{"object":[{"sourceId":{"label":"Source ID","value":"991"},"altNumsArchivespace":{"label":"ArchiveSpace","value":["1985.35.23A","1985.35.23B"]},"thesconceptsTechnique":{"label":"Technique","value":"http://nodes.emuseum.com/BU1BGBAG/apis/emuseum/network/v1/vocabularies/termMaster27226"},"creditline":{"label":"Credit Line","value":"Gift of Elizabeth Ross Johnson"},"endDate":{"label":"End Date","value":"1983"},"sortNumber":{"label":"Sort Number","value":"1985    35   23a    b"},"invno":{"label":"Accession number","value":"1985.35.23a,b"},"description":{"label":"Description","value":"a: Painting of a man turned upside down with money falling from his out-turned pockets into the open purse of woman seated below with her legs outstretched and spread apart. Man wears white pants, red shirt and black eyes with wide red mouth, nose outlined in white and black eyes with white centers. Woman has shoulder length hair, red lips and black eyes; wearing long sleeved white shirt with blue vee-neck, short blue skirt and blue shoes with white bows. Against green background painted in a lean wash. Painted across top: Mr./Fool (LS) XXVII (URS) GIMIE (RS below purse) SAM DOYLE (LRS) Metal support folded over LS and RS.b: Figure of striding black woman in profile, with exaggerated derriere, smoking black pipe. Woman wears sleeveless blue blouse and mid-calf length tight white skirt, white shoes; curly black hair, brown skin, red mouth and black eye in white surround. Painted against ochre background. ULC in white paint, the words: \"ROCKING/MARY\" Rectangular, tan box below name, partially painted over in green paint. URC cut off in wide diagonal."},"medium":{"label":"Medium","value":"Paint on galvanized steel (double-sided)"},"geographyPlaceregion":{"label":"Place/Region","value":"Frogmore, St. Helena Island"},"media":{"label":"Media","value":[{"mediaURL":"https://collection.folkartmuseum.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1731/full","mediaDepartment":"Object Photographs","mediaType":"Image","mediaId":"1731"},{"mediaURL":"https://collection.folkartmuseum.org/internal/media/dispatcher/3108/full","mediaDepartment":"Object Photographs","mediaType":"Image","mediaId":"3108"}]},"title":{"label":"Title","value":"Mr. Fool / Rocking Mary"},"geographyCity":{"value":"Frogmore, St. Helena Island"},"textEntriesWebsitedisplaytext":{"value":["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.org","Sam Doyle drew as a young boy in school and later as a young man, but it was not until the 1960s, after he retired, that he finally devoted himself full time to artmaking. Over the years, his robust paintings (generally enamel house paint on wood or corrugated roofing tin) multiplied on his property, a few acres of ancestral farmland on South Carolina\u2019s St. Helena Island\u2014an island that became a refuge for freed and escaped slaves during the Civil War that stayed relatively isolated from mainland culture during Doyle\u2019s lifetime. With his museum-like art environment, which Doyle referred to as the \"St. Helena Outdoor Art Gallery,\" he became a chronicler, curating an insightful lesson gallery of portraits, initially seen only by his extended family and island residents. His paintings, veiled with social commentary, pay tribute to the history of the Gullah culture within which he was raised as well as African American lore. Doyle\u2014a devout Baptist\u2014 intermingled saints with public celebrities and local luminaries like Mr. Fool, Food Stamp, Ramblin\u2019 Rose, and Rockin\u2019 Mary. \"Mr. Fool (double-sided), \" exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.","Sam Doyle lived in a home he built for his family on ancestral farmland on St. Helena Island, South Carolina, where Penn School was established in 1862 to assist freed slaves. He learned the importance of Gullah culture from elders and the value of history at Penn. Though his childhood artworks were admired, he didn't consider himself an artist until his senior years. The scholar and collector Gordon W. Bailey notes, \"Doyle placed his first painting in his yard in 1944 and thereafter added others. Following his retirement in the late 1960s, he committed to 'painting history.' He blended Gullah lore and his Baptist faith into a rich multicultural impasto. Two series, 'Penn' (school) and 'First' (achievement or event), commingled with folkloric works and established Doyle's mission. His museum-like display evolved into the St. Helena Out Door Art Gallery.\" Doyle curated an oeuvre of robust paintings including luminaries\u2014such as Dr. Crow, Mr. Fool and Ramblin' Rose\u2014and African American celebrities such as Ray Charles, Joe Lewis and Jackie Robinson. Corcoran Gallery of Art curator Jane Livingston selected Doyle's work for the 1982 traveling exhibition Black Folk Art in America: 1930\u20131980. The exhibition introduced Doyle to a wide audience including the artists Jean-Michel Basquiat, who collected his works, and Ed Ruscha, who has cited Doyle's influence and painted a posthumous tribute titled Where Are You Going, Man? (For Sam Doyle), 1985. As Bailey observed, \"The artist summed up momentous events with poetic simplicity and had a genius for distilling the essence of personality.\"Valérie Rousseau, \u201cRocking Mary/Mr. Fool,\u201d exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.","Louanne LaRoche explains in her letter of 24 JUL 1986 that this was a painting of a local man who liked to fool around and was known in the area as \"Mr. Fool.\"","reviewed by Art Bridges Fellow Austin Losada for the IMLS Neurodiversity Project 2026","Painting of a man turned upside down with money falling from his out-turned pockets into the open purse of woman seated below with her legs outstretched and spread apart. Man wears white pants, red shirt and black eyes with wide red mouth, nose outlined in white and black eyes with white centers. Woman has shoulder length hair, red lips and black eyes; wearing long sleeved white shirt with blue vee-neck, short blue skirt and blue shoes with white bows. Against green background painted in a lean wash. Painted across top: Mr./Fool (LS) XXVII (URS) GIMIE (RS below purse) SAM DOYLE (LRS) Metal support folded over  LS and RS. ROCKING MARY: Figure of striding black woman in profile, with exaggerated derriere, smoking black pipe. Woman wears sleeveless blue blouse and mid-calf length tight white skirt, white shoes; curly black hair brown skin, red mouth and black eye in white surround. Painted against ochre background. ULC in white paint, the words: \"ROCKING/MARY\" Rectangular, tan box below name, partially painted over in green paint. URC cut off in wide diagonal."]},"bibliography":{"label":"Bibliography","value":""},"collections":{"label":"Collections","value":"Paintings"},"geography":{"label":"Geography","value":"Frogmore, St. Helena Island"},"id":{"label":"Id","value":"152902"},"geographyState":{"value":"South Carolina"},"thesconceptsMaterials":{"label":"Materials","value":"http://nodes.emuseum.com/BU1BGBAG/apis/emuseum/network/v1/vocabularies/termMaster27226"},"markings":{"label":"Markings","value":""},"signed":{"label":"Signed","value":"a: lower right: 'Sam / Doyle'b: lower left: 'Sam Doyle'"},"geographyCountry":{"value":"United States"},"onview":{"label":"On View","value":"0"},"people":{"label":"Artist / Maker","value":{"displayOrder":"1","personRole":"Artist","personID":"1040","content":"Sam Doyle"}},"classifications":{"label":"Classification(s)","value":"Paintings"},"textEntries":{"label":"Text Entries","value":["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.org","Sam Doyle drew as a young boy in school and later as a young man, but it was not until the 1960s, after he retired, that he finally devoted himself full time to artmaking. Over the years, his robust paintings (generally enamel house paint on wood or corrugated roofing tin) multiplied on his property, a few acres of ancestral farmland on South Carolina\u2019s St. Helena Island\u2014an island that became a refuge for freed and escaped slaves during the Civil War that stayed relatively isolated from mainland culture during Doyle\u2019s lifetime. With his museum-like art environment, which Doyle referred to as the \"St. Helena Outdoor Art Gallery,\" he became a chronicler, curating an insightful lesson gallery of portraits, initially seen only by his extended family and island residents. His paintings, veiled with social commentary, pay tribute to the history of the Gullah culture within which he was raised as well as African American lore. Doyle\u2014a devout Baptist\u2014 intermingled saints with public celebrities and local luminaries like Mr. Fool, Food Stamp, Ramblin\u2019 Rose, and Rockin\u2019 Mary. \"Mr. Fool (double-sided), \" exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.","Sam Doyle lived in a home he built for his family on ancestral farmland on St. Helena Island, South Carolina, where Penn School was established in 1862 to assist freed slaves. He learned the importance of Gullah culture from elders and the value of history at Penn. Though his childhood artworks were admired, he didn't consider himself an artist until his senior years. The scholar and collector Gordon W. Bailey notes, \"Doyle placed his first painting in his yard in 1944 and thereafter added others. Following his retirement in the late 1960s, he committed to 'painting history.' He blended Gullah lore and his Baptist faith into a rich multicultural impasto. Two series, 'Penn' (school) and 'First' (achievement or event), commingled with folkloric works and established Doyle's mission. His museum-like display evolved into the St. Helena Out Door Art Gallery.\" Doyle curated an oeuvre of robust paintings including luminaries\u2014such as Dr. Crow, Mr. Fool and Ramblin' Rose\u2014and African American celebrities such as Ray Charles, Joe Lewis and Jackie Robinson. Corcoran Gallery of Art curator Jane Livingston selected Doyle's work for the 1982 traveling exhibition Black Folk Art in America: 1930\u20131980. The exhibition introduced Doyle to a wide audience including the artists Jean-Michel Basquiat, who collected his works, and Ed Ruscha, who has cited Doyle's influence and painted a posthumous tribute titled Where Are You Going, Man? (For Sam Doyle), 1985. As Bailey observed, \"The artist summed up momentous events with poetic simplicity and had a genius for distilling the essence of personality.\"Valérie Rousseau, \u201cRocking Mary/Mr. Fool,\u201d exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.","Louanne LaRoche explains in her letter of 24 JUL 1986 that this was a painting of a local man who liked to fool around and was known in the area as \"Mr. Fool.\"","reviewed by Art Bridges Fellow Austin Losada for the IMLS Neurodiversity Project 2026","Painting of a man turned upside down with money falling from his out-turned pockets into the open purse of woman seated below with her legs outstretched and spread apart. Man wears white pants, red shirt and black eyes with wide red mouth, nose outlined in white and black eyes with white centers. Woman has shoulder length hair, red lips and black eyes; wearing long sleeved white shirt with blue vee-neck, short blue skirt and blue shoes with white bows. Against green background painted in a lean wash. Painted across top: Mr./Fool (LS) XXVII (URS) GIMIE (RS below purse) SAM DOYLE (LRS) Metal support folded over  LS and RS. ROCKING MARY: Figure of striding black woman in profile, with exaggerated derriere, smoking black pipe. Woman wears sleeveless blue blouse and mid-calf length tight white skirt, white shoes; curly black hair brown skin, red mouth and black eye in white surround. Painted against ochre background. ULC in white paint, the words: \"ROCKING/MARY\" Rectangular, tan box below name, partially painted over in green paint. URC cut off in wide diagonal."]},"beginDate":{"label":"Begin Date","value":"1983"},"inscribed":{"label":"Inscribed","value":"a: upper right: 'XXVII' [underlined]; center left: 'Mr. / Fool'; lower center: 'Gimie'b: upper left: 'Rocking / Mary'\""},"thesconcepts":{"label":"Terms","value":"http://nodes.emuseum.com/BU1BGBAG/apis/emuseum/network/v1/vocabularies/termMaster27226"},"displayDate":{"label":"Date","value":"1983"},"exhibitions":{"label":"Exhibitions","value":[{"exhibitionDisplayDate":"Tuesday, May 13, 2014 - Sunday, August 17, 2014","exhibitionEndISODate":"2014-08-17","exhibitionID":"171","exhibitionISOBeginDate":"2014-05-13","exhibitionBeginDate":"2014","exhibitionTitle":"Self-Taught Genius","exhibitionEndDate":"2014"},{"exhibitionDisplayDate":"Wednesday, September 27, 2017 - Thursday, February 8, 2018","exhibitionEndISODate":"2018-02-08","exhibitionID":"214","exhibitionISOBeginDate":"2017-09-27","exhibitionBeginDate":"2017","exhibitionTitle":"Highlights from Self-Taught Genius","exhibitionEndDate":"2018"},{"exhibitionDisplayDate":"Thursday, July 11, 2002 - Sunday, January 5, 2003","exhibitionEndISODate":"2003-01-26","exhibitionID":"73","exhibitionISOBeginDate":"2002-07-11","exhibitionBeginDate":"2002","exhibitionTitle":"American Anthem","exhibitionEndDate":"2003"},{"exhibitionDisplayDate":"Friday, January 21, 2022 - Monday, September 5, 2022","exhibitionEndISODate":"2022-09-05","exhibitionID":"251","exhibitionISOBeginDate":"2022-01-21","exhibitionBeginDate":"2022","exhibitionTitle":"MULTITUDES","exhibitionEndDate":"2022"}]},"thesconceptsObjecttype":{"label":"Object Type","value":"http://nodes.emuseum.com/BU1BGBAG/apis/emuseum/network/v1/vocabularies/termMaster27226"},"altNums":{"label":"Alternative Numbers","value":["1985.35.23A","1985.35.23B"]},"dimensions":{"label":"Dimensions","value":"52 x 26 x 1/2 \" (132.1 x 66 x 1.3 cm)Frame: 57 1/4 x 30 7/8 x 2 1/4 \" (145.4 x 78.4 x 5.7 cm)"}}]}