All Creatures Great & Small An exhibition presented by the City of Atlanta Department of Aviation Art Program Organized by the Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia
All Creatures Great & Small
(Cover Top) Charles Kinney (American, 1906–1991), Big Cat (detail), n.d. Pencil and paint on paper. (Cover Bottom Left) Lonnie Holley (American, b. 1950), Blue Jay, 1994. Oil and watercolor on paper. (Cover Bottom Middle) Theodore “Ted” Gordon (American, b. 1924), Cat, 1980. Marker, watercolor and pencil on paper. (Cover Bottom Right) Moses Earnest ”Mose“ Tolliver (American, ca. 1920–2006), Turtle and Snake, ca. 1980s. House paint on board.
A word on the Exhibition This special exhibition from the Georgia Museum of Art’s permanent collection and the collection of Carl and Marian Mullis presents works of art that depict animals. The majority of the self-taught artists featured in the exhibition have spent their lives in the South; some were born or raised in the region, then moved to other areas of the country. This display focuses on animals partly because of Mr. and Mrs. Mullis’s strong affection for them, particularly their beloved dog Sheba, but primarily because they believed this exhibition would appeal to people of all ages. From small children to octogenarians, most of us love animals, and this display reflects the special connection we have with the creatures with whom we share this planet. The exhibition’s title, “All Creatures Great and Small,” comes from the second line of “All Things Bright and Beautiful,” a mid-19th-century Anglican hymn by Cecil Frances Alexander that celebrates God’s creation, as well as James Herriot’s novel written in 1972 about working as a veterinarian in the English countryside. The title also reflects the wide array of animals, artistic styles, sizes and materials that are in the display, which is a visual as well as literal menagerie.
(Left) Clint Alderman (American, b. 1981), Rooster with Snake, 2003. Stoneware. (Middle) Minnie Adkins (American, b. 1934) and Greg Adkins (American, b. 1975), Large Red Fox, 2009. Painted wood. (Right) Jimmy Lee Sudduth (American, 1910–2007), Alligator, n.d. Homemade earth pigments and house paint on board.
People have always used animals in art to symbolize religious, social and political beliefs, and artists have found ongoing creative inspiration in the natural world. From the cave paintings of Lascaux, which show animals as food, to their depiction as beasts of burden to the various creation stories in different mythologies, animals appear throughout the history of art. Animals have been a common subject in Christian art since the early days of Latin and Byzantine image making. Later, various animals carried symbolism often derived from bestiaries (illustrated books of nature using creatures as moral and religious allegories), which contributed to their heroic associations in medieval chivalry. The narrative tradition of animal protagonists and self-identification with heraldic animals appears in African culture, too, and holds both collective folkloric and subjective personal meanings in contemporary folk art. In the images by Thornton Dial Sr. and Ronald Lockett, animals function not only as alter egos, but also as standins for African Americans struggling in metaphorical traps and jungles. For some artists, animals operate within the context of southern evangelical Christianity, where the Bible is a text to be read literally for universal truths and its implications in our secular world.
(Above) Willie Massey (American, 1909–1990), Eagle, n.d. Paint and button on wood.
and its implications in our secular world. Animals play prominent roles in the Biblical stories portrayed here by Charles Kinney (Jonah and the whale), Rudolph Valentino Bostic and Tim Lewis (Noah’s ark) and Howard Finster and Purvis Young (the apocalypse). Works by Rex Hogan, Willie Massey and Eddy Mumma feature the American bald eagle and its patriotic associations. Humans and animals within the natural landscape figure prominently in the colorful paintings of Tobey Ivey. Perhaps this enthusiasm for animals can be explained by the fact that many southern unschooled artists, especially those born in the early part of the 20th century, spent their childhood (and adult years) in rural areas, where proximity to nature instilled in them a love of the outdoors. Common, domesticated animals like dogs, cats, cows, bulls and horses appear in works by William Dawson, Theodore “Ted” Gordon, Willie Jinks, Jim Lewis and O.L. Samuels. The southern Piedmont has long been an important region for stoneware clay pottery, and American folk potters often make use of animals in creative and sometimes whimsical ways. Both farm animals—roosters, chickens, pigs—and dangerous, exotic and extinct creatures—rattlesnakes, penguins and dinosaurs—appear as stoneware sculptures or on decorative pots. — Paul Manoguerra, chief curator and curator of American art, Georgia Museum of Art
About the Georgia Museum of Art The Georgia Museum of Art is both an academic museum, under the aegis of the University of Georgia, and, since 1982, the official state museum of Georgia, one of very few institutions in the United States that can claim both. It was founded in 1945 by retired New York lawyer Alfred Heber Holbrook when he gave 100 American paintings to initiate its collection. Sixty-six years later, its permanent collection consists of more than 8,000 objects and remains strong in American paintings, with an emphasis as well on works on paper (its collection is one of the finest in the Southeast), a Samuel H. Kress Study Collection of Renaissance paintings, southern decorative arts, Asian art and growing collections of work by African American and European artists. Now located on the East Campus of UGA, in Athens, Ga., it recently completed an extensive expansion and remodeling designed by Gluckman Mayner Architects of New York to accommodate the display of a greater percentage of that collection. Its schedule reflects the academic study of the history of art as well as a broader array of popular exhibitions that appeal to all audiences. For more information on the Georgia Museum of Art, visit www.georgiamuseum.org.
(Above) Reggie Meaders (American, 1919–2009), Dinosaur, n.d. Stoneware. (Left) Toby Ivey (American, 1944–2007), Animals, Trees, Purple Sky, Sun, 2006. Paint on paper.
(Top) Rudolph Valentino Bostic (American, b. 1944), Noah’s Ark, ca. 2000. Marker and paint on cardboard. (Middle) Albert Hodge (American, b. 1941), Night Bandit, n.d., Stoneware. (Right) John Mason (American, 1900–1997), Bird and Bear, 1991. Marker and crayon on paper.
(Above) Howard Finster (American, 1915–2001), Visions of Worlds Beyond the Light of the Sun, 1985. Oil and painted wood cutouts on board.
TheCarl Patrons & Marian Mullis Carl and Marian (known as “Babe”) Mullis, residents of Atlanta, are patrons of and generous donors to the Georgia Museum of Art, where Carl serves as the chair of the Board of Advisors. Carl was born in South Carolina and had never been in an art museum before he attended college at Yale University and received a student job in its art and architecture library. He took to the subject with a passion, and after he graduated from Emory University’s law school in 1975 he began collecting American prints. In 1994, he attended Folk Fest in the Atlanta area, the world’s largest folk art show and sale, where he fell in love with paintings by Myrtice West and Mary T. Smith. From then on, as he puts it, he was “hooked,” collecting works by American selftaught artists primarily from the Southeast. Babe has been kind enough to indulge Carl as he has filled their house, garage and more with his acquisitions, and she has her own eye when it comes to the “wall power” of these works. Their collection has formed the basis of two previous exhibitions organized by the Georgia Museum of Art, “Amazing Grace: Self-Taught Artists from the Mullis Collection” and “Lord Love You: Works by R.A. Miller from the Mullis Collection.”
(Above) R. A. Miller (American, 1912–2006), Purple Chicken, ca. 1990s. Enamel on metal. (Bottom) Jim Clark (American, b. 1938), Pike, 1998. Wood carving, paint and metal.
To download the complete checklist of this exhibition, visit: www.georgiamuseum.org Partial support for the exhibitions and programs at the Georgia Museum of Art is provided by the Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art and the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. The Council is a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Individuals, foundations and corporations provide additional support through their gifts to the Arch Foundation and the University of Georgia Foundation.
This rotating exhibition is presented by the City of Atlanta Department of Aviation Art Program. For more information about this exhibit or other Airport Art Program offerings contact 404/382-2478 or visit www.atlanta-airport.com.
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