Howard on a Mule
Howard Finster
American, 1916–2001
Details
Title
Howard on a Mule
Artist/Maker
Howard Finster (American, 1916–2001)
Date
ca. 1976
Medium
Enamel on wood
Dimensions
63 1/2 x 47 inches
Credit
Purchase with funds from the Cousins Foundation, Inc., and donors to the Paradise Project Campaign
Accession #
1994.205
In Paradise Garden, Finster captured his visionary repertoire in a vast range of media, including outlined forms that he cut from plywood and painted. This cutout is of “The Man of Visions” himself, astride a mule covered with the Reverend Finster’s spiritual exhortations and a chronicle of his gospel advocacy: “I STARTED OFF ON. A. MULE. AT. AGE. 12. I PREACHED MANY TIMES FROM THE TOP OF MY CAR, BUT THIS IS MY FIRST TIME TO PREACH FROM A MULES. BACK.” Howard on a Mule originally hung between two arched windows in the World’s Folk Art Church, located near blackberry bushes beside a mimosa tree in Paradise Garden.
Image Copyright
© Howard Finster/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York