Mose Tolliver Art
In the late 1960s, Mose Tolliver’s career as a landscaper ended when a heavy crate of marble crushed his ankle. At the encouragement of his former employer, Tolliver began painting images with house paint directly onto discarded surfaces like furniture and wooden boards. He is now remembered as one of America’s most highly regarded self-taught artists of the late 20th century.
He was born in 1924 into a sharecropping family that lived near Montgomery, Alabama. After he was injured while working for the McLendon Furniture Company, Tolliver taught himself to paint birds, flowers and trees. He later expanded into painting images of people, animals, mythical creatures and religious symbols.
While sitting in his bedroom that doubled as a studio, Tolliver frequently laid his chosen material across his knees while he painted. His canvases consisted of broken furniture pieces, Masonite, old table tops and anything else Tolliver could get his hands on. He initially preferred to use oil-based paint, referring to it as “pure paint,” before moving on to water-based latex house paint.
With his limited materials, Tolliver often only had a few colors from which to choose. Despite these limitations, Tolliver achieved a harmony in his art that complemented his subjects and backgrounds.
Tolliver’s work was recognized by Mitchell Kahan, a former curator at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. At Kahan’s recommendation, the museum held Tolliver’s first solo exhibition in 1981. A man of humble modesty and extreme dedication, Tolliver dismissed any notions of grandeur and once stated to the museum’s advertising team, “I’m not interested in art. I just want to paint my pictures.”
His work was part of the major 1982 exhibition Black Folk Art in America 1930–1980 at the Corcoran Gallery. It is now in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Tolliver painted consistently until a severe stroke in 2005. He died on October 30, 2006.
On 1stDibs, find a collection of Mose Tolliver’s paintings.
Late 20th Century Contemporary Mose Tolliver Art
Wood, Acrylic
Late 20th Century Contemporary Mose Tolliver Art
Acrylic, Wood
Late 20th Century Mose Tolliver Art
Wood, Acrylic
Late 20th Century Contemporary Mose Tolliver Art
Acrylic, Wood
Late 20th Century Outsider Art Mose Tolliver Art
Acrylic, Wood Panel
Late 20th Century Contemporary Mose Tolliver Art
Wood, Acrylic
Late 20th Century Contemporary Mose Tolliver Art
Acrylic, Wood
1950s Abstract Expressionist Mose Tolliver Art
Masonite, Acrylic
1960s Post-War Mose Tolliver Art
Canvas, Wood, Acrylic
2010s Outsider Art Mose Tolliver Art
Acrylic
2010s Outsider Art Mose Tolliver Art
Paper, Acrylic
2010s Contemporary Mose Tolliver Art
Wood, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Mose Tolliver Art
Plaster, Wood, Maple, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Geometric Mose Tolliver Art
Plaster, Wood, LED Light, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Contemporary Mose Tolliver Art
Glass, Wood, Acrylic, Fiberboard
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Mose Tolliver Art
Canvas, Wood, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Contemporary Mose Tolliver Art
Wood, Acrylic
Artist Comments
I have a succulent in a ceramic sugar skull pot in my kitchen and painted it from life. It has a wonderful expression on its face, and I enjoy the spikey succulent growing from the top like hair.
About the Artist
Kira Yustak paints fantastical scenes that come from her childhood memories, dreams, and the natural world. Each piece feels like part of a larger narrative of an alternative reality, rendered in a style she describes as comic realism. She feels art must trigger something inside the viewer’s soul.Kira currently lives in New Jersey and finds inspiration in the work of Lowbrow, Folk, and Surrealist artists.
Words that describe this painting: sugar skull, cactus, houseplant, garden, plants, day of the dead, succulent, still life, still life, representational, primitive, acrylic painting, green
21st Century and Contemporary Outsider Art Mose Tolliver Art
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Geometric Mose Tolliver Art
Plaster, Wood, LED Light, Mixed Media, Acrylic
