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High Museum Announces Touring Exhibition Exploring Rise of Self-Taught Artists
The High Museum of Art exhibition “Gatecrashers: The Rise of the Self-Taught Artist in America,” debuting this summer (Aug. 20-Dec. 11, 2021) and set to tour nationally, will celebrate more than a dozen early-20th-century painters who fundamentally reshaped who could be an artist in the United States. Featuring more than 60 works, “Gatecrashers” will investigate how artists including John Kane, Horace Pippin and Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma” Moses overcame class-, race- and gender-based obstacles to enter the inner sanctums of the mainstream art world, exhibiting their paintings widely and paving the way for later generations of self-taught artists. Following its presentation at the High, the exhibition will travel to the Brandywine River Museum of Art (May 28–Sept. 5, 2022) and The Westmoreland Museum of American Art (Oct. 30, 2022–Feb. 5, 2023).
“As one of the first American museums to establish a department dedicated to the work of self-taught artists, the High has spent decades studying, presenting and honoring their contributions to art history,” said Rand Suffolk, Nancy and Holcombe T. Green, Jr., director. “With this exhibition, our audience can see how they broke barriers of access to take their rightful place among the 20th century’s most celebrated contemporary artists.”
After World War I, artists without formal training began showing their work in major museums, “crashing the gates” of the elite art world, as the newspapers of their day put it. Benefiting from rebellions against academic artistic styles and an ongoing search for national character in American culture, Kane, Pippin and Moses became the most widely recognized self-taught artists of the interwar period. These three artists will be featured prominently throughout “Gatecrashers” and will be joined by other self-taught artists, including Morris Hirshfield, Lawrence Lebduska and Josephine Joy, who represent the breadth of the art world’s attraction to self-taught painters in the first half of the 20th century. Despite their lack of formal training, these artists’ paintings of American life in the cities and rural communities where they lived, as well as fantastical scenes derived from their imaginations, were celebrated by fellow artists, collectors and taste-making museums such as New York’s Museum of Modern Art, especially in the 1930s and early 1940s.
“Gatecrashers” is curated by the High’s Merrie and Dan Boone curator of folk and self-taught art, Katherine Jentleson, and is based on the book she authored of the same name, which was published in 2020.
“‘Gatecrashers’ — both the book and the exhibition — establish an origin story for how self-taught artists first succeeded within the mainstream art world,” said Jentleson. “Kane, Moses, Pippin and the other artists in the exhibition deserve to be reconsidered not only because of how their work intertwined with major cultural and social change of their day, but also because of how their gatecrashing set the stage for the vital role that self-taught artists still play in the 21st century, greatly diversifying our cultural canons across race, gender, class, ability and other important markers of identity that are all too often underrepresented.”
“Gatecrashers” will be organized in thematic sections that explore how these self-taught artists were embraced as examples of a uniquely American creative excellence and the role that their occupational histories played in advancing their reputations against the backdrop of Depression-era populism. The works on view also will demonstrate how alignments in style and subject matter led to exhibitions at major museums that integrated the artists’ work with that of their trained peers, foreshadowing how many museums today promote self-taught artists within their American and contemporary art displays.
In 1927, Kane succeeded in placing his oil-on-canvas painting “Scene From the Scottish Highlands” in the Carnegie Museum of Art’s contemporary art international thanks to the jaunty painting’s embodiment of the stilted realism of historical folk art, which was gaining popularity among artists and collectors in this era. Many of the self-taught artists who would go on to be celebrated in the subsequent decade were first-generation immigrants like Kane, whose painting shows the Scottish American heritage festivals he attended in Pittsburgh. Brooklyn-based Jewish artists from Eastern Europe such as Morris Hirshfield and Israel Litwak also found audiences for their work, demonstrating how the art world slowly became more inclusive of who qualified as “American.”
As African American artists struggled to find recognition in the largely segregated national arts scene, Pippin achieved great success with paintings like “Cabin in the Cotton” (ca. 1931-1937), a work set in the American South. In many of his works, including “Outpost Raid: Champagne Sector” (1931), Pippin recorded his experiences fighting in the trenches of World War I, where he was shot by a German sniper, resulting in an arm injury that he rehabilitated by painting. He lived in the part of Pennsylvania associated with the Brandywine River artists such as Newell Convers Wyeth, an early advocate of his work, and became a fixture in exhibitions of self-taught artists and in the first major surveys of African American artists that emerged by the end of the 1930s.
In addition to expanding definitions of American art in terms of both race and ethnicity, self-taught artists such as Josephine Joy and “Grandma” Moses also broke through the art world’s gender glass ceiling. Joy became the first woman painter to have a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art when her paintings of flowers, trees and sites near her home in San Diego were shown there in 1942. By that time, Moses was on a trajectory to stardom that was unprecedented for any artist in the United States — and arguably remains so — after her paintings were discovered hanging in the window of a New York pharmacist in 1938. Her pastoral scenes of life in New England became a potent force as the United States entered the Cold War era. Her paintings even traveled abroad to promote goodwill toward America, much to the chagrin of American critics who were more interested in promoting abstract painting abroad.
“As self-taught artists become increasingly visible within today’s art world, this exhibition takes audiences back to the moment when it all began,” Jentleson said.
“Gatecrashers” will be presented in the Special Exhibition Galleries on the Second Level of the Stent Family Wing.
Exhibition Publication
“Gatecrashers: The Rise of the Self-Taught Artist in America,” is accompanied by Jentleson’s book of the same name, published by the University of California Press.
This holiday season, Atlanta’s Center for Puppetry Arts is proud to present groundbreaking displays highlighting how puppetry — an ancient form of storytelling — brings together diverse religious and cultural traditions.
Running from November 12 to December 29, this special holiday exhibition invites visitors to experience a global celebration of unity — all under one roof.
Two remarkable exhibits at the heart of this year’s holiday programming are Jane Henson’s Nativity Story and The Famous Chelm Players by Robert Rogers. These powerful displays bring to life Christian and Jewish traditions through the art of puppetry, alongside contributions from other world cultures.
In addition to these new exhibits, the Center’s signature Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer™ performance returns, making the Center for Puppetry Arts a must-visit holiday destination.
A rare display of Christian artistry: Jane Henson’s Nativity Story
Jane Henson’s Nativity Story, a masterful crèche, brings the birth of Jesus to life through puppetry. Created by the co-founder of The Jim Henson Company (and wife of Muppets creator, Jim Henson), Nativity Story adds emotion to the traditional display, making it an engaging exhibit for all ages.
The Center for Puppetry Arts is one of the few museums in the world to publicly showcase Jane Henson’s work, offering a rare chance to experience her artistry. This unique celebration of Christian tradition is also a tribute to an often-overlooked female pioneer in puppetry.
A closer look: The Famous Chelm Players
Another highlight of the holiday exhibition is The Famous Chelm Players, created by renowned puppeteer Robert Rogers. These characters, inspired by Eastern European Jewish folklore, depict the Wise Men of Chelm, a town known in Jewish stories as the “village of fools.”
The puppets bring to life the lighthearted and well-meaning — yet comically misguided — characters who share wisdom and are used to tell stories about holidays and everyday lessons. They have been a beloved part of many Jewish traditions.
Designed with intricate detail, the Chelm puppets evoke the shtetls (small Jewish towns) of the past, capturing the essence of Jewish cultural heritage. Originally performed in Rogers’ New York playhouse, the debut at the Center for Puppetry Arts marks a rare opportunity for Southern audiences to see these whimsical puppets and learn about the timeless tales of Chelm.
A global holiday experience
In addition to these special exhibits, The Center maintains a rich collection of global puppetry in its permanent collection, some include:
• Puppets of Hindu deities, crafted by Indian artist Anupama Hoskere, depict stories from Hindu epics like the Ramayana, showcasing the intricate traditions of Indian puppetry.
• Muslim folk characters from various regions illustrate how puppetry has been used to convey religious stories and community traditions from the Middle East to Southeast Asia.
• Asian puppets, including shadow puppets from Indonesia and China, show how they are used in religious ceremonies and folk storytelling.
Rudolph returns for holiday fun
No visit to Atlanta’s Center for Puppetry Arts during the holidays would be complete without Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Running fromNovember 13 to December 29, this family-friendly adaptation of the 1964 Rankin/Bass television special features fully staged puppetry performances that capture the timeless story of Rudolph, Santa, Yukon Cornelius and the Abominable Snowman.
An Invitation to All Faiths and Communities
The Center for Puppetry Arts is extending a warm invitation to religious and interfaith organizations to participate in this celebration of global traditions.
By bringing together these diverse stories, the Center is offering a rare chance for communities of all backgrounds to come together through the common love of art and storytelling.
Plan Your Visit
Dates: November 12–December 29; Performances of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer™ begin November 13.
Location: The Center For Puppetry Arts: 1404 Spring St NW, Atlanta, GA 30309. Parking is free.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: puppet.org/programs.
Rudolph performance tickets include the show, as well as admission to the Worlds of Puppetry Museum, Festive Features special exhibition and a Create-A-Puppet™ Workshop.
To purchase a membership, visit: puppet.org/visit/become-a-member.
About the Center for Puppetry Arts
The Center for Puppetry Arts is the largest nonprofit in the U.S. dedicated solely to puppetry, offering live performances, interactive workshops and a world-class museum. Home to the Jim Henson Collection, featuring original Muppets, Fraggle Rock characters and Sesame Street icons, the Center provides a rare, behind-the-scenes look at beloved TV and film favorites.
With over 4,000 puppets from around the world in the museum, the Center immerses visitors in diverse cultural traditions, making it a must-visit destination for families. Supported by local institutions, it remains a key player in Atlanta’s vibrant arts scene.
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