Mid-20th Century Outsider and Self Taught Art

A large rare, one-of-a-kind, Duluth Fish Decoy American folk art sculpture, depicting diving penguin, hand-carved by the late David Earl Perkins (Duluth, Minnesota, 1934-2018), featuring the original hand-painted finish with black body, white stripes over glass eyes, red beak and tucked in red legs, signed at the underside "DFD", on a lead weight. Based on lures generally used for winter spear fishing through ice holes, see below for the Duluth Fish Decoy story. - Dimensions: (approx) 3.5" High, 11" wide, 3.75" deep, 1.5 lbs - Provenance / Acquisition: A prominent Dallas, Texas estate Acquired from highly reputable auction house, Austin Auction Gallery, est.1983, Austin, Texas - The Duluth Fish Decoys Story: (From the DFD website and in the words of Dave & Jim Perkins) "I guess it all started when I speared my first northern pike – what a thrill.  The only thing better was to spear one lured in with a decoy I made myself. I made more decoys to spear more fish and found out I liked making decoys as much as spearing northerns.  Well, soon enough, my decoy/lunch box had more decoys than lunch. So I laid off the making and stepped up the spearing. Then when the fish tore them up and they scraped up against each other in the lunch box and they rolled around on the floor of the dark-house they weathered with an aged, charactered, antique patina.  It wasn't long before friends paid more mind to my spearing decoys than my fish stories.  Said they’d like to have some to set on the mantle – said they were folky.  So I laid off the spearing and stepped up the carving. Now I've been making DFD (Duluth Fish Decoys) spearing  decoys for longer than I want to admit – they say you’re only as old as you think you are. Being on the north side of seventy, I been making them for… let’s just say a long time.   I don’t know a web site from a stick of fire wood but the kids and grand-kids have been pestering me to get one for years. In fact, I told Jim, you make the web thing and I'll make the decoys that go on it.  But with the demand being more than I can keep up with, he's been making them right alongside of me - just like when he was a kid. Great to keep it in the family - two generations of DFD. Who'd of thunk it.   What a hoot it’s been to create something so enjoyed by others. Along the way our DFD decoys have ended up in The American Museum of Folk Art, on a limited edition print, in a governor’s mansion, in Hollywood actors' homes, in fishing decoy books, with interior designers, in art galleries, on a DVD, and now in a coffee table book devoted entirely to DFD.  What a hobby it’s been – what a blessing of God.   I hope to continue as long as my health holds out.   Lo, these many years later our DFD spearing decoys are still hand-crafted with that aged, weathered, antique patina.  As with all folk art...

A rare, fine example of a Tree of Life candelabra by Aurelio Flores, circa 1950. Aurelio Flores (1901-1987), the grandson of potters, began working as ...

Early 20th Century Hand Carved Folk-art bird figures A highly decorative set of 5 hand carved folk-art early 20th Century bird figures. Sat on branche...

This vibrant gouache painting was done by obsessive outsider artist Stephen JM Palmer (1882-1965) sometime between 1955 and 1965. Palmer was a farm laborer and logger in rural Wisconsin and Minnesota. After he was injured in a logging accident in the 1930s, he broke off from the Catholic Church to join a Christian fringe group and later established a circle of followers to listen to his visions and prophecies. Towards the end of his life, he obsessively turned out images of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. These visions were expressed in wild geometric designs which used the psychedelic visual language of the period, more often associated with the rock and roll posters...

This vibrant gouache painting was done by obsessive outsider artist Stephen JM Palmer (1882-1965) sometime between 1955 and 1965. Palmer was a farm laborer and logger in rural Wisconsin and Minnesota. After he was injured in a logging accident in the 1930s, he broke off from the Catholic Church to join a Christian fringe group and later established a circle of followers to listen to his visions and prophecies. Towards the end of his life, he obsessively turned out images of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. These visions were expressed in wild geometric designs which used the psychedelic visual language of the period, more often associated with the rock and roll posters...

Early 20th century scratch build fairground amusement arm We are proud to offer an unusual English fairground sculptural object, In the form of a fully extendable hand carved scratc...

Erzgebirge German folk-art candle holder figure A rare early 20th century hand carved folk-art Erzgebirge German miner soldier candle holder figure. made from pine and still with al...

Early 20th century hand carved oak folk-art European wagon cart panel We are proud to offer a highly unusual piece of early 20th Century hand carved a...

This vibrant gouache painting was done by obsessive outsider artist Stephen JM Palmer (1882-1965) sometime between 1955 and 1965. Palmer was a farm laborer and logger in rural Wisconsin and Minnesota. After he was injured in a logging accident in the 1930s, he broke off from the Catholic Church to join a Christian fringe group and later established a circle of followers to listen to his visions and prophecies. Towards the end of his life, he obsessively turned out images of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. These visions were expressed in wild geometric designs which used the psychedelic visual language of the period, more often associated with the rock and roll posters...

Md-20th century scratch build figure We are proud to offer “You seen bolt” a mid-20th century fork art scratch-built figure of a fisherman. Made from old nuts and bolts this unusual...

The amazing clown shoes Every now and again an item comes along that blows us away, the creativity, reasoning, outrageousness, uniqueness, and most important craftsmanship. These early to mid-20th century oversized handstitched leather clown shoes...

A rare relief carved and pigmented wooden storyboard panel detailing events of the late 19th and early 20th century related to South Africa’s Zulu history and the Boer Wars. Atop this folk art panel, dated 1937, is a depiction of two heroes of the Transvaal, Paul Kruger...