UNFILTERED VISIONS: Self-Taught Art at NOMA

Henry DargerAmerican, Illinois, 1892–1973Hurry It’ll Explode Any Minute Now (recto), There It Explodes. It Sounds Like a Volcanic Roar (verso), from The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What Is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion, ca. 1945–1965Pencil, watercolor, and collage on paperMuseum purchase, Lee Friedlander Fund, 2003.70

Henry Darger lived as a recluse in the same Chicago apartment for forty years, only interacting with others at his menial jobs and at Catholic Mass, which he attended sometimes four or five times a day. His life’s work as an artist did not become known until after his death, when his landlord discovered a narrative epic of war and peace he had begun some sixty years earlier: the 15,145-page, thirteen-volume illustrated story of the Vivian girls, along with numerous other drawings and writings.

Darger was a keen colorist, draftsman and collagist, and in this excerpt from his masterpiece he juxtaposed a verdant landscape with soft peach clouds, drew sensitive lines to define form, and affixed hand-drawn and commercially produced cut-outs for texture and depth. This lush landscape initially gives a sunny impression—pastel colors, an abundance of flowers and children playing—but becomes unsettling as playful interaction transforms into frightened expressions accompanied by hand-written text: “HURRY iT-LL EXPLODE ANY MiNUTE.” Looming danger surrounds the characters: the seven heroic Vivian girls, and the naked, often hermaphroditic child slaves they seek to free from the Glandelineans, an army of malevolent adults.

Explore the reverse side of this work on the iPad below. Trace the Vivian girls’s adventure through the explosion, and note the appearance of the Glandelinians, adult soldiers who terrorize the child slaves and the Vivian girls.This side (recto) of this painting will be on display until Sunday, June 12. The reverse side (verso) will be on display from Tuesday, June 14 through Sunday, October 9.

Clementine HunterAmerican, Louisiana, 1896/7–1988Melrose Plantation Quilt, ca. 1960Cotton fabric and paperGift of Ryan F. Robert, 80.159

Clementine Hunter’s quilt documents her life on Melrose Plantation in Natchitoches, Louisiana where the artist, never enslaved, worked with her family picking cotton and pecans. Each architectural structure designates an area of plantation life. Melrose Plantation House (top center) was the central family home where Hunter tended to the garden, and laundered and sewed clothing. Hunter worshipped in the church (beneath) and lived in the small house (center left). Appliqués of various shapes form the buildings, trees, and figure plowing.

In Melrose Plantation Quilt, there is no actual “quilting” or batting at all. Using remnants of cloth, Hunter arranged blocks of brightly colored fabric on a backing of repurposed commercial packing paper. A small, partially hidden mailing address remains: “1710 Valence St., New Orleans, LA 70115.”

Back view

David ButlerAmerican, Louisiana, 1898–1997Windmill with Elephants and Cowboys RidingHorses, 1975Paint on tin, wood, and plasticGift of the artist, 76.260

Inspired by visions from his dreams, which he said were directives from God, David Butler created an imaginative world of hand-cut whirligigs made from weathered roofing tin. With a modified axe head and hammer, Butler skillfully cut and flattened tin pieces into various shapes and fantastic figures. In Windmill with Elephants and Cowboys Riding Horses, a windmill rotates in front, complete with small wood and tin chairs that dangle as if on a Ferris wheel. Behind, silhouettes of cowboys and elephants sit among playful subjects painted in bold colors and loose geometric patterns. The composition is enhanced by found objects such as a plastic doll leg attached to the rudder in the back. Butler has created a moving fantasy.

William DawsonAmerican, Alabama, 1901–1990Picture of Josene, 1980Acrylic on paperThe Robert P. Gordy Collection, 88.117

Primarily a wood carver, Dawson made approximately 150 paintings similar to his sculptures in both theme and style. Dawson’s compositions sometimes feature human figures or animals dominated by their white eyes and teeth, which are surrounded by a strong, often black outline.

New Orleans artist Robert Gordy, the donor of this work, is one of many twentieth-century trained artists who were inspired by the raw expression of then little known self-taught artists.

Thornton DialAmerican, Alabama, 1928–2016Two Figures (Black and White), ca. 1988Acrylic on metal, tape Gift of Dr. Kurt Gitter and Alice Rae Yelen, 2009.115

“I can’t read and spell but I got a mind and I can speak with any man. I might say something in my art that somebody ain’t never heard before.” –Thornton Dial

A gentle, dignified, and deeply intuitive man, Thornton Dial lived through sixty years of changing race relations in Alabama before executing this sculpture. In Two Figures, Dial used his professional skills as a welder and experience as a housepainter to use found materials like metal, acrylic paint, and tape in this portrayal of an eye-to-eye confrontation between a black man and white man.

Thornton DialAmerican, Alabama, 1928–2016Keeping the Pigs from Rooting, 1988Paint, carpet, wood, epoxy, metalGift of Dr. Kurt Gitter and Alice Rae Yelen, 2011.66

This work of Dial’s shows the artist’s early interest in multi-dimensional works, his inventive use of materials at hand, and his layering of materials and meaning. In this work, the female form and pig are made of the painted underside of a rug, while the pig’s head protrudes from the irregular-shaped wood surface. A yellow metal object, an invention of Dial’s, is positioned in the hand of the woman and also seen in situ on the pig’s face in white paint. This device is meant to keep the animal from gathering his own food and wandering away from home. When it swings forward, the center rod reaches the ground, but the pig’s snout cannot reach it, keeping him dependent on his own trough. In the context of Dial’s symbolic world,

this might suggest the concerns of women keeping their men close to the hearth.

Thornton DialAmerican, Alabama, 1928–2016Stung by the Wasp and the Cross We Have to Bear, 1992Paint, carpet, wood, epoxy, metal, paint can lidsGift of William Arnett, 93.117

This work on canvas, which appears abstract, is dominated by an overlying knotted rope and a black-and-white male figure with a mask-like face. Composed of carpet, a destroyed pair of pants, burlap, and paint, the figure spreads his limbs to every quadrant of the composition. At the top right, a woman’s torso is crushed under the oppressive male, as she attempts to flee his outstretched hand. A tiger crowds the bottom of the work, his head aligned, perhaps symbolically, with the head of the woman. In Dial’s work, the tiger is a repeated image that represents strength, tenacity, and the survival instinct that he used to express the tragedies and triumphs of black life.

Dial created a chaotic feeling in this work through his staccato brushstrokes and circular movement that he achieved by occupying the negative space with found objects such as paint can lids and scraps of wood.

Sam DoyleAmerican, South Carolina, 1906–1985No More We Fear, 1982Paint on roof tinGift of Dr. Kurt Gitter and Alice Rae Yelen,2008.85

Doyle was raised in the Gullah community of St. Helena Island, off the coast of South Carolina. The Gullah culture and language, of which vestiges still exist today, was brought from West Africa via the slave trade. The text in this work is taken from an anti-slavery Christmas hymn written in 1863 for a St. Helena church, not long after Union Forces had freed the slaves there.

Doyle depicts the horrors of slavery using enamel house paint on recycled roofing tin. On the bottom left, an African-American slave driver blows a horn that was used to announce the lashing of a slave. Above the whip-wielding figures, a row of fluffy cotton suggests the fields where the slaves were forced to labor. Doyle displayed his art in his yard, which he referred to as the “Nationwide Outdoor Art Gallery.”

Baltimore Glassman (Paul Darmafall)American, Maryland, 1925–2003Valley Forge, ca. 1990Paint and Glass on MasoniteGift of Dr. Kurt Gitter and Alice Rae Yelen, 93.396

Using found broken glass scoured from his neighborhood streets, Paul Darmafall, known as the Baltimore Glassman, created art that reflected his patriotism and respect for the military, for which he served in World War II. In Valley Forge, a standing soldier who bears a hat, gun, and a symbolic aircraft is surrounded by busts of George Washington, text alluding to freedom of speech, and a Purple Heart medal of honor. The Glassman notes his interest in the Bible by citing the Book of Esther as well as his belief in self-sufficiency, the “Fresh Air Cure,” and the evils of electricity and air conditioning. The Glassman made the outdoors his studio and often hung his finished works to trees or fences for passersby to see.

William HawkinsAmerican, Ohio, born Kentucky, 1895–1990Last Supper No. 9, 1987Enamel paint and collage on masoniteGift of Dr. Kurt Gitter and Alice Rae Yelen, 2011.59

After finding a copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper featuring African-American apostles, Hawkins re-imagined the iconic image himself. He said, “I don’t copy what I see, I make it better.”

Hawkins playfully assigned the central figure, Jesus Christ, the visage of musician Stevie Wonder. The eleven disengaged apostles are depicted through a motley collection of fashion magazine portraits, cartoons, and painterly abstraction. Their “sacred” supper consists of common American fare, some humorously still bearing the magazine captions of “stuffed cabbage,” “linguini with sauce,” and “spaghetti.” Perhaps he references the significance of the original image through his use of silver paint and the “gilded” frame of painted arabesque patterns.

Although Hawkins spent his adult life in Columbus, Ohio, he never forgot his Kentucky roots, recorded by his signature on the bottom of the composition.

Gustav KlumppAmerican, New York, born Germany, 1902–1980

Reclining Female Nude, n.d.Oil on CanvasGift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 92.971

Klumpp immigrated to New York City in 1921, where he worked in the printing industry. His artwork gained a wider exposure post-retirement when New York Times art critic John Canaday selected it for a review as part of the exhibition Art of the Elders of Brooklyn at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in 1970. Using traditional materials, Klumpp delighted in painting the classical theme of the female nude.

Connoisseurs and collectors who champion self-taught art have played a critical role in the development of the field by increasing the visibility of these artists and their work. Herbert Hemphill, a founding trustee of the American Folk Art Museum and the donor of this work, was one such collector who recognized NOMA’s early commitment to self-taught art.

Charlie LucasAmerican, Alabama, born 1951Man with Lantern, ca. 1987–1988Assembled metal objectsGift of Kurt A. Gitter, MD and Alice Rae Yelen, 2010.224

A head made of welded car parts with jagged facial features bears the marks and discoloration of a blowtorch. Car pipes transform into arms and legs that are soldered onto a rusted gas tank torso. This “tin man”—a nickname Lucas also gave to himself—grasps a skeletal lantern and stands on a car tire rim.

Lucas drew his greatest inspiration from his great-grandfather, a blacksmith. Deeply spiritual, Lucas likened his early art-making to “recycling” himself: “You can take the scrap from the bottom of the heap and breathe new life into it.” He likened the rust and decay of this metal creation to the bumps and bruises of his own life.

Joe LightAmerican, Tennessee, 1934–2005

Flower Garden, n.d.Acrylic on masoniteGift of Kurt A. Gitter, MD and Alice Rae Yelen, 92.456

While serving eight years in a Nashville penitentiary, Joe Light transformed himself and converted to Judaism. Less than a decade later, he started painting lively works that expressed his personal philosophies and addressed racial issues, sometimes accompanied by text espousing morality.

This simple landscape, comprised of colorful outlined forms, represents nature’s vast and irrepressible potential. Flowers that may symbolize the female form and motherhood (he had ten children) contrast the tall imposing flower symbol of the male and the artist’s interest in humankind.

Sister Gertrude MorganAmerican, Louisiana, born Alabama, 1900–1980Charity Hospital Fan, ca. 1960–1970Acrylic, graphite and ink on cardboardMuseum purchase, Lee Friedlander Fund, 2004.1

A gifted painter and poet, Sister Gertrude Morgan passed out her hand-constructed and painted fans during her prayer sessions in her Everlasting Mission. This fan depicts Sister Gertrude with her savior Jesus Christ in an airplane bound for the New Jerusalem. Sister Gertrude, who often painted herself into her imagery, dressed in white as Christ’s bride, said, “He [Christ] have taken me out of the black robe and crowned me out in white. We are now in revelation. He married me, I’m his wife.”Sister Gertrude probably received treatment at Charity Hospital, which cared for New Orleans’s indigent sick. The phone number cited here was that of the hospital during her lifetime.

Sister Gertrude MorganAmerican, Louisiana, born Alabama, 1900–1980Seven Last Plagues, ca. 1970Acrylic and/or tempera on weathered wood doorGift of Preservation Hall in memory of Allan Jaffe, 2004.313

Sister Gertrude Morgan was a missionary and artist who preached her gospel through lively painting and music. She had a series of powerful revelations, the first at the age of 28, that inspired her to leave her husband and begin a life of preaching. She moved to New Orleans from her native Alabama in 1939 and established a mission in the Gentilly neighborhood, where she held vibrant revivals.

Sister Gertrude incorporated text into her paintings—often biblical passages from the book of Revelation—and illustrated each phrase from the passage. Painted on a weathered plank door, Seven Last Plagues includes a citation from Revelations 15:1 interspersed with interracial angels dressed in white. The combination of vibrant images, visual references and biblical passages is central to all of Sister Gertrude’s work.

Ike MorganAmerican, Texas, born 1958Portrait of George Washington, ca. 1990Ink and pastel on paperMuseum purchase, Robert P. Gordy Fund, 97.4

Known for his series of presidents, Ike Morgan rendered George Washington in large blocks of pastel colors, incorporating the white of the paper as the President’s white hair and ruffled shirt, and detailed with lines from continuous pen strokes. A skilled draftsman, Morgan’s works are inspired from photographs of presidents and pop culture figures to which he adds intensity and depth.

Diagnosed as chronic schizophrenic at age nineteen following the murder of his grandmother, Morgan spent seventeen years at the Austin State Hospital, where he began painting his own “personal visions.” Currently stable, he has reentered society and lives independently in a state run apartment complex where he continues to be nurtured by his obsessive art-making.

James (J.P.) ScottAmerican, Louisiana, 1922–2003Shrimp Boat, n.d.Paint, wood, plastic, linoleum, vinyl, metal,net/fiberGift of Dr. Kurt Gitter and Alice Rae Yelen, 92.464

Scott, who lived and worked in the small waterways of Louisiana’s bayou country, constructed this model shrimp boat from objects salvaged from trash heaps near his home in Lafitte, Louisiana. He meticulously crafted the hull from wood and metal, adding empty plastic tape rolls as hanging buoys. The above-deck captain’s quarters are complete with plastic window panes and topped with a fog horn made from the upper portion of a Gatorade bottle; the linoleum-sealed deck features vinyl covered ice and fish storage

areas. The green string rigging suspends pieces of real shrimp nets and a fishing apparatus. Once completed, Scott placed his boats outside on display for passers-by to see, and would not sell them until he considered them finished.

Herbert SingletonAmerican, Louisiana, 1945–2007God Garden, n.d.Paint on solid wood doorGift of Robert A. Roth, in honor of E. John Bullard, 2012.51

A master carver, Singleton incised these door panels with renderings of Adam and Eve’s creation, temptation, and expulsion from the Garden of Eden. A tree of knowledge bearing apples forms a cross between the four panels. Sinuous black snakes frame the scenes, bringing attention to the biblical lesson that malevolent temptation is omnipresent and encompassing.

Singleton understood the constant allure of temptation. He lived in the Algiers area of New Orleans amidst a culture of drug use and violence, and spent at least thirteen years in and out of Louisiana State Penitentiary. Expressing man’s responsibility for himself, Singleton, not a church-going man, said, “No matter if you are going to a preacher, a priest, a psychiatrist, a witch doctor, or a voodoo queen, you’re only getting confidence by proxy. Can’t nobody solve the problem but the person himself.”

Jimmy Lee SudduthAmerican, Alabama, 1910–2007Man and Tractor, n.d.Mud and paint on plywoodGift of Dr. Kurt M. Gitter and Alice Rae Yelen, 2011.63

“I paint with my finger cause that brush don’t wear out…When I die, the brush dies.” –Jimmy Lee Sudduth

Rarely utilizing canvas, paints or brushes, he predominantly painted with his fingers on plywood with clay, mud, sand, soot, or natural kaolin, finding most of his materials within walking distance of his home. Boasting thirty-six colors of mud sourced directly from the rich Alabama clay, Sudduth used sugar to bind the mud, coffee to lighten the color and charcoal to darken it. These combinations created a unique material that gives a textural quality to his work.

Never compromising his technique, when art dealers asked him to use paint, he continued to mix mud with it, as seen in these tractor wheels. Sudduth creates a subtle range of colors that makes it difficult to differentiate between where the applied mud stops and the wood ground begins.

Purvis YoungAmerican, Florida, 1943–2010Angels over the City, 1989Acrylic on fabric and woodGift of Friends of Contemporary Art, 92.509

Like the angels that watch over the decaying city, Young said,“Sometimes I cry when I see what happens to people.”

Young walked and biked daily through his Overtown neighborhood in Miami, where he also gleaned his imagery, inspiration and discarded materials. “The street is life,” Young said. A spiritual man, he transformed landscapes of sorrow into visions of hope. Here the angels—Young’s recurring symbol for good—are placed in close proximity to the self-destructive city, suggesting the artist’s sustained optimism amidst human strife.

This painting’s unconventional “frame” is a construction of diverse wooden parts attached to the borders of the work. The frame serves as a continued pictorial surface for Young’s quick, gestural brushstrokes.