The Private Universe of James Castle: Drawings from the William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation and the James Castle Collection and Archive

This volume features over 90 of James Castles landscapes and architectural-interior views, placing him in a larger artistic and cultural context and highlighting his prowess as a draftsman. It compares his descriptive and expressive effects with those of Rembrandt and Piranesi, expanding our understanding of his images.

Format: Hardback
Length: 134 pages
Publication date: 13 June 2023
Publisher: Yale University Press

A fresh perspective on the work of self-taught artist James Castle, delving into how his drawings and practice connect with earlier masters

This comprehensive volume showcases over 90 of James Castle's (1899–1977) landscapes and architectural-interior views, featuring previously unpublished works. By expanding the discussion beyond the usual focus on Castle's deafness and isolation in rural Idaho, Larry J. Feinberg situates the self-taught artist within a broader artistic and cultural context, highlighting his remarkable skills as a draftsman. He demonstrates how Castle's evocative and unconventional images employ techniques like a "bending" perspective, intuitive shifts, and subtle focus changes. Comparing his soot drawings to studies by Rembrandt and highlighting the similarities between Castle's manipulation of space and the works of Piranesi and M. C. Escher, this study offers a fresh and exciting understanding of Castle's evocative and unconventional images.

Published by the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, this exhibition will be on display from June 25 to September 17, 2023.

Weight: 856g
Dimension: 224 x 288 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780300270235