steve ashby and maud lewis, a match made in heaven + so much more

this week in outsider art also includes a rundown gee's bend quilts, a shout out to polina raiko, and the most popular work of 2023

Dec 31, 2023

THIS WEEK IN OUTSIDER ART

for daily postings of outsider art visit folkartwork.art

**STEVE ASHBY** Untitled (Hunter and Victim) (n.d) // Mixed media; Collection of Robert A. Roth / Photo © Jeff Ellis *h/t Outsider Art Now*

**MAUD LEWIS** Winter Sleigh Ride (1961) // Mixed media on beaverboard

**BILL TRAYLOR** Exciting Event / Blue and Red Form (Man Stealing Liquor) (1939-1942) // Poster paint and pencil on cardboard; 14 1/4 × 13 1/2 in | 36.2 × 34.3 cm *via Hirschl and Adler*

Thanks to everyone for subscribing and supporting this newsletter — it means a lot to me and I love that other people are enjoying this artwork as much as me. If you haven’y yet, consider subscribing to the paid newsletter for bonus outsider art every Wednesday morning.

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**HORACE PIPPIN** Christmas Morning, Breakfast (1945) // Oil on canvas; 21 1/8 x 26 3/16 in. (53.6 x 66.5 cm) *via* *Cincinnati Art Museum*

**ROSIE LEE TOMPKINS** Hit and Miss Strip (1983) // Silk velvet, rayon velvet, and cotton velveteen, pieced and quilted; 109 3/4 × 73 in. (278.77 × 185.42 cm) *via LACMA*

**NORVAL MORRISSEAU** Indian Jesus Christ (1974) // Acrylic on paper, 134.6 x 68.5 cm via Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada Aboriginal Art Collection, Gatineau, QC *h/t Art Canada Institute*

**MARUCH MENDÉZ** Coronavirus (2020) // Acrylic on canvas; 180 x 180cm *via Galeria MUY*

**RENEESHA MCCOY** What is of All Things (c. 2023) // Acrylic and gouache on canvas — *available for purchase via the artist in the FolkArtwork Collective*

**HENRY DARGER** Untitled ("Straight Arrow") (Mid-twentieth century) // Collage on cardboard with 1959 Christmas Seal stamps; 13 1/2 x 9 1/4" *via American Folk Art Museum*

**MARY T. SMITH** Untitled (n.d.) // Paint on board; 24 x 24 in via *The Arnett Collection*

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THE MOST POPULAR ART

👀 The Most Popular Art of 2023 👀 MARVIN BAILEY Eyeball Jugs (date unknown) 👀

For very obvious reasons, absolutely everyone loves these brilliant eyeball jugs by South Carolina native Marvin Bailey. This incredible sculptor developed a fondness for pottery at a young age thanks to his father's love of collecting art pottery. In 2001 Marvin, a self-taught potter, began making vases and flower pots and then face jugs. These bangers often will appear in Ledbetter Folk Art auctions throughout the year.

Thanks to everyone -- artists, fans, lovers of art, museums, gallerists, and these beautiful artworks for making 2023 a great year for folk, self-taught, and outsider art

Counting down the most popular art of 2023, as decided by ya’ll, the likes and subscribers, the movers and shakers, the fantastic people that follow @folkartwork and love this beautiful world of art as much as I do. More to come. Keep your eyes peeled for the top posts later this week.

SHOUT OUT

To Polina Raiko. Here’s a brief (60 seconds worth!) rundown of her life I created for Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube — a very condensed (60 seconds worth!) version of the article I wrote or Daily Art Magazine: Polina Raiko, The Self-Taught Folk Artist Who Turned Tragedy to Triumph

watch now

WATCHING AND READING

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

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

OH WORD?

**RITA MAE PETTWAY** “Housetop” Variation (2016) // Cotton; 89 x 89 inches via *Souls Grown Deep Foundation*

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again — there’s no quilt like a Gee’s Bend Quilt. A few weeks ago I shared this wonderful horse quilt by Rita Mae Pettway. And I’ve been trying to highlight a new quiltmaker each and every Sunday.

The one stop shop and place to go see the ultimate collection of these quilts is Souls Grown Deep Foundation, an invaluable resource and non-profit aiming to place as many works of art by African-American artists from the South in major American museums across the country.

**LORETTA PETTWAY** My Way (2003) // Cotton, denim, corduroy, and polyester; 88 x 69 inches via *Souls Grown Deep Foundation*

These quilts are not only beautiful, they have a tremendous backstory.

The residents of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, are direct descendants of the enslaved people who worked the cotton plantation established in 1816 by Joseph Gee. After the Civil War, their ancestors remained on the plantation working as sharecroppers. In the 1930s, the price of cotton fell, and the community faced ruin. As part of its Depression-era intervention, the Federal Government purchased ten thousand acres of the former plantation and provided loans enabling residents to acquire and farm the land formerly worked by their ancestors. Unlike the residents of other tenant communities, who could be forced by economic circumstances to move—or who were sometimes evicted in retaliation for their efforts to achieve civil rights—the people of the Bend could retain their land and homes. Cultural traditions like quiltmaking were nourished by these continuities. — Souls Grown Deep Foundation

Each quiltmaker, like Rita Mae Pettway, Loretta Pettway, Annie Bendolph and so many more have incredible stories to tell and stunning works of art to share. More to come each Sunday on folkartwork.art or always, from the fine folks at Souls Grown Deep.

ONE YEAR AGO…

At the end of 2022, we had about a foot of snow on the ground but that didn’t stop me from putting on my little mittens and boots and driving up to northern iowa to see father dobberstein’s little liberty fountain or crucifixion grotto in the middle of this random little park and this random little cemetery, respectively! It was worth it and should go back one day when i don’t have to dig my way to see these beauties!!! 🙏

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