James Castle: A Retrospective

Philadelphia Museum of Art

2008
$250,000

pma-james-castle-2008

Installation view of James Castle: A Retrospective. Photo by Jason Weirzbicki.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art presented James Castle: A Retrospective, the first comprehensive museum exhibition of the work of James Castle (1899-1977), one of America's most prolific self-taught artists. Castle spent his life making art as a deaf, non-speaking man in rural Idaho, and though his work has been widely praised, it has rarely been shown in a museum setting. The exhibition consisted of over 300 drawings, color wash pieces, handmade books, assemblages, and text works drawn from museums and private collections, and was accompanied by a catalogue.