A beautiful Antique Make-Do Primitive Folk Art one drawer Stand / Desk in Original Paint. The wood came from a crate used to ship "Noiseless" matches, and the legs are wood branches. With characteristics of a twig stand, but heightened by original paint in a lovely Green / Robin's egg blue. 34 inches tall. Collection Jim Linderman
"Most of Gatto's paintings—scenes of everyday life in New York, exotic
cultures, historical events, and tropical episodes —are packed with
endless detail built up with many layers of minute brushstrokes. Gatto, a
bachelor and a former featherweight boxer, lived with his widowed
stepmother in the section of New York known as "Little Italy." Painters
Elaine and Willem De Kooning lived in the next apartment in the late
1930s, and Elaine De Kooning and other artists encouraged Gatto's
painting. His work received critical acclaim through several exhibitions
in New York galleries during the 1940s and 1950s, his most productive
period." Lynda Roscoe Hartigan Made with Passion: The Hemphill Folk Art Collection in the National Museum of American Art (Washington, D.C. and London: National Museum of American Art with the Smithsonian Institution Press, 1990)
First prize winner May Hauser poses with her folk art Buffalo Bill sculpture made from a coat hanger and 4,000 inches of twisted crepe paper. Original Press Photograph 1946 Collection Jim Linderman
Sugar Ray Robinson was good. He entered professional boxing with an 85 - 0 record as an amateur. Nearly half of those 85 fights ended with a knockout in the first round. Credit where due, I guess...is that he invented the posse. The entourage. Everybody wanted to be in Sugar Ray's camp. I am sure all the fighters painted here have similar stories. I always hated Leroy Neiman and his garish sports paintings, but these are great. A young, aspiring illustrator named "J. Gallagher" did them around 1950, but that's all I know about him. Watercolor Paintings of the Greatest Boxers by J. Gallagher, circa 1950 Collection Jim Linderman
The star here is Babs Wingo. I am not sure if women wrestlers ever really took off, not being a fan of the sport today. Mostly grown men in superhero costumes playing to an audience with limited education. But I would have gone to see Babs. Babs Wingo was no better at faking a move than the male performers, but she was out there with a few of her sisters. What a phenom. Her wrestling career was in the early 1950s. At time when African-Americans were segregated and abused, Babs was traveling on the road and climbing into the ring. One article from the time calls her and her tag team "grunters" but all the reviews were great. "Girls please crowd at wrestling show with hold galore" reads one. What a show! Babs apparently weighed in at 150 pounds. Only 5' 3" and just 21 at the time. She also painted. I'd love to see some of her paintings. Coming from New Orleans, she would possibly have seen painters lining Jackson Square with work for sale. Did Babs wrestle in heels? Hmm. Life is good with diversity, even in the ring. Babs blazed trails. Here is a time capsule film. It's great Detail from a recently discovered wrestling poster c. 1950 Collection Jim Linderman
American Folk Art Construction in a Hardware Storefront Window which celebrates the local football team winning a big game. Real Photo Postcard collection Jim Linderman.
Handmade Folk Art Road Construction Toys circa 1940. Includes fence, barrels, numerous road signs and warnings along with red flags. Collection Jim Linderman
