Lot 139: Bessie Harvey Outsider Art Mixed Media Drawing, Moses

Bessie Harvey (Alcoa, Tennessee/Georgia, 1929-1994) pastel, colored pencil or watercolor and graphite on paper depiction of the Biblical figure Moses, bearing a tablet of the Ten Commandments in one hand and holding his staff in the other, and standing atop Mt. Sinai. Titled lower right and signed in colored pencil, and dated 1994. Matted and framed under glass in an intentionally distressed wood frame. Sight: 17 1/2 in H x 11 1/2 in W. Frame: 26 in H x 19 in W. Biographical Note: “Bessie Harvey was Tennessee’s most notable self-taught ‘outsider’ artist. Originally from Georgia, she lived most of her life in Alcoa. She came to make art late in life as a spiritual calling and a response to hardships, first fashioning sculptural creatures out of found wood, and eventually working in drawing, painting, and clay as well. By the mid-1980s she’d been ‘discovered’ by collectors and big-city dealers, and for several years she was among the state’s most widely-exhibited artists. She inferred complex meanings in most of her pieces, some of which depicted biblical characters and themes from African American history and everyday life. Harvey was posthumously honored by a retrospective exhibit at the Knoxville Museum of Art in 1997.” (Source: Tennessee Arts Commission). 

PROVENANCE: The collection of Ronnie Steine, Nashville, TN.

CONDITION: One small dark spot lower right, otherwise excellent condition.