Howard Finster Poster Mock-Up

Collection — Box: AFAM OS-1, Folder: 7

Identifier: A0021

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Howard Finster created a poster for the 1990 exhibition The Road to Heaven Is Paved by Good Works: The Art of Reverend Howard Finster at the Paine Webber Art Gallery (September 21, 1989-January 5, 1990). This is the original artwork used in the poster.

Dates

1989-07-14

Creator

Finster, Howard, (1916-2001) (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research. Access to sensitive materials may be restricted at the discretion of the American Folk Art Museum.

Conditions Governing Use

The Howard Finster Poster Mock-Up is owned by the American Folk Art Museum. The collection is subject to all copyright laws, and is dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship.

Biographical Note

Howard Finster was a born preacher and served as a Baptist lay minister in congregations and tent revivals in the rural South for around thirty years. In the 1960s Finster had a vision that led him to clear swampland behind his house and build Paradise Garden—a dense and complex environment with sculptures, assemblages, hand-painted signs, walkways, small outbuildings, and flowering plants and trees. In 1976 he was further prophetically directed to create “sacred art.” From that time forward he produced a vast body of paintings and constructions ringing with the word of the Lord in extensive texts—apocalyptic, didactic, and visionary—as well as reflections on popular culture, history, and current events.

Source: Stacy C. Hollander, Cathedral in Heaven, exhibition label for Ooh, Shiny!. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2012.