Henry Speller

1900-1997

Henry Speller was born into a sharecropper family in Rolling Fork, Mississippi in 1900. Raised by his grandparents and educated in school for six years, he spent his early life helping his family on the farm. In 1939, he moved to Memphis, Tennessee, and began to draw a few years later. A blues musician, he played with the bands of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf on weekends. Speller worked on his art for hours a day, producing many drawings. Inspiration came from his experiences of everyday life, but his subjects were mostly female. The sexual content of his paintings, although innocent, is evident. Breasts are exaggerated; clothes are transparent. Female figures from popular culture, such as the group The Supremes and the glamour actresses from the TV drama Dallas, received his attention. Many have commented that the bold colors and patterned style of Speller’s work are reminiscent of African American quilts. Certainly he admitted helping his grandmother to embroider as a child. Speller’s wife Georgia, whom he married in 1964, was also an artist, and she inspired him to continue drawing. Speller drew until his death in 1996. Describing his motivation, he stated, “I took it up by my own self. If I get it in my mind, then I can draw it.” ¹