“Mills” – The Last Supper – Original Folk Art Painting – Signed and Dated 1939 – Depression Era American Art. There are paintings that stop you in your tracks. This is one of them – and it has been waiting nearly ninety years for the right person to find it. This is an original hand-painted interpretation of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, signed “Mills” in the lower right and dated 1939 in the lower corner. It was painted by the uncle of the previous owner – a direct family attribution that gives this piece the kind of human provenance story that serious folk art collectors prize. It is one of a kind. There is no other like it. The Great Depression was not yet over. America was searching for its cultural identity, and artists across the country – trained and untrained alike – were responding to that search in deeply personal ways. The Works Progress Administration was commissioning murals. Regionalism was at its peak. Self-taught artists working outside the mainstream were producing some of the most powerful and personal images in American art history – images that the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the American Folk Art Museum now actively collect and exhibit. Mills was one of those artists. We know nothing about him beyond his name and this painting. But the painting tells us a great deal – that he was someone who looked at one of the most painted subjects in Western art history and decided to paint it his own way, in his own colors, with his own graphic sensibility. And that sensibility is remarkable. Rather than the warm browns and golds of the traditional da Vinci interpretation, Mills has painted his Last Supper in a bold, flat palette of deep teal green, terracotta red, cream, and dark navy – colors that feel simultaneously ancient and startlingly modern. The composition follows da Vinci’s arrangement faithfully – Christ at center, the twelve apostles grouped around the long table, the coffered ceiling receding into the background, the arched windows beyond – but the treatment is entirely Mills’ own. The figures are rendered in broad, confident flat shapes. The decorative carpet in the foreground – a geometric pattern of teal, cream, and terracotta diamonds – is a masterstroke of folk art design, grounding the composition and adding a decorative richness that the original da Vinci never attempted. This is exactly what serious folk art collectors look for – what one leading dealer described as aesthetic sensibility and especially graphic power. This painting has both in abundance. The flat graphic style, the bold color choices, the confident signature, and the 1939 date all point to a self-taught artist working with genuine creative vision rather than academic training – placing this piece squarely within the American folk and outsider art tradition that has been championed by major institutions and collected worldwide for decades. Medium appears to be gouache or tempera on board. Approximately 12 x 16 inches. Condition: Good for age. The painting shows minor wear consistent with its 86 years. Please review the photos carefully for a better understanding of condition. Photos are of the actual item up for sale. We make every effort to describe and photograph our items as accurately and thoroughly as possible.
