Afterlife

Many renowned figures in painting, literature, and music remained relatively obscure during their lifetimes, only gaining fame or iconic status posthumously. This often happens because of changing cultural preferences, the efforts of their surviving family members, or the recognition of their innovation by subsequent historians and critics.

Perhaps the best-known example is Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890), who sold only one painting during his life and struggled with poverty and mental health. His recognition grew mostly after his death, thanks to his sister-in-law, who diligently promoted his art and shared his letters. Only around 10 of Emily Dickinson’s (1830-1886) nearly 1,800 poems were published during her lifetime, often heavily edited to meet the standards of the time. Her sister found her hand-bound volumes after her death and worked to get them published. Delta blues musician Robert Johnson (1911–1938), who died young and was initially known only to a local audience, gained wider recognition through 1960s reissues of his recordings. This exposure influenced a new wave of rock icons such as Eric Clapton and Keith Richards, establishing him as a household name long after his death.

The exhibition Afterlife features more than 70 artworks in a variety of media by 20 international self-taught artists whose work was primarily discovered after death in a range of fascinating ways, their posthumous art significantly contributing to the Modern, Contemporary, and Outsider Art canons.

Exhibited artists include Morton Bartlett, E.J. Bellocq, Pearl Blauvelt, John Byam, Mary Paulina Corbett, Robert Coutelas, Henry Darger, Charles A. A. Dellschau, James Edward Deeds, Frank Johnson, Vivian Maier, Melvin Edward Nelson, Philadelphia Wireman, Martín Ramírez, Daniel E. Rohrig, Marcel Storr, Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, Abraham Lincoln Walker,  Grant Wallace, and Frank Walter.

Highlights include early, individual watercolor and pencil portraits of the Vivian Girls by Henry Darger (1892–1973); E.J. Bellocq’s (1873–1949) intimate photographic portraits of prostitutes in Storyville, New Orleans’ legal red-light district; miniature tarot cards with symbolic motifs by Robert Coutelas (1930-1985); Mary Paulina Corbett’s (1930–2019) colored pencil drawings of "The Catville Kids," a fictional cast she created in her youth to capture scenes of daily life, parties, and romantic reunions; John Byam’s (1929–2013) hand-carved wood sculptures of everyday objects like cars, cameras, and houses; visionary portraits with texts by Grant Wallace (1868–1954), based on telepathic transmissions he believed he received from spirits and extraterrestrials; notebooks featuring aspects of Frank Johnson’s (1912–1979) 2,300-page “Wally’s Gang” graphic novel created over a 50-year span; and documentary photographs shot on the streets of Chicago by Vivian Maier (1926–2009), who secretly captured more than 150,000 images while working as a nanny.

The stories of how their artworks were discovered are equally fascinating. Pearl Blauvelt (1893–1987) lived for decades in a house without electricity, running water, or central heating in rural Pennsylvania. Known as the "Village Witch,” she created around 800 drawings in the 1940s and 1950s using graphite and colored pencil on humble materials like ruled notebook paper, envelopes, and paper bags. Her artwork was discovered by chance years after she was declared incompetent and moved to a care facility, where she remained until her death in 1987. Her former residence stood vacant for nearly 50 years until it was purchased in the early 2000s by artists, who discovered a leather-hinged wooden box hidden under piles of abandoned debris that contained her entire body of work. Her work is now in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.