Who Was Harry Young?

Click any image for larger view.


Click any image for larger view.



WHO WAS HARRY YOUNG? WAS THE MAKER OF THIS RATHER UNUSUAL collection an obsessive artist with a penchant for cowboys? Was “Harry” (if that is really the artist’s name) a self-taught artist who had a wonderfully innate sense of collage, drawing and assembly—and this group of works just a fraction of his entire oeuvre? Or, was Harry Young just an ordinary child, infatuated (like many kids of the day) with cowboys and the wild west, this being the box of drawings his mother saved? No one really knows. Looking at more of the handwriting may yield some clues.

What we do know is what we see: a large intact set of small (6 to 10 inches in size) odd, child-like, compelling and visually strong works by an unknown artist. By looking at the work, there are stylistic hints that perhaps these works were done by an adult, like the collage for the faces, the attention to detail in the clothing and the sheer ability to create so many consistent works of a single theme. But more research needs to be done. It does appear the works are at least 50 to 75 years old.

According to the Packer Schopf Gallery in Chicago, “over 350 cardboard figures of cowboys, lawmen and horses were found in a large wooden box with the words “Harry Young, 38 Inkerman, St. Thomas, ON” scratched on the inside. The vast majority are hand drawn. There are a handful of figures that have “collage” faces, which are cut from newspaper ads for cowboy movies. The box also contains a lot of other miscellaneous items, including a wearable Marshall’s badge and a small, handwritten book of “laws,” which establishes rules for cowboy life, morality and justice.”

Judge for yourself by visiting the Packer Schopf Gallery website.

What to Do With Your Extra Stuff

Click any image for larger view and look closely!

Click any image for larger view and look closely!

BERNARD PRAS USES THE PRODUCTS OF MASS CONSUMERISM as the “paint” of his art. Sometimes using entire rooms the size of a basketball court, Pras recreates and builds images that at first confound and later amuse us with his vision. Pras, who is French, takes the French word collage to monumental proportions—not always in size, but in fearlessness of approach.

Via Bernard Pras.

Lynn Whipple’s “Ninnies”

Above: “Boy Bunny and Lunch”

Above: “Man with Antennae”

Above: “Egg Man with Bunny Ears”

Above: “Boy with Umbrella”

Above: “Spider Woman”

EVERY FALL, AT THE CLAYTON ART FAIR IN ST. LOUIS, MY WIFE BUYS AN altered photograph from artist Lynn Whipple, who lives in Winter Park, Florida. Lynn shares a warehouse studio with her husband, John, who is also an artist. Her work is fun and whimsical and mysterious. Taking old cabinet cards that she finds at flea markets, Whipple alters them with paint, creating completely new people she calls “ninnies.” Here is what she says about her work:

“I allow myself to play and let my pieces reveal themselves to me... I have been fascinated by old books, history, and odd bits of memorabilia. I find the things that interest me the most are slightly absurd... My hope is to create something real and somehow poetic but not commonplace. My goal is to keep communicating in my language.” - Lynn Whipple