Mose Tolliver, one of America's most revered Southern Folk Artists, died on October 30th. He lived in rural Alabama all of his life. He worked as a farmer and labourer until an accident damaged his legs and left him unable to walk without crutches. He took up painting, working by balancing a board on his knees. Tolliver's colourful poster-like style appeared to be relatively simple: in many of his works flat images, often with round heads and simple stylised features, dominate the composition. The curves of his organic forms gave a sense of rhythm to the painting. He sometimes finished off a picture by adding a 'frame', a stripe of black paint around the picture. Tolliver's subjects included portraits of himself and his wife, anthropomorphic birds and animals, vegetables and plant life. He also painted sexualised images of women resting on pointed objects he refers to as 'scooters' or 'exercising bicycles'. Tolliver's family initially provided him with scraps of wood they found in alleyways and on the street, but he later painted on plywood using house paint. He was a prolific, fast-working artist who finished each artwork with a distinctive signature, 'MOSET', including a backward 'S'. His daughter Annie Tolliver also paints in a similar, but simpler vein.

text from Outsider Art Sourcebook