You Sentimental Idiot

I was given a copy of Contemporary American Folk Artists for my birthday.  Published in 1975, the artists are no longer "contemporary" however their work is timeless.  I was skimming the pages and noticed Alexander Bogardy right away.  According to the author, Elinor Horwitz, Bogardy was a bantamweight boxer, mechanical engineer, and cosmetologist.  Further research shows the cosmetology influence in his paintings.  Even Bogardy's religious pieces show signs of the salon world with Angels sporting painted fingernails and toes, heavy make-up, and fixed up hair.  According to Raw Vision, Bogardy's "greatest ambition was to show women how to make themselves beautiful, not only before mankind but also before God."