Joseph E. Yoakum

(Window Rock, Arizona, 1886 - 1972, Chicago, Illinois)

North America, American

Joseph Yoakum did not begin to draw until 1962 when he was living in Chicago. He referred to his expressive interpretations as “spiritual enfoldments,” meaning that imagery was revealed to him as he worked. Though his titles refer to actual sites, it is questionable whether he visited these places in person (he claimed to have traveled extensively as a young man) or whether he saw them only in books, photographs or magazines such as National Geographic. Nonetheless, all were rendered in his easily recognizable style, complete with careful script labeling, and many were dated with a rubber stamp.

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