Minnie Jones Evans  (1892–1987)
Primitive Artist
Wilmington, NC

“My attention somehow was drawed up at noon, the circle. The animals was going around the ring of the moon. It was the elephants, great tall animals, and some different sizes and some big white horses.”

Minnie Evans was a self-taught artist inspired by books of the Bible to create vivid canvases of her visions of green animals, angels, and prophets. Her work as gatekeeper at Airlie Gardens in Wilmington provided her with opportunities to absorb the color of a lush earthly landscape. In her authoritative, booming  voice, she proclaimed, “Art is a mystery.” Today her pictures have been exhibited in major galleries and museums.

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