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Forrest Bess : key to the riddle

by Chuck Smith

This account details the life of visionary painter Forrest Bess, who lived at an isolated Texas bait camp. It explores his symbolic artworks alongside his theories on hermaphrodism and immortality, which eventually led to self-surgery and institutionalisation.

Accession 17296 ISBN 9781576876220 Publisher PowerHouse Books
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Forrest Bess : key to the riddle spine
Forrest Bess : key to the riddle cover
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TAGS
Curated Derived
Art Artists Authors Beauty Biography History Painting Philosophy Political Science Professions Sex Writing
CONNECTIONS
No connections
State
on_shelf
True
position_updated_at
2026-06-15 18:54
orientation
vertical
position_confidence
1.00
Details

Physical

binding_type
Hard Back
dimensions
none captured
spine_text
none captured

Metadata

Book form
LOCATION HISTORY
G:N1:19 5 Current vertical 1.00 conf
6 days, 19 hours ago Latest update
G:N1:19 4 vertical
2 weeks, 1 day ago
Book Location
Updated 1 day, 17 hours ago
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Last synced 2026-06-17 09:27 (2 hours, 30 minutes ago)

Identity

name→ title
Forrest Bess : key to the riddle
vernon_id
26780
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17296
vernon_slug
forrest-bess-key-to-the-riddle-by-chuck-smith

Drives Pulse state

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On Shelf
location_name
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location_reason
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isbn_issn→ isbn (when valid)
9781576876220

Descriptive

production_date
2013
object_type
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object_status
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brief_description
On the visionary paintings and difficult life story of American outsider artist, Forrest Bess. --LH

Subjects & people

authors→ author (initial fill only)
Chuck Smith
tags→ tags
Art, Arts, Graphic arts, History, Persons, Artists, Rhetoric, Authorship, Biography, Art criticism, Criticism, Painting, Modern -- 20th century, Art, American, Outsider art, Outsider artists, Art and mental illness, Artists -- United States, Primitivism in art, Art brut, Hermaphrodites (Persons), Sexual minorities, Minorities, Painting, American, Art, Modern -- Aboriginal Australian influences
subject_people
Forrest Bess (American, b.1911, d.1977)
subject_objects
—

Cover image

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