Celebration196521 7/8 × 31 7/8"Oil pastel on laid paperGift of Timothy and Pamela Hill1981.20.10
1532271592Eddie ArningDrawingsCopyright for this work is under review.AustinAustinUnited StatesTexasPaintingsAustinCarl Wilhelm Edward Arning was born in 1898, in Germania, Texas, and left school after six years to work on his father’s farm. In his late 20s, he began to experience symptoms of mental illness; in 1928, after several violent episodes, he was committed to a state hospital in Austin, where he remained until furloughed to a nursing home in 1964 after his symptoms had disappeared. Encouraged by an art teacher at the home, Arning began to draw. His career was further nurtured by a group of collectors who provided materials and friendship. He enjoyed ten productive years, during which he made more than two thousand drawings. In 1973, after leaving the home to live with his sister, Arning ceased working.Arning’s primary medium was an oil pastel manufactured by the Japanese company Cray-Pas that was developed during the 1920s to encourage unhampered creativity in Japanese children after a period of cultural upheaval. For the first time, Japanese children were urged to engage in free-form drawing rather than copying, but no appropriate material was available to facilitate this goal. The artist Yamamoto joined forces with two private school owners in Tokyo, and together they formulated Cray-Pas, Cray meaning ease of application and Pas referring to the saturated color in dry pastels that they sought in their own product.19651965 1981 20 1 Carl Wilhelm Edward Arning was born in 1898, in Germania, Texas, and left school after six years to work on his father’s farm. In his late 20s, he began to experience symptoms of mental illness; in 1928, after several violent episodes, he was committed to a state hospital in Austin, where he remained until furloughed to a nursing home in 1964 after his symptoms had disappeared. Encouraged by an art teacher at the home, Arning began to draw. His career was further nurtured by a group of collectors who provided materials and friendship. He enjoyed ten productive years, during which he made more than two thousand drawings. In 1973, after leaving the home to live with his sister, Arning ceased working.Arning’s primary medium was an oil pastel manufactured by the Japanese company Cray-Pas that was developed during the 1920s to encourage unhampered creativity in Japanese children after a period of cultural upheaval. For the first time, Japanese children were urged to engage in free-form drawing rather than copying, but no appropriate material was available to facilitate this goal. The artist Yamamoto joined forces with two private school owners in Tokyo, and together they formulated Cray-Pas, Cray meaning ease of application and Pas referring to the saturated color in dry pastels that they sought in their own product.