UNTITLED (ABSTRACT TITLE BOOK)

Details

JAMES CASTLE (1899-1977)
UNTITLED (ABSTRACT TITLE BOOK)
soot, spit and ribbon on paper
17 ¾ x 12 ¼ in. (closed)

Provenance

The artist, Boise, Idaho
Agnes C. Wade, Boise, 1977, sister of the artist
Thence by descent in the family until 1996
James Castle Collection LP, Boise, 1996
William Louis-Dreyfus, Mount Kisco, New York, 2009
Gifted from the above to The William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation, Mount Kisco, 2014

Exhibited

New York, New York Studio School, James Castle: People, Places & Things, 29 January-4 March 2018.
Katonah, New York, Katonah Museum of Art, Inside the Outside. Five Self-Taught Artists from the William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation, 19 July-11 October 2015; also, Greensboro, North Carolina, Weatherspoon Art Museum, 28 May-4 September 2016; Naples, Florida, Artis-Naples Baker Museum, 28 March-23 July 2017.

Conditions of sale

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Cara Zimmerman Head of Americana and Outsider Art

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Lot Essay

James Castle (1899-1977), born deaf and mute, learned to communicate and interact with the world around him via visual andtactile means. His books are enigmatic objects that reveal his love of materials, his deep connection with processes of assemblage, and his understanding of design and form. The artist could not read, so lettering does not reference language or speak to transmitted meaning. Instead, he relished the design elements of the letters' shapes and in the present work, Castle employs lines to infer text, emphasizing the importance of visual communication.

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