GENERAL DESCRIPTION
This powerful yet sensitive portrait of the famed black folksinger Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter is perhaps Michael G. Owen's finest work. It balances physical likeness with emotional expression. Leadbelly played guitar in Dallas' Deep Ellum district in the early 20th century and spent his later years in New York, where he had a strong subsequent influence on the direction of American folk music.
As Owen remembered, “Leadbelly sat for me one afternoon [at his apartment in New York City] and I finished the clay model at that time. From that I worked out the stone cutting, only being able to work on it in my spare time. All in all it was about a full month’s work, I guess. During the time he was ‘sitting’ for me (playing his guitar and singing) he played 'Goodnight, Irene,’ but at that time the folk music devotees did not consider the tune ‘true folk music.’ Still it pleased me when it became a popular song. It’s too bad Leadbelly couldn’t have lived to see himself gain such popularity.”
Adapted from
- Michael G. Owen letter to Ralph A. Knight, November 10, 1950, (rewritten by Knight in a letter to John Lunsford, September 30, 1961), DMA Collections Records Object File.
- Rick Stewart, Lone Star Regionalism: The Dallas Nine and Their Circle (Dallas Museum of Art, 1985), 183- 184.
NOTES
Consider title change? Lead Belly (Leadbelly) or vice versa. See Lead Belly Foundation online. http://www.leadbelly.org/re-homepage.html
Removed TMS object tag because rule exists.
Adding "draft" tag back to note, Dec 19, 2016, as part of the revised harvest/route procedure. This note will be pulled into GDrive and manually moved to Queta's folders for final review. Update- January 18, 2017- Adding #routed tag so that I can easily keep track of this note in Evernote to confirm that it is eventually pushed into GDrive. As of January 18, 2017 the content is in Brain but not in GDrive so I am unable to finish revisions and mark it complete in Evernote or move the GDoc to Queta's folder.
Confirmed note updated in GDrive. Tagged completed and moved GDoc to Queta folder. (1/24/2017)
Add object number to Piction assets listed below.
Added object number to exhibition- All the World's a Stage
Added object number to exhibition- Dallas Museum of Art. [Lone Star Regionalism: The Dallas Nine and Their Circle, 1928-1945, Photograph DMA_1367-34], Photograph, 1985; (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth535660/ : accessed December 22, 2014), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas , Texas.
FUN FACT SOURCE- Source
"Soap Model of Station WFAA Made for Fair," Dallas Morning News, 7 October 1930. Reproduced in Paula Bosse, "Give a 14-Year Old 8,400 Pounds of Soap and He'll Carve You a Radio Transmitter-- 1930," Flashback: Dallas, 15 June 2014. Accessed 28 November 2014.
Catalogue essays specific to object
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Produced- New York
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
- sculpture
- portrait
- carving
- busts (figure): AAT: 300047457
- gaze: AAT: 300263453
- head
- musician: AAT: 300025666
- guitar: AAT: 300042025
- serious: DMA
- texture
- African American
- folk art (traditional art): 300056487
- folk music: DMA
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
Used in All the World's a Stage music bar; Track from "The Best of Leadbelly" cd; Related to Leadbelly, 1950.91, Michael G. Owen Jr., DMA Collection
13309000: UMO
Added object number to Piction
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
- Owen's sculpture of Peruna (1937), the mustang mascot of Southern Methodist University still stands in the university's football stadium.
- As a student at Highland Park High School, Owen carved a record-setting 8,400 pounds of Ivory soap into a replica of the WFAA Station building for the 1930 Texas State Fair. The endeavor took twelve days and resulted in a structure five feet high and seven feet on each side.
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1950.91
Category
rules_operator
AND
General Description
This powerful yet sensitive portrait of the famed black folksinger Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter is perhaps Michael G. Owen's finest work. It balances physical likeness with emotional expression. Leadbelly played guitar in Dallas' Deep Ellum district in the early 20th century and spent his later years in New York, where he had a strong subsequent influence on the direction of American folk music.
As Owen remembered, “Leadbelly sat for me one afternoon [at his apartment in New York City] and I finished the clay model at that time. From that I worked out the stone cutting, only being able to work on it in my spare time. All in all it was about a full month’s work, I guess. During the time he was ‘sitting’ for me (playing his guitar and singing) he played 'Goodnight, Irene,’ but at that time the folk music devotees did not consider the tune ‘true folk music.’ Still it pleased me when it became a popular song. It’s too bad Leadbelly couldn’t have lived to see himself gain such popularity.”
Adapted from
- Michael G. Owen letter to Ralph A. Knight, November 10, 1950, (rewritten by Knight in a letter to John Lunsford, September 30, 1961), DMA Collections Records Object File.
- Rick Stewart, Lone Star Regionalism: The Dallas Nine and Their Circle (Dallas Museum of Art, 1985), 183- 184.
Fun Facts
- Owen's sculpture of Peruna (1937), the mustang mascot of Southern Methodist University still stands in the university's football stadium.
- As a student at Highland Park High School, Owen carved a record-setting 8,400 pounds of Ivory soap into a replica of the WFAA Station building for the 1930 Texas State Fair. The endeavor took twelve days and resulted in a structure five feet high and seven feet on each side.
Archival Resources
Notes
Consider title change? Lead Belly (Leadbelly) or vice versa. See Lead Belly Foundation online. http://www.leadbelly.org/re-homepage.html
Removed TMS object tag because rule exists.
Adding "draft" tag back to note, Dec 19, 2016, as part of the revised harvest/route procedure. This note will be pulled into GDrive and manually moved to Queta's folders for final review. Update- January 18, 2017- Adding #routed tag so that I can easily keep track of this note in Evernote to confirm that it is eventually pushed into GDrive. As of January 18, 2017 the content is in Brain but not in GDrive so I am unable to finish revisions and mark it complete in Evernote or move the GDoc to Queta's folder.
Confirmed note updated in GDrive. Tagged completed and moved GDoc to Queta folder. (1/24/2017)
Add object number to Piction assets listed below.
Added object number to exhibition- All the World's a Stage
Added object number to exhibition- Dallas Museum of Art. [Lone Star Regionalism: The Dallas Nine and Their Circle, 1928-1945, Photograph DMA_1367-34], Photograph, 1985; (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth535660/ : accessed December 22, 2014), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas , Texas.
FUN FACT SOURCE- Source
"Soap Model of Station WFAA Made for Fair," Dallas Morning News, 7 October 1930. Reproduced in Paula Bosse, "Give a 14-Year Old 8,400 Pounds of Soap and He'll Carve You a Radio Transmitter-- 1930," Flashback: Dallas, 15 June 2014. Accessed 28 November 2014.
Catalogue essays specific to object
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Produced- New York
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
- sculpture
- portrait
- carving
- busts (figure): AAT: 300047457
- gaze: AAT: 300263453
- head
- musician: AAT: 300025666
- guitar: AAT: 300042025
- serious: DMA
- texture
- African American
- folk art (traditional art): 300056487
- folk music: DMA
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
Used in All the World's a Stage music bar; Track from "The Best of Leadbelly" cd; Related to Leadbelly, 1950.91, Michael G. Owen Jr., DMA Collection
13309000: UMO
Added object number to Piction
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1950.91
source file
object_notes_2_d-0431.xml.nores