Robert Cargo
FOLK ART GALLERY

Self-taught, visionary, and outsider artists of the South
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Royal Robertson  (1936 - 1997)


Except for a few years spent traveling in the west, Royal Robertson lived his entire life in Louisiana .  A former field hand and sign painter, Robertson said that he was “born drawing.”  In 1955, he married Adell Brent and fathered eleven children with her.  When abandoned by Adell after twenty years of marriage, Robertson descended into an uneasy existence, scorned by his neighbors and overcome by misogynistic rage.  Armed with magic markers, paints, colored pencils and ball point pens, Robertson immersed himself in creating a fantasy world depicted on poster board, responding to God’s command that he condemn the evil ways of women.

Each drawing is a window into the tormented world of the self-proclaimed “Prophet” Royal Robertson.  Bible verses and religious references mix with futuristic visionary images in highly eccentric, provocative works chronicling his paranoia and unsettled mental state.   His themes include images of aliens and spaceships, architectural drawings of dream houses and temples in futuristic cities, superhero figures, and portraits of Adelle and other Amazon women.     Robertson embellishes the colorful drawings with rambling, ranting texts, sometimes in cartoon-like balloons, that leave no doubt about the judgment reserved for adulterous whores and unfaithful spouses.

Many of these works include calendars chronicling agonizing memories of his unfaithful wife and their spoiled marriage in brief journal notations scribbled in each date's block.  Robertson's preoccupation with numerology and biblical prophecies of earth's final days as found in the book of Revelation are also evident. 

Robertson created an extraordinary environment within his modest home in Baldwin, Louisiana.  On the exterior, painted signs warned “whores” and “bastards” to stay away.  The interior of his home was densely crowded with his drawings pinned to every available wall.  In August 1992, the home was completely destroyed by Hurricane Andrew.  With the help of two collectors who helped him file papers with the federal government, he recovered from his losses.  In 1997, Royal Robertson died suddenly, just as he was finally reconciling his relationship with two of his children.

Click on thumbnails to view enlargements.

   
 

No. 6;  ca. 1988-90
Markers, ink, paint on posterboard,  22" x 28", $800

Side A:  Space building in cartouche
               "The torn realm"

Side B:  Spaceship with eye
              "The crawing eyes from out of space"

  
Detail Side B
   
   
    No. 8;  ca. 1988-90
Markers, ink, paint on posterboard,  22" x 28", SOLD

Side A:  Spaceman full figure
              "Saint Isaiah"

Side B:  Calendar
               "AD 1974 to 1988" and "Tornado"

  
Detail Side B
   
   
   No. 17;  ca. 1988-90
Markers, ink, paint on posterboard,  22" x 28", SOLD

Side A:  "Lord Eli"

Side B:  Alien in green and red

   
   
  No. 10;  ca. 1988-90
Markers, ink, paint on posterboard,  22" x 28", $800

Side A:  Woman with purple flowers in cartouche
               "A Midnight Winter Vision Dream"

Side B:  Text in green and black 
              "They doped night - demonized"


Detail Side B
   
   
    No. 9;  ca. 1988-90
Markers, ink, paint on posterboard,  22" x 28", $800

Side A:  Spaceship with pink sun in cartouche

Side B:  Woman reclining, talking on phone
              "Dangerous phone's gossiping" and "Jez-e-bel"

   
   
       No. 14;  ca. 1988-90
Markers, ink, paint on posterboard,  22" x 28", $800

Side A:  Spacescape in yellow and silver with
               planets in cartouche

Side B:  Calendar 
              "June 1990 AD" with swastika


Detail Side B
   
   
   No. 2;  ca. 1988-90
Markers, ink, paint on posterboard,  22" x 28", $800

Side A:  Futuristic car 
               "My horrified nightmares 1972 AD"

Side B:  Calendar with page torn out of Bible (1 Corinthians 14)      
             "Eve and Adam" and "1953 AD"

   
   
     

No. 13;  ca. 1988-90
Markers, ink, paint on posterboard,  22" x 28", $800

Side A:  Spaceship with planets.  Glitter in black border.

Side B:  Black ink sketch of Christ and Angel with eclipse


Detail Side B
   
   
   No. 7;  ca. 1988-90
Markers, ink, paint on posterboard,  22" x 28", SOLD

Side A:  Building with red/orange/brown frame
              "June - 7 - 1890 AD"

Side B:  Text in brown
              "I was holy oil ordained"

   
   
  No. 15;  ca. 1988-90
Markers, ink, paint on posterboard,  22" x 28", SOLD

Side A:  Building
              "Motel Club"

Side B:  Calendar
              "Shocker" palm tree scene

   
   
 

Photo available on request.

No. 12;  ca. 1988-90
Markers, ink, paint on posterboard,  22" x 28",
SOLD

Side A:  Erotic subject in black and white with yellow alien

Side B:  Church building

 

 

 

 


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Robert Cargo Folk Art Gallery
Caroline Cargo, Director
110 Darby Road · Paoli, PA  19301
610-240-9528  ·  info@cargofolkart.com
Inquiries welcome.  Open by appointment only.