Outsider, Folk and Fine Art

GODIE, Lee (American, 1908-1994). Figures. ca. 1980s. Signed recto and verso. Titled verso. Window shade canvas with ballpoint pen, with an attached color photobooth photo at lower left, and a knit glove lower right, both attached with safety pins. Overall with glove: 61 x 20 ¾”. Photo: 2 x 1 ½”. Stunning montage of imagery on a vertical canvas. Recto: The John Hancock building with a female figure in a dress leaning on a butterfly table. Below a classic female portrait with a hat and grapes brooch. Verso: Another simpler portrait with a hand and grapes brooch with title, signature and “French Impressionist” indicated. Her classic trope. Lower edge: Value, $1,000.00. Much handwritten commentary upper section. Lee Godie (born Jamot Emily Godee) was an American self-taught artist who was active in Chicago during the late 1960s until around the early 1990s. She was a prolific artist who was known for her paintings and modified photos. Godie was a self-described French Impressionist. She was particular about who she sold her art to and even to whom she talked to, preferring to interact with artists. She would only sell her work to those she liked. Her work can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of American Folk Art in New York City, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Arkansas Arts Center, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. Surface dirt and grime overall both sides with a yellow line from top to bottom on right side recto. White sections of canvas have craquelure. Some fraying. Roll marks overall. Good condition for age and wear.