Thornton Dial, Sr.: The Many Faces of Womanhood

Thornton Dial, Sr. was born September 10, 1928 in Emelle, Alabama and died January 25, 2016. He was considered a self-taught American folk artist or an untrained artist.

Dial’s primary place of employment was as a metalworker at the Pullman Standard Plant Factory in Bessemer, Alabama, which made railroad cars. After the factory shut down, he began to dedicate himself to his art for his own pleasure. All through his grown-up life he made gatherings, which he called “things,” out of found and disposed items found in rustic front yards of the South.  In the late 1980s William “Bill” Arnett, an Atlanta-based collector who focused on African-American vernacular art and artists, brought Dial’s work to national prominence.

Due to the generous donation of Dr. Louis and Mrs. Calynne Hill to Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, “Thornton Dial:  The Many Faces of Womanhood,” consists of works created as early as 1990. These artworks illustrate mainly female figures made up of watercolor and paper. A reoccurring image depicted in Dial’s most punctual works delineate a tiger that speaks to survival and the battle of social liberties for women.

After some time, his work began to have political and social concepts, communicating “thoughts regarding dark history, servitude, racial separation, urban and country destitution, mechanical or natural breakdown and profound salvation.”