The Saw and the Scroll

Media - 1997.124.26A-B - SAAM-1997.124.26A-B_1 - 67473
Copied Jesse Howard, The Saw and the Scroll, 1977-1978, acrylic and crayon on canvas and wood; acrylic on metal and wood, overall: 39 3⁄4 x 71 x 1 1⁄2 in. (101.0 x 180.3 x 3.8 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1997.124.26A-B

Artwork Details

Title
The Saw and the Scroll
Artist
Date
1977-1978
Location
Dimensions
overall: 39 3⁄4 x 71 x 1 1⁄2 in. (101.0 x 180.3 x 3.8 cm.)
Markings
a: upper left to upper right in crayon: FULTON·MO·JAN·20·1978·FREE THOUGHT "FREE SPEECH·" AND JESSE HOWARD/IS MY·NAME·QUOTE... b: upper left to upper right in crayon: FULTON·MO·DECEMBER·14·1977·FREE THOUGHT·AND FREE SPEE SPEECH (sic)·AND JESSE HOWARD· IS MY NAME·/...
Credit Line
Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums
Mediums Description
acrylic and crayon on canvas and wood; acrylic on metal and wood
Classifications
Object Number
1997.124.26A-B
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1997.124.26A-B

Artwork Description

Much like the ferocious teeth of the two-man tree saw anchoring The Scroll and the Saw, Jesse Howard's words had bite. Howard made his opinions clear, no matter how incendiary. He became known for populating his farm in Fulton, Mississippi, with hand-lettered signs and painted objects emblazoned with his visually shouted views on politics, faith, unethical businessmen, government corruption, the threat of communism, and various people who had done him wrong.

Howard's own community largely failed to appreciate his provocative project. But by painting his cantankerous views as pictures, he captured far more attention than he might have by writing alone. Howard spent the last fifteen years of his life touring an international array of visitors around the word-saturated world on the farm he called Sorehead Hill, a place where his arguments were art.?