Self-Taught Artists - Saint Louis Art Museum

Selected Works of Art

When looking at these sculptures, what do you notice first?
If you could create a home for these birds, where would it be and why?
If you were able to observe the birds in the same location, would they interact with one another or remain separate? Describe their movements in the location you have imagined. What can you find in the artwork to support your answers?

The following prompts could be used for either work of art.

If you could spend a day with one of these birds, what might you learn? Imagine it were able to fly. Where would it go? Draw a map of its travels.
What clues can you discover to help identify what type of bird this could be? Compare the clues you discovered to images and information about birds that you find in research resources such as books or websites. You may want to begin by exploring this All about Birds online guide.
How do these artistic representations of birds compare with the characteristics of real birds that you discovered in your research?

About these Artworks

Wood has long been a favored material for folk artists, due largely to its ease of carving. These whimsically carved and painted sculptures capture their subjects in lively poses. The hummingbird alights on a wood base with raised wings and long beak exploring a flower. The rooster stands erect with long tail feathers and curled tongue, seeming to crow through his open beak.

German immigrant Fritz Baurichter had experience carving as a gunsmith and was inspired by a visit to the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair to try his hand at sculpture. The folk artist created small works as gifts, carving each with charm and a sophisticated sense of design.

What does the pose suggest about the figure’s mood?
What might be the figure’s next movement?
What visual clues help identify this well-known figure in US history?
Imagine the figure begins to speak. What might his first words be?
What would you want to ask him? Write a list of questions.
Imagine how he would respond. What in the work of art gives you clues to how he might respond?
With a partner or small group, act out or write the conversation.

About this Artwork

Southern Illinois folk sculptor Frederick Myers worked in wood with a remarkable sensitivity to its grain and natural growth. Myers quit school at age 16 to work in the area’s coal mines. When they closed during the Great Depression, he sculpted prehistoric animal displays for Southern Illinois University while working for the Works Progress Administration. He never thought of himself as anything other than a coal miner, however, and turned down several art-related jobs in Chicago.

In his sculpture Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln grasps his tie, his coat casually open. Myers carved Lincoln from a railroad tie taken from a coal mine and captured Lincoln’s distinctive features with sensitivity to the wood’s natural grain. Unable to afford sandpaper, he used a glass shard to polish the surface to a high sheen.