Jimmy Lee Sudduth Biography (1910-Present) | Outsider Folk Art Gallery | George and Sue Viener | Googlework Center for the Arts

We are sad to report that Jimmy Lee Sudduth died Sunday, September 2, 2007 at the age of 97.

His passing is "A huge loss to the art world, and to those of us who were fortunate to know him. He was a mentor and an inspiration to countless collectors and other artists. His joy, generosity, and indomitable spirit were unrivalled." (Ginger Young)

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The artist Jimmy Lee Sudduth produced works of art all his life, he says, and even as a child remembers making drawings in the dirt. He also recalls creating something of an environment in his younger days--carved wooden doll-like figures that surrounded the porch of the house where he then lived, just outside Fayette. The first public exhibition of the artist's work took place, by the way, in 1968 at Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, and not in 1971, elsewhere, as has been written several times. Jim Sudduth is best known for his paintings done with earth pigments, mixed as he saw fit, with house paint and/or various leaves and occasionally berries for color. He always claimed to be able to obtain 36 colors from the dirt and rocks he gathered from the surrounding area. These pigments were applied by the artist with his forefinger and thumb to plywood panels, old boards, doors, and salvaged materials from demolished buildings. In these "mud pictures" the artist over the years experimented with a variety of materials searching for a bonding agent that would cause the mud to adhere to the board--sugar, soft drinks, instant coffee, caulking material, etc. In 1990-91, however, the artist, no longer physically able to collect the natural materials he had traditionally used for pigments, turned to acrylic paints purchased for his use and applied with a little sponge brush. Jimmy Lee Sudduth has over the years demonstrated masterful handling of a rich repertory of subject matter: various animals, especially dogs; farm and domestic activities, but not really handled in the fashion of a memory painter; portraits of persons of no specific identity, what I call inner portraits; portraits of real persons, both contemporary and historical; flowers; houses, from humble cabins to columned mansions and all in between; public buildings, especially the Fayette County Courthouse; cars, ships, and trains.