Elizabeth "Grandma" Layton

(Kansas, 1909-1993)

Untitled (Self-Portrait with Glenn and Flowers), 1992

Graphite and pastel on Canson Mi-Teintes paper

24 1/2" x 18 3/4" (mat window)

Pencil-signed, dated, and inscribed. Housed in a glazed frame measuring 35 1/2" x 29 3/4".

At age 68, Elizabeth Layton took a drawing class at Ottawa University. What followed was a belated career as a noted outsider artist with empathetic and idiosyncratic imagery, her activist-minded artwork shining a light on the marginalized. The Washington Post once dubbed her "Grandma Moses on Tabasco sauce." In 1992, the Smithsonian American Art Museum held a one-woman show entitled Elizabeth Layton: Drawing on Life. Currently, the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art is hosting an exhibition called Elizabeth Layton: Drawing As Discourse. Layton's artwork can be found in permanent collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Very good condition, noting two stray pencil marks in the composition.