Of God and Country:
American Art from the Jill & Sheldon Bonovitz Collection
Philadelphia Museum of ArtMay 19, 2023 - January 1, 2024
Original Photography by Anne Lloyd
“Great and Mighty Things”: Outsider Art from the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Collection was definitely an exhibition which met the criteria of “all of the above.” And so does its sequel, Of God and Country: American Art from the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Collection.
“Great and Mighty Things” was presented in the spring of 2013. It was my first real exposure to “outsider” art. Self-taught artists like Bill Traylor (1854-1949), Elijah Pierce (1892-1984), William L. Hawkins (1895-1990) and many others in the exhibit were unfamiliar names. Their paintings and sculptures were radical departures from what I normally beheld on museum walls.
Ten years have gone by and these “Outsiders” are back at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Like the art works on view in the earlier show, all of the paintings and sculptures in Of God and Country come from the collection of a dynamic duo, Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz. Their perceptive eye for great folk art is matched by their magnanimous generosity. The Bonovitz collection is a promised gift to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The new exhibition, Of God and Country, takes its name from the deeply-held religious sentiments and personal convictions of these “outsider” artists.
When considered in conjunction with notable events in twentieth century U.S. history, the art works on view in Of God and Country share in the idealism and civic spirit which motivated the Civil Rights movement and efforts to preserve the natural environment of our nation.
Use of the term “outsider art” to describe the work of artists lacking formal training is a matter of some controversy. Outsider Art appeared as the title of a 1972 book by a British scholar, Roger Cardinal, and was embraced by the art community in the English-speaking world.
Personally, I think “inspired art” is far more accurate than “outsider.” Not only were many of these artists devout members of Christian congregations, but several of the leading figures testified that actual religious visions motivated them to create their amazing - and occasionally alarming - art.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023) Gallery view of the Of God and Country exhibit, showing three of Felipe Archuleta’s carved animals.
Felipe Archuleta (1910-1991) is on record on how he came to sculpt his incredible animal statues, stating that “I asked God for some kind of miracle, some kind of thing to do, to give me something to make my life with. I started carving and they just came out of my mind after that.”
The most succinct statement on “outsider” inspiration – and one of the great quotes in American art history – is Bill Traylor's terse, ironic remark on the origin of his impulse to create art: “It just come to me.”
Of God and Country's inspired art is organized in four thematic sections: U.S. History & Life in America, The American Landscape, Christianity and Spirituality and Death and Mortality. All of the artists brought unique viewpoints to these topics, as might be expected. But many, indeed most, of their works are very subtle, open to different interpretations.
That is a conventional explanation for this cryptic scene. However birds frequently figure in Traylor's drawings. These birds are depicted in a generalized, schematic fashion, as with this supposed “turkey.” Art scholars have speculated that Traylor's avian imagery may reflect the folk memory of a sacred bird, the Sankofa from Ghana.
The African-American community preserved much of the heritage of their ancestral cultures during the long years of slavery, so this may well be the case for Traylor's drawing. Whether this intriguing drawing evokes a memory of a specific incident from Traylor's early life or an mythic image from Africa is only one of the many, many fascinating questions posed by works of art in the Bonovitz collection.
Of God and Country opens with an appealing and easy-to-appreciate icon. The carved and painted American Flag with Cone-shaped Fireworks by William L. Hawkins recalls the Rogers and Hammerstein lyrics from South Pacific: High as a flag on the Fourth of July! But most of the works of art which follow are less straightforward. Of God and Country has a lot of gray area, mixed in with the red, white and blue.
Consider Uncle Sam by Leroy Almon (1938-1997). Is Uncle Sam a star-spangled superhero, returning to Capital Hill to rid the halls of Congress of corrupt politicians? Or has he become a demonic figure, his hands choking the American Eagle and crushing the symbolic arrows it normally holds in its talons?
Whatever is going on in this brilliant, disturbing work, it was surely based on deep thinking in the mind of its creator. Almon, who trained as a wood carver with Elijah Pierce, often addressed the theme of good and evil in his work. As we see here, the issue was often left very much in doubt.
Another talented African-America artist, Josephus Farmer, created two narrative scenes dealing with the experience of slavery in the American South. Both focus on the role of Eli Whitney, whose 1793 invention of the cotton gin led to the extension of African-American slavery at a time when many thought or hoped it was on the decline. Whitney, a New Englander, was also a central figure in the development of heavy industry which was a key factor in the Union war effort which ultimately triumphed over the Cotton Kingdom of the South.
Josephus Farmer describes Whitney as the “Nemesis of the South.” Did this reference allude to Whitney's unintended role in spreading slavery or in laying the foundation for the Northern military machine? Either answer is valid but the decision is ours to make.
We are - seemingly - on much firmer ground in judging works dealing with themes related to Christianity. Many of these are portraits of heroic figures, exemplified by Elijah Pierce's iconic Love (Martin Luther King, Jr. or based on readings from the Holy Bible.
The gallery devoted to religious art is dominated by works of art by two other artists: the nearly life-sized Preacher and his Wife, carved by S.L. Jones, and Simon Sparrow's Assemblage with Faces. Both are sensational works and, though sharply different in technique, these two masterpieces work together to anchor the entire exhibition.
Both S.L. Jones and Simon Sparrow were men of deep religious faith, tempered by lives of poverty and toil. Their contrasting approaches to art embody the two essential aspects of religion: the practice of lives of devotion by members of a faith community and the mystical, contemplative experience of God by individual believers.
Jones, a sharecropper's son from West Virginia, worked long years for the Chesepeake and Ohio Railroad. A devoted member of the Primitive Baptist Church, he started carving religious figures to ease the pain in his heart, following the death of his wife. According to the beliefs of the Primitive Baptists, every man and woman can be called to preach the Gospel. There is no need for an ordained clergy as in other denominations.
Jones did not aim to carve portraits of specific individuals but rather to evoke the expression of faith on the features of two Christian believers. Their faces radiate the inner light of grace, as they proclaim the word of God. Jones' Preacher and Wife is a brilliant illustration of communal worship, of the famous quote from the Gospel of St. Matthew.
For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew, 18:20)
For Simon Sparrow (1925-2000), the "variety" of religious experience devolved to a personal relationship with God. Sparrow had an amazing life-story. His father was a member of the Yoruba community from West Africa, his mother a Native-American. Details of his childhood are few and conflicting. Sparrow may have been born in Africa, but at some point his family moved to a Cherokee reservation in North Carolina, where he grew-up.
The spiritual traditions of his ancestors exercised a powerful influence, but Sparrow's approach to art was so unique that it is best to let him speak for himself. Sparrow said that when he began a work of art, he would allow his mind to go blank and let God take over. The process was "sweeter than anything on earth... I feel like I'm climbing."
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023) Simon Sparrow’s Assemblage with Faces. (Detail), date unknow.
Before letting his mind ascend the "stairway to heaven", Sparrow collected a vast store of found objects, trinkets, shells, small toys and glitter... lot's of glitter. These, Sparrow would place at the service of his God-directed creative power.
The resulting works are depictions of the numinous, the emergence of the divine presence into the prosaic reality of human life. Sparrow's "assemblages" are as close as an artist can go, I believe, to showing what it would be like to open one's eyes and glimpse heaven.
Faces and patterns materialize on the mosaic-like surface of Sparrow's art works, seemingly from nowhere. These leave an indelible imprint on the mind of the beholder. But trying to grasp and understand these images is almost impossible, except perhaps by an act of faith. To see, as Simon Sparrow did, one needs to believe.
The final gallery of Of God and Country is, in some ways, the most affecting and perplexing.
To do justice to the treatment of Death and Mortality really requires an additional review. This will appear shortly in Art Eyewitness.
No one returns from the "undiscovered country" as Hamlet said so memorably. But judging from the extraordinary works of art in Of God and Country, I would not be surprised if some of the visionary artists in the exhibition had a few sneak previews.
***
Text, copyright of Ed Voves. Original photography, copyright of Anne Lloyd.
Introductory Image: Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023) William L. Hawkin's American Flag with Cone-Shaped Fireworks ( Detail), 1983. Paint on plywood: 48 x 57 inches (121.9 x 144.8 cm) Collection of Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz, Promised Gift to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023) William L. Hawkin's Boffo, 20th century. Alkyd house paint on Masonite, fiberboard, alkyd paint mixed with broken starch chunks (possibly dried glue): 44 1/2 x 51 1/2 inches (113 x 130.8 cm) Collection of Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz, Promised Gift to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023) Sheldon and Jill Bonovitz at the Philadelphia Museum of Art's Of God and Country exhibition.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023) Howard Finster’s Angel, #3,236, 1984. Paint on wood cutout: Collection of Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023) Gallery view of the Philadelphia Museum of Art's Of God and Country exhibition, showing three of Felipe Archuleta’s carved animals, Donkey (1981), Spotted Boar (1981) and Mule (1975). Cottonwood, paint, sisal, sawdust, glue. Collection of Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz, Promised Gift to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023) Bill Traylor's House with Two Men, a Turkey, and a Dog, c. 1939-42. Graphite on thin cream card; punched for hanging:Sheet: 22 × 14 1/2 inches (55.9 × 36.8 cm). Collection of Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz, Promised Gift to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023) Gallery view of the Philadelphia Museum of Art's Of God and Country exhibition, showing William L. Hawkin's American Flag with Cone-Shaped Fireworks.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023) Leroy Almon’s Uncle Sam, late 20th century. Paint on carved wood. Collection of Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023) Josephus Farmer 's Eli Whitney Nemesis of the South, c. 1985. Paint and ink on carved wood. The Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Collection.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023) Elijah Pierce's Love (Martin Luther King, Jr.). Paint, glitter, and local applications of varnish on carved wood; artist-made frame: 19 x 16 inches (48.3 x 40.6 cm) Collection of Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz, Promised Gift to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023) Howard Finster's The Big Push, #1,765, 1980. Paint on plywood; artist-made frame of Douglas fir branded with artist-made metal stamps: Framed: 15 1/4 x 15 inches (38.7 x 38.1 cm) The Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Collection.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023) Gallery view of the Philadelphia Museum of Art's Of God and Country exhibition, showing S.L. Jones’ Preacher and His Wife.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023) S.L. Jones’ Preacher and His Wife (Detail), date unknown. Paint on wood with nails; leather belt: Preacher (a): 62 1/2 x 19 x 14 inches (158.8 x 48.3 x 35.6 cm) Wife (b): 54 x 15 x 18 inches (137.2 x 38.1 x 45.7 cm) The Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Collection.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023) Gallery view of the Philadelphia Museum of Art's Of God and Country exhibition, showing Simon Sparrow’s Assemblage with Faces.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023) Simon Sparrow’s Assemblage with Faces. (Detail), date unknown. Glitter, paint, and other found objects on wood; artist-made painted wood frame: 56 1/2 inches × 8 feet 11 inches × 3 1/2 inches (143.5 × 271.8 × 8.9 cm. Collection of Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz, Promised Gift to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023) Herbert Singleton's Going Home: McDonogh Cemetery. Date unknown. Alkyd industrial paint, including metallic paint, on carved red cedar with yellow pine battens: 12 3/4 x 60 inches (32.4 x 152.4 cm) Collection of Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz.
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