Untitled

James Castle, Untitled, ca. 1931-1977, found paper and soot, 9 1810 14 in. (23.226.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James Castle Collection and Archive and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2013.27.27

Artwork Details

Title
Untitled
Artist
Date
ca. 1931-1977
Dimensions
9 1810 14 in. (23.226.0 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the James Castle Collection and Archive and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums Description
found paper and soot
Classifications
Object Number
2013.27.27

Artwork Description

James Castle used drawing and collage to speak his mind. Although he was best known for drawings of the Idaho landscape, Castle's creative investigations of letters, numbers, and punctuation marks are among his most intriguing.

For Castle, spoken and written language presented realms beyond reach. The artist was deaf from birth and, despite some schooling, never became fluent in alternative communications such as lipreading, signing, reading, or writing. Over many decades, Castle made unique arrangements and booklets that stabbed at deciphering texts from the world around him: communiques that prompted conversation for others, but remained, for him, impenetrable.

Although Castle's quest to unlock the secrets of the written word did not prevail, his artworks reveal, uniquely and powerfully, a decoder's approach to understanding the world and the artist's lifelong pursuit of human connection.

Works by this artist (61 items)

James Castle, Untitled, ca. 1952, found paper, soot, and color of unknown origin, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James Castle Collection and Archive and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2013.27.47
Untitled
Dateca. 1952
found paper, soot, and color of unknown origin
On view
James Castle, Untitled, ca. 1931-1977, found paper and soot, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James Castle Collection and Archive and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment

, 2013.27.30
Untitled
Dateca. 1931-1977
found paper and soot
On view
James Castle, Untitled, ca. 1931-1977, found paper and soot, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James Castle Collection and Archive and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2013.27.27
Untitled
Dateca. 1931-1977
found paper and soot
On view
James Castle, Untitled, ca. 1931-1977, found paper and soot, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James Castle Collection and Archive and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2013.27.29
Untitled
Dateca. 1931-1977
found paper and soot
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

Sam Gilliam, Campus Center View, 1967-1977, painted fiber and paper, wood, stone, fabric, and plastic assembled on wood base in plexiglass case, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, Art-in-Architecture Program, 1979.159.42
Campus Center View
Date1967-1977
painted fiber and paper, wood, stone, fabric, and plastic assembled on wood base in plexiglass case
Not on view
Robert Irwin, Untitled, 1980, mixed media: fiberboard, paper, plastic and fabric, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, 1980.49.6
Untitled
Date1980
mixed media: fiberboard, paper, plastic and fabric
Not on view
Rosemarie Castoro, Hexatryst, 1979, mixed media: fiberglass, plastic, copper, suede and paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, 1980.49.4
Hexatryst
Date1979
mixed media: fiberglass, plastic, copper, suede and paper
Not on view
Caroline Greenwald, Suspended Monument--Alden Rogers Whitman, 1980, hand-made paper, abaca paper pulp, amate and flax. raw silk, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Container Corporation of America, 1984.124.110
Suspended Monument – Alden Rogers Whitman
Date1980
hand-made paper, abaca paper pulp, amate and flax. raw silk
Not on view