The Kathedral Essay, Research Paper

The Kathedral (1941) A.G. Rizzoli (1896-1981) is one of the best outsider artists in the twentieth century. Rizzoli, unlike the other outsider artists, has a professional training in the arts. Rizzoli worked as a draftsman in an architecture firm in San Francisco. The way he expresses himself in his art is what characterizes him as an outsider artist. Rizzoli lived isolated in a poor environment. The artist learns by himself to visualize people who are close to him and to express his feeling by drawing imaginary building. One of his spectacular art form is The Kathedral. The Kathedral (1941) is an art from dedicated as a birthday card to his mother. It describes a beautiful big church that is designed with a precise and accurate measurement using drawing tools. The surrounding of the church is full of statue of Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus, crosses and trumpeting cupids. We can see a soldier figure guarding the Kathredal outside the fence. In front of the main entrance of the building, there is a figure of man standing straight by himself. In the sky above the Cathedral, Rizzoli wrote ” The Light of Jesus burning through the night now” using a unique character. The artist also put his mother birth date (November 11th) and an expression how the Kathedral represents her (”Mother Symbolically Represented”). Inside the text box on the upper right corner of the drawing, Rizzoli wrote beautiful words to express his appreciation toward her mother. The artist also put the hours spent in making the art form. The medium used by Rizzoli is color inks on rag paper. There are reasons why Rizzoli uses a big church named the Kathedral to represent his mother. Rizzoli, as a religious man believes that Kathedral as the place where God gives the right direction in life to his children and believers. The artist seems to see perfectly that God and his mother as guidance in his life. The other reason is Rizzoli beliefs that his mother is living in the house of God after she passed away. The artist visualizes the Kathedral as his mother’s house in heaven. The statue of Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus is clearly symbolizes a mother and her child. It also tells us that the role of a mother is important for her children’s future. Like Virgin Mary to Jesus as her child, Rizzoli beliefs her mother also plays an important role in building his life as a religious person. The trumpeted cupids are representing the angels who protect the child. In front of the main door of the Kathedral, we can see a small blur figure of a man standing by himself. This unrecognized man represents the artist himself who always been himself for years, isolated form the surrounding and almost unnoticeable. It can also mean how Rizzoli puts himself is nothing comparing with God.

The Kathedral reflects the value of Christianity in human life. It reflects how we have to appreciate both of our life and others. The artwork also shows emotion, feelings can inspire someone like Rizzoli to see a vision of creating a great art. The environment around the Kathedral reflects the identity of the artist. It looks quiet, calm and loneliness. We understand that outsider artists are characterized primarily from self-taught, idiosyncratic, na ve, primitive, folk, found or grassroots (Brackner p.155). They usually come from low social economic class and received low education. The line between the fine art and the outsider art are based on those bases. No one can really tell the line to separate them. However, Rizzoli has put himself on that line. His art form is mostly in the outsider art category, however Rizzoli has a professional training in doing his work. Rizzoli also shows us that he is a religious person form his art work. The artist expresses his experiences and people who are close to him in the form of churches and buildings.