Minnie Evans
Encyclopedia
Minnie Evans was an African-American folk artist known for her colorful drawings primarily executed in crayon
.
, and Ella Jones in Pender County, North Carolina
. Ella, then only 14 years old, moved to Wilmington
early in 1893 to live with her mother, who soon assumed responsibility for Minnie's upbringing. She attended school through the sixth grade, dropping out in 1903 because of the family's economic hardship, finding a job as a "sounder" selling shellfish door to door. In 1908 she quit to marry Julius Evans. For eight years she was a full-time housewife. The couple had three sons.
Beginning in 1916 Minnie Evans was employed as a domestic at the home of her husband's employer, Pembroke Jones, a wealthy industrialist. The Evans family lived on Jones's 2200 acres (8.9 km²) hunting estate, "Pembroke Park," known today as the subdivision Landfall. Evans began drawing on Good Friday
, 1935. She said "I had a dream, its voice spoke to me: ‘Why don't you draw or die?' ‘Is that it?,' I said, ‘My, My.'" Her son, George, was in the house and said she came out her bedroom door "screaming and hollering." That morning she completed a pair of small pen-and-ink drawings on paper; these works, dominated by a pattern of concentric
circles and semicircles upon a background of lines, became greatly significant to her in her later life. Most of her earliest pieces were executed in wax crayon
s; she later turned to colored pencil and, in the early 1940s, oils.
Her first "exhibitions" were in 1948, at Airlie Gardens
, which had been established by Pembroke Jones's wife, Sarah Green Jones, as a lush, flowing, naturalistic Southern garden. Earlier, when Evans's world was dominated by the greenery of Pembroke Park, her paintings were full of shades of green. But, after 1948, her work began to bloom in colors and in images of actual flowers, for Minnie Evans was then the Airlie gatekeeper - collecting admissions and selling her artwork on the side. In 1961, she had her first formal exhibition of drawings and oils at a gallery in Wilmington. In 1962, she became friends with Nina Howell Starr, who would publicize her work for the next 25 years. In 1966, Starr arranged for Evans' first New York exhibit and, in 1975, curated a major Evans exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art
. Minnie Evans was not fazed by her new celebrity. "She was just doing what the Lord told her to do. She was more interested in pleasing God than people," George Evans told Airlie historian Susan Taylor Block, in 2005. Evans died December 16, 1987, leaving more than 400 artworks to the St. Johns Museum of Art (now the Cameron Art Museum
) in Wilmington. After Evans's death, artist Virginia Wright-Frierson designed and built the Minnie Evans Bottle Chapel at Airlie Gardens in her memory.
Evans was the subject of the documentary
The Angel that Stands By Me: Minnie Evans' Art in 1983.
and the Caribbean
combined with more Western themes. The central motif in many pieces is a human face surrounded by plant and animal forms. The eyes, which Evans equated with God's omniscience, are central to each figure. In addition, God
is sometimes depicted with wing
s and a multicolored collar and halo
and shown surrounded by all manner of creatures.
Of her drawings, Evans once said that "this art that I have put out has come from the nations I suppose might have been destroyed before the flood. . . . No one knows anything about them, but God has given it to me to bring [them] back into the world."
Now recognized as one of the most important visionary folk artist of the 20th century, her work is highly collected by many museums and collectors all across the world. Despite her prolific and long career, her works do not come up for sale often. When they do, there is always strong competition. Her work has been, and in some cases is still, on display at many museums across the country. Her work can be viewed at such museums as the Museum of Modern Art
, the Smithsonian Institution
, the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum
, the American Folk Art Museum
, the Whitney Museum of American Art
, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art
, and the High Museum of Art
.
Crayon
A crayon is a stick of colored wax, charcoal, chalk, or other materials used for writing, coloring, drawing, and other methods of illustration. A crayon made of oiled chalk is called an oil pastel; when made of pigment with a dry binder, it is simply a pastel; both are popular media for color...
.
Life
Minnie Evans (Jones) was the only child of Joseph Kelly, a farmerFarmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
, and Ella Jones in Pender County, North Carolina
Pender County, North Carolina
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 41,082 people, 16,054 households, and 11,719 families residing in the county. The population density was 47 people per square mile . There were 20,798 housing units at an average density of 24 per square mile...
. Ella, then only 14 years old, moved to Wilmington
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
early in 1893 to live with her mother, who soon assumed responsibility for Minnie's upbringing. She attended school through the sixth grade, dropping out in 1903 because of the family's economic hardship, finding a job as a "sounder" selling shellfish door to door. In 1908 she quit to marry Julius Evans. For eight years she was a full-time housewife. The couple had three sons.
Beginning in 1916 Minnie Evans was employed as a domestic at the home of her husband's employer, Pembroke Jones, a wealthy industrialist. The Evans family lived on Jones's 2200 acres (8.9 km²) hunting estate, "Pembroke Park," known today as the subdivision Landfall. Evans began drawing on Good Friday
Good Friday
Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
, 1935. She said "I had a dream, its voice spoke to me: ‘Why don't you draw or die?' ‘Is that it?,' I said, ‘My, My.'" Her son, George, was in the house and said she came out her bedroom door "screaming and hollering." That morning she completed a pair of small pen-and-ink drawings on paper; these works, dominated by a pattern of concentric
Concentric
Concentric objects share the same center, axis or origin with one inside the other. Circles, tubes, cylindrical shafts, disks, and spheres may be concentric to one another...
circles and semicircles upon a background of lines, became greatly significant to her in her later life. Most of her earliest pieces were executed in wax crayon
Crayon
A crayon is a stick of colored wax, charcoal, chalk, or other materials used for writing, coloring, drawing, and other methods of illustration. A crayon made of oiled chalk is called an oil pastel; when made of pigment with a dry binder, it is simply a pastel; both are popular media for color...
s; she later turned to colored pencil and, in the early 1940s, oils.
Her first "exhibitions" were in 1948, at Airlie Gardens
Airlie Gardens
Airlie Gardens is a public garden in Wilmington, North Carolina.It were created in 1901 as a private garden, for the Pembroke Jones family by Mrs. Jones, as a lush, flowing, naturalistic Southern garden, with thousands of azaleas, camellias, magnolias, and wisteria...
, which had been established by Pembroke Jones's wife, Sarah Green Jones, as a lush, flowing, naturalistic Southern garden. Earlier, when Evans's world was dominated by the greenery of Pembroke Park, her paintings were full of shades of green. But, after 1948, her work began to bloom in colors and in images of actual flowers, for Minnie Evans was then the Airlie gatekeeper - collecting admissions and selling her artwork on the side. In 1961, she had her first formal exhibition of drawings and oils at a gallery in Wilmington. In 1962, she became friends with Nina Howell Starr, who would publicize her work for the next 25 years. In 1966, Starr arranged for Evans' first New York exhibit and, in 1975, curated a major Evans exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
. Minnie Evans was not fazed by her new celebrity. "She was just doing what the Lord told her to do. She was more interested in pleasing God than people," George Evans told Airlie historian Susan Taylor Block, in 2005. Evans died December 16, 1987, leaving more than 400 artworks to the St. Johns Museum of Art (now the Cameron Art Museum
Cameron Art Museum
The Cameron Art Museum, formerly known as St. John’s Museum of Art, was established in 1964 in historic downtown Wilmington, North Carolina. The museum operated successfully in the downtown area for forty years and grew exponentially during this time...
) in Wilmington. After Evans's death, artist Virginia Wright-Frierson designed and built the Minnie Evans Bottle Chapel at Airlie Gardens in her memory.
Evans was the subject of the documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
The Angel that Stands By Me: Minnie Evans' Art in 1983.
Work
Evans' drawings were inspired by her dreams and filled with many colors, possibly inspired by her work at Airlie Gardens. Her designs are complex, with elements recalling the art of ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
combined with more Western themes. The central motif in many pieces is a human face surrounded by plant and animal forms. The eyes, which Evans equated with God's omniscience, are central to each figure. In addition, God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
is sometimes depicted with wing
Wing
A wing is an appendage with a surface that produces lift for flight or propulsion through the atmosphere, or through another gaseous or liquid fluid...
s and a multicolored collar and halo
Halo (religious iconography)
A halo is a ring of light that surrounds a person in art. They have been used in the iconography of many religions to indicate holy or sacred figures, and have at various periods also been used in images of rulers or heroes...
and shown surrounded by all manner of creatures.
Of her drawings, Evans once said that "this art that I have put out has come from the nations I suppose might have been destroyed before the flood. . . . No one knows anything about them, but God has given it to me to bring [them] back into the world."
Now recognized as one of the most important visionary folk artist of the 20th century, her work is highly collected by many museums and collectors all across the world. Despite her prolific and long career, her works do not come up for sale often. When they do, there is always strong competition. Her work has been, and in some cases is still, on display at many museums across the country. Her work can be viewed at such museums as the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
, the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum
The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum is a museum located in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Initially based on donations from Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, it was founded in 1957 and then subsequently expanded to contain a much higher number of objects of folk art...
, the American Folk Art Museum
American Folk Art Museum
The American Folk Art Museum is a museum devoted to American folk art, as well as the work of international self-taught artists. It has branches at 45 West 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, in Midtown Manhattan .In May 2011 the Museum of Modern Art bought its 53rd Street location...
, the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art
Ogden Museum of Southern Art
The Ogden Museum of Southern Art is located in New Orleans, within the Central Business District adjacent to Lee Circle. It is associated with the University of New Orleans...
, and the High Museum of Art
High Museum of Art
The High Museum of Art , located in Atlanta, is the leading art museum in the Southeastern United States and one of the most-visited art museums in the world. Located on Peachtree Street in Midtown, the city's arts district, the High is a division of the Woodruff Arts Center.-History:The Museum was...
.