Nearly one hundred years ago, artists鈥痺ithout formal training 鈥渃rashed the gates鈥 of the elite art world, as their paintings听of American life and fantastical scenes derived from their imaginations began appearing in major museums. This talk draws upon听Gatecrashers: The Rise of The Self-Taught Artist in America听published in 2020 by the University of California Press and adapted into an exhibition on view now at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta.听听
Both projects privilege the work of John Kane, Horace Pippin and Anna Mary Robertson 鈥淕randma鈥 Moses who were听the most celebrated artists during this first wave of mainstream art world interest. This period lasted from roughly 1927, when Kane succeeded in placing a work in the highly competitive Carnegie International, to 1950, when attention to Moses鈥檚 work abroad infuriated critics at home. The exhibition also delves into the work of more than a dozen of their peers, including Josephine Joy, the first woman painter to have a solo exhibition at New York鈥檚 Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and Morris听Hirshfield, whose own 1943 MoMA exhibition contributed to the schism that would isolate self-taught artists from the narratives of modernism of which they were once a part.听听
听Both the exhibition and the book demonstrate how the rise of the self-taught artist in America tracked with听larger social and cultural forces, including the longstanding search for听uniquely American creative excellence; the enthusiasm for working-class artists nurtured by Great Depression-era populism; and the negotiation of national identity in an era when anti-immigration and segregationist sentiment challenged who could be presented as representatively American.听听
While some of culturally nationalist and primitivist discourses that sustained the success of this first generation of听gatecrashers听have been critically undermined and听deserted long ago, the vital role that self-taught artists play in diversifying the American art canon continues today.听Jentleson听will conclude her talk with remarks on how the reception of self-taught artists has changed dramatically since the interwar period while also maintaining some elements of its original character.听听
Katherine听Jentleson, PhD, is the Merrie and Dan Boone Curator of Folk and Self- Taught Art at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta. Her most recent exhibitions,听Gatecrashers: The Rise of the Self-Taught Artist in America听and听Really Free: The Radical Art of Nellie Mae Rowe听open to the public in Atlanta in Fall 2021 and will travel nationally.听Dr.听Jentleson听is the recipient of awards and fellowships from Duke University, where she earned her doctorate in Art History, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Archives of American Art, and the Dedalus Foundation. Since joining the High, she has overseen half a dozen exhibitions and grown the collection by more than five hundred objects, including major acquisitions of work by Thornton Dial, Lonnie Holley, the Gee鈥檚 Bend quilters, and Henry Church, many of which debuted in the newly expanded and thematically integrated Folk and Self-Taught Art galleries as part of the Museum鈥檚 2018 reinstallation.听听
Organised by Professor David Peters Corbett (The 天美传媒) and Dr Tom Day (The 天美传媒).听
