The Private Universe of James Castle

A new approach to the work of self-taught artist James Castle that focuses on how his drawings and practice resonate with earlier masters

Drawing on the collections of the William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation and the James Castle Collection and Archive, this volume features more than 90 of James Castle’s (1899–1977) landscapes and architectural-interior views, including works that have never been published before.

Broadening the discussion of Castle’s work beyond the common emphasis on the role of the artist’s deafness and isolation in rural Idaho, Larry J. Feinberg places the self-taught artist in a larger artistic and cultural context and foregrounds Castle’s prowess as a draftsman. He shows how the artist’s evocative and unconventional images use techniques such as a "bending," intuitive perspective and subtle shifts of focus.

Comparing the descriptive and expressive effects that Castle achieves in his soot drawings with studies by Rembrandt, and showing how Castle’s manipulation of space has much in common with Piranesi and M. C. Escher, this study expands our understanding of the artist’s evocative and unconventional images in new and exciting ways.

Distributed for the Santa Barbara Museum of Art

Exhibition Schedule:

Santa Barbara Museum of Art (June 25–September 17, 2023)