Souls Grown Deep, Vol. 1: African American Vernacular Art of the South: The Tree Gave the Dove a Leaf [Hardcover]

Paul Arnett (Editor), William S. Arnett (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0965376605 | ISBN-13: 978-0965376600 | Publication Date: September 2000

The first comprehensive overview of an important genre of American art, Souls Grown Deep explores the visual-arts genius of the black South. This first work in a multivolume study introduces 40 African-American self-taught artists, who, without significant formal training, often employ the most unpretentious and unlikely materials. Like blues and jazz artists, they create powerful statements amplifying the call for freedom and vision.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This massive volume provides an exhaustively detailed examination of the work of Southern African American folk/outsider artists active in the decades following World War II. (A second volume will cover artists active in the 1980s and 1990s.) Through numerous introductory essays and artist biographies, leading scholars in this field emphasize several major themes, including the African cultural qualities to be found in the artwork and how artists expressed ideas and emotions current in the struggle for civil rights. Over 800 mostly color illustrations of the art accompany the text, revealing a remarkably rich diversity of media and style. Oddly enough, there is no bibliography. Owing to the scholarly tone of the text and sheer mass of information provided, this book's audience will be largely limited to scholars and students of African American culture. Nevertheless, because this will long be the definitive work on this subject, it is highly recommended.DEugene C. Burt, Data Arts, Seattle
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

In 1996, Atlanta collector William Arnett stunned critics and the public alike with an unprecedented exhibition of the powerful work of African American vernacular, or nonacademic, artists. Since then he has established a press to publish the first of what promises to be an invaluable series of lavishly produced books that will make his collection, and the scholarship it engenders, permanently available. Forty contemporary Southern artists working in a dazzling array of materials and styles are profiled here, accompanied by 800 color photographs of their electrifying sculptures and paintings, and historical and cultural essays by such eloquent contributors as congressman John Lewis, art historian Lucy Lippard, and Lee Kogan, a director at the Museum of American Folk Art. From the expressive wooden figures of Ralph Griffin and Bessie Harvey to the intricate root sculptures of Thornton Dial and Lonnie Holley, and the fecund images of Mose Tolliver and Nellie Mae Rowe, the creations of these self-taught artists are infused with spirituality, humor, and an earthy engagement with both sorrows and joys. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 544 pages
• Publisher: Tinwood Books (September 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965376605
• ISBN-13: 978-0965376600
• Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 10.9 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #222,106 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #58 in Books > Arts & Photography > Schools, Periods & Styles > Folk Art

More About the Author

Maude Southwell Wahlman was born in Manhatten, New York City, where she attended Friends Seminary School. She attended Friends Central High School in Philadelphia, then Rockford College, The University of Iowa, The University of Arizona, and received a BA in Art from Colorado College. She attended graduate school at Northwestern University, for an MA in Anthropology, and Yale University for a Ph.D. in Art History. She began her teaching career at the University of Mississippi, then was Chair of the Art Department at the University of Central Florida, and enjoyed a year as a Resident Research Scholar at the W.E.B. DuBois Center for Research on Black Culture at Harvard, before accepting a position as the Dorothy and Dale Thompson/Missouri Endowed Professor of Global Arts at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't miss this book- it is INCREDIBLE, July 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Souls Grown Deep, Vol. 1: African American Vernacular Art of the South: The Tree Gave the Dove a Leaf (Hardcover)

Wow! Wow! A fair review of this amazing book would take up more than the allowed space. Almost 600 pages of spectacular art, insightful and intelligent essays, and very high quality printing on very high quality paper. With so many probing essays (Andrew Young, Amiri Baraka, Vincent Harding, Jack Lindsey, Paul Arnett, Howard Dodson, Congressman John Lewis, Maude Wahlman, Babatunde Lawal, Roy Sieber, William Arnett, Maxwell Anderson, William Ferris, et al) and beautiful chapters on so many well known (and lesser known) artists, Souls Grown Deep will put "vernacular" art on the map, front and center. And it's about time.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous-, May 21, 2001

By 

W. Montgomery (Tokyo, Tokyo Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Souls Grown Deep, Vol. 1: African American Vernacular Art of the South: The Tree Gave the Dove a Leaf (Hardcover)

Gorgeous photos and very high quality printing and paper. The artwork is very interesting and continues to offer surprises further and further into the book. I enjoyed the stories and recollections of the artists which added a personal and human side to the visual splendor. The editors' own energy and passion for the subject matter shines through. This is a rare gift I will go back to time and time again.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A set of books that tells an incredible story, June 3, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Souls Grown Deep, Vol. 1: African American Vernacular Art of the South: The Tree Gave the Dove a Leaf (Hardcover)

This book is a marvel in both production quality and content. If ever a set of books deserved the "tome" designation, this set wins big. They opened my eyes to a world I hoped existed but feared did not. I have long appreciated and understood the contributions of African Americans in the arts, but often wondered why the visual arts traditions hadn't reached the heights that the music (blues, jazz, gospel, hip hop, R&B, Rock n' Roll), literary, athletic, fashion, theater, etc.. reached? I have also always been dismayed that many of the great African Americans have had to leave the south, and often this country, to receive recognition at all. It is an old story that is far to common. These books tell a different story. The art work is of the highest caliber, and often created with the humblest of materials?found wood, roots, house paint, discarded materials?yet the artists find ways to make the most glorious objects. It was certainly a revelation to see work that would rival what I see in the many museums in town, made by men and women who don't seem to have any regard, or perhaps knowledge, of these institutions. Work made for themselves, their families, or their communities enjoyment and education. The true meaning of art. It would be impossible for me to say which book I prefer. Both were so eye opening. Now that I have both, I can't imagine not having either. I hope that these volumes will find their way into the libraries and schools across America, for they tell a story that has long been unkown, which is unfortunate. Or, I fear, ignored, which is tragic. Kudos to both, and I hope that there will be a Volume 3. I must add that if you are interested in the "real" American story, history, art (of any kind), then these books are a must read (and look). And as a lover and collector of Twentieth Century art, I realize I have not been, up until now, told the WHOLE truth.