Yuk | Spencer Museum of Art

Elizabeth Layton, artist

1909–1993

Yuk, 1981

Where object was made: Kansas, United States

Material/technique: pencil; colored pencil

Dimensions:
Object Height/Width (Height x Width): 56.5 x 37.3 cm
Object Height/Width (Height x Width): 22 1/4 x 14 11/16 in
Frame Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth): 76.6 x 56.3 cm
Frame Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth): 30 3/16 x 22 5/16 in

Credit line: Classroom Collection

Accession number: C2003.020.01

Not on display

Add to portfolio

If you wish to reproduce this image, please submit an image request

Images

Label texts

Collection Cards: People

Elizabeth Layton (also called Grandma Layton) started drawing when she was 68 years old. Throughout her lifetime, she battled depression (an illness that causes sadness) and she found drawing to be a relief. Layton used her artwork to encourage people to think about social issues, including discrimination based on age, disability, and race. She believed it was her responsibility to use art to help improve people’s lives.

Describe a time when you helped someone feel better.

This artwork is a self-portrait of the artist. What would you be doing in your self-portrait?

Spencer Museum of Art Highlights

Elizabeth Layton, a native of Wellsville, Kansas, is best known for the role that her works of art played in her remarkable recovery from depression. Her first drawings, which she began to create in 1977 at the age of 68, were difficult and uncompromising self-portraits. As she began to emerge from her depression, her art began to incorporate her social and political concerns as well as humor and whimsy.

Google Art Project