Temptation

Kentucky’s most celebrated folk artist was featured in several prominent exhibitions, including the Smithsonian Institution’s Hall of American Folklife from 1968 to 1976 and the 1973 Biennial at the Whitney Museum. The University of Kentucky Art Museum organized Edgar Tolson’s first retrospective exhibition in 1981. Since then, his engaging woodcarvings have found their way into important public and private collections across the country. Though he recalled making a few carvings as a child, Tolson turned to woodcarving after suffering a stroke in 1957, when he was forced to give up his former occupations as carpenter and stonemason. Using a penknife and a piece of Kentucky poplar or pine, he began making animals, walking sticks, and simple figures. With the support and encouragement of Lexington collectors, John and Miriam Tuska, he started carving the Fall of Man cycle—Adam and Eve in Paradise, Temptation, Original Sin, the Expulsion, and Cain Slaying Abel. Though he expanded his repertoire with traditional American folk art themes, such as Noah’s Ark, yoked oxen, Uncle Sam, preachers, and other figures, Tolson’s compelling tableaux of Adam and Eve would become his signature theme.