Artist:

James Castle, born Garden Valley, ID 1899-died Boise, ID 1977  Search this

Medium:

color of unknown origin and soot on found paper

Dimensions:

4 3/4 × 4 3/4 in. (12.1 × 12.1 cm)

Type:

Drawing

Folk Art

Date:

ca. 1931-1977

Exhibition Label:

Castle’s favored painting media was wood soot, which created a soft black pigment when diluted. He gathered mail and printed ephemera and used these materials in various ways. Sometimes the text, illustrations, or photographs inspired Castle to make closely related images, and at times he painted directly on cast-off envelopes or fragments of commercial cartons. When Castle obtained colorful printed materials or bits of crepe paper, he leeched their dyes by saturating them in water, extracting his own water-based paints. He roughed up the surfaces he worked on so they would better absorb the diluted colors.

(We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection, 2022)

Topic:

Figure group\female  Search this

Dress\accessory\coat  Search this

Credit Line:

Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson

Object number:

2016.38.16

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

See more items in:

Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection

Department:

Graphic Arts

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk79517eb91-f635-4c11-a6a5-a9a64b2ff087

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:saam_2016.38.16