Untitled #14A1950–200316 × 21"India ink on graph paperGift of the artist2005.18.301545733421Eugene AndolsekDrawingsCopyright for this work is under review. CrabtreeCrabtreeUnited StatesPennsylvaniaWorks on PaperCrabtreeEugene Andolsek created thousands of ink drawings over the course of fifty years, rarely showing them to anyone and certain that they were not very interesting. Andolsek worked for the Rock Island Railroad as a clerical assistant and for the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. He started drawing in 1950 after he saw an ink work at an art show. Perhaps as a means to cope with what are not uncommon challenges in life, Andolsek started a ritual of nightly drawing sessions at the kitchen table of his mother’s home. Using a straightedge and a compass, he would begin to compose the forms in his drawing. The black outlines—what he calls the “designs”—are applied first and the coloring happens later. The artist described his process as methodical and orderly, but also trancelike in that the drawings just “came out” of him. He sometimes did not even remember putting stylus to paper. His recollection of “waking up sometimes and a drawing was there and I didn’t even know how it got there” points to the transcendent, meditative quality that the process of artmaking can lend to a maker.
In Andolsek’s case, drawing helped him cope with an otherwise uncertain and tentative existence. As a young man and into his middle age, the artist remained anxious about job security and overcome by the demands of caring for his mother. Even though he worked for stable organizations he always expected to be handed a pink slip. However, he never was fired from any job.drawing
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.orgWORKS ON PAPER19502003 2005 18 3 Eugene Andolsek created thousands of ink drawings over the course of fifty years, rarely showing them to anyone and certain that they were not very interesting. Andolsek worked for the Rock Island Railroad as a clerical assistant and for the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. He started drawing in 1950 after he saw an ink work at an art show. Perhaps as a means to cope with what are not uncommon challenges in life, Andolsek started a ritual of nightly drawing sessions at the kitchen table of his mother’s home. Using a straightedge and a compass, he would begin to compose the forms in his drawing. The black outlines—what he calls the “designs”—are applied first and the coloring happens later. The artist described his process as methodical and orderly, but also trancelike in that the drawings just “came out” of him. He sometimes did not even remember putting stylus to paper. His recollection of “waking up sometimes and a drawing was there and I didn’t even know how it got there” points to the transcendent, meditative quality that the process of artmaking can lend to a maker.
In Andolsek’s case, drawing helped him cope with an otherwise uncertain and tentative existence. As a young man and into his middle age, the artist remained anxious about job security and overcome by the demands of caring for his mother. Even though he worked for stable organizations he always expected to be handed a pink slip. However, he never was fired from any job.drawing
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.orgWORKS ON PAPER