Vintage R. A. Miller Signed Folk Art Cut Out Animal on Metal

Description

R. A. Miller Signed Folk Art - Cut Out Metal Animal
Approximately 32" Wide x 12" High x .5" Deep … more R. A. Miller Signed Folk Art - Cut Out Metal Animal
Approximately 32" Wide x 12" High x .5" Deep

R. A. Miller was born July 22, 1912, in Gainesville, Georgia. He passed away March 7, 2006.

R. A. Miller started work at a local cotton mill at the early age of twelve, he would walk to work at this same job for the next twenty years. Finding religion as a young man, Miller preached in tent revival meetings in Georgia and at the Free Will Baptist Church. Miller lived most of his life in Rabbittown, GA, just north of Gainesville. He began making art at about the age of sixty-eight when he retired. He created whirligigs and soon the hillside next to his house was covered with colorful spinning “windmills” as he called them and metal cutout and painted figures. He used found materials discarded by others such as old bicycle parts, tin house siding and other scraps to create unique and eclectic objects including the cut-out tin animals for which he is best known. He cut tin in the shape of animals, devils, angels, and “Blow Oscar,” (a rendition of a man who would blow his horn every time he passed by). He would paint the tin and sometimes attach it to crudely assembled wooden pieces. He gained widespread fame in 1984 after the band REM filmed “Left of Reckoning” among Miller’s art.

R. A. Miller's work is highly collected and he is considered one of the "elder" statesman of Folk Art. His work has been featured in REM music videos and the following museums:

High Museum of Art, Atlanta
The Museum of American Folk Art, New York
Ashville Art Museum
Birmingham Museum of Art
Georgia Museum of Art
Kentucky Folk Art Center
Lehigh University Art Galleries
Morris Museum of Art
Museum of International Folk Art
New Orleans Museum of Art
Saint James Place Folk Art Museum, Robersonville, NC less