Found in the Making: Films About Self-Taught Artists
continues with sensitive portraits of two women from remarkably different worlds that reveal surprising commonalities–an irrepressible creativity that transformed their lives, with both artists achieving great acclaim and recognition for their artistic expression.
TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 7:00PM
Grandma Moses + Sonabai
Directed by Jerome Hill, 1950, 22 minutes, 35mm film print preserved by The Museum of Modern Art with funds provided by The Jerome Foundation
Anna Mary Robertson Moses (known as Grandma Moses) started painting when she was in her 70s, capturing scenes of rural celebrations and daily life in upstate New York, where she lived most of her life. Grandma Moses is one of the most important self-taught artists of the 20th century. However, unlike John Kane, Horace Pippin, Morris Hirshfield and other such artists of her generation, she achieved a celebrity that far transcended the normal boundaries of the folk art field. In the immediate post-WW II years, Moses was one of the most successful and famous artists in America. Featured on radio, television, and in mass-market publications, she was arguably the first artist to become a media superstar.
In honor of her 90th birthday, Jerome Hill released a documentary/art film which follows Grandma Moses through the seasons as a metaphor for the stages of her long life. The heir to a great American railroad fortune, Hill was often unfairly dismissed as a millionaire who dabbled in filmmaking. But his Academy-Award nominated Grandma Moses was hailed in its day as one of the most beautiful color films about art and artists ever made.SONABAI: Another Way of Seeing
Directed by David Berez and Jeffrey Wolf, prod. Stephen Huyler, 2009, 29 minutes
For 15 years, Sonabai Rajawar lived in total isolation in her central Indian village. Desperate loneliness drove her to populate the inside of her home with extraordinary sculptures. Decades later, although Sonabai was illiterate and untrained, she received national and international attention and the highest awards India can bestow on an artist. Her unusual vision engendered an entire style of art with many contemporary elements, and has served as the agent of significant social and economic improvement in her region. Sonabai’s story echoes the urgent need of humanity to express itself creatively. In the words of cultural anthropologist Stephen Huyler, "Sonabai drew her inspiration from deep within her soul and she has never sought recognition. The purpose of her art was to bring solace and to balance the inequities that framed her existence." Winner of the 2009 Santa Fe Film Festival's Best Short Documentary award, Sonabai: Another Way of Seeing reveals one woman's creative vision in the face of oppressive adversity.
Stephen Huyler, art historian, cultural anthropologist, photographer, and author, will offer a Q&A following the screenings.
Film screening and talk in the Ibrahim Theater at International House, 3701 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA. Tickets available in advance at TICKETWEB.
Double Vision: Grandma Moses + Sonabai is presented as part of the "Found in the Making" film series, produced by the Foundation for Self-Taught American Artists, featuring a wide selection of films that address the definitions and interpretations of self-taught art.CURRENTLY ON VIEW
Galerie St. Etienne, New York City (through April 3)
Seventy Years Grandma Moses: A Loan Exhibition Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the Artist's ‘Discovery’
Mingei International Museum, San Diego (through September 5)
Sonabai: Another Way of Seeing
FOUNDATION MISSION
The Foundation for Self-Taught American Artists is dedicated to the production, acquisition, promotion, and distribution of documentary films—supported by a dynamic website—to educate and inspire our growing audience of diverse communities.
Image credits: Anna Mary Robertson (Grandma) Moses, A Beautiful World, 1948, oil on pressed wood, 20 × 24 inches. Kallir 787. Private collection. Sonabai, Wall Panel (detail), Puhputra Village, India, 2003, mixed media, 36 x 48 x 2”. Photo: Stephen P. Huyler.