Joseph Yoakum
Encyclopedia
Joseph Elmer Yoakum was a self-taught artist
of African-American and Native American
descent who drew landscapes in a unique and highly individual style. He was 76 when he started to record his memories in the form of imaginary landscapes, and he produced over 2000 drawings during the last decade of his life. His work is an example of what is sometimes called outsider art
.
Tom Brand, owner of Galaxie press on the south side of Chicago, had some printing to deliver to a coffee shop called "The Whole".(1968) While there he noticed the colored pencil drawings of Yoakum. Being an artist (still practicing today (2011) he was immediately taken by these drawings. Concurrently he had an account with Ed Sherbyn Gallery on the north side of Chicago. Tom persauded Sherbyn to exhibit the works of Yoakum and he went further and printed a poster* for this show. Norman Mark of The Chicago Daily News penned an article (November 11, 1967)about Yoakum called "My drawings are a spiritual unfoldment". This article was printed on the back of the poster. Tom, through his excitement about Yoakum, informed his fellow artist friends about Yoakum and encouraged them to visit the Whole, of which Whitney Halstead was one. Whitney Halstead of the .Art Institute of Chicago
was the greatest promoter of Yoakum's work during his lifetime. He believed that his story was "more invention than reality... in part myth, Yoakum's life as he would have wished to have lived it." (Depasse 2001, p. 3)
His official records state that he was born in Missouri
, but Yoakum always claimed to have been born in 1888 in Arizona
as a Navajo Indian
. (Proud of his invented heritage, he used to pronounce "Navajo" as "Na-va-JOE.") His father was a Cherokee Indian and his mother a former slave of Cherokee, French-American, and African-American descent, but their son was always most fascinated by his Native American heritage.
When he was nine, Yoakum left home to join the Great Wallace Circus. He traveled the country, and even the world, as a billposter with five different circuses including Buffalo Bill
's Wild West Show and the Ringling Brothers
.
He returned to Missouri in 1908 and devoted himself to a family, having his first son with Myrtle Julian in 1909 and marrying her in 1910. He was drafted into the army in 1918, where he worked repairing roads and railroads as a member of the 805th Pioneer Infantry.
Yoakum never returned to his family after the war, choosing instead to travel around the United States working at odd jobs. He eventually remarried and settled down in Chicago
, where he was committed to a psychiatric hospital in 1946. He soon left, and was drawing on a regular basis by the early 1950s.
He was discovered by the mainstream art community in 1967 by John Hopgood, an instructor at the Chicago State College who saw Yoakum's work hanging in his studio window and purchased twenty-two pictures on the spot. A group of students including Roger Brown, Gladys Nillson, Jim Nutt and Barbara Rossi, and teachers at the Art Institute of Chicago, including Ray Yoshida
and Whitney Halstead, took a primary interest in his work, promoting him so well that he was given a one-man show at the Whitney Museum in New York City
in 1972, just a month before he died.
Although he started drawing as a way to capture his memories of places like Green Valley Ashville Kentucky, he shifted towards imaginary landscapes from places he had never been, places like Mt Mowbullan in Dividing Range near Brisbane Australia and Mt Cloubelle of West India. He drew freehand with ballpoint pen, rarely having to make corrections, and colored his drawings with watercolors and pastels. He always used two lines to delineate land masses and is known for his sinuous lines and organic forms.
The autobiographical works, such as This is the flooding of Sock River through Ash Grove Mo on July 4, 1914 in that drove many persons from Homes I were with the Groupe leiving their homes for safety [sic], come from a four month period at the end of his life and are marked by a shift towards pure abstraction.
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
of African-American and Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
descent who drew landscapes in a unique and highly individual style. He was 76 when he started to record his memories in the form of imaginary landscapes, and he produced over 2000 drawings during the last decade of his life. His work is an example of what is sometimes called outsider art
Outsider Art
The term outsider art was coined by art critic Roger Cardinal in 1972 as an English synonym for art brut , a label created by French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe art created outside the boundaries of official culture; Dubuffet focused particularly on art by insane-asylum inmates.While...
.
Tom Brand, owner of Galaxie press on the south side of Chicago, had some printing to deliver to a coffee shop called "The Whole".(1968) While there he noticed the colored pencil drawings of Yoakum. Being an artist (still practicing today (2011) he was immediately taken by these drawings. Concurrently he had an account with Ed Sherbyn Gallery on the north side of Chicago. Tom persauded Sherbyn to exhibit the works of Yoakum and he went further and printed a poster* for this show. Norman Mark of The Chicago Daily News penned an article (November 11, 1967)about Yoakum called "My drawings are a spiritual unfoldment". This article was printed on the back of the poster. Tom, through his excitement about Yoakum, informed his fellow artist friends about Yoakum and encouraged them to visit the Whole, of which Whitney Halstead was one. Whitney Halstead of the .Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
was the greatest promoter of Yoakum's work during his lifetime. He believed that his story was "more invention than reality... in part myth, Yoakum's life as he would have wished to have lived it." (Depasse 2001, p. 3)
His official records state that he was born in Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, but Yoakum always claimed to have been born in 1888 in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
as a Navajo Indian
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation is a semi-autonomous Native American-governed territory covering , occupying all of northeastern Arizona, the southeastern portion of Utah, and northwestern New Mexico...
. (Proud of his invented heritage, he used to pronounce "Navajo" as "Na-va-JOE.") His father was a Cherokee Indian and his mother a former slave of Cherokee, French-American, and African-American descent, but their son was always most fascinated by his Native American heritage.
When he was nine, Yoakum left home to join the Great Wallace Circus. He traveled the country, and even the world, as a billposter with five different circuses including Buffalo Bill
Buffalo Bill
William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody was a United States soldier, bison hunter and showman. He was born in the Iowa Territory , in LeClaire but lived several years in Canada before his family moved to the Kansas Territory. Buffalo Bill received the Medal of Honor in 1872 for service to the US...
's Wild West Show and the Ringling Brothers
Ringling brothers
The Ringling brothers were seven siblings who transformed their small touring company of performers into one of America's largest circuses in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in McGregor, Iowa and raised in Baraboo, Wisconsin, they were the children of Heinrich Friedrich August Ringling...
.
He returned to Missouri in 1908 and devoted himself to a family, having his first son with Myrtle Julian in 1909 and marrying her in 1910. He was drafted into the army in 1918, where he worked repairing roads and railroads as a member of the 805th Pioneer Infantry.
Yoakum never returned to his family after the war, choosing instead to travel around the United States working at odd jobs. He eventually remarried and settled down in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, where he was committed to a psychiatric hospital in 1946. He soon left, and was drawing on a regular basis by the early 1950s.
He was discovered by the mainstream art community in 1967 by John Hopgood, an instructor at the Chicago State College who saw Yoakum's work hanging in his studio window and purchased twenty-two pictures on the spot. A group of students including Roger Brown, Gladys Nillson, Jim Nutt and Barbara Rossi, and teachers at the Art Institute of Chicago, including Ray Yoshida
Ray Yoshida
Raymond "Ray" Kakuo Yoshida was a Chicago artist known for his paintings and collages, and a teacher at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago from 1959 to 2005...
and Whitney Halstead, took a primary interest in his work, promoting him so well that he was given a one-man show at the Whitney Museum in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1972, just a month before he died.
Although he started drawing as a way to capture his memories of places like Green Valley Ashville Kentucky, he shifted towards imaginary landscapes from places he had never been, places like Mt Mowbullan in Dividing Range near Brisbane Australia and Mt Cloubelle of West India. He drew freehand with ballpoint pen, rarely having to make corrections, and colored his drawings with watercolors and pastels. He always used two lines to delineate land masses and is known for his sinuous lines and organic forms.
The autobiographical works, such as This is the flooding of Sock River through Ash Grove Mo on July 4, 1914 in that drove many persons from Homes I were with the Groupe leiving their homes for safety [sic], come from a four month period at the end of his life and are marked by a shift towards pure abstraction.
Resources
- Depasse, Derrel B. (2001). Traveling the Rainbow: The Life and Art of Joseph E. Yoakum. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 1-57806-248-9.