Prophet Royal Robertson was born in 1930 and lived in
Baldwin Louisiana. A former sign painter, he traveled to the
North and to the West before returning to Louisiana to care
for his mother, and then he married. His marriage, to Adell,
ended after some nineteen years; she took their children and
moved to Texas where she became a minister. His energetic
style and misogynistic images have attracted widespread
attention. Royal started to draw on the command of the Lord
to denounce the evil ways of women, but when he started
drawing is unknown. He developed three dominant themes in
his work; calendar drawings and drawings chronicling his
unhappy marriage; portraits of his former wife and amazon
like women and children who are labeled as "bad, adulterous,
and vipers"; and fantasy paintings of futuristic cities and
space travel among the planets. To make sure the viewer
understands the intended messages in his pieces, the artist
included printed material, sometimes in cartoon like
balloons. Royal drew on paper and poster board with felt
markers, ink and pencil. He drew in a colorful billboard
like style. His bold style and obsessive images have
attracted a great deal of attention among collectors and he
received public recognition through exhibitions. In August
1992 Hurricane Andrew totally destroyed his home and
property. Two collectors helped him file papers with the
federal government and otherwise helped him recover from his
losses. Sadly in 1997 just as he reconciled with two of his
children, Royal died suddenly. His work is in many museum
collections including the Birmingham Museum of Art, the
National Museum of American Art Smithsonian Institution, and
the High Museum.
The Sweet Hearts 22 x 28 $850 marker and ink on poster board double sided Dangerous Adulterous 22 x 28 framed $950 marker and ink on poster board double sided Futuristic House Under the Sun 22 x 28 mixed media on poster board $650
