Folk Artist Reverend Howard Finster
                      
 
Folk Artist Reverend Howard Finster 
 
The most famous religious artist, Reverend Howard Finster, was a 
self-taught folk artist who created fantastical paintings, sculptures, 
and environments that were inspired by religious visions he saw from 
the time he was a boy. 
 
After all, he is one of the most loved artists in the present times. Apart 
from painting, he used to publish religious songs and poetry in local 
newspapers in the 1930s and hosted a radio prayer show in the late 
1930s and early 1940s as well. He claims that God asked him to 
portray his religious visions in 1976 when he said, "A warm feeling 
came over me to paint sacred art." 
 
 
Early Life 
Born in Valley Head, Alabama, to Samuel and Lula Finster, Howard 
Finster lived on the family farm as one of 13 children. At the age of 
13, he became "born again" at a Baptist revival and began to preach 
at the age of 16. He used to give the occasional sermon at local 
churches.  
 
Apart from that, he wrote articles for the town newspaper and became 
a full-time pastor at Rock Bridge Baptist Church in 1940. Later, he 
served at the Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Fort Payne, Alabama, 
after which he ventured into full-time painting. 
 
Finster claimed that he had his first vision at the age of three years. In 
his vision, he saw his deceased sister Abbie Rose, who was walking 
down out of the sky wearing a white gown and told him, "Howard, 
you're gonna be a man of visions." 
 
He had his second vision to paint sacred art in 1976. According to 
Finster, "...one day I was working' on a patch job on a bicycle, and I 
was rubbing' some white paint on that patch with this finger here, and 
I looked at the round tip o' my finger, and there was a human face on 
it... then a warm feeling' come over my body, and a voice spoke to me 
and said, 'Paint sacred art.'" 
 
His Artworks 
 
Howard Finster claimed that God had inspired him to spread the 
gospel through the design of his swampy land into Paradise Garden, 
a folk art sculpture garden that has over 46,000 pieces of art. His 
artworks include outsider art, naïve art, and visionary art. 
 
He is also known for his diverse range of subjects, including pop 
culture icons like Elvis Presley, religious images like The Devil's 
Vice and "John the Baptist," historical figures like George 
Washington and Ronald Reagan, war and politics, U.F.O.s, and 
aliens.  
 
All his paintings have a number. Finster used to say that God had 
asked him to do 5,000 paintings to spread the gospel. So, he wanted 
to keep track of it. He finished painting these 5000 paintings before 
Christmas in 1985. He still continued painting and numbering his 
paintings till the day he died. By 1989, he was numbering the 
paintings in ten thousand.  
 
Other Works 
 
In an Esquire magazine article, Finster made an appearance and 
dubbed his museum Paradise Garden. He made his first exhibition 
appearance1976 and painted four paintings for the Library of 
Congress in 1977.  
 
He did collaborative work with Athens, Georgia-based rock band 
R.E.M., where he gained national fame. He also appeared in the 
documentary film Athens, GA: Inside Out, which was filmed in 1985. 
In this documentary, he tells the story of how he came to be an artist. 
He, along with his artworks, also appears in the band's video for Radio 
Free Europe. 
 
Conclusion  
 
No doubt that Howard Finster was a visionary artist. He took on 
topics of life and death, redemption, and salvation. Recalling his 
remarkable journey, he said, "It's all been fun, it's all been spiritual, 
it's all been rejoicing, it's all been a sacrifice. It's been a hard road. It's 
been an easy road. It's just been everything." 
Visit Marcia Weber Art Objects and shop for the best paintings 
created by Howard Finster. 
 
Contact us 
Website- https://marciaweberartobjects.com/ 
Address- 118 E Bridge St Wetumpka, Alabama 36092 
Contact No- 334.220.5349 
E-Mail- [email protected] 
 
Content courtesy 
https://articlescad.com/folk-artist-reverend-howard-finster-
229029.html