Johnny Eck and his Screen Painting
What is it? Was he any
good?
Screen painting is an artform that is, as far as I can tell, pretty much a Baltimore phenomenon. It is what is says it is: painting screens. Window screens.
The artist gives a window screen a wash of pale base paint, then adds his colors. The paintings then not only dress up the look of the building (and those Baltimore row houses need a little something to spruce them up and give the eye a break from all the endless brick and concrete), they serve a purpose: during the daytime, people would have to actually walk up to your window and peer in to see in. Casual passers-by and folks across the street just see the painting. At night, though, you do have to draw the blinds because when backlit they turn back into ordinary see-through screens.
Reports vary as to when Johnny started painting. According to two sources, Johnny and Rob learned to read and write by age four, courtesy of their sister Carolyn, and quickly learned to draw as well. Their mother supplied them with artist materials and the boys made and sold greeting cards for spending money. Johnny also studied oil painting under the tutelage of a local painter, William Octavec, who is credited by The Baltimore Sun and by screen painters themselves as the inventor of screen painting.
Reports vary was to when Johnny's career as a painter was launched. But paint he did, enough so that he is mentioned extensively in America's Forgotten Folk Arts, a fine out-of-print book that also covers the fine art of banner painting and includes a large photograph of the banners displayed outside Johnny's sideshow act.
Johnny was also featured in The Screen Painters, a documentary video available for $25 by mail. This is a fine, 30-minute documentary on Baltimore's screen painters, featuring Johnny and six others. It was somewhat disappointing in that I'd like to have seen more footage of Johnny, but his personality really shines through. Fans be prepared, though -- Johnny was up in years when he was interviewed, and it was a shock to see such an old man when I'd learned to picture Johnny as he was in 1932, at the age of 21. The most recent photo I'd seen was taken in the 1950's, when Johnny was still a strikingly handsome man.
As for Johnny's skill - the same kinds of books that refer to him as a "popular Hollywood actor" praised his painting. I've seen a tiny black and white reproduction of his Christ, and I like it. The Screen Painters only positively identifies one painting -- another Christ -- as Johnny's work. It's very luminous, and makes me want to see more. Below are two early Eck works (neither from window screens).
Painted in 1927.
Painted in 1928. #1 in a series of 10.
Other Screen Painting Links
Stacey Grabowski's page on the history of screen painting
Tom Lipka's's Painted Window Screen Art Home Page
Back to...
Home Magic Projects Merchandise Freaks Biography Chat Links Documentary
