Henry Faulkner

Henry Lawrence Faulkner (January 9, 1924 – December 5, 1981) was an American artist and poet known as an eccentric rebel and bohemian. Faulkner is best known for his wildly colorful oil paintings and eccentric acts, including his bringing a bourbon-drinking goat to parties and art shows. He was a close friend and rumored lover of Tennessee Williams, who called him "a creative poet and artist."

Born on January 9, 1924, in Simpson County, Kentucky, Faulkner spent his early life between multiple foster homes, primarily in Clay County, Kentucky. Faulkner went on to study as a scholarship student at the Louisville School of Art.

In the late 1940s, Faulkner lived with Thomas Painter and Kentucky-born artist Edward Melcarth in New York City for a short period of time following WWII. They shared friends, artistic interests and sexual partners.

Around the 1959, Faulkner started to exhibit his paintings more frequently, which were often compared to the Surrealist and Colorist movements and linked to famed artists such as Gustav Klimt. It is said he took inspiration from sources ranging from California to Italy, but his most popular works are abstractions of scenes in his native Kentucky. Today, his works are in the collections of the Morris Museum of Art in Morristown, NJ, and The Johnson Collection in Spartanburg, SC, among others. By the 1960s Faulkner was able to fully live off of his art.

Faulkner was known for his admiration of animals. According to Bradley Picklesimer, who had previously lived with Faulkner, “Now this man lived in his house with at any given time 12-15 goats, six or seven dogs, and probably 20 cats in the house.”

Faulkner was among the pioneers of the mid-century LGBT scene in Kentucky, often dressing in drag, and was referred to as a “decorative pillar of the gay community.” In 1942, Faulkner was placed in St. Elizabeth's Psychiatric Hospital for 11 months due to being homosexual, which was viewed as a mental illness during this period.

Faulkner died in a car crash in Lexington, Kentucky, on December 5, 1981, when the car he was driving was struck by one driven by a drunk driver.

Henry is discussed prominently in a 2013 documentary film, Last Gospel of the Pagan Babies, a project of Media Working Group, with Jean Donohue as producer/director.

In 2014, the Faulkner Morgan Archive was created, in part, to help preserve Henry Faulkner's legacy.

There is an upcoming documentary on the life of Henry Faulkner titled Under The Southern Cross, with Jean Donohue as producer/director.