Creator Record
Metadata
Name |
Robertson, Royal |
Notes |
"Prophet" Royal Robertson was born in Louisiana in 1936. As a teen, he apprenticed with a sign painter and later moved to the West Coast finding work as a sign painter and field hand. He moved back to Louisiana in the 1950s when is mother became ill. Robertson suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and claimed he had his first hallucinatory vision when he was fourteen. He recorded his visions in his writings and artworks. Robertson chose not to treat his condition which eventually lead to a divorce from his wife, Adell, of 19 years. She left for Texas taking their 11 children with her. Adell's leaving had a profound effect on Robertson's mental health and artwork. He became a recluse and developed an unusual ideology centered around an evil female conspiracy. Robertson covered his Baldwin home inside and out with hand-made signs and apocalyptic drawings executed on poster board using pens, markers, colored pencils, paint, and glitter. His images often depicted voluptuous space women, complex space crafts, and futuristic cityscapes with temples. Often Robertson would include calendars in his works chronicling upcoming cosmic events. He referenced Bible verses, science fiction magazines, pornographic magazines, and cheap tabloids. He gave himself the name "Prophet" because he felt his work was divinely sanctioned. In 1992, Robertson's home and a large body of his work were destroyed by Hurricane Andrew. His work is widely collected and resides in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Hilliard Art Museum. Robertson passed away from a heart attack in 1997. |
Nationality |
American |
