You Can Take the Country Out of Salem
Artist:
Eddie Arning
(American, 1898 - 1993)
Place made:United States, North and Central America
Date: ca. 1964-1974
Medium: Wax crayon on paper
Dimensions:
19 3/4 x 25 5/8 in. (50.2 x 65.1 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Sackton
Object number: 88.17.10
Signed: Verso, pencil in full
Copyright: © Estate of Eddie Arning
Inscribed: YOU CAN TAKE THE COUNTRY OUT OF SALEM, Menthol Fresh, SALEM
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)
(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.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
