Hearst Art Gallery, Saint Mary’s College, Moraga, CA

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Title: Revelations and Reflections of Self-Taught Artists
Publisher: Resource Library (Traditional Fine Arts Organization), from material provided by the Hearst Art Gallery,
Saint Mary's College of California
Date: 2004
Original URL: https://tfaoi.org/aa/4aa/4aa521.htm
Also at: https://www.stmarys-ca.edu/museum-art/revelations-and-reflections-of-self-taught-artists
Why it matters: Hearst Art Gallery, Moraga, CA, September 4 – October 17, 2004; 55 artists; curators Robert Cugno
and Robert Logan.
Copyright remains with the original publisher. Reproduced for reference and scholarship; contact sesow@sesow.com
with any request.

Editor's note: The Hearst Art Gallery at Saint Mary's College provided source material to Resource Library Magazine
for the following article or essay. If you have questions or comments regarding the source material, please contact the
Hearst Art Gallery at Saint Mary's College directly through either this phone number or web address:
925-631-4379
http://gallery.stmarys-ca.edu./

Revelations and Reflections of Self-Taught Artists
September 4 - October 17, 2004

Spirituality, a theme central to art for as long as humans have been engaged in the creative process, is given accessible
and vibrant expression in Revelations and Reflections of Self-Taught Artists, opening on September 4, 2004 at the
Hearst Art Gallery at Saint Mary's College in Moraga.
Art historians and critics have grappled with descriptive terms for artists without formal training since the days of
Grandma Moses. They have been labeled self-taught, outsider, naïve, visionary, vernacular, or folk artists. From
preachers to prisoners to social isolates, these fifty-five self-taught artists come from all walks of life and all regions of
the country. While prophetic and apocalyptic depictions of heaven, hell, purgatory, angels, devils, and demons abound,
powerful personal and societal issues of poverty, sexual brutality, and racism are confronted with a raw boldness and
often with humor. Removed from the formal conventions of art, these artists have intuitively mastered the elements of
color, form, composition, and texture. Ironically, self-taught artists have profoundly influenced the mainstream art
world, particularly by their use of unexpected materials and by deft ability to mix text and images.
Many self-taught artists have a profound influence on family members, who also take up the making of art. Reverend
Howard Finster and his son, Michael Finster, and Mose Tolliver and his daughter, Annie Tolliver, are two of the family
groups represented in the exhibition. Other artists on view include Ronald and Jesse Cooper, Matryce West, and Jane
Winkelman. In addition to paintings, drawings, sculptures, and ceramics, the exhibition includes ingenious
constructions assembled from eclectic materials including tin, fabric, glass, gas heaters, shoes, doors, mud, bones, and
tree roots.
Re-opening in the Keith Room is a selection of cigar box and panel paintings from the 1890s through 1909 from the
College collection and private lenders by late 19th century master landscape artist William Keith (1838-1911). The
miniature Keith paintings and frames have recently been conserved; most are on public view for the first time. A
display of professional conservation materials and methods used to maintain oil on wood paintings is also on view.

On Saturday, September 18, 2004, people of all ages are invited to Family Day: Recycled Art. Inspired by some of the
unorthodox and reused materials in "Reflections and Revelations of Self-Taught Artists," and in the Keith Room, create
constructions out of recycled materials. Visitors may draw from life, make a print, or turn an old shoebox into a work
of art or scraps of wood into a birdhouse. Popular East Bay art teachers will lead the hands-on activities from 2 until 5
p.m. in the Art Gallery courtyard and the Brother Kyran Art Room.
Revelations and Reflections of American Self-Taught Artists is curated by Robert Cugno and Robert Logan, directors of
Media Gallery in Garnett, Kansas. The exhibition is organized and toured by ExhibitsUSA. The purpose of
ExhibitsUSA is to create access to an array of arts and humanities exhibitions, nurture the development and
understanding of diverse art forms and cultures, and encourage the expanding depth and breadth of cultural life in local
communities. ExhibitsUSA is a national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance, a private, nonprofit organization
founded in 1972.
Editor's note: RLM readers may also enjoy these articles and essays:
Point of View: American Folk Art From the William and Ann Oppenhimer Collection (6/30/04)
Collected Visions: African American Self-Taught Artists from the Southeastern United States (1/28/04)
African American Self-Taught Art: High Museum of Art Collection (1/18/00)
Self Taught Artists of the Twentieth Century (6/2/99)
Self-Taught Artists of the 20th Century: An American Anthology (4/4/98)
Self Taught Texas Artists

Read more articles and essays concerning this institutional source by visiting the sub-index page for the Hearst Art
Gallery in Resource Library Magazine.

Visit the Table of Contents for Resource Library Magazine for thousands of articles and essays on American art,
calendars, and much more.
Copyright 2003, 2004 Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Inc., an Arizona nonprofit corporation. All rights reserved.