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Untitled (Handmade Book)
James Castle
Photo by Gavin Ashworth
Untitled (Handmade Book)
Untitled (Handmade Book)
James Castle
Photo by Gavin Ashworth
Untitled (Handmade Book) James Castle Photo by Gavin Ashworth
Record Details

Untitled (Handmade Book)

Artist ((1899–1977))
Date1920–1950
Place/RegionBoise, Idaho, United States
MediumSoot and saliva on found paper, bound with string
Dimensions12 × 10 3/16" (closed)
Credit LineGift of Thomas Isenberg
Accession number2001.32.1
Copyright© James Castle Collection and Archive LP
Description

James Castle’s deafness is somehow perceptible in the evanescent, smooth, and subtle surfaces of his compositions, leaving an apparent silence. Illiterate, he also never adopted conventional means of communication, neither titling, dating, or commenting on his artworks, foiling our attempts to establish a chronology and a comprehensive evolution in his practice. Firsthand accounts describe his focus and inventiveness when it came to conceiving his own artistic tools and techniques. He refused to use typical art materials when they were offered; he drew with soot—dampened with his saliva—from the family stove on discarded envelopes and other paper goods that he picked from the post office and general store his parents managed out of their residence in rural Idaho. Castle’s distance from the influences of established culture led him to treat aspects of society in isolation, rather than as part of an implicit structure. Developing his own unique communication system and visual vocabulary, he was thus able, especially in his handmade books, to expose the gap between sign and signified—we are shown scraps of words, rearranged letters, scribbles imitating text, linguistic clues. Therefore, he seems to express that a meaningful language is the product of conventions. The present album is made up of fourteen pages from recycled envelopes, showing original postmarks and return addresses. The sheets, sewn together with string, are cluttered with thumbnail sketches reminiscent in scale of postage stamps, illustrating small scenes of interiors, portraits, religious images, and family snapshots.

Valérie Rousseau, “Handmade Book,” exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information. 

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Untitled (Scene with Barn, Fence, and Trees)
James Castle
Photographed by Gavin Ashworth
James Castle
1931–1977
1998.10.15
Untitled (The Big Attic Interior)
James Castle
Photo by Gavin Ashworth
James Castle
1931–1950
2001.32.2
Untitled (Figure with Hat/Figure with Jacket)
James Castle, 1900-1977
Photographed by Gavin A…
James Castle
Early to mid-20th century
2005.17.2
James Castle, “Untitled (Farm House with Yard)”, Boise, Idaho, n.d., Soot and saliva on cardboa…
James Castle
n.d.
2021.7.1
Untitled (Jacket)
James Castle
Photographed by Gavin Ashworth
James Castle
1931–1977
2005.17.1A
Johannes Ernst Spangenberg (c. 1755–1814), “Religious Text for Jacob Schäfer”, Easton area, Nor…
Johannes Ernst Spangenberg
1785–1790
2019.1.1
James E. Conway, “Tattoo Design Book”, United States, c. 1895, Ink on paper in oiled buckram bi…
James E. Conway
c. 1895
2004.21.1
Untitled (Girl at Easel) (double-sided)
James Castle
Photographed by Gavin Ashworth
James Castle
Early to mid-20th century
2005.17.1B
Charlie ("Cedar Creek Charlie") Fields, “My House”, Cedar Creek, Virginia, 1950, Crayon on pape…
Charlie ("Cedar Creek Charlie") Fields
1950
1980.3.2
Henry Darger, “Untitled (Little girl with rolling pin)”,Chicago, Mid-twentieth century, Paper w…
Artist unidentified
Mid-20th century
2003.7.251
Large Lady in Beige Outfit
Steven Ashby
Photo by John Parnell
Steve Ashby
1977
1978.17.1