
female circus figure with an outstretched right arm and her left on
her hip (which creates a wonderful negative space).

Southern Folk Art Limestone Carving of a Kissing Couple
Kentucky (found)
Circa: 1930-40
Size: 8” x 8” x 9” (h)
A dynamic carving of a nude male and female embraced in a
kiss with the man’s hand on her upper thigh. She is not
resisting, but her slight push may be a signal to slow it down
a bit.
Carvings as such in limestone are quite rare in that this small
sculpture packs a lot of life into the stone. The work is carved
in-the-round, and the figures have remarkable tension
between them.
It was found in a river 65 years plus ago in Prestonsburg,
Floyd County, Kentucky.

Bird Family
James W. Washington, Jr. (1909-2000)
Black granite, redwood burl
Dated: 1973
Size: 12 1/4" L x 8 1/8" D x 7 1/2" H
Exhibited at: Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA, "The Spirit in the
Stone: The Visionary Art of James W. Washington, Jr." March 10 - April
16, 1989.
Bird Family is a large work of a mother bird protecting and feeding three
nestlings under her wing. The solid black granite metaphorically
reinforces the strength of the matriarch, while Washington's sensitive
carving conveys a certain intimacy and the fragility of life.
James W. Washington, Jr. was an
African-American, self-taught
artist. Born in Gloster,
Mississippi, Washington settled in
Seattle as a government
electricion. Washington’s spirited,
but quiet carvings are seen as a
cross between two other direct
carvers; the African American Folk
Artist William Edmondson (1874-
1951) and American sculptor John
Flannagan (1895-1942).

Man in Coffin
James ‘Son Ford’ Thomas
(1926-1993)
Unfired clay, paint, wire
Circa: 1980
Size: 8 1/2" (l) x 4 1/2" (w)
James ‘Son Ford’ Thomas
was a self-taught artist and
blues musician from
Mississippi—to earn extra
money he worked as a grave
digger
‘Son Ford’ Thomas’ work has
been widely exhibited and
collected and was featured in
two seminal exhibits; Black
Folk Art in America, 1930–
1980, organized by the
Corcoran Gallery of Art in
Washington, DC., and
Outliers and American
Vanguard Art organized by
the National Gallery of Art,
2018.

Although Miroslav Tichý
(1926-2011) was
primarily known as a
street photographer, he
had a remarkable hand
for drawing.
During the 1970s Tichý began experimenting with monotype etchings. As with his
tools for photography, his materials for engravings were improvised from recycled
scraps of metal, plastic or wood.
Tichý’s neighbor and come-biographer Roman Buxbaum, observed, “After
scratching out the drawing he applied paint with the palm of his hand and then,
applying pressure with a spoon, transferred it to paper.” The blurred lines and ink
smears from this imperfect process resulted in etchings, not unlike his
photographs, filled with a hazy and mysterious atmosphere.

Untitled [Woman Turned Right - Maroon]
Miroslav Tichý (1926-2011)
Monotype etching
Circa: 1970s (n.d.)
Size: 7 1/4" (w) x 13 1/2" (h)
Untitled [Woman Turned Left - Indigo]
Miroslav Tichý (1926-2011)
Monotype etching
Circa: 1970s (n.d.)
Size: 5 3/4" (w) x 11 1/4" (h)

The Birds & The Bees
Ange Boaretto (1920-??)
France
Circa: 1950s-60s
Size: 43" x 8" (sight) / 48" x 12" (framed)
Three large one piece, six paneled erotic
paintings by self-taught artist Boaretto. Ange
Boaretto was a master shoemaker in Southern
France and self-taught painter.
Although he had some recognition during his
lifetime and a small exhibit at the Centre Georges
Pompidou in 1979, entitled ‘Le Bible du Bottier’
(The Boot-makers Bible), he has mostly been
forgotten.

Alan Bricker
Untitled (Green Man with Orange Hands)
Acrylic on foamcore
48” x 17 1/4”
Circa: Mid-1990s
Alan Bricker was an artist discovered by Tina Anton as part of the
Art Program for the Homeless, a not for profit art exploration
lasting 3 years in NYC.
Bricker was brought to her attention by a caseworker in an East
Village homeless shelter. Tina and her husband Aarne Anton
(American Primitive Gallery) got excited by his paintings on scrap
cardboard and found immediate response from collectors.
Encouraged by the response Bricker took Tina and Aarne to his
storage space to see more. The closet-like space was piled to the
ceiling with scrap cardboard that had images and words painted
on them. This space was a chaotic jumble akin to a rats nest, but
each piece he pulled out was fantastic, each in a different way.
Shortly after Bricker seemed to get unhinged and then
disappeared. The Antons looked for him at the storage building,
but was told that Bricker had stopped paying his rental and the
contents were discarded.

Our Rug
Pearl Blauvelt (1893-1987)
Pennsylvania
Graphite and colored pencil on notebook paper
Circa: 1936
Size: 10 3/8" (w) x 7 1/4" (h) (sight)
Provenance: Kerry Schuss; Private Midwestern Collection.
This small drawing illustrates a folk art hooked rug.
A group of Blauvelt’s work is featured in the rehung MOMA,
Room 521, The Alfred H. Barr Gallery.
Blauvelt’s work is in several notable private and institutional
collections including: Museum of Modern Art, New York;
Museum of Everything, London; Pennslyvania Academy of the
Fine Arts, Philadelphia.

L. C. Spooner
Blue Mound, Illinois
Red and black ink on paper
Circa: 1936
Size: 10 3/8" (w) x 7 1/4" (h) (sight)
Provenance: American Primitive Gallery; Private New York
Collection.
Lee Cordova Spooner or “L. C.” as he signed his drawings was
indeed an inventor of practical things (he held some patents),
but he also aimed to create visionary machines based on
self-propulsion, e.g. self-propelled motors, self-propelled trash
cans, self-propelled scales, etc.
Though these inspired concepts never materialized, Spooner
left behind dozens of detailed mechanical drawings that often
show multiple angles and variations of these extraordinary,
but never realized contraptions.
A large number of Spooner’s drawings are in the collection of
the William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation.

Eddy Mumma (1908-1986)
Oil on board in artist painted frame
Circa: 1978
Size: 22 1/2" (w) x 18 1/2" (h) (including frame)
Provenance: Private New York Collection.
In 1966, after the death of his wife, at the age of fifty-eight
Mumma moved to Gainesville, Florida to be closer to his
daughter. He suffered from diabetes and eventually lost both
of his legs.
During his lifetime Mumma refused to exhibit his work and
after his death, his work was sold by his family.
Mumma’s work is now in the collection of several major
museums such as the Smithsonian American Art Museum;
The American Visionary Art Museum; The American Folk Art
Museum; & The Kohler Foundation.

Folk Art Bacchus on Barrel
Northern France
Circa: Mid 19thC
Size: 7 1/2" (w) x 9 1/2" (h)
A rare folk art ceramic
sculpture of a grotesque
magistrate atop a brandy
keg.
The earthernware figure has
a manganese glaze with
kaolin highlights to his facial
features and hands.
The CT Historical Society
has a trade sign for the
Bacchus Inn or Norwich,
which features a man atop a
keg. This highly stylized
piece of folk art is a varient
of the Dutch ‘Bobbejakken.’
Literature: A related example
is pictured in, Poteries et
céramiques anciennes du
Cotentin by Leberruyer
Pierre, Lepoitevin Lucien, p.
168, plate 99.

A Group of Fine Gogottes (offered individually)
Fontainbleu France
Oligocene epoch (33.9 million to 23 million years old)
Size: 22" (l) / 9 1/2" (h) / 9" (h) / 13" (h)

A gogotte is a millions years old naturally shaped mineral concretion formed of tiny
quartz fragments held together by calcium carbonate. Principally found in
Fontainebleau, France, these mother-nature made sculptures have inspired artists from
Jean Arp, Henry Moore and Louise Bourgeois. Louis XIV favored them and the have been
exhibited at Versailles since the late 17thC.

Wavy Stripe Painted Southern Blanket Chest
Virginia (found)
Circa: 1850-70
Size: 34 3/4” (w) x 18 1/2” (d) x 24” (h)
A fantastic and lively Southern blanket chest (Virginia). Six board chest of
deep proportions. Made from southern pine with applied moldings and
conical feet. Wavy green and yellow stain all around (except backside). It has
been suggested that this may be African American made/painted.

Folk Art Carved Sign Language Hands
Circa: 1920
Size: each hand measures ~1"(w) x 2” (h)
A complete set of individually carved hands each
carved to represent a letter in the American Sign
Language (ALS) alphabet. The set has a small
carved wooden card that reads, “1920, By Willie.”
The other side of the card is carved with two hands
shaped in sign language characters representing,
“T C”

Snake Den
Wood burl
Circa: 1900-1920
Size: 16" (l) x 11 1/4" (h)
A wonderful twisty burl
mass resembling a
writhing snake den. One
snake is carved from a
branch growing through
the burl mass, while
others have nail eyes
upon their suggestive
heads.

Gas Station Beauty Queen
Enamel paint on masonite
Circa: 1960
Size: 72" (h) x 24" (w)

Tunnel of Love
Vintage glass tubing, neon gas, wood
Circa: 1940-50s
Size: 26 1/2" (h) x 19" (w) x 4" (d)
Vintage neon sign from a carnival or theme park.
The not-so-subtle female anatomical inner design
has not been overlooked.

Willian (Bill) Anhang was born in Poland in 1931 and immigrated to
Canada with his family in 1939 to escape the Nazi occupation. As a young
man, Anhang trained as an engineer and worked in telecommunications. In
1975, A Guru spoke to him and said he must become an artist. Since then
Anhang’s has devoted himself to bring “new light to the planet.”
The enamel works seen here are among Anhang’s earliest works. They are
small-scale abstractions—many with suggestions of another world or grand
universe. They have undeniable energy. Well composed, not too busy and
with intense, saturated color.
Anhang later incorporated real light into his work—paintings illuminated by
hundreds if not thousands of blinking and programmed LEDs and fiber
optics.
These early enamel works may be seen
as his acoustic period, like Dylan
before Newport, and then he plugged
in, went electric, and never really went
back.
Anhang’s work was recently exhibited
at American Folk Art Museum in the
exhibit, When the Curtain Never
Comes Down, 2015.
The Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation (CBC) produced a 20
minute documentary on Anhang,
Billsville, and is available on Youtube.
Photo of William (Bill) Anhang in his studio.

Untitled [Clipped Galaxy]
William Anhang (1931-)
Enamel on copper
Circa: 1979
Size: 7 3/8" (w) x 3 7/8" (h)
Untitled [Green Trails]
William Anhang (1931-)
Enamel on copper
Circa: 1979
Size: 5 3/4" (w) x 3 7/8" (h)

STEVEN S. POWERS
W O R K S O F
A R T
& americana
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