885 Lots of Self-taught Art Masterpieces, Southern Folk Pottery, African American Quilts and Decorative Arts, Photography, Art Brut, Trade Signs and International Folk Art, primarily from the collection of Jonathan Demme. Demme is an Academy Award winning American film director, producer and writer. His exhibition and accompanying book, Island on Fire: Passionate Visions of Haiti From the Collection of Jonathan Demme, highlights one of the most comprehensive collections of Haitian art in the United States. His frequent visits to the island of Haiti have lead Demme to social activism and the production of several documentaries about the island's troubles including documentary entitled "Haiti: Dreams of Democracy."
The self-taught art includes masterworks by more than 400 artists including Ralph Fasanella, William Blaney, William Hawkins, Howard Finster, Sister Gertrude Morgan, Sam Doyle, Calvin Black, Clementine Hunter, Daniel Pressley, Justin McCarthy, Lawrence Lebduska, Israel Litwak, Louis Monza, Jon Serl, Antonio Esteves, Jack Savitsky, Victor Gatto, Joseph Yoakum, Elijah Pierce, Jesse Howard, Frank Jones, James Castle, Carlton Garrett, Lanier Meaders, Arie Meaders, Madge Gil, Michel Nedjar, Uncle Jack Dey, Purvis Young, Thornton Dial, George White, David Butler, Billy Ray Hussey, Johnnie Swearingen, Chief Wiley, Herbert Singleton, Leroy Person, William Dawson, Dilmus Hall, Eddie Arning, Geoffrey Holder, Pauleus Vital (cover lot for Demme's Island on Fire), Paul Claude Gardere, Louis Vassor, Wilson Biguad, Christien Michel, Andre Pierre, Abel Michel, Georges Liautaud, Serge Jolimeau, Rex Clawson, Malcolm McKesson, Dwight McIntosh, Philadelphia Wireman, Felipe Archuleta, Josephus Farmer, Nellie Mae Rowe, George Williams, Georgia Blizzard, George Ohr, Jimmy Lee Sudduth, Mose Tolliver and hundreds of others.
