Speckled Blue Snake Mose Tolliver Painting

U.S.A., c. 1995

8 x 32 in (20 x 81 cm)

ID #MT-Z-74

A twisting blue snake, its length of blue jazzed up with the addition of different colored scales.

Mose Tolliver was a self-taught folk artist whose works are in museums ranging from the Met to the Smithsonian. His childhood did not set him up for the success he later found in the art world -- he was born to sharecropper parents in Alabama and dropped out of school in the 3rd grade. Until around the age of 45 he worked labor-intensive jobs. It was only when his legs were crushed by marble that he began to teach himself how to paint as a way to ease the pain and boredom. His paintings are distinct -- colorful and often mythical scenes of nature and humans that are chock-full of vibrant patterns and bizarre angles. His signature, Mose T. with a backwards “S,” perfectly completes his pieces.

Artist: Mose Tolliver

Material: Plywood

MT-#74

250-500 african american Alabama animal art brut outsider art black folk art hungry naive art original painting predator reptile self-taught serpent size-8x32 slither snake South southern teeth