Untitled (Shed interior with drawings, constructions, books, and objects)

Currently not on view

Untitled (Shed interior with drawings, constructions, books, and objects)

Date unknown

James Castle (American, 1899–1977)

James Castle was deaf from birth and never learned to read, write, sign, or speak. He lived on his family's farm in a remote part of Idaho, about fifty miles from Boise. Unable to work, he spent all of his time on his drawings, which he made out of found materials. He flattened matchboxes and scraped the wax off cardboard grocery cartons to create drawing surfaces and used soot, saliva, and a sharpened stick as materials. Here he depicts a room with his own drawings and constructions hung on the walls, and with books and packets of collected ephemera neatly arranged on the floor. In Castle's deeply silent, poetic, and powerfully observed world, small but significant objects are set out in a purposeful order that the artist arrived at without benefit of language or of verbal human interaction.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

Untitled (Shed interior with drawings, constructions, books, and objects)

Date:

Date unknown

Artist:

James Castle (American, 1899–1977)

Medium:

Soot-and-spit drawing with stick-applied lines and wiped soot wash on cream found paper (from flattened envelope[unknown source]); adhered to gray cardboard faced on verso with cream paper (commercially printed [WITH THE PROVED DEODORANT])

Dimensions:

Sheet (irregular): 8 1/2 x 10 1/8 inches (21.6 x 25.7 cm)

Classification:

Drawings

Credit Line:

Gift of Ann and John Ollman in memory of Maurice and Kathryn Hammond, 1998

Accession Number:

1998-43-1

Geography:

Made in Idaho, United States, North and Central America

We are always open to learning more about our collections and updating the website. Does this record contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? Contact us here.

Please note that this particular artwork might not be on view when you visit. Don’t worry—we have plenty of exhibitions for you to explore.

Currently not on view