Untitled (Figure with Hat/Figure with Jacket)Early to mid-20th century5 1/4 × 4 1/2"Soot and saliva on found board (double-sided)Gift of Dorothy Trapper Goldman2005.17.2a,b015456134062005.17.2James CastleDrawings© James Castle Collection and Archive LPGarden ValleyGarden ValleyUnited StatesIdahoWorks on PaperGarden ValleyJames Castle’s compositions, with their atmospheric imprint and subtle nuances of texture, seem to translate his particular experiences and capture of life in rural Idaho. Born deaf, also illiterate, he forged a unique visual vocabulary away from the influences of the art mainstream and conceived his own artistic tools and techniques. Instead of conventional art materials, he used the soot—dampened with his saliva—from the family stove on discarded envelopes and paper goods picked from the post office and general store that his parents managed from their residence. Over five decades, he created a prolific corpus of figurative works—portraits, farmlands, interior scenes—imagined and real. The divisive and elongated dark form placed in front of this work recalls a Brechtian method recurrently used by Castle, which reaffirms his presence as a conscious critical observer. Valérie Rousseau, exhibition label for Six Decades Collecting Self-Taught Art: Revealing a Diverse and Rich Artistic Narrative. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2019.The first American school to teach deaf students a codified language of signing was established in Connecticut in 1817. Before then, personal methods of communication were devised by families for use in their immediate circles. Although he was born in rural Idaho at the turn of the twentieth century, the deaf artist James Castle did not speak, sign, read, or write; he communicated with his family through his own system of hand gestures. That he was highly aware of his surroundings is evidenced by the many captivating drawings of landscapes, room interiors, and figures that he saw around him every day.
Castle had plentiful materials available, as his parents’ home served as the community’s post office and general store, but he preferred making his own supplies using matter from his environment that connected him directly to his artmaking. He used recycled paper and envelopes, made his own implements from sharpened sticks, devised pigment from stove soot mixed with saliva and colored tissue paper ground to a pulp, and made a flour paste for his collages. Through these raw materials, Castle documented his world, silent but closely observed.Stacy C. Hollander, "Untitled (Figure with Hat)," exhibition label for Jubilation|Rumination: Life, Real and Imagined. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2012.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. To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgDrawing2005.17.219001970 2005 17 2a b James Castle’s compositions, with their atmospheric imprint and subtle nuances of texture, seem to translate his particular experiences and capture of life in rural Idaho. Born deaf, also illiterate, he forged a unique visual vocabulary away from the influences of the art mainstream and conceived his own artistic tools and techniques. Instead of conventional art materials, he used the soot—dampened with his saliva—from the family stove on discarded envelopes and paper goods picked from the post office and general store that his parents managed from their residence. Over five decades, he created a prolific corpus of figurative works—portraits, farmlands, interior scenes—imagined and real. The divisive and elongated dark form placed in front of this work recalls a Brechtian method recurrently used by Castle, which reaffirms his presence as a conscious critical observer. Valérie Rousseau, exhibition label for Six Decades Collecting Self-Taught Art: Revealing a Diverse and Rich Artistic Narrative. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2019.The first American school to teach deaf students a codified language of signing was established in Connecticut in 1817. Before then, personal methods of communication were devised by families for use in their immediate circles. Although he was born in rural Idaho at the turn of the twentieth century, the deaf artist James Castle did not speak, sign, read, or write; he communicated with his family through his own system of hand gestures. That he was highly aware of his surroundings is evidenced by the many captivating drawings of landscapes, room interiors, and figures that he saw around him every day.
Castle had plentiful materials available, as his parents’ home served as the community’s post office and general store, but he preferred making his own supplies using matter from his environment that connected him directly to his artmaking. He used recycled paper and envelopes, made his own implements from sharpened sticks, devised pigment from stove soot mixed with saliva and colored tissue paper ground to a pulp, and made a flour paste for his collages. Through these raw materials, Castle documented his world, silent but closely observed.Stacy C. Hollander, "Untitled (Figure with Hat)," exhibition label for Jubilation|Rumination: Life, Real and Imagined. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2012.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. To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgDrawing