OBJECTS / SCULPTURE:

Our new catalog, Shut The Door And Listen From Outside, is now online...check it out.

In conjunction with the Outsider Art Fair: New York, we present our Winter 2020 Catalogue, "Shut The Door And Listen From Outside" This 88-page catalog features recent finds in the genres of Outsider and Self-Taught Art with a few additions of related American Folk Art. (Please note that NOT all of these works will be exhibited at The Outsider Art Fair).

"Shut The Door And Listen From Outside" is a statement from Oblique Strategies, which is a set of cards each with a suggestion, directive, or constraint created by the artists Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt to encourage lateral thinking and to break creative blocks.

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A dynamic carving of a nude male and female embraced in a kiss with the man’s hand on her upper thigh. She is not resisting, but her slight push may be a signal to slow it down a bit.

Carvings as such in limestone are quite rare in that this small sculpture packs a lot of life into the stone. The work is carved in-the-round, and the figures have remarkable tension between them.

Though the work has elements not found on the carvings of William Edmondson, it certainly has some stylistic similarities.

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Bird Family is a large work of a mother bird protecting and feeding three nestlings under her wing. The solid black granite metaphorically reinforces the strength of the matriarch, while Washington's sensitive carving conveys a certain intimacy and the fragility of life.

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This is an intriguing piece of ceramic sculpture! A drunkard armed with a bottle and a big mug sits astride a large brandy keg of spirits (àla Slim Pickens riding the bomb in Dr. Strangelove). His exaggerated and distorted face is detailed with slip decoration to his teeth and eyes (as well as his hands, and square rig cap).

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With it's head sharply turned almost ninety degrees this decoy was made by Lombard Jones for his uncle, Dr. Lombard Jones. Influenced by the Chipman family's hollow turned-head shorebirds that were also gunned in Sandwich's Old Harbor. Jones is known to have made yellowlegs and several peeps.

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The painting on this cane is really eye-popping—bright and multi-patterned. The thinly carved stick has a pommel top and paint silimar to peacock feathers. A snake is entwined around the shaft and has a frog in its' mouth—and the poor frog is grasping his tiny arms around the stick. A small lizard is biting the snake at the tail.

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Kopp was a known production potter in the Maryland area and all his known pieces are stamped—this is the only known with freehand script signature and by far the finest example of his documented work. Redware with a beautiful mottled manganese glaze. Snake handle with a portrait bust spout (possibly a nod to his German heritage - reminds me of the face on a Bellarmine jug).

Signed on bottom in incised script “L. Kopp.”

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A large (life-sized), solid (heavy, about 20 lbs.) sewer tile bust of a bald man. A salt glaze covers most of the head with some dry spots to one side. An impressive piece.

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Though Woodchucks do not hatch from eggs, Washington successfully reminds us that all animal life begins with an egg. Regarding a similar work, a patron who upon seeing a recent work of Washington's in which a rabbit was hatching from an egg, exclaimed, "A rabbit does not come from an egg!" Washington replied, "Doctor, all life comes from an egg."

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Large one piece carved sculpure of remarkable character and surface. The hefty bear is down on all fours with one hind leg coming through to the front.

Based on extensive experinece with both Woodlands carvings and "white man" folk art, I am inclined to believe that this exquisite carving was carved my a Mesquakie / Meskwaki native (who had a presence in Iowa). The sensitivity of line, character and wood surface are hallmarks of reference and both the creature and craft.

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A Rare Mechanical Black-Bellied Plover Decoy by Nathaniel Wales & Snow, Boston, MA, circa: 1868. Based on the Wales patent of 1868, the wings are fabricated from cardboard and canvas and a cord weaves through the wood carved body. Stamped “WALES & SNOW PATENT.”

Provenance: Stephen O’Brien Jr. Fine Arts, Peter Brams Collection.

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A fantastic and lively Southern blanket chest (Virginia). Six board chest of deep proportions. Made from southern pine with applied moldings and conical feet. Wavy green and yellow stain all around (except backside). It has been suggested that this may be African American made/painted.

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Who doesn’t love a rebus—even if its just a short one. Unusual stoneware bottle with a three dimensional and realistically glazed eye ball sticking out of one side with the word “opener” below it and a minstrel-like figure dancing on the other side.

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A group of thirteen erotic “Barbie” figures each hand-modeled and painted and some with applied hair to the genitals. The standing figure in the center in the primitive red bikini is likely modeled after Raquel Welch and her fur bikini from One Million Years BC.

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Here's a cool well weathered and worn sign. Constructed from the top of an old blanket chest (ghost marks from big strap hinges visible) and a duck decoy (cut in half), this sign served as marker for an old duck hunting guide. Old losses as visible in the photo with a great crazed paint surface.

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A really great, well cast, iron face of Columbia (the historical name used to describe the Americas and the New World).

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Made by Miller Iron Company, Providence, RI. A very cool and beautiful birdhouse in excellent condition. The details are remarkable—it is quite an amazing job of casting. The house still stands today (no, I have not knocked on their door to see if they want to buy it :)

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A gogotte is a millions years old naturally shaped mineral concretion formed of tiny quartz fragments held together by calcium carbonate. Principally found in Fontainebleau, France, these mother-nature made sculptures have inspired artists from Jean Arp, Henry Moore and Louise Bourgeois. Louis XIV favored them and the have been exhibited at Versailles since the late 17thC.

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A family of eight concrete dolls. Found as a group in Iowa, these “dolls” are unique and mysterious. Sensational surfaces.

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A very large and artful incidence of ancient Khmer vases, vessels and celadon bowls haphazardly fused together. An exhilarating work on the round—like a George Ohr / Peter Voulkos / Ai Weiwei mash-up!!

Provenance: Doris Wiener Gallery, 1981.

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A really great, fairly large scale folk art carving of a woman standing in a bikini. She is carved in the round and is a looker from any angle—it's exceptionally well carved.

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An atypical optician’s sign...looks to be made from shipping crates...the line quality of the eye-glasses and face is quite smooth and confident. McKees Rocks, PA (outside of Pittsburgh).

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Bronze marine hitching posts. Great form. Great surface. Flush wall mounts included.

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First rate example with a nice "thigh gap." Interior nut still intact (not hollowed out).

Sailors would find these floating in the ocean and had no idea where they originated from. They were carved and collected for their “femaleness.”

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Modernist sculpture with great textures from the intertwined bronze nest, the faux tree stump and the square eggs.

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Bold red painted covered carpenters tool box belonging to "W. LAYMEN" who wants you to keep your "HANDS OFF!" Yellow pinstriping and flourishes. New England origin (possibly Maine). Note size...large box...not the size of a knife carrier...much, MUCH larger.

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Tintype of a woman housed in a small single carved block of wood fashioned into a pendant. Paired with a woven hair chain. Very cool and unique object.

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