George Andrews, the Dot Man June 24, 2008
Posted by Deborah in : Digital Projects , add a commentBenny Andrews gave SCAD a very nice small collection of articles and exhibit brochures, which have been processed into the Benny Andrews Collection, MS 011. The collection included several books, including one about his father: The Dot Man: George Andrews of Madison, Georgia by J. Richard Gruber, published by the Morris Museum of Art in Augusta, Georgia in 1997. The book has been cataloged and is shelved in Special Collections. It is probably not a well known book, and the older Andrew’s art is worth a closer look, full of life, exuberance, and symbolism, with a touch of humor, also. We requested that the Visual Resource Center scan some of the images from the book and place them in their Image Database for SCAD students, faculty, and staff. You must be logged into MySCAD to access the SCAD Digital Image Database. When you arrive at their Image Search screen, Type in George Andrews under Artist’s Name and type in Benny Andrews under Archive Source. You should receive 10 results.
There is a wonderful article in Art Journal, Volume 53, Number 1, Spring 1994 on page 22, where George Andrews is interviewed by his son, Benny. It can be found in the library’s database, JSTOR. George Andrews, known as “the Dot Man,” was born in 1911 in Plainview, Georgia, of Scottish, Cherokee, and African ancestry. His interest in art began when he was very young. He left school to work in the fields of his father’s plantation, drawing in the evenings when he returned home. He married Viola Perryman and the couple had ten children. Viola was a writer and it seems the family was full of talent. A family art exhibit entitled Art of the Family: Benny Andrews and Nene Humphrey was organized by the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans, Louisiana in 2000, and featured works from several family members including George
George was known for his love of painting images on barns, which led to a short career as a sign painter. After retiring in the 1950’s, he began painting bright dots on rocks around Madison, Georgia, and soon gained the name, “the Dot Man.” He painted every surface he could and soon he became recognized for his trademark bright colors and dot patterns. His son, Benny Andrews, began supplying him with canvas, which he adapted quite well.
Various Objects, 20th Century, Decorated by George Andrews, photograph from page 27 of The Dot Man: George Andrews of Madison, Georgia.
Look on our exhibits page on George Andrews to see a few more of the images. If you need a better quality image, go to the Visual Resources Center SCAD Digital Image Database. Of course, there are lots more images in the book. You can purchase the book on George Andrews from the Morris Museum of Art’s web site. And, of course, you can always come to Special Collection and take a look!
Our Digital Project with the Myrtle Jones Collection June 6, 2008
Posted by Deborah in : Digital Projects , add a commentThis spring, Gretchen and I worked on a project with the Myrtle Jones Collections. Myrtle Jones was a local artist with a very distinctive Savannah style. Special Collections holds two collections: one of her papers and one of visual materials. Our project involved rewriting the finding aid for the papers to add content and reorganize it a bit. We think this will facilitate the use of this resource for students and researchers. We added a more extensive biography and processed some materials that had been omitted from the original finding aid. While we had hoped to incorporate the visual materials into this collection as well, we decided it was not feasible at this time. Here is a link to the new finding aid, MS 002, the Myrtle Jones Papers.
We also wanted to make some of the images of her artwork and photography found in the collection of visual materials available to the SCAD community. While Myrtle Jones is well known in Savannah for her artwork, she did not consider herself a photographer. The purpose of her photography was to capture images she could later use as references for her paintings. She took extensive photos of her own paintings, people, places, and events in and around Savannah and also during her travels. She had a good eye and applied all of the elements of composition she used in painting to her photographs. Her images of Savannah are of downtown buildings, the riverfront, the historic district, and Forsyth Park. Her work documents a point in time from the 1970s through the 1990s and offers views of many important buildings prior to renovation.
Our project was a cooperative project with the Visual Resources Center. Gretchen and I selected over 200 slides from the Jones’ collection that were largely of Savannah residences and downtown buildings. With the help of Elvira Sanchez-Kisser, Gretchen scanned the slides and provided metadata for each. The slides were then uploaded into the Visual Resource Center’s Image Database. This database is available to all SCAD faculty, students, and staff from the library’s webpage. You must also be logged into MySCAD to access the SCAD Digital Image Database. When you arrive at their Image Search screen, select Architecture / Topography under Category and type in Myrtle Jones under Archive Source. You should receive 87 (or more, when we add more slides) results, many with multiple slides.
There are a number of houses, mostly from the historic district, and also a number of images of squares, the Savannah River front, the Roundhouse and railroad depot, and a number of historic buildings in the downtown area. Jones did not always convey the locations of the images on the slide. It took a great deal of detective work on Gretchen’s part to locate some of these. We hope in the near future to expand the Myrtle Jones entries in the database to include images of her artwork as well. To give you a small taste, we have included some images under exhibits.