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Quote and Credit

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Sister Gertrude Morgan God's Greatest Hits Rod McKuen and Me! Annual I am not at the Outsider Art Fair 2016 Post






God's Greatest Hits which featured a dozen or so splendid paintings by Sister Gertrude Morgan was quite popular 45 years ago when published.  Some 300,000 copies were sold.  Book sales like that are improbable now, I can assure you.  It didn't hurt that the works illustrated were from the private collection of "middle of the road" poet Rod McKuen, or that the book was written by God.  Well, whoever wrote the Bible, that is.  31 biblical quotes, the colorful "googly eyes" works by the Sister and wrapped up with a nice sleeve in a tiny format.  As some of the little books were inscribed and/or even had an original work by the preacher, I've opened used copies of the book numerous times. 

But what became of the McKuen collection?  Read on...

I collected Sister Morgan's work heavily decades ago.  At one time I had fifteen of them arranged around my New York City rent-controlled apartment.  I even painted the walls and floor just like she did…it was like living in her little house / chapel.  They were relatively affordable then, though I do remember spending three grand on a really big one. The ones I found most interesting were apparently among her first works.  Crayon and shoe polish (white, of course) which were painted on cardboard and I presume used as Bible "flash cards" for the Lord.  They were uncharacteristic, and less dense than the later work.  Each depicted an obscure Bible story with a passage about each written on the reverse.  They were designed to be read while aiming them towards an audience. Like all my works by the artist, they are now in a private collection.  I don't think anyone will mind me sharing them here.  I even owned a T-bone steak she had signed and used as her stylus to paint the eyes of her self-portraits.  That now has an unknown owner too, and I hope it will not eventually be lost.  The bone was once shown in a book on folk art, at least. The photos are a bit fuzzy and I don't even have pictures of most of them, but here you go.  As you will see, at the time I was the perfect candidate for the good sister to cure...I was drinking and my hands shook!  The ones I can't show are too blurred (or never photographed.)





As for the God's Greatest Hits paintings?  By coincidence, a number of them are being sold on Ebay currently!  Those shown below, which filled pages of the tiny book and warmed Rod McKuen's heart…and listed for sale.  I presume the originals were purchased  by Mr. Mckuen from New Orleans gallerist Larry Borenstein, who nurtured her talent.  But how they ended up on America's garage sale is a mystery.  I certainly can not afford them anymore, but maybe you can.  There will certainly be a few at the Outsider Art show. 




Some of the works I used to have are shown in photographs of the artist in the spectacular "Tools of her Ministry" book by William Fagaly.  One hangs directly over her head while she studies the Bible.  The book was edited by a much respected friend Tanya Heinrich and designed by equally much respected friend John Hubbard.  It remains one of the most thorough and beautiful catalogs of a self-taught artist.  It is the one to buy, though there are certainly plenty of God's Greatest Hits floating around.  I was immensely proud to be included in the acknowledgements but didn't loan anything to the traveling exhibition.  Mine were gone!   

I have seen God's Greatest Hits shoved in among religious tracts in used bookstores.  Again, one should always look for any inscriptions and drawings on the title page.  The good sister painted a few of her record sleeves too, but be careful if you buy the CD.  One version was "funked up" by some looser hipster overdubs. 


Tools Of Her Ministry oddly does not appear on the American Folk Art Museum Book ordering page, but it is available HERE and you should join the Museum too.  My apartment, on the edge of Times Square, has been split in half and is now two studios, each costing as much a month as I paid for an entire year.  The works shown here are all in private collections.  The bone / stylus I owned was shown in the long out of print book Contemporary American Folk Artists by Elinor Landor Horwitz.  It is recommended and as books are largely dead weight now, available on used book sites for pennies and postage.

OTHER EDITIONS of the "I'm not at the Outsider Art Fair" essays are HERE
Finally, I still have some stuff left!  The new book (and $9.99 ebook) ECCENTRIC FOLK ART DRAWINGS OF THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES from the Jim Linderman collection is available HERE.   

Water Landing ! 19th Century Folk Art Drawing Balloon Disaster at Sea




Water Landing ! 19th Century Folk Art Drawing Balloon Disaster at Sea 
Collection Jim Linderman

You may also be interested in the new book and $9.99 Instant EBOOK Eccentric Folk Art Drawings: Obscure Drawings of the 19th and 20th Centuries from the Jim Linderman Collection Available HERE

Antique Folk Art Chair Pads for the Wall ? Anonymous, of course.


"Anonymous was a Woman: A Celebration in Words and Images of Traditional American Art and the Women Who Made It" is a wonderful book published in 1995 by Mira Bank.  It provides numerous examples of fine art produced by Anonymous.  Who was usually a woman who received little credit.  This set of handmade chair pads are an example.  Good Enough to mount.  All by the same hand...which was certainly a woman's hand. 

Antique rug Chair Seats no date.  Collection Jim Linderman

The Greatest Photographer's Tent in the World


Anchor Supply Company made and sold all manner of tents, and while the business has morphed over the years, they are still doing it!  Tents, Awnings, for any purpose you need protection from the sky.  As shown here in a page from their undated catalog (circa 1920?) they were even able to create a tent with a darkroom!  The entire catalog is as fascinating as a tent catalog can be.  It includes Gospel Revival Tents, Shooting Gallery Tents, Palm Reader Tents, you name it.  One of my favorite books! Pitch a TENT.
ANCHOR SUPPLY COMPANY IS HERE.

Hold to Light Man's Best Friend Handmade Erotic Folk Art Gag c. 1930



Hold to Light Man's Best Friend Handmade Erotic Folk Art Gag c. 1930  (Two Sides)
Collection Jim Linderman

Tin Folk Art Candle Holder (Hurricane Lamp) Make-Do From a Can



 
Tin Folk Art Candle Holder (Hurricane Lamp) Make-Do From a Can.  "Medal Work Merit Badge" by Boy Scout V. L. Wood 1932. 

Civil War era Folk Art Sheet Iron Barn Eave




A hand-cut two sheet iron eave from one of the first barns built in Kalamazoo County, Michigan.  Several pieces were preserved, this is the longest portion.  Hand cut decorations.  
Collection Jim Linderman

Camera Gals ! Nightclub Photographers and the Hindenburg. Sam Shere Master Photographer.

Sam Shere 1942 for See Picture Thrills Magazine

Sam Shere 1942 for See Picture Thrills Magazine


Sam Shere was a master photographer. You might not know the name, but you know one of his works.  Think "OH, the humanity…"  Mr. Shere took the well-known photograph of the Hindenburg disaster.  Apparently the International Center of Photography owns the original, as their PAGE HERE indicates it was purchased in 2003.  Iconic…and if a photo can be described as gripping, this one qualifies.  The photographer is quoted as saying "I had two shots in my big speed graphic but I didn't have the time to get it up to my eye. I literally shot from the hip--it was over so fast there was nothing else to do."  Amazing.  There was also newsreel footage of the disaster.

A working photographer gets up in the morning to capture events which he can sell, but I believe Mr. Shere loved everything about his  work.  The excitement, the equipment and using his skill to create art.  As seen here, he took a few pictures OF cameras too.  The other images here were published in the second issue of SEE Picture Thrills in 1942, three years after the Hindenburg.  Just two from the feature which was titled "Camera Girls Take Over" and documented women working as nightclub photographers during World War Two.  Specifically Shirley Seiler and Lillian Johnson.  Articles during the war about women taking care of business on the Homefront were not unusual, but the piece is hardly the typical "Rose the Riveter" story.  6 photographs of the women photographers at work, developing images and sliding them into souvenir folders for the patrons.

Shown in the photo above (cropped, as it is printed in the original magazine larger then a scanner can handle) are the legs and equipment of the intrepid supper club women photographers.

Although the article was titled "Camera Girls Flash Trim Limbs: Photogenic Nightowls (sic) Don't Give Two Hoots for the Traditional Birdie" this is no traditional puff-piece.  The photos are crisp and striking, and not just for the "limbs."  It documents a little known photography profession which would be worthy of a museum show. Souvenir nightspot photos have not had an institutional showing that I know of.  The profession, of course, has been virtually eliminated by the images taken by smart phones.  A few photo journalists ARE still at work.  For example, some wait at the finish line and sell images to marathoners as they finish.  Still, the once popular "industry" taking place at nightclubs all over the country is largely lost. 

The hard-working women here were creating memories in hard copy, not mere digital blips. 

Interestingly, one of the most handsome websites on the photographer appears to have been made for a class assignment.  It reveals Sam Shere had been sent to the location of the Hindenburg fire to capture "society type" photographs.  Indeed, it appears he barely made it there in time.  Just another shoot.

Additional photographs by Sam Shere can be seen at the Getty Images Life Magazine pictures site HERE and the Corbis site HERE.  Perhaps the best biography of the photographer is HERE on a website which indicates that despite taking one of the most recognizable images in history he died virtually alone and penniless.  Perhaps he should have taken more photographs of limbs.


NOTE:  The magazine SEE PICTURE THRILLS was published by Collegian Press starting in 1942 and the copyright on the magazine was renewed apparently in the 1970s, but I do know know if they retained the rights to the original images sold by free-lancers.  As far as I can tell, there is no official website or source for the photographs shown here, or for the photographer.