Enduring Voices Catalogue (6-21-23) - Flipbook - Page 15
William
Edmonson
(1874-1951)
Born in Davidson County, Tennessee, sculptor William Edmondson
was the first African American artist to be featured in a solo
exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
The son of freed slaves, Edmondson was sixteen when he left the
plantation on which he was born to take a job with the railroad
in Nashville. After a leg injury, Edmondson spent several years
working as a hospital janitor and orderly and then at odd jobs,
one of which was as a stone mason’s assistant. It was in this
latter job that he learned to carve limestone, which would become
his material of choice. Using railroad spikes and other makeshift
tools, Edmondson initially began carving tombstones for members
of Nashville’s African American community. He moved on to
carve animals, people, and religious figures in minimalist style.
Edmondson credits divine intervention as inspiring his artistic
creations, calling his pieces “miracles” that were guided by a
voice from the heavens.
WILLIAM EDMONDSON
THREADS THAT COME THROUGH
If you came to our house and looked through it,
you would find that there are threads that come
through. You would see that, for example, with the
sculpture. The William Edmundson piece would have
clear connections to some of the other American
and European objects in the house. So, I think that
somehow our eyes see that there are connections
between these works.
This great Edmondson Rooster was considered an
outsider piece when we got it, but we came to see
the elegance and sophistication of it. The work has
a quality of modeling found in the great sculptural
traditions. The simplest of lines make this a rooster
with a clear attitude. We just love Edmondson’s
sculpture — it is something that we find ourselves
drawn to view, time after time.
–Susan S. and David R. Goode
In 1935, a photographer from Harper’s Bazaar magazine was
visiting a neighbor of Edmondson’s when she saw his work.
Enchanted, she took photos, which she shared with Alfred H. Barr,
Jr., the first director of MoMA. In 1937 Edmondson landed his
solo exhibition there, with the museum mounting ten of his pieces.
Edmondson’s art career lasted only seventeen years, cut short by
illness that forced him to retire.
I is just doing the Lord’s work. I didn’t know
I was no artist till them folks come tole me I
was. Every piece of work I got carved...is a
message...a sermon, you might say. A preacher
don’t hardly get up in the pulpit, but he don’t
preach some picture I got carved. You see, I
got to do these things for my Heavenly Daddy
whether folks buy them or not. He ain’t never
said nothing about pay for it.
—William Edmondson
Interesting Edmondson Fact:
While William Edmondson carved many tombstones for others throughout his life, Edmondson was buried in an unmarked grave on the outskirts
of Nashville. With a fire having destroying cemetery records, his final resting place remains a mystery.
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