Donald Roller Wilson (born 1938) is an American artist, known for his paintings of people and anthropomorphized chimpanzees, orangutans, cats, and dogs, set in southern gothic interiors, twilight forests, and nocturnal graveyards, often amidst complex still lifes or floral arrangements, with levitating pickles, olives, asparagus, wooden matches, and cigarette butts. His images are often comical and at times disquieting. His paintings are executed using techniques and a style reminiscent of the old masters, or what the artist himself has called "kind of Victorian".[1]: 11 p. He gained national recognition in the mid-1970s and his work is included in the collections of several museums throughout the United States.
Two Sweet Singers in the Woods, by Donald Roller Wilson, 1973, oil on canvas, 167.6 x 152.4 cm.
The artist wrote "Roller Wilson was born in Houston, Texas on November 23, 1938, 10:55 A.M. His mother, a descendent of German–Dutch Jews who prospered during the Oklahoma Land Rush, had run off and married his father, an Episcopalian wildcatter who had been laying pipe in the Oklahoma plains."[2]: 280 p. He was the youngest of three siblings and significantly younger than his brother and sister, in effect growing up as an only child. His family moved to Nebraska about 1944 where his father started a business that made combine harvesters, and then to Wichita, Kansas, in 1945. His earliest involvement with art was sign painting on trucks.[3] He attended Wichita State University where he earned both B.A. and M.F.A. degrees. After completing his education he spent one year (1966–67) as an assistant professor at Peru State College, Nebraska. He moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas, in the summer of 1967, "expecting it would be a short-lived venture"[1]: 7 p. as a professor at the University of Arkansas, although Wilson ended up teaching at the university for eight years. In the mid-1970s he was able to devote himself to painting fulltime, and he and his wife Kathleen, also an artist, have remained in Fayetteville for well over fifty years.[1][4]
Artedit
According to The New York Times, "Donald Roller Wilson's goofy, hallucinogenic, old master-style painting of monkeys, dogs and cats dressed up in antique costumes may be kitsch, but it's high-quality kitsch, like good beach reading."[5]
Some of the characters he has created include Cookie the Baby Orangutan, Jane the Pug Girl, Jack the Jack Russell "Terror", Loretta the Actress Cat, Miss Dog America, and Patricia the Seeing Eye Dog of Houston.
The dreams of my waking hours are superimposed against an almost unbroken background of imagery. I have a threshold mind, assembling materials from several conceptual sources–frontiers–welding them together. But I don't know exactly what it is that moves the directions of my thoughts, and I wonder almost constantly about the shaping spirit that works through me. For there is some forming process accompanying me which sweeps like a selective magnet across an utter chaos of patterns in my thinking, and the result is that an otherwise aimless flow of association–of mental wanderings–becomes documented. The documentations are what you see in paintings. I can say with absolute truth and authority that I am a bystander, and the things that stream together in my work set up a kind of subconscious existence of their own. And the only real control, on my part, is an ability to revive–voluntarily–that to which I have been exposed. Once, after and exhibition of my work in New York, I was quoted: "My paintings are reports which I bring home from my wanderings. Thay are maps." That is still true. Donald Roller Wilson (1979)[1]
1998 Donald Roller Wilson: One Man Show, Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS
1997 Donald Roller Wilson: Paintings, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA
1989 Donald Roller Wilson, The Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, AL
1988 Roller: The Paintings of Donald Roller Wilson, Organized and toured by Mid-America Art Alliance, Kansas City, MO; traveled to: Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR; The Fine Art Center, Nashville, TN; Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, OK; Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, AL; Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX
1974 The Paintings of Donald Roller Wilson (catalogue), La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla, CA
1970 Donald Roller Wilson, Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, MO
1970 Donald Roller Wilson, The City Arts Museum of St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
1969 Donald Roller Wilson, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX
1966 Donald Roller Wilson, Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS
Bibliographyedit
Monographs
Coe, Ralph T. 1979. The Dreams of Donald Roller Wilson. Hawthorn Books, Inc. Publishers. New York, New York. 127 pp. ISBN0801503531
Frank, Peter. 1988. Roller: The Paintings of Donald Roller Wilson. Chronicle Books. San Francisco. 128 pp. ISBN0877015627
Wilson, Donald Roller. 1995. A Strong Night Wind. Wright Publishing, New York. 280 pp.ISBN0964625407
Referencesedit
^ abcdCoe, Ralph T. 1979. The Dreams of Donald Roller Wilson. Hawthorn Books, Inc. Publishers. New York, New York. 127 pp. ISBN0-8015-0353-1
^Wilson, Donald Roller, 1995. A Strong Night Wind. Wright Publishing. Palm Beach, Florida. 280 pp. ISBN0-9646254-1-5
^ abBranham, Erin. 2021. Donald Roller Wilson (1938–). Encyclopedia of Arkansas (accessed August 15, 2022)
^Artnet: Donald Roller Wilson (American, born 1938), accessed August 14, 2022
^Johnson, Ken (1999-06-18). "ART IN REVIEW; Donald Roller Wilson". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
^Neil Slaven, Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story of Frank Zappa, Omnibus Press, 2003, p. 332. ISBN0-7119-9436-6.
^Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago: Collection; Donald Roller Wilson, Transformation of Helen's Brother Larry (1980)
^Blanton Museum of Art: Collection; Donald Roller Wilson, Mrs. Jenkins' Late Night Dinner (1984)
^Brooklyn Museum: Collection; Donald Roller Wilson, Car Sized Shark for White (1974)
^Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art: Collection; Object; Donald Roller Wilson, Forest Street Afternoon (1969)
^Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden: Donald Roller Wilson, The Man has Left the Moon Tonight (1974)
^Davis Museum at Wellesley College: Donald Roller Wilson, Grapes for Mrs. White's Car
^Sheldon Museum of Art: Collection; Donald Roller Wilson
^Wichita Art Museum: Collection Explorer; Donald Roller Wilson
External linksedit
Donald Roller Wilson's official site
January 01, 1970
donald, roller, wilson, born, 1938, american, artist, known, paintings, people, anthropomorphized, chimpanzees, orangutans, cats, dogs, southern, gothic, interiors, twilight, forests, nocturnal, graveyards, often, amidst, complex, still, lifes, floral, arrange. Donald Roller Wilson born 1938 is an American artist known for his paintings of people and anthropomorphized chimpanzees orangutans cats and dogs set in southern gothic interiors twilight forests and nocturnal graveyards often amidst complex still lifes or floral arrangements with levitating pickles olives asparagus wooden matches and cigarette butts His images are often comical and at times disquieting His paintings are executed using techniques and a style reminiscent of the old masters or what the artist himself has called kind of Victorian 1 11 p He gained national recognition in the mid 1970s and his work is included in the collections of several museums throughout the United States Two Sweet Singers in the Woods by Donald Roller Wilson 1973 oil on canvas 167 6 x 152 4 cm Contents 1 Life 2 Art 3 Selected public collections 4 Selected solo exhibitions 5 Bibliography 6 References 7 External linksLife editThe artist wrote Roller Wilson was born in Houston Texas on November 23 1938 10 55 A M His mother a descendent of German Dutch Jews who prospered during the Oklahoma Land Rush had run off and married his father an Episcopalian wildcatter who had been laying pipe in the Oklahoma plains 2 280 p He was the youngest of three siblings and significantly younger than his brother and sister in effect growing up as an only child His family moved to Nebraska about 1944 where his father started a business that made combine harvesters and then to Wichita Kansas in 1945 His earliest involvement with art was sign painting on trucks 3 He attended Wichita State University where he earned both B A and M F A degrees After completing his education he spent one year 1966 67 as an assistant professor at Peru State College Nebraska He moved to Fayetteville Arkansas in the summer of 1967 expecting it would be a short lived venture 1 7 p as a professor at the University of Arkansas although Wilson ended up teaching at the university for eight years In the mid 1970s he was able to devote himself to painting fulltime and he and his wife Kathleen also an artist have remained in Fayetteville for well over fifty years 1 4 Art editAccording to The New York Times Donald Roller Wilson s goofy hallucinogenic old master style painting of monkeys dogs and cats dressed up in antique costumes may be kitsch but it s high quality kitsch like good beach reading 5 Some of the characters he has created include Cookie the Baby Orangutan Jane the Pug Girl Jack the Jack Russell Terror Loretta the Actress Cat Miss Dog America and Patricia the Seeing Eye Dog of Houston He created album cover art for musician Frank Zappa during the 1980s and 1990s Among these Boulez Conducts Zappa The Perfect Stranger 1984 Francesco Zappa 1984 and Them Or Us 1984 6 The artist has written about his work stating The dreams of my waking hours are superimposed against an almost unbroken background of imagery I have a threshold mind assembling materials from several conceptual sources frontiers welding them together But I don t know exactly what it is that moves the directions of my thoughts and I wonder almost constantly about the shaping spirit that works through me For there is some forming process accompanying me which sweeps like a selective magnet across an utter chaos of patterns in my thinking and the result is that an otherwise aimless flow of association of mental wanderings becomes documented The documentations are what you see in paintings I can say with absolute truth and authority that I am a bystander and the things that stream together in my work set up a kind of subconscious existence of their own And the only real control on my part is an ability to revive voluntarily that to which I have been exposed Once after and exhibition of my work in New York I was quoted My paintings are reports which I bring home from my wanderings Thay are maps That is still true Donald Roller Wilson 1979 1 Selected public collections editArkansas Museum of Fine Arts 3 Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago 7 Blanton Museum of Art 8 Brooklyn Museum 9 City Museum of St Louis Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art 10 Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden 11 Davis Museum at Wellesley College 12 Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego Nelson Atkins Museum of Art New Orleans Museum of Art Racine Art Museum Sheldon Museum of Art 13 Victoria and Albert Museum Whitney Museum of American Art Wichita Art Museum 14 Selected solo exhibitions edit1998 Donald Roller Wilson One Man Show Wichita Art Museum Wichita KS 1997 Donald Roller Wilson Paintings Tacoma Art Museum Tacoma WA 1989 Donald Roller Wilson The Huntsville Museum of Art Huntsville AL 1988 Roller The Paintings of Donald Roller Wilson Organized and toured by Mid America Art Alliance Kansas City MO traveled to Arkansas Art Center Little Rock AR The Fine Art Center Nashville TN Oklahoma Art Center Oklahoma City OK Huntsville Museum of Art Huntsville AL Art Museum of South Texas Corpus Christi TX 1974 The Paintings of Donald Roller Wilson catalogue La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art La Jolla CA 1970 Donald Roller Wilson Museum of Fine Arts Kansas City MO 1970 Donald Roller Wilson The City Arts Museum of St Louis St Louis MO 1969 Donald Roller Wilson Contemporary Arts Museum Houston TX 1966 Donald Roller Wilson Wichita Art Museum Wichita KSBibliography editMonographs Coe Ralph T 1979 The Dreams of Donald Roller Wilson Hawthorn Books Inc Publishers New York New York 127 pp ISBN 0801503531 Frank Peter 1988 Roller The Paintings of Donald Roller Wilson Chronicle Books San Francisco 128 pp ISBN 0877015627 Wilson Donald Roller 1995 A Strong Night Wind Wright Publishing New York 280 pp ISBN 0964625407References edit a b c d Coe Ralph T 1979 The Dreams of Donald Roller Wilson Hawthorn Books Inc Publishers New York New York 127 pp ISBN 0 8015 0353 1 Wilson Donald Roller 1995 A Strong Night Wind Wright Publishing Palm Beach Florida 280 pp ISBN 0 9646254 1 5 a b Branham Erin 2021 Donald Roller Wilson 1938 Encyclopedia of Arkansas accessed August 15 2022 Artnet Donald Roller Wilson American born 1938 accessed August 14 2022 Johnson Ken 1999 06 18 ART IN REVIEW Donald Roller Wilson The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved 2023 02 14 Neil Slaven Electric Don Quixote The Definitive Story of Frank Zappa Omnibus Press 2003 p 332 ISBN 0 7119 9436 6 Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago Collection Donald Roller Wilson Transformation of Helen s Brother Larry 1980 Blanton Museum of Art Collection Donald Roller Wilson Mrs Jenkins Late Night Dinner 1984 Brooklyn Museum Collection Donald Roller Wilson Car Sized Shark for White 1974 Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Collection Object Donald Roller Wilson Forest Street Afternoon 1969 Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Donald Roller Wilson The Man has Left the Moon Tonight 1974 Davis Museum at Wellesley College Donald Roller Wilson Grapes for Mrs White s Car Sheldon Museum of Art Collection Donald Roller Wilson Wichita Art Museum Collection Explorer Donald Roller WilsonExternal links editDonald Roller Wilson s official site Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Donald Roller Wilson amp oldid 1195909475, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
