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Rare painted Gourd by Outsider / Folk Artist Reverend B. F. Perkins. 10 x 8 x 8 inches.
Born into poverty in rural Alabama, Benjamin Franklin "B. F." Perkins (1904-1993), joined the Merchant Marines at an early age and served in the Marine Corps from 1921-1925. He also served on a security detail for President Calvin Coolidge, worked for the FBI, and claimed to have been sent on clandestine missions to South America. He became a minister in 1929 and eventually rose to the rank of Bishop in the Church of God. After retiring in 1979, he enrolled in an art course at a junior college in Bankston, Alabama, where he began to paint colorful compositions, often with patriotic or Biblical themes.
Reverend Benjamin Franklin "B. F." Perkins (1904-1993), a self-taught Alabama Folk Artist, painted on board, canvas and gourds. His paintings almost always incorporated the American flag, the Statue of Liberty, his church, and inscriptions preaching advice for virtuous living. Born into poverty. Perkins joined the Merchant Marines at an early age and served in the Marine Corps from 1921-1925. He also served on a security detail for President Calvin Coolidge, worked for the FBI, and claimed to have been sent on clandestine missions to South America. He became a minister in 1929 and eventually rose to the rank of Bishop in the Church of God. After retiring in 1979, he enrolled in an art course at a junior college in Bankston, Alabama, where he began to paint colorful compositions.When he was 87 years old he said, “I enjoy preaching, and I enjoy painting -That’s why I keep at it. All of my works have a message. If art don’t tell me anything it’s not art. When I began to paint I think about something that has meant something to me.”