Amos Ferguson

Bahamians

Born: February 28,1920
Birthplace: Exuma. The Bahamas
Died: October 19, 2009
Location of death: Nassau, The Bahamas
Cause of death:
Gender: Male
Religion:
Ethnicity: Black
Occupation: House Painter, Folk Artist

Executive summary: One of 14 children of a Baptist preacher and carpenter. At 14 he left home for Nassau, where he worked as an upholsterer, furniture finisher and house painter. He did not turn to art until he was in his 40s, when, as he tells the story, a nephew came to him and related a dream he had just had. Jesus, the nephew said, came out of the sea with a painting in his hands and said Mr. Ferguson was wasting his talent for painting. Using exterior enamel on cardboard, Ferguson rendered Bible stories or Bahamian scenes in a vibrant, often colorful Caribbean visual idiom.

Father:
Mother:
Wife: Beatrice
Children:

Highlights:
Amos’s work is respected, sought after and displayed by art collectors and galleries around the world.

Amos Ferguson’s images were used to illustrate “Under the Sunday Tree” (1991), a collection of poems by Eloise Greenfield.

In 2005 the street he lived on in Nassau was renamed Amos Ferguson Street.

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