Research Catalog

Untitled : the art of James Castle

Title
Untitled : the art of James Castle / Nicholas R. Bell, Leslie Umberger ; with an introduction by Alexander Nemerov.
Publication
Washington, DC : Smithsonian American Art Museum ; London : In association with D. Giles Limited, 2014.

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StatusFormatAccessCall NumberItem Location
TextUse in library JQF 14-1083Schwarzman Building - Art & Architecture Room 300

Details

Additional Authors
  • Bell, Nicholas R.
  • Umberger, Leslie
  • Castle, James, 1900-1977.
  • Smithsonian American Art Museum
Description
127 pages : color illustrations; 27 cm
Summary
"James Castle (1899-1977) spent his formative years in remote Garden Valley, Idaho and his adult life at locations near Boise, where, for nearly seven decades, he devoted himself daily to intensive art-making. Castle worked with materials that were immediately available, including a wide range of ephemera-advertisements, periodicals, and packaging-that he manipulated with soot, sticks, string and improvised colors to create an elaborate and unmistakable representation of his world. Subjects range from the farms of Garden Valley and interiors of homes, to family members, household objects, and snippets of popular culture. Other works move beyond the documentary to include invented words and symbols, fantastical calendars, and books with cryptic pictorial narratives. Since Castle's work first came to light in the 1950s, attention has focused primarily on the unusual circumstances of his life: Castle was born profoundly deaf, remained illiterate, and never acquired a conventional mode of communicating with others. He is often assumed to have lived a form of extreme isolation. This new volume seeks to move beyond such biography; the artworks themselves can be seen as 'windows' on his world and unique life. "--
Uniform Title
Untitled (Smithsonian American Art Museum)
Subject
Note
  • "Published in conjunction with the exhibition of the same title, on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum from September 26, 2014 through February 1, 2015."
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references.
Contents
Introduction / Alexander Nemerov -- Being James Castle : Experiencing Place, Time, and Memory / Nicholas R. Bell -- James Castle : Vanishing Point / Leslie Umberger.
Call Number
JQF 14-1083
ISBN
  • 9781907804625 (hardback)
  • 1907804625 (hardback)
LCCN
2014020867
OCLC
895500249
Title
Untitled : the art of James Castle / Nicholas R. Bell, Leslie Umberger ; with an introduction by Alexander Nemerov.
Publisher
Washington, DC : Smithsonian American Art Museum ; London : In association with D. Giles Limited, 2014.
Type of Content
text
Type of Medium
unmediated
Type of Carrier
volume
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references.
Added Author
Bell, Nicholas R.
Umberger, Leslie.
Castle, James, 1900-1977. Works. Selections.
Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Research Call Number
JQF 14-1083
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