William Dawson
American
(Huntsville, Alabama, 1901 - 1990)
African-American outsider artist William Dawson (1901–1990) grew up on his maternal grandfather Samuel Arnet’s 654-acre corn, cotton, and wheat farm near Huntsville, Alabama. (1) Unusual at the time, Dawson's grandfather was not a sharecropper; rather Arnet purchased the land bit-by-bit with money saved while a slave. (2) Helping on the farm alongside family members precluded a traditional education. Instead, Dawson barely completed the fifth-grade as he attended school sporadically and usually only in the winter. Although uninterested in becoming a farmer, as an adult Dawson cherished his memories of playing with the dogs, hogs, and other animals on the farm along with riding and racing the horses that his father bred on the land. (3) In the summer of 1920, Dawson decided to follow his older brother Leroy to Chicago. However, Dawson felt confined working indoors as an elevator operator at the Chicago Beach Hotel and he returned to Alabama. Once home, he met Oceola Harris, whom he married at the age of 22 in 1923. Soon after, Dawson returned to Chicago with his wife and new daughter as a way to escape the farming lifestyle. A proud and independent man, Dawson took on any job that would provide for his family, finally settling at E.E. Aron Company, a wholesale produce distributor. Dawson quickly rose from office cleaner to manager of operations, becoming one of the first black men to gain membership in the Teamsters Union. Dawson stayed at E.E. Aron for thirty-eight years, until the sale of the company in 1964. Then sixty-three, Dawson began drawing Social Security and to supplement this income he took on various part-time jobs including itinerant appliance repairman and security desk guard at IBM. It was at IBM that Dawson began his second career as an artist, whittling as a way to fill time during the quiet shifts. Additionally, during his time off, Dawson took ceramics and painting classes at the local Senior Center with his wife. Despite the fact that he enjoyed making art, he struggled with the formal class setting. He felt the teacher's instruction was constraining and the atmosphere of "gossipy, chattering women" hindered his creativity. (4) Dawson strived for originality, and was embarking on a new life as an artist, with as he put it, "new ideas." (5) These new ideas sprang from items Dawson found in his neighborhood, Chicago's Old Town, while walking in the alleys and scouring nearby furniture and Goodwill stores. Here, he found discarded table and chair legs, which allowed him to work with existing shapes in the wood to create figurative sculptures. For Dawson, the raw material suggested the ideas, and something worthwhile was in every piece of wood. (6) Using a coping saw, a lathe fashioned from his wife's sewing machine, (7) a wood file or rasp, and a utility knife for detail work Dawson crafted his figures. Primarily monochromatic with stain (oftentimes coffee) providing the only color, the early works embody an austere countenance; later Dawson began embellishing the sculptures more whimsically with bright acrylic colors and found materials such as animal bones, glitter, human hair, and stones. Inspired by his intuition, imagination, and his memories of his early years on the family farm Dawson created a wide-ranging body of work. His totems, perhaps his best known works, occurred organically. Without any prior knowledge of Native American totem poles Dawson stacked his carved heads atop one another as seen in Four-Headed Totem (ca. 1989, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts), often resting them on a building or other architectural feature. In addition, Dawson created three-dimensional carvings and wood reliefs that reference celebrities, politicians, and the people in his life. However, they are not specific portraits, but rather composites of many people. He claimed that the imagery was "revealed in his head" and he brought it forth through his hands. (8) While the world around him provided creative inspiration, as evidenced in Gorilla (1977, Private Collection), part of a series that began after a trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo, many of his sculptures and paintings, particularly of dogs and horses, have their roots in dreams and memories from his early years. Dawson says, "it comes back, things reveal to you in your mind what to do. You can see things, you can see what you are making." (9) While early sculptures are fairly realistic, as Dawson gained confidence he began experimenting with an expressionistic approach in the 1980s. This evolution is clearly seen in Dawson's treatment of eyes. Early works have small, bead-like eyes. Later, inspired by one of his clients who visited after a makeover at the cosmetics store Merle Norman, Dawson began enlarging the eyes and embellishing them with bright "eye shadow" color and glitter, giving his sculptures a wide-eyed exuberance. (10) Furthermore, he began defining his bright red lips with thick black lines, providing outlines to his grinning mouths. Dawson's painterly, expressionistic approach culminates in Devil's Horse (1989, Private Collection), a sculpture that, unlike its name, at first glance resembles an owl but to Dawson was representative of some sort of insect. Here, Dawson renders the body with light, brushy layers of paint resembling feathers or smoke. (11) Always open to new or non-traditional materials, Dawson formed sculptural ships from Thanksgiving’s leftover ham bones or turkey bones. Additionally, he blended two-dimensional paintings with three-dimensional sculptures in diorama-like sculptural works. Modern Art Museum (1982, Private Collection) for example, is Dawson's model for a museum that could house his artistic output among modern masters such as Henry Moore, whom he represents with bone sculptures positioned in the building's courtyard. (12) Another work, Dream House (ca. 1970s, Roger Brown Study Collection, Art Institute of Chicago), juxtaposes an urban scene (evidenced by the pulpit-resembling buildings) with a rural-derived background filled with ghostly animal faces. Perhaps a self-portrait, Dream House symbolically depicts a man caught between two worlds and may illustrate Dawson's feelings of displacement while living in the city of Chicago as an adult, contrasting this environment with memories of his early upbringing on a farm. Dawson worked simultaneously in sculpture and painting, approaching both with similar passion. Early paintings incorporate both abstract and representational elements as seen in Untitled (duck and leaf form, date unknown, Private Collection), and his animals, often with transfiguring human elements, continued to be a frequent subject. (13) In the mid-1980s Dawson experienced several mini-strokes. While Dawson continued working during his recovery it was apparent that he had difficulty carving, yet he retained his agility with a paintbrush. At this time, perhaps because of his personal travail, he began looking deeper into his imagination for new ideas. Subjects such as flying homes, futuristic architectural buildings, and landscapes with apocalyptical skies occupied his paintings. In Factory (1980, Private Collection), the intensely colored skies portend a possible nuclear disaster. Dawson's heavy application of varnish or shellac actually pools on the paper, visually alluding to pollution in the air. (14) An ominous feeling resides in many of Dawson's background skies yet he also created sedate landscapes. Boy with White House and Horse (date unknown, Private Collection), is an example of such a landscape although the inclusion of a human figure is more rare. In these paintings Dawson often incorporates a pathway leading the viewer into his imaginary buildings. Dawson actively welcomed visitors into his home and studio. In 1972, Dawson, on the recommendation of a neighbor and knowing nothing about the commercial art world, arranged to have a showing of almost 40 sculptures at Chicago's Lincoln Park Public Library. The exhibition was a great success and introduced him to patrons and other artists such as Karl Wirsum (American, born 1939) and Roger Brown (American, 1941–1997) who became sources of encouragement for Dawson. In fact, Brown, who had a great interest in the work of self-taught artists, may have felt an affinity for Dawson who, like him, relocated to Chicago from Alabama. Dawson claimed that Brown's friendship and advice pushed him to be a better artist. Furthermore, Brown not only introduced Dawson's work to many friends and collectors, he also brought Dawson's work to the attention of his gallery dealer, Phyllis Kind, who went on to work with Dawson for many years. Like Brown, many of Dawson's patrons continued to visit with him in his two-bedroom apartment (one bedroom functioned as a studio) on a regular basis for the rest of his life, and although all of the attention brought him great pleasure it was a source of befuddlement that people had an interest in him and his work. While successful in certain art circles in Chicago, it was not until his inclusion in the seminal exhibition Black Folk Art in America, 1930–1980 held at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington DC in 1982 that Dawson finally rose to national prominence. A prolific artist, Dawson created over 500 carvings and more than 150 drawings. Yet despite his significant artistic accomplishments, at the end of his life Dawson did not consider himself an artist, believing instead that it was God creating the work through him.
J. Jankauskas 11.2012
1. Resources for information on Dawson's life and work include exhibition catalogues, published articles and interviews. Primary sources for this essay come form the following: Information on file, (Artist's Vertical File, MMFA Library) Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery Alabama; Interview of William Dawson conducted 1990 Apr. 11-23, by Betty Blum, for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution; The Artworks of William Dawson, The Chicago Public Library Cultural Center, 1990; Michael Bonesteel, "Art on the Outside," Chicago, Vol. 39, No. 2, February 1990, p. 96-99, 111-112; Michael Bonesteel, "William Dawson: Artist as Shape-Shifter," Raw Vision, 68,Winter 2009, p. 50-53; and author interviews with Beth and Jim Arient, Susann Craig, Dave Kargl, and Mike Noland.
2. While the source of his income while a slave is no longer known, author Ruth Ann Stewart makes the case for Arnet’s having outside income in her essay, "The Artworks of William Dawson," in The Artworks of William Dawson, exhibition catalogue, Chicago Cultural Center, 1990, p. 11 as does Michel Bonesteel in his article, "Art on the Outside," Chicago, vol. 39, no. 2, February 1990, p.99. Dave Kargl relayed that Dawson would say that, it raised the hair on the back of his neck when people would assume that he was raised on a sharecropping farm. Author interview with Dave Kargl, December 5, 2011.
3. Interview of William Dawson conducted 1990 Apr. 11-23, by Betty Blum, for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Suzanne Craig suggested this was how Dawson set up his lathe in an interview with the author on December 2, 2011.
8 Interview of William Dawson conducted 1990 Apr. 11-23, by Betty Blum, for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
11. Michael Noland related this information based upon an interview he conducted with Dawson in 1990. Interview with author, December 5, 2011.
12. Both James Arient and Michael Noland discussed this concept. James Arient interview with the author December 1, 2011 and Michael Noland interview with the author, December 5, 2011.
13. For a discussion of the Dawson's use of transfiguration see Michael Bonesteel, "William Dawson: Artist as Shape-Shifter," Raw Vision, 68,Winter 2009, p. 50-53.
14. Dave Kargl proposed this reading of the image. Interview with the author, December 5, 2011. Dawson used floor wax as a sealer on his paintings and on his sculptures he often used shellac
American
(Huntsville, Alabama, 1901 - 1990)
African-American outsider artist William Dawson (1901–1990) grew up on his maternal grandfather Samuel Arnet’s 654-acre corn, cotton, and wheat farm near Huntsville, Alabama. (1) Unusual at the time, Dawson's grandfather was not a sharecropper; rather Arnet purchased the land bit-by-bit with money saved while a slave. (2) Helping on the farm alongside family members precluded a traditional education. Instead, Dawson barely completed the fifth-grade as he attended school sporadically and usually only in the winter. Although uninterested in becoming a farmer, as an adult Dawson cherished his memories of playing with the dogs, hogs, and other animals on the farm along with riding and racing the horses that his father bred on the land. (3) In the summer of 1920, Dawson decided to follow his older brother Leroy to Chicago. However, Dawson felt confined working indoors as an elevator operator at the Chicago Beach Hotel and he returned to Alabama. Once home, he met Oceola Harris, whom he married at the age of 22 in 1923. Soon after, Dawson returned to Chicago with his wife and new daughter as a way to escape the farming lifestyle. A proud and independent man, Dawson took on any job that would provide for his family, finally settling at E.E. Aron Company, a wholesale produce distributor. Dawson quickly rose from office cleaner to manager of operations, becoming one of the first black men to gain membership in the Teamsters Union. Dawson stayed at E.E. Aron for thirty-eight years, until the sale of the company in 1964. Then sixty-three, Dawson began drawing Social Security and to supplement this income he took on various part-time jobs including itinerant appliance repairman and security desk guard at IBM. It was at IBM that Dawson began his second career as an artist, whittling as a way to fill time during the quiet shifts. Additionally, during his time off, Dawson took ceramics and painting classes at the local Senior Center with his wife. Despite the fact that he enjoyed making art, he struggled with the formal class setting. He felt the teacher's instruction was constraining and the atmosphere of "gossipy, chattering women" hindered his creativity. (4) Dawson strived for originality, and was embarking on a new life as an artist, with as he put it, "new ideas." (5) These new ideas sprang from items Dawson found in his neighborhood, Chicago's Old Town, while walking in the alleys and scouring nearby furniture and Goodwill stores. Here, he found discarded table and chair legs, which allowed him to work with existing shapes in the wood to create figurative sculptures. For Dawson, the raw material suggested the ideas, and something worthwhile was in every piece of wood. (6) Using a coping saw, a lathe fashioned from his wife's sewing machine, (7) a wood file or rasp, and a utility knife for detail work Dawson crafted his figures. Primarily monochromatic with stain (oftentimes coffee) providing the only color, the early works embody an austere countenance; later Dawson began embellishing the sculptures more whimsically with bright acrylic colors and found materials such as animal bones, glitter, human hair, and stones. Inspired by his intuition, imagination, and his memories of his early years on the family farm Dawson created a wide-ranging body of work. His totems, perhaps his best known works, occurred organically. Without any prior knowledge of Native American totem poles Dawson stacked his carved heads atop one another as seen in Four-Headed Totem (ca. 1989, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts), often resting them on a building or other architectural feature. In addition, Dawson created three-dimensional carvings and wood reliefs that reference celebrities, politicians, and the people in his life. However, they are not specific portraits, but rather composites of many people. He claimed that the imagery was "revealed in his head" and he brought it forth through his hands. (8) While the world around him provided creative inspiration, as evidenced in Gorilla (1977, Private Collection), part of a series that began after a trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo, many of his sculptures and paintings, particularly of dogs and horses, have their roots in dreams and memories from his early years. Dawson says, "it comes back, things reveal to you in your mind what to do. You can see things, you can see what you are making." (9) While early sculptures are fairly realistic, as Dawson gained confidence he began experimenting with an expressionistic approach in the 1980s. This evolution is clearly seen in Dawson's treatment of eyes. Early works have small, bead-like eyes. Later, inspired by one of his clients who visited after a makeover at the cosmetics store Merle Norman, Dawson began enlarging the eyes and embellishing them with bright "eye shadow" color and glitter, giving his sculptures a wide-eyed exuberance. (10) Furthermore, he began defining his bright red lips with thick black lines, providing outlines to his grinning mouths. Dawson's painterly, expressionistic approach culminates in Devil's Horse (1989, Private Collection), a sculpture that, unlike its name, at first glance resembles an owl but to Dawson was representative of some sort of insect. Here, Dawson renders the body with light, brushy layers of paint resembling feathers or smoke. (11) Always open to new or non-traditional materials, Dawson formed sculptural ships from Thanksgiving’s leftover ham bones or turkey bones. Additionally, he blended two-dimensional paintings with three-dimensional sculptures in diorama-like sculptural works. Modern Art Museum (1982, Private Collection) for example, is Dawson's model for a museum that could house his artistic output among modern masters such as Henry Moore, whom he represents with bone sculptures positioned in the building's courtyard. (12) Another work, Dream House (ca. 1970s, Roger Brown Study Collection, Art Institute of Chicago), juxtaposes an urban scene (evidenced by the pulpit-resembling buildings) with a rural-derived background filled with ghostly animal faces. Perhaps a self-portrait, Dream House symbolically depicts a man caught between two worlds and may illustrate Dawson's feelings of displacement while living in the city of Chicago as an adult, contrasting this environment with memories of his early upbringing on a farm. Dawson worked simultaneously in sculpture and painting, approaching both with similar passion. Early paintings incorporate both abstract and representational elements as seen in Untitled (duck and leaf form, date unknown, Private Collection), and his animals, often with transfiguring human elements, continued to be a frequent subject. (13) In the mid-1980s Dawson experienced several mini-strokes. While Dawson continued working during his recovery it was apparent that he had difficulty carving, yet he retained his agility with a paintbrush. At this time, perhaps because of his personal travail, he began looking deeper into his imagination for new ideas. Subjects such as flying homes, futuristic architectural buildings, and landscapes with apocalyptical skies occupied his paintings. In Factory (1980, Private Collection), the intensely colored skies portend a possible nuclear disaster. Dawson's heavy application of varnish or shellac actually pools on the paper, visually alluding to pollution in the air. (14) An ominous feeling resides in many of Dawson's background skies yet he also created sedate landscapes. Boy with White House and Horse (date unknown, Private Collection), is an example of such a landscape although the inclusion of a human figure is more rare. In these paintings Dawson often incorporates a pathway leading the viewer into his imaginary buildings. Dawson actively welcomed visitors into his home and studio. In 1972, Dawson, on the recommendation of a neighbor and knowing nothing about the commercial art world, arranged to have a showing of almost 40 sculptures at Chicago's Lincoln Park Public Library. The exhibition was a great success and introduced him to patrons and other artists such as Karl Wirsum (American, born 1939) and Roger Brown (American, 1941–1997) who became sources of encouragement for Dawson. In fact, Brown, who had a great interest in the work of self-taught artists, may have felt an affinity for Dawson who, like him, relocated to Chicago from Alabama. Dawson claimed that Brown's friendship and advice pushed him to be a better artist. Furthermore, Brown not only introduced Dawson's work to many friends and collectors, he also brought Dawson's work to the attention of his gallery dealer, Phyllis Kind, who went on to work with Dawson for many years. Like Brown, many of Dawson's patrons continued to visit with him in his two-bedroom apartment (one bedroom functioned as a studio) on a regular basis for the rest of his life, and although all of the attention brought him great pleasure it was a source of befuddlement that people had an interest in him and his work. While successful in certain art circles in Chicago, it was not until his inclusion in the seminal exhibition Black Folk Art in America, 1930–1980 held at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington DC in 1982 that Dawson finally rose to national prominence. A prolific artist, Dawson created over 500 carvings and more than 150 drawings. Yet despite his significant artistic accomplishments, at the end of his life Dawson did not consider himself an artist, believing instead that it was God creating the work through him.
J. Jankauskas 11.2012
1. Resources for information on Dawson's life and work include exhibition catalogues, published articles and interviews. Primary sources for this essay come form the following: Information on file, (Artist's Vertical File, MMFA Library) Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery Alabama; Interview of William Dawson conducted 1990 Apr. 11-23, by Betty Blum, for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution; The Artworks of William Dawson, The Chicago Public Library Cultural Center, 1990; Michael Bonesteel, "Art on the Outside," Chicago, Vol. 39, No. 2, February 1990, p. 96-99, 111-112; Michael Bonesteel, "William Dawson: Artist as Shape-Shifter," Raw Vision, 68,Winter 2009, p. 50-53; and author interviews with Beth and Jim Arient, Susann Craig, Dave Kargl, and Mike Noland.
2. While the source of his income while a slave is no longer known, author Ruth Ann Stewart makes the case for Arnet’s having outside income in her essay, "The Artworks of William Dawson," in The Artworks of William Dawson, exhibition catalogue, Chicago Cultural Center, 1990, p. 11 as does Michel Bonesteel in his article, "Art on the Outside," Chicago, vol. 39, no. 2, February 1990, p.99. Dave Kargl relayed that Dawson would say that, it raised the hair on the back of his neck when people would assume that he was raised on a sharecropping farm. Author interview with Dave Kargl, December 5, 2011.
3. Interview of William Dawson conducted 1990 Apr. 11-23, by Betty Blum, for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Suzanne Craig suggested this was how Dawson set up his lathe in an interview with the author on December 2, 2011.
8 Interview of William Dawson conducted 1990 Apr. 11-23, by Betty Blum, for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
11. Michael Noland related this information based upon an interview he conducted with Dawson in 1990. Interview with author, December 5, 2011.
12. Both James Arient and Michael Noland discussed this concept. James Arient interview with the author December 1, 2011 and Michael Noland interview with the author, December 5, 2011.
13. For a discussion of the Dawson's use of transfiguration see Michael Bonesteel, "William Dawson: Artist as Shape-Shifter," Raw Vision, 68,Winter 2009, p. 50-53.
14. Dave Kargl proposed this reading of the image. Interview with the author, December 5, 2011. Dawson used floor wax as a sealer on his paintings and on his sculptures he often used shellac
Artist Objects
