Morton Bartlett
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Morton Bartlett (1909 – 1992) was an outsider artist. Born an orphan, Bartlett attended Harvard University and worked in a series of jobs, including advertising, furniture sales, a stint in the United States Army and, finally, a printing business. He never married and had no children, but created a family by sculpting 15 dolls — 12 girls and 3 boys, ranging in age from 8 to 16. He then dressed and posed these dolls, in sometimes sexually loaded photographs. His work was not discovered until his death at age 83.
Marion Harris bought the 15 sculptures and 200 photographs and later published a book on Morton entitled Family Found, The Lifetime Obsession of Morton Bartlett. Morton has been compared with Henry Darger, another outsider artist who lived alone and created a vivid and sometimes disturbing fantasy life involving young girls. Both Darger and Morton have avid cult followings, although some critics have charged that both men are being exploited by having their very private art showcased publicly. Some critics have suggested that both Morton and Darger were pedophiles, although there is no evidence to suggest that either man ever actually committed any crimes against children. In a Harvard 25th anniversary report, Morton obliquely commented on his motivations, writing, "My hobby is sculpting in plaster. Its purpose is that of all proper hobbies — to let out urges that do not find expression in other channels."
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