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.
Untitled Dragon by Mose Tolliver AKA Mose T (INV# NP3171)
By Mose Tolliver
Located in Morton Grove, IL
Mose Tolliver AKA Mose T Untitled Dragon wood, paint, soda tab approx: 11.5 x 21" date unknown signed
Wood, Acrylic
Untitled Birds by Mose Tolliver AKA Moset
By Mose Tolliver
Located in Morton Grove, IL
Mose Tolliver AKA Mose T Untitled Birds wood, paint, soda tab approx: 14.5 x 19.5" date unknown signed African American Artist
Wood, Acrylic
Original Painting on Plywood - Alley Cat
By Mose Tolliver
Located in Phoenix, AZ
This is a wonderful naive painting on wood panel by the self-taught black artist Mose Tolliver (1920-2000). It’s a great example of Mose’s unique folk-art style. It features the ratt...
Wood, Paint
Mose Tolliver Rattlesnake Painting on Wood Panel - Circa 1980's
By Mose Tolliver
Located in Phoenix, AZ
This is a wonderful naive painting on wood panel by the self-taught black artist Mose Tolliver (1920-2000). It’s a great example of Mose’s unique folk-art style. It features the rat...
Wood
Untitled Blue Watermelon by Mose Tolliver AKA Mose T (INV# NP3169)
By Mose Tolliver
Located in Morton Grove, IL
Mose Tolliver AKA Mose T Untitled Ble Watermelon wood, paint, soda tab approx: 7.5 x 15.5" date unknown signed
Wood, Acrylic
Untitled Owl in the Grass - Naïve art
By Paul Rand
Located in Miami, FL
Naïve art meets abstract art. Signed and dated to lower right 'Paul Rand 4.6.52. Paul Rand said. “People who don’t have a sense of humor really have serious problems.” Besides being...
Pastel, Acrylic
$2,439
H 14.97 in W 16.93 in
Terrier in a Landscape - 19th Century Antique British Folk Art Dog Oil Painting
Located in Sevenoaks, GB
* No US duty or taxes to pay on this item * A beautiful late 19th century oil on board portrait of a terrier in a landscape, by H. Jackson. The work is inscribed by the artist on the reverse and dated 1898. Presented in it's original gilt frame and in very good original condition. A superb Victorian dog painting...
Oil
$3,900
H 34.25 in W 44.5 in D 2.5 in
Vintage Haitian Painting of a Jungle Scene with Animals
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Whimsical acrylic painting on canvas of a lush jungle scene with elephants, flowers and a cat executed in a distinctive naive style. Signed and dated 75 and presented in a wood frame.
Canvas, Wood, Acrylic
La Loba
Located in Zofingen, AG
“La Loba” is a work about an inner movement through the space of memory, intuition, and the search for the self. The female figure seems to move through a forest of inner time, gradu...
Canvas, Acrylic
$800
H 12 in W 12 in D 1 in
The Stalwart Tree Encaustic Painting, Folk Art, Framed
Located in Kingston, WA
A sprawling tree dominates this scene, its intricate branches coiling majestically against a serene backdrop. The textured layers of azure and amber create an organic fusion of colo...
Encaustic, Wood
Chinese Reverse Painting of a Dog
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Antique Chinese reverse painting on glass of a dog or spaniel painted in a charming naive manner with vibrant colors, slightly oxidized.
Paint
Outsider Artist American Modern Animals Colorful Geometric Red Blue
Located in Buffalo, NY
A whimsical modern American painting of animals in a geometric composition. Signed Taylor this wonderful folksy painting comes housed in a re...
Canvas, Oil
$4,400
H 25 in W 31 in D 1.5 in
Vintage Branko Paradis Painting on Canvas of a Leopard in a Tree
By Branko Paradis
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Charming mid century acrylic painting on canvas of a leopard with fauna and flora, executed in an enchanting naive style. Signed Paradis 82 and presented in a wood frame.
Acrylic
Four French Oil Paintings on Board of Chickens
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Charming set of four oil painting on board depicting chickens and roosters of the French city of Rennes. Presented in wood frames and signed ...
Oil
$3,900
H 24 in W 24 in D 0.5 in
African Tingatinga School Painting on Board of an Elephant & Mangos
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Here we have an amusing painting on masonite of an of an elephant with fruit trees, signed at the bottom center R.N. Millanzi. Painted with bicycle paint in the distinctive naive Tin...
Paint
$12,500
H 8.25 in W 6.38 in
Richard Scarry Original Art Danny Beaver's Secret 1953
Located in Miami, FL
Legendary children's book author and illustrator Richard Scarry depicts a congenial interaction between Danny the Beaver and the Skunk. The painting was directed at a toddler audien...
Gouache, Illustration Board, Pencil
$3,550
H 21.5 in W 25.5 in D 1.5 in
Vintage Haitian Painting of a Leopard by Ti Tra Jean Fatreuse Delva
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Striking mid century Haitian acrylic painting on canvas of a leopard executed in a distinctive naif style with lush bold colors. Signed by Ti Tra Jean Fatreuse Delva and presented in...
Canvas, Wood, Acrylic
Untitled
By Mose Tolliver
Located in Saint Louis, MO
Mose Tolliver Untitled Paint on wood panel 11.8 x 23.8 inches (30 x 60.5 cm)
Acrylic, Wood Panel
Purple Bus.
By Mose Tolliver
Located in Plano, TX
Purple Bus with Passengers. c. 1980-1990. House paint on plywood. 21 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 3/8 inches. Signed, lower right. Original tab hanger. Provenance: The Johnson Center for the A...
Plywood, House Paint
Untitled Watermelon by Mose Tolliver AKA Moset
By Mose Tolliver
Located in Morton Grove, IL
Mose Tolliver AKA Mose T Untitled Watermelon wood, paint, soda tab approx: 14 5 x 19.5" date unknown signed
Wood, Acrylic
Sold
H 23 in W 33.25 in
Untitled Spotted Animal by Mose Tolliver AKA Mose T (INV# NP3174)
By Mose Tolliver
Located in Morton Grove, IL
Mose Tolliver AKA Mose T Untitled Spotted Animal wood, paint, soda tab approx: 23 x 33.25 date unknown signed
Wood, Acrylic
Sold
H 31.25 in W 20.25 in
Untitled Gray Lady by Mose Tolliver AKA Mose T (INV# NP3172)
By Mose Tolliver
Located in Morton Grove, IL
Mose Tolliver AKA Mose T Untitled Gray Lady wood, paint, string approx: 31.25 x 20.25" date unknown signed
Wood, Acrylic
Sold
H 24 in W 20.75 in
Untitled Nude by Mose Tolliver AKA Mose T (INV# NP3175)
By Mose Tolliver
Located in Morton Grove, IL
Mose Tolliver AKA Mose T Untitled Naked Woman found wood, paint, soda tab date unknown signed
Wood, Acrylic
Watermelon
By Mose Tolliver
Located in Plano, TX
Mose Tolliver's "Watermelon." House paint on wood. Board measures 11 3/4 x 23 15/16 x 1/4. Approximate date, early to mid-'90s. In the late 1960s, Mose Tolliver was forced to retire...
House Paint
Self-Portrait
By Mose Tolliver
Located in Plano, TX
Self Portrait. 1993. Latex house paint on plywood. 32 x 16 inches. Signed 'Moset' lower left. Exhibited: "Outside In an exhibit of exceptional Outsider Art." Friday, July 5, 201...
Paint
"Watermelon" Iconic, Folk Art, Colorful, Acrylic on Board
By Mose Tolliver
Located in Detroit, MI
"Watermelon" is an iconic painting by the Folk Artist Mose Tolliver. It is charming in its simplicity and vibrant, playful colors. Tolliver was born one of 12 children to sharecroppers, Ike and Laney Tolliver in the Pike Road community, near Montgomery, Alabama. His exact year of birth is unknown, though it is known he was born on the Fourth of July. He attended school only until the third grade due to a self-described lack of interest in education. In the early 1940s he married his childhood friend, Willie Mae Thomas, and had 13 children, 11 of whom survived to adulthood. During the late 1960s, after a severe injury (his legs were crushed when a load of marble shifted and fell from a forklift as he was sweeping in the furniture factory), he turned to painting to combat boredom, pain and long hours of idle time. He would often turn his paintings upside-down and paint the picture of perhaps an animal and landscape positioned from various directions. Tolliver's titles are wildly divergent; e.g., "Smoke Charlies", "Scopper Bugs" or "Jick Jack Suzy Satisfying her own Self". Tolliver signed his work, "Mose T with a backward “s”. He regularly worked with "pure house paint" on plywood creating whimsical and sometimes erotic pictures...
Board, Acrylic
(Green-faced lady in spotted dress)
By Mose Tolliver
Located in New York, NY
House paint on panel board. Green woman in spotted dress. Signed MoseT, dated on reverse 89.5
House Paint
Sold
H 32 in W 19.5 in D 0.5 in
(Man in red pants and blue hat - self portrait by Mose Tolliver )
By Mose Tolliver
Located in New York, NY
House paint on wood 32"x19.5" Self portrait of Mose Tolliver with crutches, wearing blue hat and red pants. Mose Tolliver (1920-2006) , American - Montgo...
House Paint