Pair of Anonymous 19th Century Drawings collection Jim Linderman

Pair of Anonymous 19th Century Drawings collection Jim Linderman

Israel Litwak Mountaindale, NY 1938. Self-Taught "Primitive" art Outsider Collection Jim Linderman

Israel Litwak Mountaindale, NY 1938. Self-Taught "Primitive" art Outsider Collection Jim Linderman Another work by Litwak is shown in a post from a few weeks ago. Scroll Down!

Albert Freeman Pair of Folk Art Portraits c. 1940 Collection Jim Linderman Outsider Art

Albert Freeman is another artist we might not ever know much about. I believe his work was discovered by Robert Cargo, long time collector, dealer and advocate of southern 20th century American folk art. I was recently pleased to find he had donated significant portions of his collection (particularly a wonderful collection of African-American quilts) to the Birmingham Museum of Art. While not illustrated, they acquired a dozen or so Freeman works. I find several good examples of his work online. Most are portraits like the pair above, although a small painting of a lion is illustrated in the outsider art chapter of Wendy Lavitt's Animals in American Folk Art in 1990. All were done on scrap paper and found cardboard. Mr. Freeman was active from 1940 to 1950. Untltled (Man and Woman(pair of portraits) circa 1940. Collection Jim Linderman

Self Taught Primitive Painter Israel Litwak 1867 - 1952 Vase with Flowers collection Jim Linderman

Israel Litwak was born in Russia and immigrated to Brooklyn in 1903. After his long career as a cabinet maker, he began producing lively and unique drawings and paintings which he shared with the Brooklyn Museum. They gave him a one man show! He was included in the seminal book They Taught Themselves: American Primitive Painters of the 20th Century. See a similar work (without peeping gentlemen) in the Brooklyn Museum collection HERE ISRAEL LITWAK UNTITLED (VASE WITH FLOWERS) 17 X 20 1940. COLLECTION JIM LINDERMAN / DULL TOOL DIM BULB

Sylvia Roberti "Birds in a Border" Outsider Art collection Jim Linderman

Sylvia Roberti was from near Chicago and her drawings were created in the 1960s and 1970s. About all that is known comes from the information she diligently provided on the reverse of each work. It isn't unusual for outsider artists to boast of their accomplishments. Also common is her technique of "framing" her work through a decorative border. In her series of bird drawings, some are so contained within her frame that they seem walled in! "Cereal Box" cardboard cut and glued together. "Bird and design creative original by Sylvia Roberti Artist Italian descent. Water color+perm+ in crayon on pencil color. Free lance pen + ink" Two works by Sylvia Roberti, 1969, 1971. Collection Jim Linderman

Outsider art Folk art Baseball Greats Collection Jim Linderman

Five baseball star outsider art portraits by a woman (a Braves fan!) created in the late 1950s. The amateur artist surrounds each with colorful misshapen borders. Rocky Colavito of the Cleveland Indians, Jackie Jensen of the Boston Red Sox. Roger Maris,then of the Kansas City Athletics, Don Drysdale from the Los Angeles Angels and finally, the great Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs. The pieces were obtained by an auction house back in the 1970s. Apparently there were less than ten pieces at the time. Five drawings on lined paper, mounted on Manilla. Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb ORDER JIM LINDERMAN ART and PHOTOGRAPHY BOOKS from BLURB

Lisa Z. Sigel The People's Porn: A History of Handmade Pornography in America Book Review

Lisa Sigel is an audacious scholar. Her field of study is old as the species, but still appears to scare the pants off academia. None of us would be here if it weren't for sexual activity and that makes it one of the most important areas for study, yet Sigel's afterword details a harrowing pattern of denied fellowships, grant rejections and any interest at all from cultural institutions. Their eyes are closed. 

 The author writes that "there are no big grants or prizes for the study of pornography. Foundations, ever since the year of the Mapplethorpe (1990) do not fund general scholarship on pornography or erotica and most institutions will be penalized with cuts in federal funding if they inadvertently discuss erotic objects." Meanwhile, Facebook continues to figure out how to eliminate errant female nipples from postings through artificial intelligence.

 It might be a stretch, but in some ways this compares to the reluctance of art institutions to accept the work of folk and outsider artists. Nearly one hundred are illustrated here. They will certainly open some eyes, although most of the wondrous objects shown in The People's Pornography have yet to find any acceptance at all. That is except for those owned by a handful of adventurous collectors and the Kinsey Institute. One characteristic of all the work shown is their scarcity. Think of the amount of material tossed by horrified surviving family members if they came across some of the art shown here.

 Sigel takes on all manner of handmade and homemade erotic objects. They may look pornographic but all reflect true human emotions the makers struggled with. Or simply enjoyed. They display humor (hilarious gag objects intended to surprise) or extreme violence, such as the work created in prison by imaginations which might be out of control. Still, all exist and all are worthy of appraisal.

 Sigel also takes on what those here will recognize as "term warfare" as we figure out how to categorize and understand art made by the creative impulses of the untrained. Maybe there are outsiders and WAY outsiders. Just flipping through the images here will shock some. Well…many. Others might remember familiar "dirty jokes" traded among classmates. Although this is a scholarly and historical approach, Sigel manages to provide a highly readable narrative. She writes like other recent authors who popularize science (think Mary Roach and Caitlin Doughty). This book isn't just for the pictures.

 There have been several other books on erotic folk art. Milt Simpson, who recently celebrated his 95th birthday, published the lovely Folk Erotica: Celebrating Centuries of Erotic Americana in 1994.. Thomas Waugh's book Out / Lines : Underground Graphics from Before Stonewall provides scores of homemade gay pornography in 1982. Lisa Sigel's own article "Flagrant Delights" in Antiques Magazine July/August 2014 is also recommended. 

 Purchase The People's Porn: A History of Handmade Pornography in America HERE 

Lisa Sigel bibliography of books and publications HERE

Outsider Art Journalism from Home! Douglas Levicki Amateur Homedrawn Newspaper from England

One of Douglas Levicki's handmade newspapers "The Enterprise Magazine" published (in his mind) in 1935. The reporter produced numerous issues in the 1930s, if only for an audience of his family. He covered British radio stars, reported on the latest neighborhood gossip and provided lots of puzzles and gags. It is unlikely any were printed for distribution, but the obsessive work stands today as a beacon of the free press...and no trash like Murdoch's tabloid junk! Select pages from The Enterprise homemade newspaper. C. 1935. Collection Jim Linderman

Junior After Hit by Bronko Pencil Drawing c. 1950 by Mildred Julia Radalis

Junior After Hit by Bronko  Pencil Drawing c. 1950 by Mildred Julia Radalis.  A drawing which would have fit into yesterday's Outsider Art Fair post!  Upside the HEAD.  Original drawing collection Jim Linderman

The Church of God Jesus and the Holy Ghost by W.C.Rice

The Church of God Jesus and the Holy Ghost by W.C.Rice, Alabama. Original photograph Jim Linderman

Regine Gilbert Outsider Artist or Flower Child? A Forgotten Primitive Painter

In 1956 Artnews referred to Regine Gilbert as "a sophisticated experimental primitive" and that  "Her eye has combined Henri-Edmond Cross and van Gogh."  Ten years later,  the Palm Beach Daily called her "the only living American primitive painter" which seems even more of an exaggeration. As far back as 1951, Newton Galleries were representing  Ms. Gilbert as "Brooklyn's most exuberant and imaginative primitive" in a press release.  A year earlier, a New York magazine called Cue reviewed a Gilbert show as "...another of those primitive painters who periodically invade the art galleries, this time a "Grandma Moses" of Brooklyn. Her floral paintings, gay, decorative and flat are particularly effective." Another paper once called her a flower child!

Regine Gilbert was born in Austria in 1907.  In the 1930's she immigrated to the United States and lived in New York city until the 1950s. Relocating to Palm Beach, Florida she continued to paint. Apparently an ardent self-promoter, the artist affixed numerous reviews and clippings of her work to the reverse of her paintings. 

Pair of Flower Paintings by Regine Gilbert  Oil on Board circa 1950 Collection Jim Linderman

Barefoot Charlie Hasse Builds a Nite Club in Wisconsin

Barefoot Charlie Haas had big feet and big pine trees growing up inside his Barefoot Charlie's Nite Club. There is a photo of him watering his inside trees with a watering can. He also had a working slot machine installed inside a large dead bear. Charlie was the builder, furniture maker and the owner. Charlie passed on in at the age of 79 in 1970, and the wooden joint burned down in 1988.  
   
It looks like at least one sizable piece (a table and chairs) resides in the Northern Waters Museum.

Outsider Art Folk Art Sculpture The Catskills Prepare for War

Outsider Art Folk Art Sculpture  The Catskills Prepare for War!  Said to be from New York State.  Circa 1930 - 1950?  Original Snapshot Collection Jim Linderman

Robert Howell Folk Art Yard Show Outsider Artist Virginia c. 1993 photographs Jim Linderman

Robert Howell Yard Show Outsider Artist  Virginia c. 1993 photographs by Jim Linderman

Jim Linderman Profile in Ursula Magazine from Hauser and Wirth 2019

 
Excerpt and Film HERE  
By Cassie Packard
Photographs by Oresti Tsonopoulos   
Ursula Magazine from Hauser and Wirth

Liz Renay Bizarre Outsider Artist and Mob Gun Moll

Any artist admired by John Waters is at the very least interesting, he being an informed, if unconventional collector.  This HAS to be especially true if the painter happens to be a former gun moll, showgirl and self-admitted lover of 2,000 men. Her autobiography was titled My First 2,000 Men and while I haven't read it, I believe her. She had two week long marriage at age 15. It set the pattern, but she survived.

Ms. Renay lived a rich life.  She knew and consorted with Mobster Mickey Cohen, and she loved him, I guess.  At least, she loved him enough to help him launder some money which came up during the investigation of the murder of mobster Albert Anastasia.  That is not a small time gangster. That is a gangster when they were bigger than General Motors.  Anastasia was said to have been done in by Crazy Joe Gallo.
 
Liz passed away on January 22, 2007.
One of the best ways to remember Pearl Elizabeth Dobbins, her real name, would be to appreciate the fabulously goofy outsider art paintings she created. There aren't enough paintings by showgirls.
 
Unlike most self-taught naives, Liz eventually went from obscure to big time, finally achieving a major show at adventurous and prestigious art gallery Deitch Projects in New York.  Art snobs like to say an artist's background doesn't have anything to do with their artistic esthetics, painterly qualities and such, but I think Deitch knew a good story when he saw one.

The magnificent exhibition of paintings was put together by the Burlesque Hall of Fame and Deitch. Not only are they huge in scale and scope, they are bizarre and that's great.  That whole "Low-Brow" art movement owes her a debt. The installation was a few years ago, but let's help it keep making some news. It is said she painted 150 works.

View the show HERE, which was installed with numerous objects from her career.  Her work, which sold for a few grand in the 1960s is holding firm...see one for sale at 15 grand HERE

Deitch Projects is HERE. Burlesque Hall of Fame is HERE, and the images are theirs.  A nice slide show also appears HERE on artnet.
My First 2,000 Men is HERE.   

Max Romain Outsider Artist 1992 Photographs by Jim Linderman

Max Romain Outsider Artist Photographs by Jim Linderman New York 1992

Trench Art with a Twist Hammered copper sculpture made from old copper stills after World War One

Trench Art with a twist, but not all trench art was made in a trench. Generally, the term refers to art sculpture made from expended artillery shell casings. Nothing to do but stay down, cringe at the incoming and hammer copper. However this group of decorative items was made by a different group of soldiers.  As noted on the reverse of the image, These fine examples were made by disabled soldiers as they recuperated. The material is taken from the remnants of old copper stills.  Prohibition provided the material!  World war one ended in 1918.  Prohibition started in 1920.  Must have been a bitter pill to have fought for your country only to return without having even a beer. 
 
The Trench Art  of the Great War website refers to pieces like those above as convalescent soldier art.  The Wikipedia entry for Trench Art suggests "Outsider Art" as a related category.

Original undated, anonymous 8 x 10 press photograph circa 1920.  No credits on photograph. 
Collection Jim Linderman

Anonymous Outsider Art / Art Brut found on the streets of Manhattan

Anonymous Outsider Art / Art Brut found on the streets of Manhattan circa 1985.  Now lost.  Each was 18 x 24. 
Order books and affordable E-books by Jim Linderman HERE

Lonnie Holley Birmingham Alabama Outsider Art Environment Unpublished Photos c.1992

Photographs of Lonnie Holley and his workshop at what has come to be known as the Birmingham Alabama Airport environment.  They date to 1992 or so.  I believe at the time this was both "studio" and home for the artist.

You'll find dozens of his sculptures (made from scrapped foundry sandstone) and hundreds of painted and shaped works of wire, fabric and detritus. It might look ragged, but every thing was purposeful and in place. Something out of a dream. While chatting and touring with the artist, I realized everything was connected through small caves from which children began to emerge.  Beautiful, handsome young children who had been living (or hiding) in their places for safety.  Shy at first, they romped like any kids as they became comfortable with my visit.  

Holley had purchased the land intending to establish it as a refuge for artistic expression.  He was certainly not one short of artistic ideas. Apparently the airport didn't agree and claimed the land. I hope the artist and his family received what was deserved, but it sounded like a land grab at the time. Mr. Holley was and is a genius. This is something I have learned to know and increasingly appreciate over the last 25 years.

A feature article was published by The Guardian which tells his personal story in depth.

ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS by Jim Linderman Collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb.