Definitions, Historical Facts and Artists in This Genre
As I’m sure you know by now I write a lot of art reviews. Last week, three artists who asked me to write one for them described themselves as “Self-Taught” artists. After some discussion, we concluded they actually aren’t “Self-Taught” and we chose a more appropriate way to describe them and their art.
In my professional opinion, unless an artist has lived in the forest or a cave and suddenly emerged with a prolific body of art without having access to any academic resources then I recommend they abstain from using the term “self-taught” to describe themselves.
Many artists refer to themselves as “Self-Taught” without a full knowledge of the term. That’s why I present this article “What Really Is Self-Taught Art and What Does It Mean to Be A Self-Taught Artist?”
You’ll find information about Self-Taught Art and the various subsets of this genre.
My professional perspective…
The artist may not have earned an “Art Degree”; however, if an artist has opened an art history book, visited an art gallery or museum, or viewed an art video created by an artist or curator, they are not according to my definition “self-taught”.
Exposure to art, reading about artistic styles and movements, knowledge of the use of mediums and materials and access to other artists’ words of inspiration — all become part of the educational process similar to “home schooling”. The exposure and accumulation of this knowledge are undeniable influences and part of art education.
Definitions of Self-Taught Art and Artists
A concise description of Self-Taught Art, found on The Free Dictionary thefreedictionary.com is “a genre of art and outdoor constructions made by untrained artists who do not recognize themselves as artists.”
According to the American Folk Art Museum folkartmuseum.org, “For the last twenty years, the term self-taught has more regularly come to address these artists, whose inspiration emerges from unsuspected paths and unconventional places, giving voice to individuals who may be situated outside the social mainstream.”
The Weatherspoon Art Museum weatherspoon.uncg.edu, states, “Whether called ‘outsider,’ ‘visionary,’ or more accurately, ‘self-taught’ art, the genre remains one of the most intriguing in modern and contemporary art. Each artist has examined an idiosyncratic reality to create works full of imaginative and visual power, works that stand beside the canon of the mainstream art world.”
George Jacobs: Self-Taught Art, self-taughtart.com, is a leading gallery in the Self-Taught genre, located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It offers a more lengthy description: “Self-taught Art refers to art created outside the canon of art history. Perhaps all artists are self-taught to a degree. But in the context of terminology, Self-taught seems to be the most applicable of the commonly used umbrella terms which describe the scope of such art. Folk Art and Outsider Art have also been used as umbrella terms for the field. In my opinion those terms better describe styles of Self-taught Art. There are many valid adjectives for this art. The lack of current consensus regarding terminology within the field is mostly an indication of the magnitude and diversity of artistic creation that recently has been and is continuing to be discovered, preserved, cataloged, exhibited and collected.”
According to Phyllis Kind Gallery phylliskindgallery.com, a leader in the self-taught artists genre, “The term ‘Self-Taught Art’ simply refers to any object or set of objects in either two or three dimensions which was not initially intended to be art but was made for another purpose whether utilitarian or spiritual, whether public or private. The terms Folk Art and Art Brut are both subsets of this phenomenon.”
Subsets of Self-Taught Art
Folk Art
The field of American Folk Art was first defined at the turn of the twentieth century in the United States, by collectors, professional artists, critics, dealers, and curators in search of an authentic American art. The primary impetus for the marketability of these items rests with the intense excitement created by some very rich and uncommon ladies (Abbey Aldrich Rockefeller as an example of the best known of the group) chasing after the detritis of the common folk in America as their parents were acquiring Impressionists from Europe.
Outsider Art
Outsider Art has emerged as a successful art marketing category; an annual Outsider Art Fair has taken place in New York since 1993, and there are at least two regularly published journals dedicated to the subject. The term is sometimes misapplied as a catch-all marketing label for art created by people who are outside the mainstream “art world” or “art gallery system”, regardless of their circumstances or the content of their work.
Emma Welsh wrote an informative article “Outsider Artists Who Forged Their Own Paths” on Invaluable.com, an online marketplace for fine art, antiques and collectibles. In it she states, “Mainstream interest in outsider art has been on the rise in recent years.Many museums have dedicated exhibitions to the movement—including Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Outliers and American Vanguard Art at LACMA—allowing a place for these artists and their compelling stories to shine. Market demand for work by Outsider artists also underscores their historical significance, and in January of 2019 artist Henry Darger’s work sold for $684,500 at Christie’s. As more cultural institutions shed new light on outsider art, a greater focus on a traditionally overlooked movement has come to the fore.” You can read her entire article on the invaluable.com blog
Art Brut
Under the umbrella of Outsider Art is Art Brut is a French term meaning “raw art” or “rough art”, most often associated with the French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe art created outside the boundaries of official culture. Dubuffet’s definition of Art Brut included art by prisoners, loners, the mentally ill, and other marginalized people, and made without thought to imitation or presentation — art by those on the outside of the established art scene, such as psychiatric hospital patients and children.
Also under this Outside Art category is Neuve Invention. An emerging American English counterpart to Neuve Invention is Liminal Art, which I may address in a future article.
Primitive Art
Primitive Art is another term often applied to art by those without formal training. This involves an innocent picture using a linear format (flat, one dimensional space) that portrays scenes and people with an absence of weather in the skies and shadows around shapes. Historically, it is more often applied to work from certain cultures that have been judged socially or technologically “primitive” by Western academia, such as Native American, subsaharan African or Pacific Island art, also categorized by Tribal Art.
Naiive Art
Naïve art is any form of visual art that is created by a person who lacks the formal education and training that a professional artist undergoes (in anatomy, art history, technique, perspective, ways of seeing). Unlike folk art, naïve art does not necessarily evidence a distinct cultural context or tradition. Naïve art is recognized, and often imitated, for its childlike simplicity. Naïve art is often seen as outsider art which is without a formal (or little) training or degree. While this was true before the twentieth century, there are now academies for naïve art. Naïve art is now a fully recognized art genre, represented in art galleries worldwide.
Vernacular Art
This term refers to work by an artist who is influenced by a specific culture. For example, a group of 27 self-taught African American artists living in the south put together an exhibition of more than 60 paintings, drawings, sculptures and assemblages that explore African-American identity and culture.
Some Well Known Self-Taught Artists
Henri Rousseau (1844-1910) is best known for his vivid, exotic landscapes and dreamlike scenes. He never received formal art training and didn’t begin to paint until he reached the age of 40. For most of his adult life, he worked as a clerk. However, he frequently visited the Louvre and made many sketches during those visits.
Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) dropped out of Edward R. Murrow High School in the tenth grade and then attended City-As-School, an alternative high school in Manhattan home to many artistic students who failed at conventional schooling. In 1976, Basquiat and friend Al Diaz began spray painting graffiti on buildings in Lower Manhattan, working under the pseudonym SAMO.
James Castle (1899–1977) was born deaf and spent his entire life at his rural family home in Idaho. He was known for his cardboard-and-string constructions and the pictures he drew with a concoction of saliva and soot.
Grandma Moses (1860 – 1961), was a renowned folk artist and primitive artist. Having begun painting in earnest at the age of 78, she is often cited as an example of an individual successfully beginning a career in the arts at an advanced age.
Horace Pippin (February 22, 1888 – July 6, 1946) was a self-taught African-American painter. The injustice of slavery and American segregation figure prominently in many of his works. His painting of John Brown Going to his Hanging (1942) is in the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Pippin explained his creative process: “The pictures which I have already painted come to me in my mind, and if to me it is a worth while picture, I paint it.”
More Artists in this genre: Bill Traylor, who only began to draw and paint at age 84, was born a slave in Alabama. Eugene Von Bruenchenhein (1910–83), a baker who photographed his wife as the pinup star of his own fantasies and built chicken-bone thrones. Marino Auriti (1891–1980) was a self-taught Italian-born artist.
Sources for this article: Wikipedia.com, in addition to those websites mentioned above with links to their websites.
So, are you an artist who has described yourself as “Self-Taught”? Do any relate to any of these categories? If not, maybe you could be choosing a more accurate genre for your art.
Outsider artists are called “outliers”, a new term proposed in the exhibition “Outliers and American Vanguard Art”, at the National Gallery of Art that took place in 2018. The exhibition presented work by outsider artists and the mainstream artists who promoted them while also mimicking outsider art styles. It featured 250 works by more than 80 artists. The exhibition travelled to the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art later that same year.
Hi RENÉE
Thanks for your informative topics, which are a big help towards the beginning of my, “putting myself out there”
What are your thoughts on pseudonyms in place of your real name please?
Hi Bob, I’m happy to know you enjoyed reading this article. There is no quick reply to your question as each artist’s creative vision is different and marketing approaches vary. However, in general I prefer artists use their own name.
A very informative and interesting article..I’ve described myself as a self taught artist, I began my work during a time in my life where I was trying to find myself. Art is therapy for me , I enjoy it tremendously.
I enjoyed your article.. Thank You, Sherry Prevett
Thank you. I have been searching for a definition for an age. I convinced myself that I didn’t need one but it’s like a name…extremely important. You’d think being a mixed-race man I would have known better. Ah well….
Once again thanks for the article I wield my brush with confidence.
Hi Ian, Thank you for visiting and for your comment. Wishing you continued creative bliss and confidence!
Thank you very much for your comment Ha Nguyen Tri.
Hi Renee
‘Self taught’ to me means no formal instruction in technique and no guidance towards a specific style. Strictly do it yourself. Which is how I became an artist. I learned by looking at the works of other artists and by obseving life.. the desire to create was always there. The style took a long time rto evolve; the quality, even longer.
Elliot, I like your definition and your self-taught approach has certainly worked very successfully for you! Isn’t it wonderful that we have access to the greatest art masters in major art museums where we can stand inches away from their artwork to examine every square inch — until the security guard catches us and scolds us for being too close. Yes, it happens to me all the time. 🙂
Wonderful. I am an self taught artist as, well, I have my own style and it is good to know that there are others just like me
I like to know that self taught artists have their own style, as I do too. I can walk away from a painting for months, and come back with fresh eyes, allowing my imagination to spark.
I am an art-autodidact.
My simple definition:
“I am an artist free from formal art education. Pure and authentic.”
No one has guided me “out of the art”.
Because e-duc-ation is coming from the 2 Latin words “ex” (out of) and “ducere” (guiding).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodidacticism
Interesting! I made things from the age of 4 or 5, on the sewing machine, with brushes and paint, etc, but never used the word artist once to descibe myself. During my thirties I got really fed up of thinking myself an amateur and wanted to be more, so took myself off to art school part time, whilst working, ending up with a BA. I did design work for various companies for a few years, then worked my way through 3 post graduate degrees, finally teaching on a degree course at art college. Only now do I deem to call myself an artist, and then only reluctantly. The more you know a subject, the less you realise you do know and the more modest you become. I am always amazed by how freely people call themselves artists, in a way an untrained person would not call themselves a lawyer or a doctor, for instance. But to be honest, as I know only too well, we all apply a body of knowledge in our working lives.
Thank you so much for this article, Renee. I’ve always referred to myself as a ‘self-taught’ artist as I’ve had no formal training or schooling. However, I’ve also thought that it sounds somewhat apologetic or ‘lesser’. In fact, I realise now that I’ve always been an artist – it just took me a while to accept that – and I’m loathe to label myself. I paint what I feel, using my intuition and experimenting with different processes along the way as I interpret what I see and feel to create my abstract paintings. Your article has given me the confidence to state that I’m an artist (despite not having any training!).
Many thanks once again.
Renee, Van Gogh was a self taught artist. How was his technique? Was it academic? He was ridiculed in his day for the same reason many self taught artists are, just for painting things differently. I thought good art was supposed to be original. Who says all trees must be made with this or that technique? Academia. Did you hear about the grasshopper who is stuck in the thick paint of a Van Gogh painting? That is totally rad.
Thank you Pamela. That’s awesome! Are you referring to his painting “Olive Trees” one of a series he did in 1889 in Saint-Remy-de-Provence, France? I’m sure there are plenty of insects in paintings by plein air painters. That was my experience when I used to paint outdoors 🙂
Thank you for this interesting article. I am what I would call a self-taught wood carver. I cannot use the traditional chiseling method due to arthritis, so I use a Dremel tool with various bits, burrs, routers, and sanders. I learned how to make cuts, shave, and get various effects by experimentation. I am still learning – from my own trial and error. I’ve worked driftwood (bringing out the characteristics -an owl, a monk, an angel, and an abstract piece), and am now working on a relief carving and a hand (made from the wood of my Dad’s orange tree that had to be cut down). I think my work is progressing nicely and has some merit. So, when you speak of various categories of self taught artists, do you include sculptors,carvers, and other non-painting artists?
Thank you for your comment. Yes! All mediums fit the self-taught genre. For example, when doing a search for “self taught found objects” I discovered this wonderful article http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/01/found_objects_to_great_art_sel.html
AH Renee, labeling art as self taught or such??? Never thought about that..just DID IT..never asking myself do i know how or can I do?,,,just DID IT ..learned everything on my own by reading observing imagining doing…,,designed and made,dolls, dolls were published and sold in Doll magazine,Teddy Bear Review etc, paintings, drawings,sculptures, accepted in galleries, furniture designed and built by me ..sold,,tapestries,dress patterns, hat patterns, shoe designs, murals,architectural renderings., patent illustrations, and the list goes on and on of works i have created during my life and still continuing to do.on and on..currently creating things to sell over the internet and local galleries now and then, .the very air I breath…life itself …create create create…Am I an artist? I do not know…. never gave it a thought….. just AM
Hi Carole, thank you very much for reading the article and your comment.
Wishing you continued success in doing what you love and following your natural talents.
Hi Renee, I submitted an article a couple of weeks ago and loved this article. Just thought I would pass on a bit of information. You mentioned James Castle in the above article. I hadn’t realized how well known he had become until the last few years.
My dad had a sister who was married to James Castle’s brother. As a child we would go to the mountains and visit these relatives almost every weekend. I would hear bits of stories about the “relative who made funny pictures with charcoal, soot, and matchsticks.” At that time no one even thought much about all of his creativity. Sure wish I had some of those drawings now.
Renee, I believe we are self taught by every experience we choose to participate in. Of course there is formal art education where technique is valuable, but I use it minimally. As a whimsical and creative artist, I throw caution to the wind! When art stops becoming fun, I’m done. Too many rules and too little time. I also see self justification for our choices, coming from both sides. I believe as artists we share our vision and take the viewer to places they may only encounter through this medium. How we get there is unimportant, but “if” we get there is a gift I never dismiss.
As always you provide us with wonderful articles!
Thank you Lisa. The process we use to “get there” can be a miraculous wondrous experience. You have the wisdom to know when it is honored, cherished and nurtured every step of the way it brings the most satisfaction and personal fulfillment. Wishing you continued creative bliss, Renee
Thank you. I think you helped define Self-taught and outsideer and those many other terms.
Dear Susan, Thank you so much for reading the article and writing your comment. I enjoyed writing the article and it’s always so gratifying to know how it benefits others. With appreciation, Renee
Wow!!! This was an enlightening article. I had always felt a bit confused by the self taught term and sometimes it bothered me as it never felt right. Now you have confirmed it and explained it clearly :). Im also intrigued by the deaf artist James Castle and am going to do some research on him. Thank you again as always for your articles.
Dear Chelle,
I’m delighted that you found the article helpful! Congratulations and best wishes with your upcoming exhibition at the Australian Embassy in the U.K. They are lucky to have the opportunity to see your art in person.
All the best,
Renee
Hi Renee This is very interesting. I always considered myself a self taught artist because I had no formal training. I read books, experimented with all mediums, and took a few classes. However st some point I began to look at myself as a visionary artist because so much of my work was intuitive and emotional. And many places want to know your art ‘pedigree’. Now I just call myself an artist because I need to create as much as I need air to breathe and it seems paint and canvas are my vehicles.
Dear Carolyn,
Thank you for your insightful comment. Yes, I agree. Visionary artist is much more descriptive and meaningful than self-taught artist.
As one of your biggest fans I wish you continued creative bliss,
Renee