William Tolliver Charcoal on Board - Nude (1990s)

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Exceptional Finds Ancient, Ethno, Fine Art

By Artemis Gallery

Nov 15, 2024

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• Lot Description
  William Tolliver (American, 1951-2000). Nude study, charcoal on plywood, ca. 1991 to 1992. Signed at lower left. A rare charcoal study by self-taught African-American artist William Tolliver depicting a female nude in a classic reclining pose akin to a Renaissance Venus. Tolliver rendered the voluptuous figure leaning against her left side, her right hand placed upon her left forearm, and her long legs elegantly crossed. What's more, he conveyed the motion of the figure with lyrical, repeating lines and overlapping effects. Note how the subject's face is rendered twice in order to both capture her direct gaze as well as her gently bowed head. Tolliver considered himself to be a serious Modernist in the tradition of Cezanne and Picasso; however, he also worked in a traditional formalist sense. Bailey Guidroz of the Zigler Art Museum captured this best with the following, "While his work is traditional in a formalist sense, his exploration of the limits of wet and dry media is a fairly modern venture. (M)uch of his career was spent maintaining the delicate balance between the proven methods of the old masters and his independent pursuit of contemporary creative liberation, resulting in a totally unique manner of creating." (Zigler Art Museum website) Size: 32.25" L x 44" W (81.9 cm x 111.8 cm)
  
  About the artist: William Tolliver was an exceptional African-American artist of the 20th century. Tolliver was one of fourteen children born into a Vicksburg, Mississippi sharecropping family. Drawn to visual art at a young age, Tolliver taught himself to paint and draw, because there was no art class in his local school. By age eight, William was mowing lawns to earn money for art supplies. In addition, his mother, Ella Mae Tolliver, worked full time in the cotton fields to support her children, but still managed to foster their interest in art. She borrowed art books on European masters such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rubens, and Rembrandt from the local library and even organized drawing contests between William and his siblings. Furthermore, according to an interview with Galerie Royale in New Orleans, William learned to make academically correct paintings by completing paint-by-number kits at a very young age. "There is no better teacher," he declared. "Everything is diagrammed, every little spot, every color. Once I did one or two of those, I understood the principles." Perhaps these lessons derived from paint-by-numbers in conjunction with William's study of modern artists fueled his later Cubist-style works. At age 14, William dropped out of school to work with Job Corps in Los Angeles where he learned skills from a carpenter teacher, and by the 1980s, he was living in Lafayette, Louisiana with his wife Debrah who took it upon herself to show his paintings to Bob Crutchfield, owner of Live Oak Gallery. These were received very well, and all nine paintings sold in ten days, igniting his career as an artist!
  
  William Tolliver's art has been exhibited at the Smithsonian, the Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans, the New Orleans Museum of Art, and the rotunda of the US Senate Building in Washington, DC. In addition, he was commissioned to create a poster for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. Tolliver's art is held in the permanent collections of elite museums such as the Corcoran Museum, the Hampton University Museum, New Orleans Museum of Art, McKissick Museum, and the Zigler Museum. In addition, his works have been featured in important publications including the International Review of African American Art and The Art Gallery International. (Sources: Zigler Art Museum and The International Review of African American Art)
  
  Provenance: private Vicksburg, Mississippi, USA collection
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
  We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
  
  #184833

  Condition

  Overall, imagery is strong, and the work is signed at the lower left. Some wear/loss to the corners of the wood board as shown. A few drops of white paint at the lower left. A few minor stains to the board.
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