BUFORD, Ga. – Slotin Folk Art, the leaders in outsider art, return Saturday, April 27 and Sunday, April 28 with Self Taught Art Masterpieces, a two-day sale featuring more than 730 lots of handmade pieces from both major names and obscure or unidentified American artists. The catalogs are now available for review and bidding at LiveAuctioneers.
A ‘masterpiece example’ from Bill Traylor (1853-1949) is Untitled (Brown Spotted Pig), a graphite and poster paint illustration on found Granger tobacco advertisement cardboard. Traylor was born into slavery and spent most of his life as a sharecropper. He took up art late in life and his works are highly treasured today. Untitled (Brown Spotted Pig) is estimated at $60,000-$90,000.
Trapped Spirits is a monumental, 8ft wide work by Purvis Young (1943-2010). Created around 1974, the work is rendered in oil and house paint on found board and is described as being in excellent condition. It is estimated at $50,000-$80,000.
Joseph Yoakum (1891-1972) was another late-blooming artist, producing some 2,000 works during the last decade of life. His focus was on imagined landscapes, as seen in Junction Point of South Atlantic Ocean and South Pacific Ocean. Taken by his artistic style, the Whitney Museum in New York presented a one-man show just a month prior to Yoakum’s passing. The piece is estimated at $20,000-$30,000.
Working his whole adult life as a custodian, Henry Darger (1892-1973) was essentially unknown until his art – which includes a huge manuscript with themes surrounding protecting children – was discovered. Eleven Generals is not signed, but each of the characters depicted have identifications. Made from watercolor, graphite, carbon transfer and ink on found paper backed to found cardstock, Eleven Generals is estimated at $15,000-$20,000.
Bill Traylor, 'Untitled (Brown Spotted Pig),' estimated at $60,000-$90,000 at Slotin.
Purvis Young, 'Trapped Spirits,' estimated at $50,000-$80,000 at Slotin.
Joseph Yoakum, 'Junction Point of South Atlantic Ocean and South Pacific Ocean,' estimated at $20,000-$30,000 at Slotin.
Henry Darger, 'Eleven Generals,' estimated at $15,000-$20,000 at Slotin.
Beverly Buchanan, 'Multi-Colored Shack,' estimated at $10,000-$20,000 at Slotin.
Unknown artist, 'American Eagle Embracing JFK,' estimated at $1,000-$2,000 at Slotin.