Awesome figural tin cut out by R.A. Miller (R.I.P 2006) one of Georgia's most celebrated Outsider folk artists! This is a great tin double flag Statue of Liberty cut out!!
R.A. hand cut out
all of his tin figures, flags and animals and this Lady Liberty is
no exception. Paint pens and sharpie pen details, signed on front at bottom.
There is a bonus design on the backside (see pic) that was another art piece at one time and R.A. decided to turn into this piece instead! Fantastic treasure to add to your folk art collection!
* We
have several wonderful R. A. Miller folk art pieces available in the
shop so check our other listings, we will happily combine orders to
save on shipping!
R.
A. Miller, was a resident of Rabbittown, an unincorporated community
north of Gainesville, was one of the state's enduring beloved
self-taught
artists, noted for his "whirligigs," or metal cutout
figures and drawings, which typically feature animal or human figures
some with short inspirational messages. Born on July 22, 1912, on the
property where he lived for most of his life, Reuben Aaron Miller
worked in cotton mills, farmed, and served as a preacher for the Free
Will Baptist Church. When chronic eye problems began to limit
Miller's activities, he started making whirligigs to pass the time.
Although Miller's early whirligigs sometimes featured mechanical
figures, most were decorated with flat animal or human shapes, cut
from tin and painted in enamel. Miller typically attached these
cutouts to horizontal wooden supports, ranging from standard
two-by-two lumber to salvaged furniture arms and legs. Tin paddles
were cut, painted, and attached to wooden cross forms or bicycle
wheels to provide surfaces for the wind to catch.
By the mid-1980s
Miller's yard was a spectacle a hilltop field of hundreds of spinning
windmills. His animated environment attracted frequent visitors,
including Athens rock group R.E.M., who in 1984, with painter and
filmmaker James Herbert, filmed a twenty-minute video, Left of
Reckoning, on Miller's hilltop. R.A. produced paintings and
drawings in enamel or marker on masonite, these works include human figures, animals, and dinosaurs, which share space with such
short inspirational messages as "Lord Love You" and are
surrounded by simple decorative borders.
Miller's
work has been included in such exhibitions as Outside the
Mainstream: Folk Art in Our Time at the High Museum of Art in
Atlanta (1988) and Passionate Visions of the American South at
the New Orleans Museum of Art in Louisiana (October 1993-January
1994). Further exhibitions, the inclusion of his work in museums'
permanent collections, and articles in such international
publications as Raw Vision have contributed to Miller's status
as an elder statesman among Georgia's self-taught artists.
In
2004 Miller lost his sight to an eye infection and moved to a nursing
home in Commerce, where he died in March 2006. The month before his
death, an exhibition of his work entitled R. A. Miller: A Tribute
opened at the Brenau University Galleries.
Lady Liberty is in great vintage condition! The usual preloved light surface
scuff scratch wear here and there to the finish from years of adding charm to
our home, but nothing that distracts from this wonderful R.A treasure of
folk art history. Please see enlarged pics for best description and
details.
Makers Mark: Signed: R. A. Miller on front
Approximate size: 14-1/2" tall by 4-1/2"
wide at bottom ? Weight: 4oz
before packing material and shipping box
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We take immense pride in saving history one day at a time and
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keep doing what we love since 1998!! ?