Finster, Howard, 1916-2001

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Self-taught visionary artist; Georgia.

From the description of Howard Finster papers, 1932-1987. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122502741

From the description of Howard Finster illustrated letter and cards, [ca. 1981]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122546159

The Reverend Howard Finster emerged from the rural Appalachian culture of northeast Alabama and northwest Georgia to become one of America's most important creative personalities in the last quarter of the twentieth century. He was a visionary artist in various visual media as well as a poet and a musician, and his creative output and cultural influence were enormous. Although he has been called "the Picasso of folk artists," his fusion of tradition and innovation makes the label "folk artist" questionable. He called himself a "stranger from another world" and a "man of visions," and described his brain as being "beyond the light of sun." Finster was not unique as a self-taught environmental and visual artist: many significant individuals in the South and beyond have created distinctive and inspired art works and environments. Yet well before his death he had produced a highly personal body of work, including thousands of paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints; and recorded and written narratives and musical material--original songs and folk-style improvisations on homemade tapes as well as commercial LP and CD issues. He had been included in hundreds of exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale in 1984 and a major exhibit at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta in 1996. He had interacted and collaborated with artists, rock musicians, students, and teachers. His bibliography includes two major monographs, autobiographical books, and recordings, as well as hundreds of articles and entries in exhibition catalogs. Finster's most original and powerful contributions to art were his garden, the sculptural and architectural works within it such as his bicycle frame constructions and the World's Folk Art Church, and the powerful paintings of the 1970s and early 1980s. These latter works, rich in formal and poetic invention, are apocalyptic visions laced with humor and personal/universal imagery. In the last fifteen years of his life Finster continued to be featured in numerous exhibitions, the most important being his retrospective at the High Museum of Art. As his health declined he continued to make art, although the forms and images became more repetitious and less inventive. He and Pauline moved away from the Paradise Garden to a home in Summerville but returned regularly to the gallery/visitors' center that his family maintained, where he greeted visitors with banjo playing and songs and impromptu sermons and monologues. When he died in 2001 the garden was being maintained by his family and supporters, while important three-dimensional works, as well as paintings, had been placed in collections and museums. There is a permanent installation of his work at the High Museum. Howard Finster is now recognized as a major artist, rather than an interesting eccentric belonging to some hard-to-define subcategory of "outsider" or "folk" art. He ultimately forged an important body of work that lives up to the most frequently quoted inscription from his garden: "I took the pieces you threw away and put them together by night and day, washed by rain and dried by sun, a million pieces all in one." New Georgia Encyclopedia - Howard Finster (ca. 1915-2001) http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-977 (Retrieved October 27, 2009)

From the description of Howard Finster collection, 1900s. (University of Georgia). WorldCat record id: 460167806

"The Reverend Howard Finster emerged from the rural Appalachian culture of northeast Alabama and northwest Georgia to become one of America's most important creative personalities in the last quarter of the twentieth century. He was a visionary artist in various visual media as well as a poet and a musician, and his creative output and cultural influence were enormous. Although he has been called 'the Picasso of folk artists,' his fusion of tradition and innovation makes the label 'folk artist' questionable. He called himself a 'stranger from another world' and a 'man of visions,' and described his brain as being 'beyond the light of sun.'" - "Howard Finster." New Georgia Encyclopedia. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org (Retrieved August 1, 2008)

David Mitchell grew up near Howard Finster and would cut his grass. He graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago and is a photographer.

From the description of Howard Finster tapes, circa 1980. (University of Georgia). WorldCat record id: 502303606

Howard Finster, b. 1916; d. 2001, Self-taught visionary artist and minister of Georgia.

Full name: William Howard Finster.

From the description of Oral history interview with Howard Finster, 1984 June 11 [sound recording]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 81348806

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Weber, Marcia. Marcia Weber : Alabama Folk Artists Collection, 1949-1993. Auburn University at Montgomery, Auburn Montgomery
referencedIn Herbert Waide Hemphill papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Nasisse, Andy S., 1946-. Research material concerning untrained artists, 1984-1986. Archives of American Art
creatorOf Finster, Howard, 1916-2000. Howard Finster : vertical file. Toledo Museum of Art
referencedIn Florence and Julius Laffal papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Finster, Howard, 1916-2001. Artist file : miscellaneous uncataloged material. Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)
referencedIn Art Rosenbaum Georgia Folklore Collection, 1955-1983, 1976-1983 Archive of Folk Culture (U.S.)
referencedIn Eleanor Dickinson papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Herbert Waide Hemphill papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Folkstreams.net. Folkstreams.net collection, 1963-2010. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
referencedIn Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection. Georgia folklore collection [sound recording], 1977-1983.
referencedIn Ann F. Oppenhimer slides Archives of American Art
creatorOf Finster, Howard, 1916-. Howard Finster collection, 1900s.
creatorOf Beth and James Arient papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Finster, Howard, 1916- : [miscellaneous ephemeral material]. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas J. Watson Library
creatorOf Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection. Allan MacLeod collection [sound recording], 1976-1987.
creatorOf Finster, Howard, 1916-2001. Howard Finster tapes, circa 1980.
referencedIn Jeffrey and C. Jane Camp papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Finster, Howard, 1916-2001. Artist file : miscellaneous uncataloged material. Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)
creatorOf Finster, Howard, 1916-2001. Howard Finster : [vertical file]. Morris Museum of Art Library
creatorOf Barbara Shissler Nosanow materials relating to Howard Finster Archives of American Art
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Oral history interview with C. Jane and Jeffrey Camp Archives of American Art
referencedIn Oral history interview with James and Beth Arient Archives of American Art
creatorOf Oral history interview with Howard Finster Archives of American Art
creatorOf Willem Volkersz interviews Archives of American Art
creatorOf Howard Finster interview and recordings Archives of American Art
Relation Name
associatedWith Arient, Beth, 1946- person
associatedWith Arient, James, 1946- person
associatedWith Camp, C. Jane (Catherine Jane), 1953- person
associatedWith Camp, Jane, 1953- person
associatedWith Camp, Jeff, 1944- person
associatedWith Camp, Jeffrey Thomas, 1944- person
associatedWith Dickinson, Eleanor, 1931- person
associatedWith Finster, Howard, 1916- person
associatedWith Folkstreams.net. corporateBody
associatedWith Georgia Folklore Society corporateBody
associatedWith Hemphill, Herbert Waide. person
associatedWith High Museum of Art. corporateBody
associatedWith Kirwin, Liza, person
associatedWith Laffal, Florence. person
associatedWith Mitchell, David, photographer. person
associatedWith Nasisse, Andy S., 1946- person
associatedWith National Museum of American Art (U.S.) corporateBody
associatedWith Oppenhimer, Ann Frederick. person
associatedWith Rosenbaum, Art, collector, performer. person
associatedWith Volkersz, Willem. person
associatedWith Weber, Marcia. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Georgia
Georgia
Georgia
Georgia
Subject
Artists, American
Art and religion
Artists' materials
Artists' writings
Folk art
Folk artists
Folk artists
Painting, American
Self-taught artists
Self-taught artists
Unfinished works of art
Occupation
Performer
Activity

Person

Birth 1916-12-02

Death 2001-10-22

Americans

English

Information

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