ULYSSES DAVIS - Self Taught Folk Artist
VIDEO: The Vision of Ulysses Davis
Treasures of Ulysses Davis - Bio and Images of Artwork - Folk Art Museum
Treasures of Ulysses Davis - Bio and Images of Artwork - Folk Art Museum
All above images from monsterbrains.blogspot.com
BIG IDEA: Create a sculptural artwork in the artwork in the style of Ulysses Grant
ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How can one attain artistic endeavors and establish themselves as an artist while having a full time career outside the world of art? What attributes of your personal life could you make into an artistic body of work?
KEY KNOWLEDGE:
ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How can one attain artistic endeavors and establish themselves as an artist while having a full time career outside the world of art? What attributes of your personal life could you make into an artistic body of work?
KEY KNOWLEDGE:
- Discover and learn about self taught folk artist Ulysses Grant
- Learn new techniques in sculptural construction techniques with various tools and materials
- Understand you can be a master artist for a life-long enjoyment and not be required to sell your artwork
ULYSSES GRANT BRIEF BIO:
In the early 1950s, Ulysses Davis (1914-1990) opened a barbershop he built behind his home in Savannah, Georgia. A whittler since boyhood, he soon began carving figures from wood in his spare time. He decorated the outside of his barbershop and filled the inside with his reliefs and freestanding carvings. During his lifetime, Davis created more than three hundred works, producing a varied but unified body of wood sculpture that reflects his faith, humor, and dignity.
Davis's sculptures range in height from six to more than forty inches, and can be divided into several major categories: religious images, patriotism, works influenced by African forms, abstract decorative objects, and portraits of African and American leaders. The latter includes what many regard as Davis's masterwork--a series of forty carved busts of all the U.S. presidents through George H. W. Bush. Because the artist rarely sold his sculptures, his carvings have had limited exposure outside of Georgia. Davis wanted his work to stay together after he died, and most of his sculpture is now held by the King-Tisdell Cottage Foundation in Savannah.
In the early 1950s, Ulysses Davis (1914-1990) opened a barbershop he built behind his home in Savannah, Georgia. A whittler since boyhood, he soon began carving figures from wood in his spare time. He decorated the outside of his barbershop and filled the inside with his reliefs and freestanding carvings. During his lifetime, Davis created more than three hundred works, producing a varied but unified body of wood sculpture that reflects his faith, humor, and dignity.
Davis's sculptures range in height from six to more than forty inches, and can be divided into several major categories: religious images, patriotism, works influenced by African forms, abstract decorative objects, and portraits of African and American leaders. The latter includes what many regard as Davis's masterwork--a series of forty carved busts of all the U.S. presidents through George H. W. Bush. Because the artist rarely sold his sculptures, his carvings have had limited exposure outside of Georgia. Davis wanted his work to stay together after he died, and most of his sculpture is now held by the King-Tisdell Cottage Foundation in Savannah.