{"id":445,"date":"2009-04-18T23:07:45","date_gmt":"2009-04-19T06:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp\/2009\/04\/no_such_thing_as_a_self-taught\/"},"modified":"2009-04-18T23:07:45","modified_gmt":"2009-04-19T06:07:45","slug":"no_such_thing_as_a_self-taught","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/2009\/04\/no_such_thing_as_a_self-taught.html","title":{"rendered":"No such thing as a self-taught artist?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Responding to this post<\/a>, about the value of acquiring an MFA, Seattle artist Steve Veatch<\/a> observed that “there is no such thing as a self-taught artist, just as there is no such thing as the self-made man:”<\/p>\n

 Whether you go to art school or not, you will only learn by doing the work yourself and being guided by someone. “Self taught” artists can’t operate in a critical vacuum. And if you don’t go to art school, and you go to museums and galleries and turn to books and magazines for instruction and insight, you will have to ask what their academic connections are. “Self taught” is just a marketing device, as is “outsider”.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Steve. Of course there are self-taught and homemade artists, artists who never set foot inside an art museum or read an art magazine. Some didn’t go any kind of school, never mind art school, and  they created all by themselves, without a community of like-minded others.<\/p>\n

As an old man, (1) Bill Traylor<\/a> started drawing on pieces of cardboard while he sat on the street. Born deaf and mute, (2) James Castle<\/a> drew in spit and dirt in Idaho, using whatever paper or cardboard he could find. (3) James Hampton<\/a> was a solitary janitor. After his death, his landlord happened upon his masterpiece. <\/p>\n

Who taught them? A lot of artists in this vein say God did. I think art might be genetic to our species. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.  <\/p>\n

\"billtraylor.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>\"castlesuit.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>\"jameshamptonthrone.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>(Click images to enlarge.)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Responding to this post, about the value of acquiring an MFA, Seattle artist Steve Veatch observed that “there is no such thing as a self-taught artist, just as there is no such thing as the self-made man:”  Whether you go to art school or not, you will only learn by doing the work yourself and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-445","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}