Untitled (Portrait Of Colonel Jack Francis Evans)

Watercolor, pencil, ink and collage on board (13 3/4" x 11 1/2"). American Folk Art Museum purchase, 2002.22.5. © Kiyoko Lerner. Photo: Gavin Ashworth.

"What were looking at here is a small work by Henry Darger. Most of us know Henry Darger's large panoramic paintings done in watercolor, often with collage. This is another kind of expression that he created. We call them his portraits. He made individual portraits of many of the cast of characters. Colonel Jack Francis Evans, an Angelinnian officer, is shown here with his entire contributions to the war written around his portrait. Darger often used words in his compositions to great effect, but also as an informational device, not just an aesthetic device."

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