“Outsider” Madonna found

Martin Ramirez (March 30, 1895 – February 17, 1963) , a Mexican-born farm laborer, came to the United States in 1923 seeking work. He was arrested in 1931 and, unable to communicate — due both to his inability to speak English and what was diagnosed as catatonic schizophrenia — was committed to Stockton State Hospital. He spent the rest of his life in psych wards in central California.

While incarcerated, he created hundreds of drawings and collages that combined Mexican folk traditions with his preoccupation with modernity — landscapes, trains, Madonnas, and strong repetitive patterns share the visual space. One of his works was sent to designers Ray and Charles Eames by the gallerist who’d first shown Ramirez’s drawings. This piece got lost in the Eames’ papers, where it was rediscovered in 2009. It’s significant as an example of Ramirez’s early work, done on canvases he created himself by piecing together scraps of paper with a paste of potatoes and spit.

The work will be on display at the Library of Congress in the “Exploring the Early Americas” exhibition on the second floor of the Jefferson Building. The display, which will run through March 15, is free and open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

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photo credit: Martin Ramirez (1895-1963). Untitled Madonna, ca. 1951. Crayon, pencil and ink drawing on a sheet of pasted-together mail, advertisements and other papers. Credit: Estate of Martin Ramirez, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

You can see more of Ramirez's works at the website of the 2007 exhibit at the American Folk Art Museum: http://www.folkartmuseum.org/ramirez

My essay on Marwencol, a film about another outsider artist.