Joyce Henri Robinson

Selections from the Joseph D. And Janet M. Shein Collection of Self-taught Art

Wos Up Man?

Joseph Shein

Published in conjunction with a 2005 exhibition of the same name at the Palmer Museum of Art, Wos up man? features numerous works from Joseph and Janet Shein's important collection of self-taught (or "outsider") art. Although many of the artists represented--William Hawkins, Thornton Dial Sr., Clementine Hunter, Howard Finster, and Sam Doyle--have acquired renown as the interest in outsider art has grown, such figures as George C. Briscoe, Chris Clark, C. W. Conner, and Chris Donnelly are little known and are here receiving their first art-historical consideration. The term "outsider art" refers to works made by individuals who have had no training in the arts and, more often than not, live on the margins of society but are nonetheless creative. Indeed, as Wos up man? shows, they are remarkably expressive and inventive. Their art ranges from walking sticks and quilts to paintings and sculptures and incorporates materials that run the gamut from house paint and earth pigments to glitter and tin. Wos up man? not only provides photographs of more than 75 objects from the Shein collection but also places them in the wider context of subgenres like southern black art, visionary art, prison art, and European art brut. An essay by Joyce Henri Robinson and catalogue entries by Janalee Emmer and Gabriella Szalay enable readers to explore an extensive private collection of outsider art. Wos up man? also calls attention to the growing significance attached to outsider art and, ultimately, asks if "outside" may now be "in."

Selections from the Joseph D. and Janet M. Shein Collection of Self-taught Art

Jonathan Weinberg

Nan Goldin

Published to accompany the exhibition held at the Palmer Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania - 30 August - 4 December 2005, Pennyslvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Pennsylvania - 17 December 2005 - 12 February 2006.

The Photography of Nan Goldin

Fantastic Tales

Derrick R. Cartwright

Frederick MacMonnies is best known today as one of the leading figurative sculptors of the American Renaissance. Residing in France for much of his professional career, MacMonnies, along with his first wife, the painter Mary Fairchild MacMonnies, often visited Giverny, home to the reclusive Claude Monet and numerous American Impressionists in the final decade of the nineteenth century. By 1894 the town was the MacMonnies's favorite summer retreat, and in 1898 they moved permanently into an old priory in Giverny, dubbed the "MacMonastery" by friends.It was at this time, just as the new century dawned, that MacMonnies launched his career as a painter. Although he continued to produce sculpture, the artist happily painted portraits and occasionally submitted paintings to the annual salons. Mary MacMonnies also continued to pursue her artistic career from their remote enclave outside Paris. This catalogue, which accompanied two exhibitions, "An Interlude in Giverny: The French Chevalier by Frederick MacMonnies" and "An Interlude in Giverny: Dans la nursery by Mary MacMonnies Low", explores the artistic and personal milieu surrounding the creation of two masterworks by the MacMonnieses during this Giverny interlude.

Joyce Henri Robinson

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