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San Antonio Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Z. Pincoffs in memory of her husband, Edmund L. Pincoffs.

Two Men with Camper and Cars

San Antonio Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Z. Pincoffs in memory of her husband, Edmund L. Pincoffs.
San Antonio Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Z. Pincoffs in memory of her husband, Edmund L. Pincoffs.
Contact San Antonio Museum of Art, Registrar Department for rights and reproduction of this image. Photography by Peggy Tenison. © Estate of Eddie Arning

Two Men with Camper and Cars

Artist: (American, 1898 - 1993)
Place made:United States, North and Central America
Date: ca. 1968
Medium: Crayon and pencil on paper
Dimensions:
20 x 26 in. (50.8 x 66 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Z. Pincoffs in memory of her husband, Edmund L. Pincoffs
Object number: 95.28.3
Signed: verso lower right cover in pencil "Eddie Arning"
Copyright: © Estate of Eddie Arning
Provenance: Purchased from Alexander Sackton, the artist's benefactor, circa 1973.
Label Text
Because of mental illness, Eddie Arning spent sixty-four years in and out hospitals and institutions in Texas. In 1964, a teacher at the hospital offered him wax crayons, paper, and coloring books. While the flat, restricted forms of coloring books seemed to have shaped his visual sensibility, his ability to master more complex arrangements of figures, colors, and patterns grew rapidly, as did his repertoire of materials and images. Arning’s early works are autobiographical, drawn from his memories of growing up on his father’s farm in Germania, Texas, about fifty miles northwest of Houston. Later, the artist found inspiration in newspaper stories, magazine photos, advertisements, and other material from pop culture. Arning eventually began to work in oil pastels, which lent a soft, glowing, almost floating quality to his shapes. In the early 1970s, after being discharged from a nursing home and moving in with his widowed sister, Arning’s long-established creative and physical equilibrium was disrupted and he ceased drawing.

(Suzanne Weaver, 2019, Group Label)
Not on view
In Collection(s)


The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.



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