Minnie Evans

In 1935, after having a vision demanding her to “draw or die” Minnie Evans began drawing her first pen-and-ink pictogram consisting of circular and linear motifs. She eventually began incorporating images of flora and flattened facial profiles within her work. Evans believes she was creating automatically without any plan or imagination and that her art was being dictated to her through her visions. Evans equated the act of creating art works to exorcisms, at times finding it painful and urgent to get the visions out of her subconscious and onto paper. Art historians have associated her artwork to a variety of styles including American folk art, Surrealism, and mandala art.

In 1926, Minnie Evans met art historian Nina Howell Starr who worked with Evans to catalog her art. In 1966, they held the first exhibition of Evans’ work at the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany in New York City.

Title: Untitled
Artist: Minnie Evans (1892 – 1987)
Date: 1952
Medium: Multiple colors of a wax-based media, gold paint, and black felt-tip pen over graphite on medium weight, wove paper 
Dimensions: Image size: 11 7/8 x 8 ¾ inches; Framed: 12 x 8 ¾ inches
Accession Number: H77.27.1 

Title: Untitled 22
Artist: Minnie Evans (1892 – 1987)
Date: 1952
Medium: Multiple colors of a wax-based media, gold paint, and felt-tip pen or marker over graphite on heavy weight, rough wove paper 
Dimensions: Image size: 11 ½ x 8 11/16 inches; Framed: 18 ½ x 15 ¼ inches
Accession Number: H77.27.2 

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