Earle T. Merchant (1903-1997) was a self-taught artist from Gloucester, MA. He graduted from Boston University Law School and practiced law for over 40 years. In the early 1960's he began portrait painting, capturing hundreds of local residents from the community. He became an important figure in the Rockport Art Association, often monitore classes and organized life sketch groups. Merchant meticulously labeled the back of his work with the sitter's name , date, and often age. Over the years, Jim Messineo collected dozens of works by Merchant. Pulp has consigned 40 works from Jim to debut at the Outsider Art Fair , March 19-22. Most are oil paitings , 16" x 12" on panel, and cover the period from 1961 - 1971. Merchant's work is naive in style, but sophisticated in what is captured. It is easy to begin to imagine the complexity and essence of the sitters.