(Above) Rai Escale, via here.
(Above) Brody Neuenschwander, here.
(Above) Kurt Schwitters, via here.
Hannah Höch, via here.
(Above) Angela Paez, here.
(Above) Lucas Biazon, via here.
(Above) Mary Daniel Hobson, via here.
(Above) Mark Wagner, via here.
(Above) Nicole Natri, via here.
(Above) Donald Baechler, via here.
(Above) Joseph Cornell, via here.
(Above) Paul Cava, via here.
(Above) Eduardo Recife, via here.
(Above) Hanneke Treffers, via here.
(Above) Barbara Nessim, via here.
(Above) Tony Fitzpatrick, via here.
HERE ARE SOME OF MY FAVORITE COLLAGE ARTISTS. The danger with any list is that one is always going to omit a few greats, but if you like this particular art form, pick an artist you like and learn more. Of course, the big three are Kurt Schwitters, Hannah Höch and Joseph Cornell—and you’ll have no problem finding lots of information on this group.
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.
Click any image for larger view.
Click any image for larger view.
(Above) Front of dress.
(Above) Back of dress showing newspaper backing.
Click any image for larger view.
Click any image for larger view.
AS IS PRONE TO HAPPEN IN MY SEARCH FOR THE BEAUTIFUL AND SUBLIME, I CAME UPON THIS amazing collection of handmade paper doll dresses on eBay made by a little girl who was born in the 1890s in Portland, Oregon. The eBay seller gives us the provenance of this collection and states that the creator was a girl whose name was Alda Carlson. Young Alda never married and kept almost everything from her childhood in the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. This was her entire collection of dolls and handmade paper dresses that she made over 100 years ago, using crepe paper, wallpaper and sweetly applied lace, trim and ribbons. In many cases, she used newspaper as a backing for the dresses and a few are dated to 1905 and 1906, when Alda would have been about 10 -12 years old. Alda passed away at the age of 93 and the collection was acquired by the present owner who is selling it now on eBay. The entire collection consists of 5 dolls and over 80 handmade dresses.
I am impressed not only by the fact that this collection is so extensive, but the beauty and authentic love, care and use is something you cannot buy or recreate. These dresses are precious reminders of female childhood at the end of the 19th century and the dawn of the 20th. Hours and hours of creativity mimic the elaborate fine dresses of the day, some being this young dress designers own vision on fashion. And while the dolls themselves are store bought, it’s the doll of the little black child that is the rare one in this bunch.
I could go on and on about the visual beauty of these little icons of fashion, the honest, straight-forward and loving detail I see, but I am going to let my readers revel in these lovelies with no more commentary. Just... look.
Find this item on eBay here.
(Above) Anonymous snapshot, spotted on eBay. Click image for larger view.
Via here. Click image for larger view.
(Above) Curacao postage stamp, c. 1936, image via © Karen Horton here. Click image for larger view.
(Above) “G” by and © Olly Moss via here. Click image for larger view.
(Above) Roy Rogers and Dale Evans record by Golden Records, via Jim Linderman Collection, via here. Click image for larger view.
(Above) Roccoco Chair by Godspeed Furniture, via here. Click image for larger view.
(Above) Artwork by Paul Sietsema via here. Click image for larger view.
