Howard Finster "Yoke of Faith" Fabric Bib /collar . Rare cloth piece 1987
This is a cloth yoke silkscreen fabric from 1987 in very good condition. Would look good framed.
"The Yoke of Faith in the living God to be Sure" - printed at bottom, numbered 6000.570 date 8:33 pm: May 12, 1987
Measurements: Yoke Size about 13"width x 17"
Description:
The yoke or bib is a screen print on fabric, interwoven with fragments of his sermon sayings like: "I am headed to another world meet me there, I never met a person I didn't love, and Jesus is alive I met him". In the center is a face with blue eyes. Images of churches, house, cars.The back of the bib/ collar reads: "The Yoke of Faith in the Living God to be Shure" . Trimmed along edge in white polyester lace- Single hook /eye closure.
Howard collaborated with Fabric workshops like the workshop in Philadelphia to create limited edition runs.
Some say his fabric pieces were first sewn by his daughter Thelma and then later silkscreened.
He believed that any method to "spread the word" was part of fulfilling his mission.
PROVENANCE: I purchased this piece from Howard in the late 1980's. I visited his Paradise Garden several times over the years. I took some great photographs of him which are for sale at my Gallery. See photo of one limited edition montage I made with "The Yoke" surrounded by photos of Howard.
Outsider Artist Howard Finster was born into a lumberjack's
family of thirteen childr. Young Howard had his first vision at the age of three. While looking
for his mother in the family's vegetable garden, he saw his dead sister wearing
a white robe, descending from heaven.
Howard once said: "I
get my inspiration from God. .I've been having visions ever
since I was a small kid."
In the mid -1970's, Howard saw a human face
in his own fingerprint. The face spoke and told him to paint sacred art. Howard
interpreted this as a sign from God that he should create works of art in order
to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He abandoned his career as a preacher and, at
the age of sixty-one and without any artistic training, began to paint toward
his initial goal of 5,000 works of art.
From
then until his death, Howard Finster painted almost non-stop. He slept very
little and painted detailed accounts of his visions and dreams.
Howard claimed to have regular visions of God
and Elvis. He supposedly once told a crowd at Ol’ Miss College:"I turned around and looked up and saw Elvis’s
face. The only thing I could think of to say to
him was, ‘Elvis, can you stay a while
with me?' , and Elvis replied, ‘Howard, you know that I’m on a tight
schedule' ".
Finster produced
some 48,000 works. before his death. Howard Finster usually wrote on the back of
each piece that he created, numbering each piece, with the date of
the creation and often prophetic words by the legendary outsider artist.
Howard Finster passed away on
October 22nd, 2001.
VISIT MY EBAY SHOP FOR MORE FOLK ART FROM THE DEEP SOUTH
I plan to list more Folk Art in the future. Some of the pieces to be listed on my ebay shop contains early Sudduths, a time when Sudduth used more "mud" in his paintings. There also are more early Tollivers and a large number of strong Sybil Gibson’s etheral dusty, muted pastel paintings on grocery bags…Some great abstract works by Willie White, New Orelanian Welmon Sharlhorne, known for his brilliant detailed line drawings done during his long stint at Angola Prison, Roy Ferdinand urban ghetto memory paintings, one piece by Mary T Smith, and a number of Calvin Livingston's African hammered tin cutouts. (Many paintings purchased from my Gallery in the 90's hang prominently in New Orleans House of Blues.)
I first purchased a Mose T titled "Tico Bird" in 1969. The strength his work is his lack of self-consciousness as to what his art is or should be. It was his sheer impulse to create, and therein lies its power. View my book on Mose Tolliver in my Ebay store.
I am in process of publishing my second book on Folk Artist Juanita Rogers, and in need of an Agent/Publicist. You can read about her on my website and In Souls Grown Deep: African American Vernacular Art, Volume One: There is an essay and photography on Juanita Rogers (1934-1985), who best exemplifies the Outsider Artist.Her clapboard and tin two-room shack was nestled in the middle of a cow pasture fenced in by barbed wire. Her porch was filled with strange sculptures. There were human, animal, and vessel forms of cracking clay embedded with mule and cow bones, teeth, fossil shells, glass, Spanish moss, and coffee grounds.