Harry Jackson
American, (1924–2011)
Harry Aaron Shapiro Jr. was born to Harry Shapiro and Ellen Jackson in Chicago on April 18, 1924. His name was changed to Harry Andrew Jackson after his parents divorced. As a child, Jackson sometimes skipped classes and wandered the streets of Chicago. He worked in his mother's lunchroom in the Union Stock Yards. Jackson liked the cowboys he met there and developed an interest in the American frontier and Western genre starting at a young age. In his early teens, he began taking Saturday classes at the Art Institute of Chicago after his teacher recognized his artistic abilities and secured a scholarship on his behalf.
Inspired by a February 1937 photo spread in Life about Wyoming's cowboy lifestyle ("Winter Comes to a Wyoming Ranch"), Jackson ran away from home in 1938, at fourteen years old. He hitchhiked to Wyoming, where he worked as a ranch hand in Cody. In 1938 he worked for Earl Martin at the Bradford Ranch on the North Fork, then with Cal Todd on the Pitchfork Ranch near Meeteetse (which he later said was his "spiritual birthplace") in 1939. He eventually became a cowboy. Jackson also began sketching, according to The New York Times, in the ways of Frederic Remington. During each winter season between 1938 and 1942, he returned to Chicago to continue his art education.
In 1942, when he was eighteen years old, Jackson enlisted in the Marines during World War II and became a sketch artist for the Fifth Amphibious Corps. He was wounded during the Battle of Tarawa in November 1943, and later in Saipan. The injuries earned him two Purple Hearts and left Jackson suffering from epileptic seizures, mood disorders, and posttraumatic stress disorder for the rest of his life. In September 1944, Jackson returned to the United States and became the youngest ever Marine Corps combat artist at age twenty. He was stationed in Los Angeles and, in this role, drew and painted "[his] bloodiest close-combat experiences". Jackson was honorably discharged in October 1945. He spent the winter season at Pitchfork Ranch before relocating to New York in May 1946.
Jackson did some acting on Hollywood radio and recorded songs he learned at Pitchfork Ranch for Folkways Records during the 1950s. His album The Cowboy: His Songs, Ballads and Brag Talk was released in 1959. He recorded for Columbia Records in New York during the 1960s, and even sang at Carnegie Hall with Dylan and Joan Baez, and Pete Seeger. His repertory included songs like "The Pot Wrassler" and "Streets of Laredo", and were "all sung in an authentic, unadorned style far removed from popular music or the folk-pop of the period".
In 1954, Jackson purchased a series of 1860 sketches by Paul Cézanne for $80 from someone at Aix-en-Provence who claimed that his father was the artist's caretaker. Jackson tried to sell them in 1962, but they were deemed stolen and confiscated after a Louvre seal was found during the authentication process. He fought for ownership of the sketches for five years and withdrew his claim in 1967. He said, "I was mad. Darn mad. But now I have come full circle and am returning the drawings, which is what I would have done immediately if the FBI had not taken the drawings and I had just been notified by Rewald."
He began a private journal, which eventually grew to more than 100 volumes, in March 1945. Jackson's journal entry about meeting Pollock read: On Monday Oct 11, 1948, I finally met Jackson Pollock who became my friend and mentor who deeply influenced my entire life's work to this day. A few days after Jack and I bonded, my wild White Figure painting volcanically erupted from my sealed-off blacked-out mind. It was far too revealing, so I didn't show it to anyone until my exhaustive Retrospective at the University of Wyoming Art Museum in 1987.
After leaving New York, Jackson lived in Wyoming and Camaiore, Italy, where he had a foundry and studio. Jackson and John Wayne became friends in the final decade of Wayne's life.
In addition to the brain injuries inflicted during his military service, he was diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder. Jackson died at the Veterans Health Administration's medical center in Sheridan on April 25, 2011 at the age of 87, following several health issues during his final year.
Source: wikipedia
American, (1924–2011)
Harry Aaron Shapiro Jr. was born to Harry Shapiro and Ellen Jackson in Chicago on April 18, 1924. His name was changed to Harry Andrew Jackson after his parents divorced. As a child, Jackson sometimes skipped classes and wandered the streets of Chicago. He worked in his mother's lunchroom in the Union Stock Yards. Jackson liked the cowboys he met there and developed an interest in the American frontier and Western genre starting at a young age. In his early teens, he began taking Saturday classes at the Art Institute of Chicago after his teacher recognized his artistic abilities and secured a scholarship on his behalf.
Inspired by a February 1937 photo spread in Life about Wyoming's cowboy lifestyle ("Winter Comes to a Wyoming Ranch"), Jackson ran away from home in 1938, at fourteen years old. He hitchhiked to Wyoming, where he worked as a ranch hand in Cody. In 1938 he worked for Earl Martin at the Bradford Ranch on the North Fork, then with Cal Todd on the Pitchfork Ranch near Meeteetse (which he later said was his "spiritual birthplace") in 1939. He eventually became a cowboy. Jackson also began sketching, according to The New York Times, in the ways of Frederic Remington. During each winter season between 1938 and 1942, he returned to Chicago to continue his art education.
In 1942, when he was eighteen years old, Jackson enlisted in the Marines during World War II and became a sketch artist for the Fifth Amphibious Corps. He was wounded during the Battle of Tarawa in November 1943, and later in Saipan. The injuries earned him two Purple Hearts and left Jackson suffering from epileptic seizures, mood disorders, and posttraumatic stress disorder for the rest of his life. In September 1944, Jackson returned to the United States and became the youngest ever Marine Corps combat artist at age twenty. He was stationed in Los Angeles and, in this role, drew and painted "[his] bloodiest close-combat experiences". Jackson was honorably discharged in October 1945. He spent the winter season at Pitchfork Ranch before relocating to New York in May 1946.
Jackson did some acting on Hollywood radio and recorded songs he learned at Pitchfork Ranch for Folkways Records during the 1950s. His album The Cowboy: His Songs, Ballads and Brag Talk was released in 1959. He recorded for Columbia Records in New York during the 1960s, and even sang at Carnegie Hall with Dylan and Joan Baez, and Pete Seeger. His repertory included songs like "The Pot Wrassler" and "Streets of Laredo", and were "all sung in an authentic, unadorned style far removed from popular music or the folk-pop of the period".
In 1954, Jackson purchased a series of 1860 sketches by Paul Cézanne for $80 from someone at Aix-en-Provence who claimed that his father was the artist's caretaker. Jackson tried to sell them in 1962, but they were deemed stolen and confiscated after a Louvre seal was found during the authentication process. He fought for ownership of the sketches for five years and withdrew his claim in 1967. He said, "I was mad. Darn mad. But now I have come full circle and am returning the drawings, which is what I would have done immediately if the FBI had not taken the drawings and I had just been notified by Rewald."
He began a private journal, which eventually grew to more than 100 volumes, in March 1945. Jackson's journal entry about meeting Pollock read: On Monday Oct 11, 1948, I finally met Jackson Pollock who became my friend and mentor who deeply influenced my entire life's work to this day. A few days after Jack and I bonded, my wild White Figure painting volcanically erupted from my sealed-off blacked-out mind. It was far too revealing, so I didn't show it to anyone until my exhaustive Retrospective at the University of Wyoming Art Museum in 1987.
After leaving New York, Jackson lived in Wyoming and Camaiore, Italy, where he had a foundry and studio. Jackson and John Wayne became friends in the final decade of Wayne's life.
In addition to the brain injuries inflicted during his military service, he was diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder. Jackson died at the Veterans Health Administration's medical center in Sheridan on April 25, 2011 at the age of 87, following several health issues during his final year.
Source: wikipedia
Artist Objects
Long Ballad 1982.054
Artist Images