Untitled

James Castle, Untitled, ca. 1931-1977, found paper and soot, 10 346 34 in. (27.317.1 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, 2013.27.14

Artwork Details

Title
Untitled
Artist
Date
ca. 1931-1977
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
10 346 34 in. (27.317.1 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
Subjects
  • Figure male — full length
  • Figure female — full length
Object Number
2013.27.14

Artwork Description

Idaho native James Castle recorded personal views of his home ground between roughly 1910 and 1970. His drawings, predominantly done with a homemade soot-based ink on found paper and cardboard, depict farm scenes and the surrounding countryside with a remarkable stillness. Castle also constructed small objects--doll-like figures, birds, and other household items--using sewn-together cardboard. Castle lived with family his entire life, but deafness and an inability to communicate with writing or signing fated him to a lifetime of silent introspection and observation. Castle's art was his personal language, and his paper sculptures, perspectival views of his surrounding landscape, and depictions of himself making art, speak volumes about a self-defined realm.

Works by this artist (6 items)

George L. K. Morris, Taurus, 1965, marble, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Stanley and Eleanor Zuckerman, 1991.174
Taurus
Date1965
marble
On view
George L. K. Morris, Ascending Space, 1946, gilded bronze on stone base, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1978.29, © 1978, Frelinghuysen Morris Foundation
Ascending Space
Date1946
gilded bronze on stone base
Not on view
George L. K. Morris, Untitled, from the portfolio American Abstract Artists, 1937, offset lithograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Patricia and Phillip Frost, 1986.92.114.22
Untitled, from the portfolio American Abstract Artists
Date1937
offset lithograph on paper
Not on view
George L. K. Morris, Santo Spirito No. 2, 1951-1955, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Otto L. Spaeth, 1978.33, © 1978, Frelinghuysen Morris Foundation
Santo Spirito No. 2
Date1951-1955
oil on canvas
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled, 1982, oil stick and waxed crayon on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Sam Rose and Julie Walters, 2018.16
Untitled
Date1982
oil stick and waxed crayon on paper
Not on view
Jeff Donaldson, Victory in Zimbabwe, 1980, mixed media on cardboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum Purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2019.1, © 2018, Estate of Jeff Donaldson
Victory in Zimbabwe
Date1980
mixed media on cardboard
Not on view
"Prophet" Royal Robertson, Space Gun Drawing, n.d., pencil, marker, paint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1998.84.30
Space Gun Drawing
Daten.d.
pencil, marker, paint on paper
Not on view
Joseph Cornell, Untitled (Rorschach drawing), n.d., drawing, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, 1991.155.408
Untitled (Rorschach drawing)
Daten.d.
drawing
Not on view