The Saw and the Scroll

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: Jesse Howard
Date: 1977-1978
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum
/
3rd Floor
/
East Wing
Dimensions: overall: 39 ³⁄₄ x 71 x 1 ¹⁄₂ in. (101.0 x 180.3 x 3.8 cm.)
Credit Line: Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums: acrylic
crayon
Mediums Description: acrylic and crayon on canvas and wood; acrylic on metal and wood
Classifications: Painting
Subjects: Religion — Christianity
Religion — Old Testament — Tower of Babel
Religion — Old Testament — Genesis
Object — written matter
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, Missouri, 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.