San José Museum of Art

See what you think.

Martín Ramírez

  • A drawing with muted colors of a man with pistol, sombrero, and bands of bullets rides a horse that is inside an enclosed space decorated with intricate lines. Surrounding them are straight stacked lines, similar to bricks. Above the lines is a different pattern like a peacock feather.

    Martín Ramírez, Untitled (Horse and Rider), c.1948-1963. Crayon and pencil on pieced paper. 33 ¾ x 23 ½ inches. Collection of Jan Petry.

  • A line drawing with muted tan colors of a man sitting at a table in a long wood-paneled or brick hallway. Beyond the hall, in the distance, is a train cutting across the black night.

    Martín Ramírez, Untitled (Man at Desk), c. 1948-1963. Crayon and pencil on pieced paper. 34 ¾ x 23 ½ inches. Collection of Stephanie Smither.

  • A line drawing of a person in an ornate gown standing atop a large ball floating in space, with a snake slithering across their feet. The person looks out with a weary smile wearing a pointed heavy crown. Surrounding the person are various sized ovals with lines circling into their centers.

    Martín Ramírez, Untitled (Madonna), c. 1948-1963. Crayon and pencil on pieced paper. 79 x 41 inches. Collection of Ann and James Harithas.

  • A deep hallway containing four animals and a man. The man and the animals are separated by ornate patterns which make up walls dividing the space. At the far end of the hallway are a row of columns with train tracks below and a train emerging from the right side of the train tracks.

    UNTITLED (Courtyard), March 1954. Pencil and colored pencil on pieced paper, 40 ½ × 36 inches. Anthony Petullo Collection of Self-Taught and Outsider Art. Photo courtesy Anthony Petullo Collection of Self-Taught and Outsider Art, Milwaukee.

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    Ramírez (1895–1963) created some 300 artworks of remarkable visual clarity and expressive power within the confines of DeWitt State Hospital, in Auburn, California, where he resided for the last fifteen years of his life. 

    This exhibition was organized by the American Folk Art Museum in New York City, and presented by JPMorgan Chase. Additional support was provided by the Altria Group, Inc., National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Agnes Gund and Danial Shapiro, Mex-Am Cultural Foundation, Inc., and Furthermore: a program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund.

    Traveled: After its debut at the American Folk Art Museum, New York in early 2007 and the presentation at SJMA, Martín Ramírez traveled to the Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin.

    Martín Ramírez: Three Perspectives (pts. 1 & 2)

    Martín Ramírez was organized by the American Folk Art Museum in New York City, and presented by JPMorgan Chase. Additional support was provided by the Altria Group, Inc., National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Agnes Gund and Danial Shapiro, Mex-Am Cultural Foundation, Inc., and Furthermore: a program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund. The exhibition curator is Brooke Davis Anderson of the American Folk Art Museum. After its debut at the American Folk Art Museum, New York (January 23 – May 13, 2007), Martín Ramírez will be on view at the San Jose Museum of Art, California (June 9 – September 9, 2007) and then to the Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin (October 6, 2007 – January 6, 2008).

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