catalogue for an exhibition in berlin currently
When Morton Bartlett died at the age of eighty-three his relatives found fifteen wooden boxes containing half size dolls and accessories: twelve girls and three boys, self-sewn clothes, black and white photographs of the dolls as well as countless studies and archive material.
[...] All of this work was created for purely private purposes and was never shown during his lifetime.
These are amazing
If it was produced for private purposes, did he allow the work to be exhibited via his will?
Interesting – his motif reminded me somewhat of Henry Darger’s work.
@s.borges – But for the fact of creating art for his own consumption, there is not much of a Darger correlation, as Bartlett’s female dolls are sans penises, and are not traced from pictures in magazines — thank God! (Bill, you’re not trolling as a tranny fan again here, are you?)
stop trolling mr storm – there are plenty of parallels – their work was done “secretly” and only discovered posthumously – both interested in little girls (with or without penises) – both artists work are kinda innocent/naiive but kinda perverse – and morton bartlett did collect magazine images for inspiration…
I’m currently trolling a couple of hot air ballooning forums as a tranny fan and am meeting with surprising enthusiasm, thus have not had time to muck about here.
Wow, I like Bartlett’s work. Isn’t it great that his relatives saved and shared this stuff rather than having a quick private bonfire in the backyard as many families would? Of course, that said, I myself have a couple of local arsonists on retainer in the event of my unexpected demise.
@TB – As s.borges did not take the bait, this troll begs to differ: according to our Lord God Google and his minor prophet, Wikipedia, unlike Darger, Bartlett’s work was not done “secretly,” per se, nor discovered posthumously, rather, “Bartlett’s hobby received public mention twice in his lifetime. The first came in 1957 in the 25th Anniversary Report of Harvard’s 1932 graduating class, in which he wrote: ‘My hobby is sculpting in plaster. Its purpose is that of all proper hobbies – to let out urges that do not find expression in other channels.’ [I like this quote on "proper hobbies"; I'm going to steal it.
] The second came in April 1962 when Yankee Magazine ran a two-page spread of photographs featuring nine of Bartlett’s dolls dressed in costumes representing various ethnic heritages. The article, written by Michael A. Tatischeff, was titled ‘The Sweethearts of Mr. Bartlett’.” During his lifetime, Barlett also displayed his work to his small circle of friends and acquaintances; Darger neither displayed, nor had such a circle.
Moreover, unlike Bartlett, Darger was a prolific artist — bar none; his book, “In the Realms of the Unreal,” alone, consists of 15,145 pages in fifteen volumes, with several hundred pages of illustrations, which took an estimated sixty years to create, whilst Barlett’s magnum opus consists of fifteen dolls, albeit magnificently done dolls.
Not to flog a dead horse, but Barlett came from a wealthy family, and attended Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard University, whilst Darger fapped in poverty his whole life, and as a child was institutionalized in Lincoln, Illinois, with the diagnosis of “self-abuse.” Thus, these two gentlemen are two entirely different animals altogether, with more stark differences than similarities, IMHO. (I suppose this is the tipping point, where trolling becomes hijacking.)
@Bill – OMG, you’re not “Balloonatic Billie Jean,” on the “Hot Ride in the Sky Forum,” are you?! I actually read that acrimonious and angst-filled thread on “Shaving Hairy Leg Stubble at 10,000 feet.” You really did Rickroll the regulars there with those inflatable troll posts! Jolly good show, old boy, jolly good show!
blah blah bleurgh
both artists are self-taught
both artists lived alone creating imaginary families to fill a real life void
both artists ate cornflakes for breakfast
Glad to know my, eh?, “bait” generated a bit of discussion here. Didn’t know Bartlett – interesting artist; looked him up after catching this post. Unfortunately, don’t have the $100K for one his dolls. But what are you going to do? Life is tough.
“both artists work are kinda innocent/naiive but kinda perverse”
If creating dolls like this makes you pervert, then being a pervert must be a good thing. I love pervert art. It´s always so… beautiful.