Mose Tolliver (American, 1915–2006)

Tolliver was born in 1919 into a large family of sharecroppers near Montgomery, Alabama. Dropping out of school in third grade in order to work, Tolliver held a host of jobs over his long lifetime, working as a plumber, carpenter, delivery driver, and housepainter, to name a few. In 1960 an accident in the furniture factory where he was employed left him with two crushed legs, unable to work. While adjusting to life on crutches, Tolliver picked up some gourds and gnarled tree roots and some cast-off lumber and decorated them with wall paint. His highly sought-after paintings are often made on plywood, Masonite, cardboard, metal, and old furniture. His characteristic compositions feature one or two large flat figures filling a single-color ground. His palette is particularly subtle, consisting chiefly of somber earth tones and muted green. His typical subjects include plant forms, imaginary animals, and people, many of an explicitly erotic nature.