Lot 1010
Minnie Evans (NC, 1892-1987), Untitled (mandala with face)
Lot Details & Additional Photographs
Sight size 11 1/2 x 8 1/4 in.; Frame dimensions 18 1/2 x 15 1/2 in.
Southern Fine Art, Greenville, North Carolina
Acquired from the above in 2020 (a copy of the receipt accompanies the lot)
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 works. Later in 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.
Toning and scattered foxing to sheet; loss to top left corner of sheet; small area of abrading to sheet above signature; not examined out of the frame.
