does the devil read?

this week in outsider art an oddfellows checkerboard, a meco mask and a beautiful folksy sewing machine as well as the story of horace pippin and his war service

Jun 02, 2024

THIS WEEK IN OUTSIDER ART

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ARTIST UNKNOWN Devil Bookends (20th Century) // Carved wood devils over sand filled constructed bookends; 5 ¼ h x 6 w x 4 ¼ “d. inches via *Potter & Potter Auctions*

**ARTIST UNKNOWN** Barber's Sign (ca. 1965; West Africa) // Wood, paint; 63 3/4 x 24 15/16 x 1 in. (162 x 63.4 x 2.6 cm) via *Museum of International Folk Art*

**ARTIST UNRECORDED** Meco Mask (c. 1965; Guerrero, Mexico) // Wood, paint (23 × 15.5 × 12.5 cm) via *Museum of International Folk Art*

» free preview of this week’s B-B-Bonus This Week in Outsider Art newsletter «

**KATARZYNA GAWŁOWA** Holy Figure with Angels (1975-1985) // Oil on board; 35 1/4 × 23 1/2 in (89.5 × 59.7 cm) via *ZQ Gallery*

**ARTIST UNKNOWN** Checkerboard with Oddfellows Imagery (late 20th Century) // Paint on carved wood; 20 ½ x 15 ¼ “ via *Potter & Potter Auctions*

**SARAH LEE** Dinner Date (c. 2024) // Limited edition giclee fine art prints based upon an original work of art by the artist; 11.69 x 8.27 inches -- *available for purchase via the artist in the FolkArtwork Collective shop*

**BILL TRAYLOR** Dog, Man and Drunk (c. 1939-1942) // Ink and pencil on cardboard; 13 ¼ x 11 ¼ in. via *The Keen Collection*

**WILLIAM H. JOHNSON** Portrait of Woman in Rocking Chair (ca. 1945) // Oil on paperboard; 28 x 22 1⁄4 in. (71.2 x 56.4 cm.) via *Smithsonian American Art Museum*

**WILLIAM O. GOLDING** Whaler Petrel Chasing Whales in the Artic Ocean (1933) // Pencil and crayon on paper; 8 5/8 × 11 13/16 inches (21.9 × 30 cm) via *Telfair Museum*

JOHN CHRISTENSEN Itasca Rock Garden (Christensen Rock Garden) (c. 1925-1938) — Photos now vs. then (Postcard from the 1950s)
This rock garden was started in 1925 by an immigrant from Denmark, John Christensen, and finished in 1938, just before his death. Christensen lived on the property and built what began as a castle-like vegetable cellar big enough to fit nearly a dozen people inside and turned into a fantasyland of rocks, geodes, bridges, arches, and even a more miniature castle across the garden.

**EMILY DODSON** Butterflies and Flowers in the Summer (2023) // Acrylic paint marker on paper via *SAGE Studio & Gallery*

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FEATURED ARTIST OF THE WEEK

**TANNER HAMMOCK** Seeds of Joy Series: Composition Number 18 (2023-2024) // Soft Pastel on Paper; 20” x 15” courtesy *the artist*

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WATCHING AND READING

Here are a few things I’ve been watching this past week:

Here are a few things I’ve been reading this past week:

BONUS: Another great interview by MePaintsMe with Katy Horan.

MEPAINTSME

Katy Horan

Katy Horan (b. 1980, Houston, Texas) is an illustrator and interdisciplinary artist living and working in Austin, Texas. Her paintings, drawings, sculptures, and video work investigate female archetypes and experiences. Pulling from a spectrum of influences, including folklore, history, film, and her own life, she creates ambiguous narratives that exist…

7 months ago · 3 likes · MEPAINTSME

OH WORD?

» Horace Pippin «

Horace Pippin (1888–1946) was an American painter who painted a range of themes, including scenes inspired by his service in World War I, landscapes, portraits, and biblical subjects. Some of his best-known works address the U.S.'s history of slavery and racial segregation.

This past week in the United States we celebrated Memorial Day, honoring and mourning the U.S. military men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.

While Horace Pippin, one of the most important American folk artists of the 20th century, did not die during his military service — he did serve, he was injured, and he did recount his service in journals accompanied by some drawings as he was once quoted as saying, WWI "brought out all the art in me".

Per The Met Museum’s "Considering Horace Pippin" by Bryan Martin:

"In 1917, at the age of twenty-nine, Pippin enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he was assigned to the 369th Infantry Regiment, an all-Black group of soldiers. Pippin wrote a vivid account of his service in a sixty-one-page journal containing numerous battlefield illustrations.

These writings provide a detailed account of Pippin’s life-altering injury. When Pippin and his comrade were pinned down in a shell hole by surrounding machine guns and snipers, the two attempted to flank a German soldier. As Pippin moved to another shell hole, a bullet struck him.

Photograph taken from Selden Rodman’s *Horace Pippin: A Negro Painter in America* (1947)

More than just a recollection of events, Pippin’s journal strikingly captures a horrific incident that left him with a physical disability for the rest of his life.

In 1919, after the war concluded, Pippin came home with a steel plate connecting his crippled right arm to his shoulder. He was given a disability pension of $22.50 per month, which would be approximately $400 today."

His injury cost him the use of his arm for a short period of time and he eventually recovered much of his arm's function, he remained unable "to lift my right hand above my head without the aid of my left hand." He received his disability pension for the rest of his life.

Horace Pippin (American, 1888–1946). *Self-Portrait*, 1941. Oil on Canvas Board. 19 x 8 x 9" 14 x 11 inches (35.56 x 27.94 cm). Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York Room of Contemporary Art Fund

I did not care what or where I went. I asked God to help me, and he did so. And that is the way I came through that terrible and Hellish place. For the whole entire battlefield was hell, so it was no place for any human being to be. — Horace Pippin

And while Horace Pippin did not die in the war, fortunately, he — as well as countless others who have served in terrible, often needless, and thankless wars — should be remembered and thanked for their service.

In World War I, Pippin served in K Company, the 3rd Battalion of the 369th infantry regiment, known for their bravery in battle as the famous Harlem Hellfighters. The predominately Black unit faced a segregated US Army, especially before they were transferred to the command of the French Army.

SHOUT OUT

**MOHAMMADALI DEHGHANIZADEH** Untitled (2022-2024) // Mixed media painting on paper; 70x100 cm via *Morteza Zahedi and Sarvenaz Farsian of Gallery Outsiderinn*

Shout out to Morteza Zahedi and Sarvenaz Farsian who have exposed me to dozens of artists and hundreds of incredible pieces of artwork from self-taught artists in Iran.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

» MEET THE COLLECTOR SERIES PART SIXTY-NINE — Adam Oestreich, Iowa «

FROM THE COLLECTIVE

LORENA is a folk artist and illustrator living in Saint Augustine, Florida. She has worked on children’s books and pattern and packaging design with companies like Scholastic, Libraries Unlimited Publishing, Richard Leeds, Townley Girl and Vandale Industries in New York City.

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