Explore CollectionsFolk and Self-Taught ArtFolk and Self-Taught Art HIGHlights

Folk and Self-Taught Art HIGHlights

Henry Church (American, 1836–1908), A Friend in Need Is a Friend Indeed, 1888, sandstone and iron, a gift from the Forward Arts Foundation in honor of its Fiftieth Anniversary (1965–2015), acquired from the collection of Carl and Marian Mullis, 2018.41.

The High’s holdings of Folk and Self-Taught Art include iconic and characteristic works by some of the most celebrated artists in this field, such as William Edmondson’s Nurse; Howard Finster’s In My Father’s House Are Many Mansions, #4,392; Mattie Lou O’Kelley’s My Parents’ Farm; Herbert Singleton’s Hallelujah Door; Nellie Mae Rowe’s When I Was a Little Girl; Henry Church’s A Friend in Need Is a Friend Indeed; Mary Lee Bendolph’s Blocks and Strips quilt; Thornton Dial’s Crossing Waters; and Bill Traylor’s Untitled (Blue Man on Red Object).

Katherine “Katie” Jentleson

Katherine Jentleson

Senior Curator of American Art and
Merrie and Dan Boone Curator of Folk and Self-Taught Art