Minnie Evans (NC, 1892-1987), Untitled (face with garden)

Crayon and pencil on paper, unsigned, inscribed "No 5" to verso at lower right corner, not framed.

Sheet 11 7/8 x 8 7/8 in.

From the Collection of Shirley Schwarz, Florida and North Carolina

The three lots offered in this auction were among the first five works shown to Nina Howell Starr by Shirley Schwarz in 1961 in Gainesville, Florida. In a Winter 1994/1995 article for Folk Art, Starr recalled being "awed by the graphic power of these images" after printing black-and-white negatives for documentation. The following year, 1962, she met Minnie Evans in Wilmington, North Carolina. Starr went on to represent Evans from 1962 until 1984, introducing her to the broader art world and arranging her first New York exhibition in 1966.

Minnie Evans was a self-taught African American artist renowned for her vivid, visionary drawings that blend religious symbolism, natural motifs, and dreamlike imagery. Born in Long Creek, North Carolina, and raised in Wilmington, Evans began creating art in 1935 after experiencing a spiritual vision that compelled her to draw. Her works, rendered in wax crayon, pencil, and later oil and collage, are characterized by symmetrical compositions featuring faces, eyes, flowers, and fantastical creatures. Evans drew inspiration from her deep Christian faith, ancestral stories, and the lush surroundings of Airlie Gardens, where she worked as a gatekeeper, a role that allowed her to sell her art directly to visitors.

Evans's significance in the realm of outsider art has been reinforced by recent major exhibitions. In May 2025, the MFA Boston presented The Visionary Art of Minnie Evans. On November 14, 2025, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta opened The Lost World: The Art of Minnie Evans, the first major retrospective of her work in three decades and featuring over 100 pieces. In Summer 2026, this exhibition travels to the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, bringing her visionary art full circle to the institution that hosted her groundbreaking solo exhibition in 1975. These exhibitions have cemented Evans's position as one of the most important visionary artists of the twentieth century, whose intricate, kaleidoscopic works reflect both her inner spiritual world and the landscapes of coastal North Carolina.

Light smudging to sheet; overall in very good estate condition.