a pig on wheels rug

this week in outsider art includes a handful of beauties from the museum of international folk art, an excellent outsider art auction and frida kahlo's last painting

Jun 09, 2024

THIS WEEK IN OUTSIDER ART

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**ARTIST UNKNOWN** (Initials lower right EKB) A Hooked Rug of a Pig on Wheels Pull Toy (19th Century) // Various rug yarns and fabrics, mounted on a cotton backed stretcher; 24 x 32” via *Potter & Potter Auctions*

**MAMIE DESCHILLIE** Cowboy on Crocodile (or Crocodile Cowboy) (c. 1990s) // Painted cardboard, fabric; 18 1/8 × 35 13/16 in. (46 × 91 cm) via *Museum of International Folk Art*

**AUGUST NATTERER** Der Wunderhirthe (1919)

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MAMIE DESCHILLIE Man on Jackrabbit (c. 1990s) // Clay, paint, string; 4 1/2 × 2 × 3 in. (11.43 × 5.08 × 7.62 cm) via *Museum of International Folk Art*

**KENSUKE YAMADA** Head (2015) // Stoneware, underglaze, oxides; 7 h x 4 ¾ w x 4 ¾” d inches via *Potter & Potter Auctions*

**MINNIE EVANS** Untitled (Statuary, Stars and Flora) (1965) // Oil, gouache and pencil on paper; 12 × 9” — Private Collection via *Williams Art Gallery*

**IRIS ADLER** Clock (ca. 1980s) // Mixed media sculpture (Laminated wood skull, pin cushion heart and clock over a starburst shape with hourglass and candle motifs right and left); 15 h x 17 ½ w x 5½” d. via *Potter & Potter Auctions*

**JESUS LORENZO** El Tigre y el Diablo (2019) // Acrylic paint on masonite w/ clear lacquer; 12" x 8" via *Indigo Arts Gallery*

**MORRIS HIRSHFIELD** Girl and Dog (1944) // Oil on canvas; 81.5 x 106.5 cm via *Zander Collection*

**FELIPE BENITO ARCHULETA** Lamb (1973) // Wood, wool fleece, paint; (28 x 53 x 14.5 cm) via *Museum of International Folk Art*

**WILLIAM HAWKINS** Mallard Duck (ca. 1983-84) // Enamel and cornmeal on plywood via *Center for American Decoys (Collection of Thomas K. Figge) -- h/t @kunstgedoens*

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FEATURED ARTIST OF THE WEEK

**ROSS KEEGAN** Couple in Rainbow (2024) // Acrylic on canvas; 70x50cm courtesy *the artist*

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WATCHING AND READING

Here are a few things I’ve been watching this past week:

Here are a few things I’ve been reading this past week:

OH WORD?

» Frida Kahlo’s Last Painting«

**FRIDA KAHLO** La Mesa Herida (The wounded Table) (1940) // Oil on Canvas; 122 x 244 cm -- Location Unknown

Frida Kahlo is not an outsider. It is true that when she was alive and making art, she was better known, unfortunately, as the wife of famous Mexican muralist Diego Rivera rather than one of the greatest surrealist artists of all-time.

*Photo of Frida and her Wounded Table Painting via www.fridakahlo.org*

And while Frida isn’t necessarily a folk artist per say, it did heavily influence her art making choices and she came to know and appreciate it well after her marriage to Rivera:

Frida had been a fan of folk art in her younger years, but she only fully came to understand it after marrying Diego Rivera in 1929, since he was an unequivocal admirer of the indigenous voice. After they got married, Frida began to incorporate a series of elements into her work that would soon become her hallmark, such as the papier-mâché sculptures made for "Semana Santa," or Holy Week, known as "Judases."

Needless to say, it doesn’t matter what type of artwork Frida made for anyone to enjoy the particularly dramatic and fascinating story of her last painting, in which no one knows where in the world it currently is.

Only a few photographs were ever taken of the rather large painting compared to her preferential smaller scale works — titled, “La Mesa Herida (The wounded Table)”. It made its exhibit debut at the 1940 Exposición Internacional del Surrealismo in Mexico City, alongside Salvador Dalí's "Persistence of Memory" and René Magritte's "The Treachery of Images". After a few other exhibits, Kahlo decided to donate her work to the Soviet Union in 1943.

Kahlo's friendship with exiled revolutionary leader Leon Trotsky soured her relationship with the Communist Party, so to make up for it she wanted to gift the new work that featured the artist sitting at a table made of human legs, surrounded by two children, a papier-mache skeleton and her pet deer Granizo.

The only problem... the Soviet Union much preferred social realism, not surrealism. And showcasing this work would prove impossible at the time. In 1955, one year after the death of Frida Kahlo the work was transported to Poland to be shown in a Polish Group Show, thanks large in part to Kahlo's ex-husband and famous muralist, Diego Rivera. What was to be returned to Moscow one day, "The Wounded Table" never returned and was never to be seen in public view again.

Heard through the great article by Tim Brikhof, "The Hunt: How Frida Kahlo’s Final Painting Vanished Into Storage" via Artnet.

SHOUT OUT

folkartwork

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Shout out to Elijah Pierce, one of the greatest folk artists of all-time and the coolest barber ever.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

» MEET THE COLLECTOR SERIES PART SIXTY-NINE — Adam Oestreich, Iowa «

FROM THE COLLECTIVE

**KATHY EDWARDS HAYSLETT** Lighthouse (2021) // Acrylic, spray paint, crystals, paper on mat board; **framed,** it comes floated in white wooden frame with plexi glass — artwork measures 11 inches by 14 inches, with one inch white matting overall piece with frame measures 15 inches by 18 inches

KATHY EDWARDS HAYSLETT left her 20-year curatorial position to make art full-time in 2017. Through her vaguely unsettling, whimsical, and suggestive narratives, Kathy address aspects of climate change, geoengineering, and the rights and histories of women. The artist believes these issues are interrelated, and her work explores changing natural habitats as subject, as she considers histories of the land.

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