Henry Speller
1903-1997
Courthouse
1986
18 1/16 x 24 in. (45.9 x 60.9 cm)
Wax crayon, porous-point pen, and graphite on wove paper.
2018.102
Gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation from the William S. Arnett Collection and purchase on the Manley Family Fund.
Notes
Speller worked as a sharecropper in the Mississippi Delta region before relocating to Memphis in 1939. He worked as a landscaper and garbage collector, and found solace in art and music. This drawing of a courthouse building is drawn in his characteristic style, which through pattern and color imbues even the most solemn and symmetrical structure with a sense of whimsy and rhythm.
Artist
Classification
Century Drawings
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