From 14 November 2025 to 19 April 2026, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta will present the exhibition ‘The Lost World: The Art of Minnie Evans’. The show is dedicated to the extraordinary work of American artist Minnie Evans (1892–1987), whose visionary drawings full of fantastic forms and symbolism are among the most significant examples of self-taught art of the 20th century. With over 100 works from public and private collections, the exhibition offers a comprehensive insight into the life and work of this pioneering African American artist before it moves to the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York in the summer of 2026.
Image above: Minnie Evans (American, 1892–1987), Designs, Wrightsville Beach, 1968, oil, crayon, and pencil on paper and canvas, Carolina Art Association/the Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina; museum purchase with funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts Living Artist Fund. © The Estate of Minnie Evans.
Minnie Evans once described her drawings, filled with human, plant and animal forms, as works from ‘the lost world’ – an allusion to ‘the nations destroyed before the Flood’. After her grandmother died in 1934 and the visions that had accompanied her since childhood grew in intensity, Evans created an extensive, acclaimed oeuvre. In 1975, she was one of the first Black artists to be honoured with a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Although she received great recognition during her lifetime, there has been no major exhibition of her work since the 1990s.
Inspired by its growing collection of her work, the High Museum of Art is now organising ‘The Lost World: The Art of Minnie Evans’ – a national travelling exhibition that brings together more than 100 of her fantastic drawings and places them in the broader context of her extraordinary life. After its premiere in Atlanta, the show will be on view at the Whitney in the summer of 2026.
‘The High has a unique collection of self-taught art from the southern United States, including what is probably the most significant public collection of Evans’ works. This puts us in an ideal position to organise this exhibition and draw new attention to her important legacy,’ said Rand Suffolk, director of the High. ‘Her works are fascinating, rich in symbolism and impressively detailed. Atlanta should not miss this retrospective and the opportunity to learn more about her extraordinary life.’
The chronologically structured exhibition ‘The Lost World’ begins with Evans’ simple, line-emphasised compositions from the 1930s and continues with her colourful, complex works and lush, utopian mandalas from the 1960s. The show is accompanied by a multi-voiced catalogue that brings together different perspectives on Evans and contains numerous colour illustrations of her works – the first comprehensive documentation of her artistic oeuvre.
Both the exhibition and the catalogue highlight how Evans’ forms and motifs are influenced not only by Christian iconography, ancient mythology and visionary imagination, but also by her Caribbean heritage and her work as gatekeeper at Airlie Gardens in Wilmington, North Carolina. Complementing her drawings are historical photographs of Airlie Gardens and other archival material, including film footage in which Evans herself talks about her work. The exhibition thus expands Evans’ ‘lost world’ and shows not only the fantastic revelations of her visions, but also the social and historical constellations that made her the remarkable artist she was.
‘The number of self-taught artists who deserve serious exhibition is overwhelming,’ said Katherine Jentleson, senior curator of American art and Merrie and Dan Boone Curator of Folk and Self-Taught Art. ‘But Evans stands out to me because her work is increasingly being shown in major American exhibitions of modern and contemporary art—particularly those that re-examine the legacy of Surrealism from feminist and Afro-diasporic perspectives. It was long overdue to dedicate a solo exhibition to Evans, one that would reveal the full scope of her brilliance and her current relevance to her growing audience.’
The Lost World: The Art of Minnie Evans is presented in the special exhibition galleries on the second floor of the Stent Family Wing of the High Museum of Art.
About the High Museum of Art
The High Museum of Art is located in downtown Atlanta. It houses an extensive collection and regularly changing exhibitions, and offers various programmes for the local community. The museum building was designed by Pritzker Prize winners Richard Meier and Renzo Piano.
The collection comprises more than 20,000 works of art. These include American art and crafts from the 19th and 20th centuries, a large selection of photographs and folk art, and works by self-taught artists, particularly from the American South. The museum also has a growing collection of modern and contemporary art, including painting, sculpture, new media and design, as well as African art from early history to the present day. This is complemented by significant holdings of European paintings and works on paper.
The museum aims to reflect the diversity of its communities and offer exhibitions and educational programmes that provide insights into art, artistic biographies and creative processes.
WHEN?
Exhibition dates:
Friday, 14. November 2025 until Sunday, 19. April 2026
Opening hours:
Tue – Sat 10 am – 5 pm
Sun noon – 5 pm
Mon closed
WHERE?
High Museum of Art
1280 Peachtree Rd
NE, Atlanta, GA 30309,
United States of Amercia
