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Tag: outsider art

Artists on the outside (but not looking in)

Posted in Art

When I first saw the small tablet-size sculptures on the table, they reminded me of the paper packets that gardeners stick in the ground to help them remember what they planted. These pieces seemed to have…

August 19, 2009

An art discovery of MC “Five Cent” Jones

Posted in Art

As I strolled through a list of catalog items on the web for a Decorative Arts auction recently, I wandered onto some watercolors that were interesting. The first piece was an African American woman. Next to…

“ART WITH HEART: How I Built a Sweet Collection by Buying Cheap at Auction”

I collect art, but I’m not someone who has the means to pay $500,000 for a Charles White or $12 million for a Rembrandt. I’m one of the “rest of us” who want beautiful artwork in our homes but can’t afford to pay big bucks for it.

I found a novel way to build my collection – by buying art for very little money at mom-and-pop auction houses near where I live. I started out buying African American artists whose works spoke to me and were ignored by the mainstream art world. Then I discovered some other neglected artists who called out just as loud.

My book “ART WITH HEART” Is a selection of stories of how I found art that I loved, how I lost out on some, won others, learned some lessons that I share with you – and enjoyed every minute of it.

So, grab a seat next to me as I take you through the moments I spent building a collection that stirred my heart.

Watch the Book Trailer

Listen to and read an excerpt

Read more at sherryhoward.com

Buy the paperback

Contact me for presentations/book signings

I started going to auctions to fuel my love for African American art – but at a bargain. I wanted to find works of the masters and discover others whose art may have been hiding in an attic or basement, and forgotten.

I have amassed a collection of their works but also those of unknown and little-known artists of all stripes, many of them from Philadelphia. I have also uncovered black history intertwined with American history, showing that one did not happen without the other and demonstrating that my ancestors’ history was just as powerful and significant.

Auction Finds is filled with fascinating stories – from books to photographs to documents to artifacts – on subjects that are as diverse as we are as a country. I’ve learned some things that I think will excite you as much as they excited me.

Photo by Jimmy Baynes, Cleveland, OH.
Photo by Earl Ford.
Photo by Jimmy Baynes of Cleveland, OH.
Photo by Arthur Eddie Williamson, Kansas City, MO.
Photo by Mitchell Studios, Cleveland, OH.
Photo by E.F. Joseph’s Studios, Oakland, CA, 1942.
Photographer Jimmy Baynes.
Photo by Clement Perry
Photo by Jimmy Baynes, Cleveland, OH.
Photo by Jimmy Baynes, Cleveland, OH.
Photo by Moorer.
Photo by James. E. Smith, Muskegon Heights, MI.
Photo by Jimmy Baynes, Cleveland, OH.