Charles Owens Acrylic Painting on Academy Board

Item Details

An acrylic painting by listed American Folk artist Charles A. Owens (Kentucky/Ohio; 1922-1997). Depicted is a folk art scene of a landscape of cotton fields being worked with a barn, big house and shacks in the background. The painting is signed in the lower left corner and the artist has made this hand written notation to the back Gangs of slaves working in cotton plantation of the old southwest. While most southern whites were small farmers, who owned no slaves, the big plantations dominated the economy. Cotton was the major cash crop, but corn occupied about the same acreage. The painting is presented in a wooden frame with hanging wire to verso.
Owens was born in Maysville, Kentucky to an opera singer and renowned Jazz musician. He was interested in art from an early age but received no formal art education. Charles visited Cincinnati, Ohio often where he would visit the Cincinnati Zoo and swim in the Ohio river. In 1949 he moved to Columbus, Ohio where he settled. His living was made by a wide variety of jobs to include chef, truck driver, mechanic and even bootlegger.

Condition

Light scuffs near top; minor marks to frame

Dimensions

Item #

18COL006-081