Artwork from the JSP Estate/Private Collection
Nationality
American
Artist Dates
1920-2006
Title of Work
Untitled
Preview
Medium
Oil on panel
Signature
Lower left
Height
8"
Width
6"
Collection/Provenance
Art & Design Study Collection: James Smith Pierce Collection
Status
On display: Second floor
Location
Memorial Union
Artist Bio
Moses Ernest Tolliver, the child of African-American sharecroppers, was born into a large family in Alabama. He began to make paintings in the late 1960s after his legs were severely injured in an on-the-job accident in a furniture factory. Using house paint, he produced eccentric and childlike images of animals, people, and plant life—as in the work on display. Signing his work “MOSET” (with a backwards “S”), he became well known in the self-taught art world and many museums collect his work.
Additional Information
Student composed text panel:
Mose Tolliver (American, 1920-2006)
Untitled
Oil on panel
Art & Design Study Collection: James Smith Pierce Collection
Purchased with funds from the Myers Foundations.
Born Moses Ernest Tolliver, Tolliver grew up in Alabama in a family of sharecroppers. As an adult, he worked in a furniture factory but suffered a severe injury to his legs in a workplace accident, after which he began to create art from his bedside. At the beginning of his career, Tolliver displayed his work in a makeshift gallery on his porch for passersby to enjoy. Since then, his art has gained popularity and is now showcased in museums such as the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C.
This artwork features an array of flowers in green, pink, and red as well as Tolliver’s iconic signature. The shapes and colors used in this work convey the childlike theme that he is known for as a self-taught artist.
Flowers, red, green, pink
Condition
Very good