Artworks

by Steven Brower, Nora Guthrie, Jeff Tweedy (Contributor)

Songwriter, poet, writer, political activist . . . and, perhaps most fundamental to his work but least known about Woody Guthrie, artist. "Contrary to popular mythology, it was with paint brushes in hand, not a guitar, that Guthrie hit the road for California. He had hocked his guitar . . . and it was his artistic skills that he brokered for room and board." So begins Nora's fascinating revelations about her father's vast body of artwork. Other than the drawings for his autobiography, Bound for Glory, few have seen Guthrie's art. This is because much of it is inextricably bound into diaries and work books into which he poured his images, and which are presented here for the first time. Guthrie worked as a commercial artist, illustrating album covers, books, and newspaper columns, and kept a daily record of his life, and of American life, in thousands of pictures. Some complement song-writing in such a fluid way that they often appear interwoven with handwritten lyrics. The stinging honesty, humor, and wit found in his music are also to be found in his art, layering our understanding of his social, political, and spiritual life. In more than 300 examples, his visual creativity is apparent, from political cartoons to bawdy and comical gouaches to children's art to abstract emotional outpourings. Drawing extensively on Guthrie's words, Brower unveils an enhanced portrait of one of America's greatest creative forces.

Genres: Art, Music, Biography, Nonfiction

344 pages, Hardcover

First published October 25, 2005

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Woody Guthrie is one the most influential American singer/songwriters. Yet, as Steven Bowers observes in the introduction Woody Guthrie Artworks, “it was in the visual arts that Guthrie first began to express himself creatively” and “[h]is understanding of the visual is incorporated in his lyrics.” Indeed, as this book, the first and only collection of Guthrie’s art, demonstrates, Guthrie loved to draw and paint and had some sophisticated notions about the art influences of his time. He kept notebooks and created on any medium he could get.

I mostly loved his early cartoons, especially on political and social issues. Many were published on the front page of a leftist newspaper as teasers for his “Woody Sez” columns. His caption of a cartoon on bankers is as relevant today as when he wrote it in the late 1930s: “We pledge our alegiance to our flag…an to Wall St. for which it stands…one dollar, ungettable…” Recommended highly to anyone interested in learning about the full scope of Woody’s life.

[Grady Ormsby · Rating 5 out of 5]

A marvelous book! Jam-packed with Woody's illustrations. Who knew? We all thought of Woody as a musician, but he was also an absolutely brilliant artist.

On a hitchhiking trip Out West he was paying expenses painting signs. He left his brushes in the car he was traveling in to go to get something to eat. When he returned, the driver was gone. The brushes were gone. Woody got an old guitar and used that to make expenses. Though he drew, illustrated and painted, for the rest of his life, it was the music he was best know for. What an interesting twist of fate.

Oh, yeah. Woody's compassion for the poor and mistrust of the system was probably expressed stronger in his artwork that it was in his music!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Received this from my husband for Christmas, and it's wonderful. I don't think I would have known to pick this out for myself, so I'm glad he decided to gift it to me. The book's text takes you through Guthrie's childhood in Oklahoma, then Texas, and follows him on his journeys to California with the Dust Bowl migrants. You really get a good sense of the man, and the constant stream of creativity that flowed out of him and into the world. I've had Guthrie's "New Year's Rulins" comic/list up on my wall for a few years. It was awesome to see so much of his other drawings, paintings, writings etc. I did notice some repetition in some of the essays that make up the book, but it was pretty minor. The layout of the book is beautiful too. Going to be deep diving into his music this next month, looking forward to it!

[Corinne · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Music and art ware always at play, often teasing each other for dominance or collaborating with each other in purpose. In Woody's creative equation, one was never far from the other. ...art as a means of enhancing his lyrics" p 17

"Towards the end of his life, the advice Woody was to give every young songwriter that came to see him was his own truth: 'All you can write is what you see.'" p19

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring collection of mixed media from a great creative soul

[Francis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks woody

[Khris Sellin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of us know Woody Guthrie through his words and music, his biting commentary on the sociopolitical world still relevant today. But before he became a well-known folk musician, he was an artist, interested in typography and commercial art. When I visited the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa last November, much of his artwork was on display. It was much-needed salve for me after the disastrous election. His works are simple but compelling, bringing that same cynicism and humor to bear. He was an excellent political cartoonist -- again, many themes still ringing true. But there are also the drawings and writings made for his loved ones, and for his children, with a sweetness that in itself was childlike. If the book were just filled with pages of his art, that would be enough, but included between the pictures is a little biography, expanding on what was happening in his life during the time certain pieces were made. I've been savoring this one slowly for months, and one I'll keep going back to, I'm sure. Thanks to my brother Dennis for surprising me with this book!

[Kate Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

"The worst thing that can happen to you is to cut yourself loose from people. And the best thing is to sort of vaccinate yourself right into the ... big streams and blood of the people. To feel like you know the best and the worst of folks that you see everywhere and never to feel weak, or lost, or even lonesome anywhere. There is just one thing that can cut you to drifting from the people, and that's any brand or style of greed. There is just one way to save yourself, and that's to get together and work and fight for everyone."

"Take it easy, but take it."

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book of drawings, water colors, writings, etc. from the notebooks of WG. Very cool.

[Elizabeth Lamb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.