1911 - 1997
George Williams was born in 1911. He lived on a farm in Amity County, Mississippi until he was fourteen when he moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he worked at a variety of jobs including road building, logging, and working on the railroad.George started carving small heads which he would wear as talismen. At first carving was something he did "in his spare time". His first paid work as a carver was two large heads on cedar posts and took about a week to complete. He was quite happy to sell his small carvings for a dollar apiece. After ten such sales had been completed, he would leave town, convinced that people would get after him for overcharging. George Williams died in 1997.
Williams' work is represented in numerous galleries, including the Rosenak Collection in Washington D.C., and was featured in Alice Rae Yelen's "Passionate Visions of the American South- Self Taught Artists from 1940 - Present". His work was also included in the American Visionary Art Museum show titled "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness" and the Corcoran Gallery in Washington show "Black Folk Art in America, 1930-1980".
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