Skip to main content
Advanced Search
No image number on slide
Untitled (Pink Dog with Purple & Green Bird)
No image number on slide

Untitled (Pink Dog with Purple & Green Bird)

Date1980
Artist/Maker Nellie Mae Rowe (1900-1982)
OriginAmerica, Georgia, Atlanta
MediumWax crayon on paper.
DimensionsPrimary support: 18" x 24" and Framed: 26" x 32"
Credit LineGift of Dr. and Mrs. T. Marshall Hahn, Jr.
Object number1996.201.1
DescriptionRowe conjured intriguing shapes and unexpected combinations of vibrant colors from her dreams and visions. Their representational value was of little concern. In Rowe's own works: "Most of the things that I draw, I don’t know what they are by name. People say, 'Nellie, what is that?' I say I don’t know it is what it is... I draw what is in my mind." Not surprisingly, she never bothered to title many of her works.

Devoutly Christian, Rowe believed that her creative energy came from God. She said, "Drawing is the only thing I think is good for the Lord. I try to draw because He is wonderful to me. I just must keep drawing until He says, 'Well done, Nellie, you have been faithful.' Then I will know that I have finished my work. When I wake up in glory I want to hear 'Well done, Nellie, well done.'"
Label TextUntitled
Nellie Mae Rowe *1900-1982)
Atlanta, Georgia, 1980
Wax crayon on paper
Gift of T. Marshall Hahn, Jr.; 96.201.1

Rowe conjured intriguing shapes and unexpected combinations of vibrant colors from her dreams and visions. Their representational value was of little concern. In Rowe's own works: "Most of the things that I draw, I don’t know what they are by name. People say, 'Nellie, what is that?' I say I don’t know it is what it is... I draw what is in my mind." Not surprisingly, she never bothered to title many of her works.

Devoutly Christian, Rowe believed that her creative energy came from God. She said, "Drawing is the only thing I think is good for the Lord. I try to draw because He is wonderful to me. I just must keep drawing until He says, 'Well done, Nellie, you have been faithful.' Then I will know that I have finished my work. When I wake up in glory I want to hear 'Well done, Nellie, well done.'"
ProvenanceDonor: Dr. and Mrs. T. Marshall Hahn, Jr.