"In The New York Times, Wendy Steiner named Joseph E. Yoakum (1890-1972) one of the six masters among American outsider artists. John Perreault wrote in The Village Voice, "The discovery of an authentic 'naive' artist such as Yoakum does not happen very often so it is cause for some celebration."" "With 50 color and 145 black-and-white reproductions, Traveling the Rainbow: The Life and Art of Joseph E. Yoakum is a fitting tribute to this fascinating creator of visionary landscapes." "Traveling the Rainbow corrects major biographical errors published in numerous artist anthologies and exhibition catalogues. Much of what he told about his life - especially about his travels - was thought to be invented, but Derrel DePasse makes startling discoveries about the artist's landscapes and finds that much of his story of himself was grounded in fact." "Intimate and panoramic, Yoakum's watercolor and pencil drawings are compared to the work of artists as diverse as William Blake and Thomas Moran. His life spanned the golden epochs of the American railroad, the traveling circus, and the unique American musical idiom known as the blues." "This book reveals how the artist recorded his memories of these in his landscapes, as well as in a small number of distinctive portraits of prominent African Americans."--BOOK JACKET.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 141-153) and index.