Name/Title
untitledEntry/Object ID
2017.3.15Description
In this piece, Henry Speller portrays a couple in which the man is adorned in a red and green suit with an accompanying top hat, while the woman is depicted as the sexualized object of fantasy, her long dark hair, large breasts, and genitals exposed to the viewer's gaze. The sexualization of female characters was a common trope in Spellers body of work, as it consoled him from the monotony and occasional solitude of working in the cold waters of the Mississippi River.Artwork Details
Medium
Paper, crayon, MarkerCollection
Southern Vernacular Art CollectionAcquisition
Accession
2017.3Source or Donor
Hill, Lou and CalynneAcquisition Method
GiftMade/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Speller, HenryRole
ArtistDate made
n.d.Interpretative Labels
Label
Henry Speller (1900-1997)
Henry Speller grew up in rural Mississippi and worked for his family's sharecropping business until moving to Memphis, Tennessee, around 1940. Speller always had an affinity for drawing, but it wasn't until he retired in the mid-1960s that he was able to concentrate on his artwork full-time. He married Georgia Vergas in 1964, a woman who also enjoyed drawing, and the couple encouraged each other's passion for art. He is best known for his long-legged, fancily dressed women and men, often partially dressed in vivid colors and asymmetrical patterns. Speller almost exclusively drew on large pieces of paper with graphite pencil, colored pencils and crayon. Although he had a hard life, Speller never complained and took solace in his drawing. Toward the end of his life, Speller suffered from many health problems and died in 1997 in a Memphis nursing home.Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
January 26, 2017