Purple Bus.
View Similar Items
Mose TolliverPurple Bus.c. 1980-1990
c. 1980-1990
About the Item
- Creator:Mose Tolliver (1920 - 2006, American)
- Creation Year:c. 1980-1990
- Dimensions:Height: 21.5 in (54.61 cm)Width: 10.5 in (26.67 cm)Depth: 0.38 in (9.66 mm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Storrs, CT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU33528868362
Mose Tolliver
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.
- Parisian BoulevardBy André GissonLocated in Storrs, CTBeautiful Impressionist painting featuring elegantly-dressed Parisians out for an afternoon stroll. Bouquets of flowers rest in a tub to the left of the streetlamp, while a horse-dra...Category
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Figurative Paintings
MaterialsOil
$2,500 Sale Price37% Off - Himalayan BondingBy Zhiyue ZhengLocated in Storrs, CTHimalayan Bonding. 2008. Oil on canvas. 24 x 24. Provenance: the artist; Westport River Gallery, CT. Provenance: a New York private collection. Signed and dated, lower right. Housed ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Figurative Paintings
MaterialsOil
$2,600 Sale Price35% Off - Parco (Park)By Antonio GravinaLocated in Storrs, CTA large Impressionist-style colorful painting of a park with fountain. Oil on canvas measures 36 x 24; frame dimensions measure 44 1/2 x 32 1/2 x 1 1/2. Artist's signature, lower lef...Category
1970s Impressionist Landscape Paintings
MaterialsOil
$2,000 Sale Price27% Off - Shepherd and PalacesBy Riham GhassibLocated in Storrs, CT"Shepherd and Palace" displays traditional sandstone homes with red roof tiles. In the foreground, a shepherd tends his flock under a violet and blue stormy sky . Acrylic on canvas m...Category
1990s Naturalistic Landscape Paintings
MaterialsAcrylic
$1,000 Sale Price25% Off - VeneziaLocated in Storrs, CTArmando Romano's depiction of a gondola ride in Venice. Colorful flower boxes decorate the building to the left. Oil on canvas measures 19 1/2 x 15 3/4;...Category
Late 20th Century Realist Landscape Paintings
MaterialsOil
$2,000 - French LandscapeLocated in Storrs, CTBrilliantly-colored oil on canvas depicting the French countryside, with "les flâneurs," (people strolling) along the bank of the river. The eye of the viewer follows the river past ...Category
20th Century Impressionist Landscape Paintings
MaterialsOil
$1,750 Sale Price27% Off
- "Cars, Buildings People" Contemporary Outsider Folk Art African American UrbanBy Purvis YoungLocated in New York, NY"Cars, Buildings People" Contemporary Outsider Folk Art African American Urban The painting measures 65 x 48 inches. We love that in the middle of ...Category
1990s Outsider Art Landscape Paintings
MaterialsMasonite, Oil
- Marché Cluny - Market at Cap-Haitien - Haitian Street ArtLocated in Miami, FLA bustling street scene of everyday life in front of the famed Marché in Cap-Haïtien is rendered in Sénèque This is a relatively early work by Obin's signature brightly colored and flat naive style. Signed lower right. Provenance: Galerie Issa - Port-Au-Prince, Haiti - Owned by Issa El Saieh of later named El Saieh Gallery Sénèque Obin...Category
1950s Outsider Art Landscape Paintings
MaterialsOil, Masonite
- Mother EarthBy Mohammad AriyaeiLocated in Paris, FRAcrylic paint on canvas Signed and entitled by the artistCategory
2010s Outsider Art Figurative Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Acrylic
- A Lands Five Ornaments. Contemporary PaintingBy Martine BarnardLocated in Brecon, PowysA Lands Five Ornaments, Health, Wealth, Fertility, Joy and Safety Oil, gold leaf on arches paper with a crackled varnish finish Image 5" x 7" Mounted 10" x 12" signed and dated low...Category
1990s Outsider Art Figurative Paintings
MaterialsGold Leaf
- "The Day We Picked Apples" Contemporary Figurative PaintingBy Therese JamesLocated in Brecon, PowysThe artists reflection on her childhood days. Early autumn and picking apples. Acrlic on canvas. Unframed 18" x 14" 2022Category
2010s Outsider Art Figurative Paintings
MaterialsAcrylic
- Coming Home, Rock House, Contemporary Naive School PaintingBy Therese JamesLocated in Brecon, PowysTherese James's has painted a view of her family's ancestral home town in Devon UK. The boat in the painting is named after her Mother and Great Aunt Acrylic on canvasCategory
2010s Outsider Art Landscape Paintings
MaterialsAcrylic