Two (2) Olen L. Bryant (American/Tennessee, 1927-2017) sculptures. 1st item: Carved and gilded wood sculpture with oval head, rudimentary carved facial features and rectangular body. Some red accent paint, decorative tacks studded around face, neck, and shoulder area, and decorative carving near base, with inset round red agate stone on neck. Mounted on a rectangular black marble base. Unsigned. 50" overall height; base measures 12" W x 8" L. 2nd item: Wood sculpture of a head with carved face having an inset black fossil to the back of the head. Unsigned. 16 5/8" H x 12" W x 9" D. Biography: Born in Cookeville, TN, Bryant was a 1950 graduate of Murray State University and a 1954 graduate of the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield, Michigan with a Master's Degree in Fine Arts. He additionally studied at the Cleveland Institute of Art, the Institute in the Visual Arts in American Culture at the University of Delaware and the Winterthur Museum in 1967. Bryant was a professor at Austin Peay State University from 1964 to 1991. Bryant's artwork is widely collected around the United States and is a part of several museum collections, including the Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga, the Tennessee State Museum of Art and the Cheekwood Museum of Art in Nashville and his works have been displayed at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center and at the Governor's Mansion during the Phil Bredesen administration. He was a founding member of the Nashville Artist Guild and the Tennessee Association of Craft Artists (source: Nashville Fine Arts Magazine & The Leaf Chronicle).

PROVENANCE: Provenance: Estate of Olen Bryant, Cottonwood/Clarksville, TN.

CONDITION: 1st item: Chip to back of head, some scattered minor wear, overall good condition. 2nd item: Shrinkage cracks to wood (possibly as artist intended), with some small chips to top edge of head, otherwise good condition.