ABE. KANE1970s30 x 48 x 1/2 " (76.2 x 121.9 x 1.3 cm)Paint on plywoodGift of Leo and Dorothea Rabkin2002.4.1001542793029Sam DoylePaintingsupper left: 'ABE.'
upper right: 'KANE'Abe KaneAbe KaneAbe KaneFrogmore, St. Helena IslandFrogmore, St. Helena IslandUnited StatesSouth CarolinaThree Dimensional WorkseMuseum - Collection HighlightsPaintingsFrogmore, St. Helena IslandSam Doyle drew as a young boy in school and later as a young man, but it was in the 1960s, after he retired, that he was finally able to devote himself full time to artmaking, creating five hundred to seven hundred paintings during a twenty-year career. Doyle proudly displayed his paintings in his yard, which he sometimes called the St. Helena Outdoor Art Gallery. The artist typically painted figures against a solid color background, and sports figures were a favorite topic, particularly boxers such as Joe Lewis. In this work the subjects are likely the early twentieth-century fighters Abe Attell and Peter Kane, but the artist uses their names to evoke the biblical figures Cain and Abel, brother against brother.
Stacy C. Hollander, "ABE. KANE," exhibition label for Jubilation|Rumination: Life, Real and Imagined. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2012.Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information. To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgSam Doyle lived on South Carolina's St. Helena Island, a place rich in Gullah culture where freed slaves lived in the nineteenth century without much interference from whites, and African traditions and customs continued to be nurtured and practiced. Doyle drew as a young boy in shcool and later as a young man, but it was not until the 1960s, after he retired, that he was finally able to devote himself full time to artmaking. He proudly shared his robust paintings by displaying them in his yard, which he referred to as the "St. Helena Outdoor Art Gallery." The artist relished interpreting famous personalities—John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Jackie Robinson, and even Billy Carter—as well as local characters such as Reverend Cathit and Dr. Buzzard. Famous athletes, especially African Americans from the South, were also frequent subjects, and as boxing was a favorite sport, he depicted Joe Lewis several times.Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information. To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgreviewed by Art Bridges Fellow Austin Losada for the IMLS Neurodiversity Project 2026Abe KaneAbe KaneAbe KaneAbe Kane19701979 2002 4 10 Sam Doyle drew as a young boy in school and later as a young man, but it was in the 1960s, after he retired, that he was finally able to devote himself full time to artmaking, creating five hundred to seven hundred paintings during a twenty-year career. Doyle proudly displayed his paintings in his yard, which he sometimes called the St. Helena Outdoor Art Gallery. The artist typically painted figures against a solid color background, and sports figures were a favorite topic, particularly boxers such as Joe Lewis. In this work the subjects are likely the early twentieth-century fighters Abe Attell and Peter Kane, but the artist uses their names to evoke the biblical figures Cain and Abel, brother against brother.
Stacy C. Hollander, "ABE. KANE," exhibition label for Jubilation|Rumination: Life, Real and Imagined. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2012.Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information. To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgSam Doyle lived on South Carolina's St. Helena Island, a place rich in Gullah culture where freed slaves lived in the nineteenth century without much interference from whites, and African traditions and customs continued to be nurtured and practiced. Doyle drew as a young boy in shcool and later as a young man, but it was not until the 1960s, after he retired, that he was finally able to devote himself full time to artmaking. He proudly shared his robust paintings by displaying them in his yard, which he referred to as the "St. Helena Outdoor Art Gallery." The artist relished interpreting famous personalities—John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Jackie Robinson, and even Billy Carter—as well as local characters such as Reverend Cathit and Dr. Buzzard. Famous athletes, especially African Americans from the South, were also frequent subjects, and as boxing was a favorite sport, he depicted Joe Lewis several times.Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information. To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgreviewed by Art Bridges Fellow Austin Losada for the IMLS Neurodiversity Project 2026