William Tolliver Painting - Four Musicians ca. 1997

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Connoisseur's Delight Fine Art & Antiquities

By Artemis Gallery

Jun 27, 2024

Set Reminder 2024-06-27 11:00:00 2024-06-27 11:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Connoisseur's Delight Fine Art & Antiquities https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/connoisseurs-delight-fine-art-antiquities-16181
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• Lot Description
  William Tolliver (American, 1951-2000). Untitled (Musicians) oil on canvas, ca. 1997. Signed at lower left. A magnificent abstract figural composition by self-taught African-American artist William Tolliver featuring an ensemble of four musicians playing brass instruments. Tolliver grew up in a musical family in the Mississippi Delta and honored African-American musicians who played this take on country blues as well as jazz in his work. Beyond the literal depiction of this band, Tolliver also conveyed the dynamic, moving quality of their music with abstract, colorful shapes suggestive of Futurism - a movement which grew from the tenets of Cubism. A captivating painting, replete with a robust palette, lush brushwork, and rich impasto passages, that pays homage to the musical contributions of black culture. In Tolliver's words, "My goal is to bring to the forefront the seriousness of art as a person's heritage. I want my art to serve as a history lesson." Size: 40" L x 30" W (101.6 cm x 76.2 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.
  
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  #184822

  Condition

  Overall excellent. Signed at lower left.
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