Fish on Spools
Folk and Self-Taught Art

Fish on Spools
Artwork Details
Artist/Maker
Nellie Mae Rowe
American, 1900–1982
American, 1900–1982
Date
1980
Medium
Wood, plastic, and acrylic
Accession #
1983.20
Dimensions
7 1/2 x 25 x 1 1/2 inches
Location
On View - Stent Family Wing, Skyway, Gallery 409
Description
Fish on Spools was among the twenty-five works by Nellie Mae Rowe the Corcoran Gallery of Art included in its 1982 exhibition Black Folk Art in America: 1930–1980. Rowe was one of only three women represented in this exhibition, which was the first to survey the extraordinary contributions of African American self-taught artists, especially those living in the South. Rowe lived just long enough to know about the sensation that Black Folk Art caused as it traveled to six major American cities.