James Charles Castle
Encyclopedia
James Charles Castle (September 25, 1899 – 1977) was an American artist born in Garden Valley, Idaho
. Although Castle did not know about the art world outside of his small community, his work ran parallel to the development of 20th Century art history. His works have been collected by major institutions. The Philadelphia Museum of Art organized a retrospective of Castle's work which toured nationally in 2008 and 2009. Castle's work entered the international arena with a major exhibition in Madrid, Spain at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in 2011.
Garden Valley, Idaho
Garden Valley is an unincorporated census-designated place in Boise County, Idaho, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 394. The mountain setting and recreation opportunities attract visitors from the Boise area. The life here in early American history, however, was harsh. ...
. Although Castle did not know about the art world outside of his small community, his work ran parallel to the development of 20th Century art history. His works have been collected by major institutions. The Philadelphia Museum of Art organized a retrospective of Castle's work which toured nationally in 2008 and 2009. Castle's work entered the international arena with a major exhibition in Madrid, Spain at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in 2011.
Biography
Castle was a self-taught artist who created drawings, assemblage and books throughout his lifetime. Castle was born profoundly deaf and it is not known to what extent he could read, write, or use sign language. Castle's artworks were created almost exclusively with found materials such as papers salvaged from common packaging and mail, in addition to food containers of all types. Castle mixed ink using soot from the woodstove and saliva and applied it with tools of his own making, including sharpened sticks, and other found objects. His drawings sensitively depict interiors, buildings, animals, and people based on his family's rural Garden Valley homestead as well as the architecture and landscapes of the places he lived and visited.Books and Articles
- James Castle, Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne, Germany (2011)
- James Castle: Show and Store, Edited by Lynne Cooke, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid (2011)
- James Castle, The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, Ireland (2010)
- James Castle: A Retrospective, Edited by Ann Percy, Yale University Press (2009)
- James Castle: A Retrospective, by Lynne Cooke, Artforum (December 2009) 168-171.
- Touched into Being by Stephen Westfall, Art in America, New York, (June 2001) 5-16.
- American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum, by Stacy C. Hollander and Brooke Davis Anderson, American Folk Art Museum in association with Henry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, (2001)
- Twentieth Century American Folk Art and Artists, by Herbert W. Hemphill, Jr. and Julia Weissman, E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., New York (1974) 170.
External links
- http://www.philamuseum.org/exhibitions/328.html?page=2 Philadelphia Museum of ArtPhiladelphia Museum of ArtThe Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States. It is located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. The Museum was established in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year...
- gallery and trailer for James Castle: Portrait of an Artist by Foundation for Self-Taught American Artists http://www.foundationstaart.org/default.aspx
- Art Institute of ChicagoArt Institute of ChicagoThe School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
, IL - Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film ArchiveBerkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film ArchiveThe Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive is associated with the University of California at Berkeley. The director is Lawrence Rinder who was appointed in 2008.-Collection:...
, CA - Boise Art Museum, ID
- Columbus Museum of ArtColumbus Museum of ArtThe Columbus Museum of Art is an art museum located in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Formed in 1878 as the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, it was the first art museum to register its charter with the state of Ohio.-Building:...
, OH - Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University, Salem OR
- Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle
- High Museum of ArtHigh Museum of ArtThe High Museum of Art , located in Atlanta, is the leading art museum in the Southeastern United States and one of the most-visited art museums in the world. Located on Peachtree Street in Midtown, the city's arts district, the High is a division of the Woodruff Arts Center.-History:The Museum was...
, Atlanta, GA - Mennello Museum of American Art, Orlando, FL
- Milwaukee Art MuseumMilwaukee Art MuseumThe Milwaukee Art Museum is located on Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Beginning around 1872, multiple organizations were founded in order to bring an art gallery to Milwaukee, as the city was still a growing port town with little or no facilities to hold major art exhibitions...
, WI - Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina SofíaMuseo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina SofíaThe Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía is the official name of Spain's national museum of 20th century art . The museum was officially inaugurated on September 10, 1992 and is named for Queen Sofia of Spain...
, Madrid, Spain - Museum of American Folk Art, New York, NY
- Museum of Modern ArtMuseum of Modern ArtThe Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, New York, NY - National Gallery of ArtNational Gallery of ArtThe National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
, Washington D.C. - Philadelphia Museum of ArtPhiladelphia Museum of ArtThe Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States. It is located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. The Museum was established in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year...
, PA - Portland Art Museum/The Vivian and Gordon Gilkey Center for Graphic Arts, OR
- Tacoma Art Museum, WA
- The New York Public Library, NY
- Whitney Museum of American ArtWhitney Museum of American ArtThe Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
, NY
Sources
- James Castle Collection and Archivehttp://www.facebook.com/pages/James-Castle/352777183117
- James Castle: A Retrospective, Edited by Ann Percy, Yale University Press (2009)
- James Castle: Show and Store, Edited by Lynne Cook, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (2011)
- Robert StorrRobert Storr-Education:Robert Storr received his B.A. in History and French from Swarthmore College in 1972, and earned an M.F.A. in Art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1978.-Career:...
- Lynne CookeLynne CookeLynne Cooke is the curator at large for the Dia Art Foundation in New York, and chief curator at the Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain. Born in Geelong, Australia, Ms. Cooke received a B.A. from Melbourne University and an M.A. and Ph.D...
- Stephen WestfallStephen WestfallStephen Westfall is an American painter, critic, and professor at Bard College.He graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a B.A. and M.F.A...
- Terry WintersTerry WintersTerry Winters is an American painter whose work reintroduced figuration into painting in way that was consonant with the Modernist legacy...
- Zoe Leonard