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One of ten children born to a former slave, Nellie Mae Rowe enjoyed art as a child -- but it was not until after her second husband died in 1948 that she began to draw and to decorate her house in earnest. Rowe worked in a wide variety of media, filling the trees in her Vinings, Georgia yard with chewing gum sculptures and peopling her two-room house with elaborate dolls she sewed and dressed. A deeply religious woman, she took great pride in her home, which she lovingly called her "Playhouse". Her most enduring works have been her colorful drawings, which incorporate fantasy and a rich imagination into everyday scenes. Rowe, who died in 1982, has been widely hailed as one of the most important artists of his century. The Museum of American Folk Art in New York mounted a one-person exhibition of her work in 1999, entitled "Ninety-Nine and a Half Won't Do." This page was last updated with new works on June 9, 2010.
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