Episode 62 | Mike Smith Was There: Rare Photos from Folk Art History

Mike Smith returns to the House of Folk Art with something remarkable: a collection of photographs he took while visiting folk artists across the South during the 1990s.Mike estimates that he has photographed thousands of works, artists, homes, studios, and folk art environments over the years. In this episode, Matt sits down with him to look through around 50 of those images, many showing artists at home and surrounded by work that has since disappeared, changed hands, or been lost entirely.The photographs include Benny Carter sitting in his living room and standing among the carvings in his backyard, Mose Tolliver painting from his bedroom, Mary T. Smith outside her home, Jimmy Lee Sudduth working with mud, leaves, and whatever else he could find, and Howard Finster walking through the early days of Paradise Garden. As the photographs move across the screen, Mike shares what it was like to visit these artists and spend time inside their worlds. He remembers Raymond Coins describing dreams while a mouse crossed the kitchen, James Son Thomas sitting beside his bed and playing blues songs, Royal Robertson sending visitors into town with a grocery list, and James Harold Jennings throwing a threatening letter into the fire after the man he threatened brought it back to him.Some of the photographs reveal details that Matt has never seen before. A rare image of Anderson Johnson leads to the discovery that the painted portraits hanging throughout his church were intended to fill the room like members of his congregation. Another photograph shows Benny Carter’s backyard environment in better condition than Matt had ever seen it, including a carved Adam and Eve that Matt suddenly realizes may have once belonged to a piece in his own collection.The episode becomes more than a slideshow. These photographs add context to the art, document environments that no longer exist, and preserve the personalities behind work that is often separated from the people who made it. By the end, Matt calls Mike’s collection a national treasure and points out that they have only looked through a small fraction of what remains.Chapters00:00 | Inside Mike Smith’s Folk Art Photo Archive01:21 | Early Portraits and Artist Visits05:39 | William Pumphrey, Mose Tolliver, and Son Thomas10:27 | Howard Finster, Benny Carter, and Billy Ray Hussey18:30 | Benny Carter, James Harold Jennings, and the Kentucky Folk Art Scene23:33 | Artists at Home and in Their Environments31:11 | Artists, Dealers, and the Value of Folk Art38:50 | Matt’s Benny Carter Mistake43:10 | Anderson Johnson’s Painted Congregation46:31 | Why the Artist and the Environment Matter54:55 | Name That Folk Artist56:42 | A National TreasureDo you have old photographs of folk artists, their studios, their homes, or artwork that may no longer exist? Reach out if you have photos we can share on the show:[email protected](919) 410-8002Leave your name, where you are from, and any information you have about the photographs. You might hear from us or see your images featured in a future episode.Follow @houseoffolkart for more stories, artist visits, and new episodes, and find upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com.