ATLANTA, GA.- Acclaimed American artist Minnie Evans (1892-1987) once described her drawings, filled with human, botanical and animal forms, as coming from “the lost world,” referring to “the nations destroyed before the Flood.” After her grandmother died in 1934 and the visions she had been experiencing since childhood became stronger, Evans went on to produce a large and celebrated body of work and in 1975 became one of the first Black artists to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Though she was lauded in her lifetime, she has not been the subject of a major exhibition since the 1990s. Inspired by its growing collection of her work, the High Museum of Art is organizing “The Lost World: The Art of Minnie Evans,” a nationally touring retrospective that brings together more than 100 of her fantastical drawings and puts them in the larger context of her extraordinary life. After premiering in Atlanta from Nov. 14, 2025 to April 19, 2026, the exhibition will travel to the Whitney in summer 2026.

“The High is blessed with an unparalleled collection of Southern, self-taught art; including what is likely the foremost public collection of Evan’s work. Given that, we’re uniquely positioned to organize this tour and bring renewed attention to her important legacy,” said the High’s Director Rand Suffolk. “Her work is captivating, layered with symbolism, and striking in its detail. Atlanta shouldn’t miss this retrospective and the opportunity to learn more about her fascinating life.”

Presented chronologically, “The Lost World” begins with Evans’ spare, line-driven compositions of the 1930s and continue through to her colorful, complex compositions and lush, utopian mandalas of the 1960s. The exhibition is accompanied by a multi-authored catalogue that convenes a range of perspectives on Evans and includes full color illustrations of her work, making it the first such major record of her accomplishments. Both the catalogue and the exhibition explore how the forms and motifs in Evans’ drawings stem from not only Christian iconography, ancient mythology and visionary creativity, but also her Caribbean heritage and her work as gatekeeper of Airlie Gardens in Wilmington, North Carolina. In addition to her drawings, the exhibition presents historical photographs of Airlie Gardens and other archival material, including footage of Evans speaking about her work. The exhibition thus broadens Evans’ “lost world” to include not only the fantastic revelations from her visions but also the constellation of social and historical circumstances that shaped her into the remarkable artist she became.

“The number of deserving self-taught artists who merit serious exhibitions is overwhelming,” said Katherine Jentleson, senior curator of American art and Merrie and Dan Boone curator of folk and self-taught art, “but Evans rose to the top of list for me because of the way that the work has been appearing in larger American, modern and contemporary art exhibitions, especially those reappraising legacies of Surrealism through feminist and Afro Diasporic lenses. There needed to be a standalone Evans show that will give her expanding audience an appreciation of the true scope of her brilliance and relevance today.”