THE CLARION icr ri •
A AMERICA'S FOLK ART MAGAZINE The Museum of American Folk Art New York City SUMMER 1991, Vol. 16, No. 2 $5.00
KATE AND JOEL KOPP
. I
ERICA*
URRAH
766 MADISON AVENUE • NEW YORK, N.Y. 10021 • 212-535-1930
APPLIQUE AND EMBROIDERED QUILT OF A COTTON GINNING MILL AND FARM PROBABLY SUSQUEHANNA CO., PENNSYLVANIA c. 1895, COTTON AND SILK, 75" x 91"
PICTORIAL TEXTILES WANTED 18th, 19th and Early 20th Century QUILTS, HOOKED OR SEWN RUGS, NAVAJO WEAVINGS Please call or write, photographs promptly returned
STEVE HERR • AMERICAN FOLK ART •
"Very rare Centaur or Sagittarius weathervane by A.L. Jewell & Co., Waltham, Mass. Third quarter of the 19th Century."
17 East 96th Street, New York, New York 10128 (212) 348-5219 Hours: 2:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. Tues. through Sat. & By Appointment
Unusual Hayes'Comer pieced quilt Amish,c. 1930, probably Pennsylvania
(212) 838-2596
The Nation's Largest and Finest Antiques Center. 104 Galleries Featuring Furniture, Silver,Jewelry, Oriental and Other Objets d'Art.
T
1050 Second Ave. at 56th St. New York, NY 10022 (212)355.4400 Open Daily 10:30-6,Sun. 12-6. Convenient Parking.
flan Art k Antiques Center
AT 7f ign, )1
Gallery #57
New York City's largest, most exciting selection of • Antique Quilts • Coverlets • Paisley Shawls • Beacon/Pendleton Blankets • Marseilles Spreads • Amish Buggy Shawls • Hooked Rugs • Vintage Decorative Accessories•American Folk Art
LAURA FISHER
A
RICCO/MARESCA
Purvis Young May 9-June 15 Gallery hours are Tuesday - Saturday, Ilam - opm 105 HUDSON STREET/NEW YORK, NY 10013/212.219-2756
' ,Milled, oil on wood. 40M x
Haitian voodoo flag: La Sirene, sequins and beads on cloth, 38 x 35 inches, 1990. Inventory changes two to three times a year; you are invited to write or call for list of flags available at any given time. A group of flags collected personally in Haiti during the past decade is available to museums. Write or call for particulars and loan fee.
Robert Cargo
FOLK ART GALLERY Southern, Folk, and African-American Quilts Antiques•Folk Art Open weekends only and by appointment 4
2314 Sixth Street, downtown Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35401 Saturday 10:00-5:00, Sunday 2:00-5:00
205/758-8884 Home phone
Photo: Ellen Page Wilson
"HEIGH HO TO THE CIRCUMCISION'Jon Serl, 1990; oil on hoard, 40" x 60".
CA7IN-N4C)11RIS irc _ (.)()I .2 'Y. NJ 1.:%A/ l(( )12 K.' PNJ 1312C -1"I) " 21.2-2.2.6,-.37151-S 1-:".X:2 1 2.-22c,-0 1 55
DOUBLE 1k GALLERY •AMERICAN FOLK ART/VINTAGE DESIGN
318 North La Cienega Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90048 213/652-5990
CHILD'S HIGH CHAIR 1900, Wood/Metal
JUMPING JACK PULL TOY c. 1890, Wood/Paint
CHILD BOXER BY JAMES PARKER 1934, Oil on Board
We Specialize in Unusual American Folk Art Gallery Hours: Tuesday — Saturday 12-6
-representing-SANDRA BERRY SALLY COOK RICHARD GACHOT TOM GRANT STEPHEN HUNECK JEAN LIPMAN SOPHY P REGENSBERG
DAVID ZELDIS MALCAH ZELDIS LARRY ZINGALE NEW YORK
BY APPOINTMENT
DAVID STUART
-also
works by-
SYLVIA ALBERTS EDDIE ARNING JACK DEY JAMES C LITZ JUSTIN MCCARTHY JANET L
MUNRO
MATTIE LOU O'KELLY JOSEPH PICKETT MARK SABAN JACK SAVITSKY INEZ NATHANIEL WALKER
TARTT WASHINGTON
Moses Parting the Red Sea, 1990, oil on canvas,53 x 48"
RONALD MUSGROVE
2017 QUE STREET NW
THE TARTT GALLERY WASHINGTON,D.C. 202-332-5652
FAX 202-462-1019
AMERICAN ANTIQUES & QUILTS
Garden Embellishments Third Annual Exhibition and Sale ofAntique Garden Furnishings June 26-July 26 Hours: Monday-Friday 11 a.m.-6p.m.
BLANCHE GREENSTEIN THOMAS K. WOODARD 835 Madison Avenue New York, N.Y. 10021 •(212) 988-2906 •
We are always interested in purchasing exceptional quilts and garden furnishings. Photographs returned promptly. Telephone responses welcome.
THE CLARION VIM.. I I AMERICA'S FOLK ART MAGAZINE The Museum of American Folk Art New York City
Volume 16, No. 2
FEATURES
MARGARET COFFIN
PAINT,POWDER,AND LEAF
Summer 1991
30
A BriefHistory ofthe Historical Society ofEarly American Decoration 34
DANA EVERTS-BOEHM
NEW MEXICAN HISPANO ANIMAL CARVING IN CONTEXT
JEANETTE DEBOUZ,EK
Animal Woodcarvers in Northern New Mexico Speak About Their Art
ARTHUR AND SYBIL KERN
J.A. DAVIS:IDENTITY REVIEWED
41
SHARON D. KOOTA
COSMOGRAMS AND CRYPTIC WRITINGS
48
"Africanisms" in the Art ofMinnie Evans DEPARTMENTS EDITOR'S COLUMN
10
MINIATURES
14
DEVELOPMENTS
20
DIRECTOR'S LETTER
25
MUSEUM NEWS
26
BOOK REVIEWS
53
MAJOR DONORS
60
NEW MEMBERSHIP
66
INDEX TO ADVERTISERS
72
COVER: Detail, Tea Cannister; maker unknown; Pennsylvania; circa 1825; painted tinplate. From the Historical Society of Early American Decoration Collections at the Museum of American Folk Art. The Clarion is published four times a year by the Museum of American Folk Art, 61 West 62nd Street, NY, NY 10023, 212/977-7170. Telecopier 212/977-8134. Annual subscription rate for members is included in membership dues. Copies are mailed to all members. Single copy $5.00. Published and copyright *1991 by the Museum of American Folk Art,61 West 62nd Street, NY, NY 10023. The cover and contents of The,Clarion are fully protected by copyright and may not be reproduced in any manner without written consent. Opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the Museum of American Folk Art. Unsolicited manuscripts or photographs should be accompanied by return postage. The Clarion assumes no responsibility for the loss or damage ofsuch materials. Change of Address: please send both old and new addresses and allow five weeks for change. Advertising: The Clarion accepts advertisements only from advertisers whose reputation is recognized in the trade, but despite the care with which the advertising department screens photographs and texts submitted by its advertisers, it cannot guarantee the unquestionable authenticity of objects or quality ofservices advertised in its pages or offered for sale by its advertisers, nor can it accept responsibility for misunderstandings that may arise from the purchase or sale of objects or services advertised in its pages. The Museum is dedicated to the exhibition and interpretation offolk art and feels it is a violation ofits principles to be involved in or to appear to be involved in the sale of works of art. For this reason, the Museum will not knowingly accept advertisements for The Clarion which illustrate or describe objects that have been exhibited at the Museum within one year of the placing of the advertisement.
Summer 1991
9
EDITO1'\'S COLUMN JACQUELINE M. ATKINS
THE CLARION Jacqueline M. Atkins, Editor and Publisher Ellen Blissman, Art Director Mell Cohen,Publications Associate Marilyn Brechner, Advertising Manager Hildegard 0. Vetter, Production Manager Craftsmen Litho,Printers Nassau Typographers, Typesetters
MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLK ART
s the opening article in this issue indicates, the Museum of American Folk Art has recently become the happy recipient of major holdings from the Historical Society of Early American Decoration. The addition of this collection, which enriches the Museum's own holdings of eighteenth- and nineteenthcentury painted and ornamented objects, significantly expands the opportunity for further appreciation of this decorative tradition. A number ofitems in the collection were originally discovered by Esther Stevens Brazer, a pioneer in the research of painted and decorated ware and herself an accomplished artist dedicated to maintaining early American decoration as a living art form. The extensive documentary files accompanying the artifact collection will be lodged in the Museum's Library and Research Center and offers scholars as well as practitioners of the decortive arts an unusually rich opportunity for study. Access to Art: All Creatures Great and Small is a popular exhibition that draws to a close this month in the Museum's Eva and Morris Feld Gallery at Lincoln Center. The colorful and creative animal sculptures that comprise this exhibit have delighted and intrigued visitors and opened the world of contemporary southwestern animal carving to a wider and very receptive audience. Dana Everts-Boehm furthers the appreciation of this art form in a lively article on the woodcarving tradition in the southwest, and Jeanette DeBouzek, in an accompanying piece, provides a look behind the scenes in a series of interviews with some of the artists whose work was included in the exhibition. It is always pleasant to revisit old friends, and the article on J.A. Davis by Arthur and Sybil Kern provides us with an excellent opportunity to review the work of this artist. The Kerns began their painstaking research on Davis nearly ten years ago and have now compiled a substantial body of evidence that convincingly establishes the identity of this artist. I am pleased to note that theircoriginal preliminary identification of Jane Anthony Davis as the artist J.A. Davis appeared first in The Clarion in 1981. The brilliantly colored, mystical drawings of Minnie Evans have long sparked excitement and discussion in regard to the origin of her images, and Sharon Koota has done an admirable job in reviewing the arguments that tie Evans' work to African origins. Her thought-provoking article will stimulate a closer look at Evans' creative output in light of her African heritage and the Kongo cosmology. As noted in "Museum News;' we are now in the process of expanding our in-house computer system. We will,from this month on, be producing mailing labels for The Clarion and other Museum information in-house. We anticipate a smooth and trouble-free conversion, but please be patient with us should you experience delays in receiving your material.
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Administration Dr. Robert Bishop, Director Gerard C. Werticin, Assistant Director Luanne Cantor, Controller Virginia Dillon, Assistant Controller Beverly McCarthy, Assistant to the Director Mary Ziegler, Administrative Assistant Sylvia Sincicler, Shop Accountant Maryann Warakomski, Accountant Brent Erdy, Reception Luis Fernandez, Manager, Mailroom and Maintenance Collections & Exhibitions Ralph Sessions, ChiefCurator Alice J. Hoffman,Director ofExhibitions Ann-Marie Reilly, Registrar Karen S. Schuster, Director ofthe Eva and Morris Feld Gallery Catherine Fukushima, Assistant Gallery Director Stacy C. Hollander, Assistant Curator/Lore Kann Research Fellow Lucille Stiger, Assistant Registrar Regina A. Weichert, Assistant Gallery Director/Education Coordinator Elizabeth V. Warren, Consulting Curator Mary Black, Consulting Curator Howard Lanser, Consulting Exhibition Designer Departments Beth Bergin, Membership Director Marie S. DiManno,Director ofMuseum Shops Susan Flamm,Public Relations Director Johleen D. Nester, Director ofDevelopment Edith C. Wise,Director ofLibrary Services Janey Fire, Karla Friedlich, Photographic Services Chris Cappiello, Membership Associate David E. Gluck,Development Associate Programs Barbara W. Cate,Director, Folk ArtInstitute Lee Kogan, Assistant Director, Folk Art Institute/Senior Research Fellow Phyllis A. Tepper,Registrar, Folk Art Institute Dr. Marilyn Karp,Director, New York University Master's and Ph.D. Program in Folk Art Studies Dr. Judith Reiter Weissman, Coordinator, New York University Program Cathy Rasmussen,Director ofSpecial Projects Irma J. Shore, Exhibition Coordinator, Access to Art速 Eugene P. Sheehy, Museum Bibliographer Mary Linda Zonana, Coordinator, DocentPrograms Howard P. Fertig, Chairman, Friends Committee Museum Shop Staff Managers: Dorothy Gargiulo, Caroline Hohenrath, Rita Pollitt; Mail Order: Vivian Adams, Volunteers: Marie Anderson, Laura Aswad, Judy Baker, Olive Bates, Marsha Becker, Jennifer Bigelow, Elizabeth Cassidy, Ann Coppinger, Sheila Coppinger, Sally Elfant, Annette Ellis, Tricia Ertman, Millie Gladstone, Elli Gordon,Inge Graff, Cyndi Gruber, Edith Gusoff, Carol Hauser, Elizabeth Howe, Bonnie Hunt, Carole Kaplan, Eleanor Katz, Nan Keenan, Teresa Lamb, Annette Levande, Katie McAuliffe, Nancy Mayer, Theresa Naglack, Pat Pancer, Marie Peluso, Mary Rix, Diana Robertson, Frances Rojack, Phyllis Selnick, Lorraine Seubert, Myra Shaskan, Denise Siracusa, Maxine Spiegel, Doris Stack, Sonya Stern, Mary Wamsley, Marian Whitley, Doris Wolfson.
MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLK ART BOOK AND GIFT SHOPS 62 West 50th Street New York, NY 10012 212/247-5611 Two Lincoln Square(Columbus Avenue between 65th and 66th) New York, NY 10023 212/496-2966
THE CLARION
,I0eaanafi
AVPI
Carved American whimsey, circa 1900. 30" tall.
4x.
-11k
Fred & Kathryn Giampietro • 203-787-3851 1531/2 Bradley St., New Haven, CT 06511
POPE: Ic
Early 20th Century Adirondack bench.
(802)867-5945 Box 537 Dorset, Vermont 05251 (802)867-4480
C?
t t A-ND NILtS ' '
American painted wheelbarrow, circa 1854. A gift of Charles Tufts to his nephew, George B. Tufts. 20 1/4" H., 50" L., 19" W.
A Limited Collection of 18th, 19th, and 20th Century Americana and Appropriate Accessories. By Appointment Only.
Wde I.- I 1" •Ir11111!11 1.
AMERICAN FOLK AND OUTSIDER ART New Hours TUES.-SAT.11-6
1'1'
6909 MELROSE AVENUE LOS ANGELES CA 90038 213-657-6369
HARRY LIEBERMAN. THE EAGLE AND THE SHROUD: ACRYLIC ON CANVAS. 24" x 30"
12
Aarne Anton Karen J. Sobotka
AMERICAN PRIMITIVE GALLERY
212-966-1530
596 Broadway Suite 205 New York, N.Y. 10012 Mon.-Fri. 10-6 Sat. 12-6(Except July & August)
Willie Massey(1910-1990) Kentucky Bird Wall Shelf Construction. 27'x 18" x 4.
"...Willie Massey's little houses are like crazy hotels where dreams might live, protected by the spotted creatures perched on their roofs..." Tom Wachunas, Downtown Newspaper
Bird/Spirit House. Ht. 21 inches.
Sculpture and paintings ofthe 19th and 20th centuries including works by outsider artists.
OUTSIDER ART
ANTIQUE FOLK ART
Richard Burnside Charles Butler Raymond Coins Lonnie Holley Charlie Lucas Willie Massey R. A. Miller Mary T. Smith Jimmy Lee Sudduth Nose Tolliver Willie White
Canes Carvings Cast& Forged Iron Fish Decoys Furniture Game Boards Textile Art Trade Signs Utilitarian Objects VVeathervanes Whirligigs
...and others...
...and more...
G7M
MINIATURES
11W Outrageous Eyeglasses What a Sight: Spectacular Spectacles. An Exploration of the Design Process Through the Evolution of Eyewear, From Function to Fantasy, an exhibition of two hundred outrageous vintage eyeglasses will be on view at the Craft & Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA, through August 11, 1991. Tel. 213/937-5576. LONG-HANDLED, FOLDING LORGNETTE; c. 1890, tortoise shell and gold. Courtesy of The Museum of Ophthalmology/Historical Library, The Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, San Francisco.
Contemporary African-American Quilts Contemporary black quiltmakers produce highly individual works that often have strong aesthetic ties to the textiles of the Congo and West Africa. This display of 24 quilts and four African textiles relates to ancestral prototypes. The exhibition can be seen at the Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, from September 27, 1991 through January 4, 1992. The exhibition was organized by the Craft and Folk Art Museum, San Francisco. For public inquiries, Tel. 202/357-2247.
NC,will hold an exhibit entitled offers many new features: an Henrietta Johnston: "Who auction of each artist's unveiled Greatly Helped ... by Draw- work, a memorial exhibition of ing Pictures!'This exhibit, held exceptional deceased exhibin association with the Gibbes itors, and three hundred art Art Gallery in Charleston, SC, works that can be purchased is the first to concentrate solely directly from the folk artists. on Henrietta Johnston(d. 1729), For further information contact the earliest known American Pat Wyllie,Tel. 902/766-4382. female pastel portraitist. Over thirty of her color drawings will be on display. In conjunction with the exhibit, MESDA will Major Quilts sponsor a seminar, "The World Donation of Henrietta Johnston;' on Saturday, November 9, 1991. The New England Quilt MuThe exhibit will be at the seum has received 33 quilts Gibbes Gallery from December from the collection of Gail 12, 1991, through February 2, Binney-Stiles. The quilts, from 1992. For information, Tel. one of the most significant pri919/721-7365. vate quilt collections in the country, offer an in-depth view of the design creativity and artistic craftsmanship of American quiltmaking in the eighFolk Art Festival teenth, nineteenth, and twenin Nova Scotia tieth centuries. The exhibition, Collection Quilts: A Gift of Rain or shine the Third Annual Love from the Binney Family, Folk Art Festival will be held on will be shown at the New Sunday, August 4, 1991, at the England Quilt Museum in St. James Parish Hall Grounds, Lowell, MA, from September Blockhouse, NS (one hour 6 through October 31, 1991. south of Halifax). The event Tel. 617/232-5880.
Henrietta Johnston From October 11 through December 8, 1991, the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) in Winston-Salem, 14
BLUE AND WHITE; artist unknown; New York; c. 1850-1870; appliqued cottons; 82/ 1 2x 99.
Joseph Endicott Furey (1906-1990)
Joseph Endicott, creator of a mixed-media painted and decorated environment in his rented Brooklyn apartment, died of complications from pneumonia on November 12, 1990, in Goshen, New York. Furey decorated his fiveroom apartment with some 70,000 items — mostly shells and cardboard cutouts — arranged in a highly organized manner. The result was a spectacular collage of rooms that shimmered with color and excitement. The dazzling environment was discovered in 1988, shortly after Joseph Furey moved out to live with a son. The first published report on his work (see The Clarion, Spring 1989, Vol. 13, No. 2, p. 34) was followed by a flurry of media coverage that included feature stories in newspapers and magazines as well as numerous television spots. Lesa Westerman and Addison Thompson, two artists committed to preserving the integrity of Furey's creation, are the current occupants of the apartment (see The Clarion, Spring 1990, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 50-55). Surviving Furey are three children, eleven grandchildren, one great grandchild, and two sisters. THE CLARION
Classic Third Phase Chief's Blanket, Navajo, circa 1860.58 by 68 inches. Ex- Frank Lloyd Wright Collection. Illustrated in Berlant&Kahlenberg, Walk In Beauty,figure 50.
JOSHUA BAER & COMPANY ClassicAmerican Indian Art 116/ 1 2 EAST PALACE AVENUE
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MINIATU ES
Louisville Celebrates Quilts
COMMEMORATIVE PITCHER made for the 1855 Paris International Exposition; England; 1855; enameled and gilded porcelain. Decorative Arts Association Acquisitions Fund.
In 1971, the Whitney Museum of American Art startled the art world with an exhibit that established the American quilt as a distinct art form. From that exhibit, Abstract Design in American Quilts, came an international awareness and respect for quilts as designed objects. In honor of the 20th Anniversary of the Whitney ex-
Americans and Native Americans in rural New England between 1790 and 1860. Candidates should have significant work accomplishment in historical, archaeological, or material culture scholarship and be strongly committed to publishing the results of their research. A stipend of up to $2,500 will be awarded. Deadline for applications is July 1, 1991. For application information, contact Dr. John Worrell, Director of Research, Tel. 508/347-3362.
Cooper-Hewitt's 100 Years
Artist and Daughter Reunited
The Cooper-Hewitt National Museum of Design, Smithsonian Institution, of New York City celebrates its one-hundredyear history in a marathon exhibition, The Cooper-Hewitt Collections: A Design Resource. More than one thousand objects from its vast holdings will be on view through August 30, 1992. The exhibition reveals the full range of the Museum's collecting interests, to be found in each of its four curatorial departments — Decorative Arts, Drawings and Prints, Textiles, and Wallcoverings. The Museum is located at 2 East 91st Street. For information, Tel. 212/860-6868.
Lee Godie, one of the artists featured in the Museum of American Folk Art Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Folk Art and Artists, by Chuck and Jan Rosenak, and "Chicago's most successful folk artist!' according to Carl Hammer, a Chicago folk art dealer and longtime Godie admirer, has been reunited with a daughter that she had not seen for many years. Godie(b. 1908)had lived on the streets of Chicago since the mid-1960s, selling her paintings on the steps of the Chicago Art Institute and along Michigan
The Firelands Association for the Visual Arts, Oberlin, OH, invites entries for FAVA's fifth biennial juried art quilt exhibition, The Artist as Quiltmaker V. Deadline for slides: September 25, 1991. For forms and further information, Tel. 216/774-7158. 16
hibit, the Kentucky Quilt Project will reinstall the show in its entirety at the Museum of History and Science in Louisville, KY, as part of Louisville Celebrates the American Quilt. The exhibit will be on view from November 1991 through March 1992. This multi-event celebration will also include five other quilt exhibits, which will open in February 1992, and two academic conferences, also scheduled for that month. For information, Tel. 502/587-6721.
Research Fellowships Old Sturbridge Village, in Sturbridge, MA,announces one or more Research Fellowships in New England history and culture. At least one Fellowship will be awarded this year for research into the history and material culture of African
0839N3SI3 183H0
FAVA's Juried Quilt Show
RAINBOW STRIPES; Pennsylvania; c. 1860.
Avenue. She had long been out oftouch with her family, and her daughter, Bonnie Blank, had no more than the name "Godie" on her birth certificate to tell her about her mother. With the help of a front-page article in the Wall Street Journal on Godie and a cousin who recalled seeing a "Godie" work at Hammer's gallery, Blank managed to track her mother down in 1989; she noted, however, that "establishing a mother-daughter relationship was difficult!' Godie said that she "only associated with artists" and insisted that her daughter learn to paint, so Blank began to take lessons from her mother on the streets of Chicago. Godie continued to live on the streets, but, by the summer of 1990, the health and the living situation of the 82year-old artist had deteriorated and Blank was appointed guardian of her mother's person in January 1991. She immediately moved her mother into a nursing home near to Blank's own home in Plato, Illinois, where the mother-daughter art lessons are continuing. Lee Godie is also preparing for her first one-person gallery show, to be held at Carl Hammer Gallery in Chicago in the fall of 1991. —By Chuck Rosenak
Lee Godie and her daughter, Bonnie Blank, with one of Godie's drawings. Courtesy of Carl Hammer Gallery.
T lih CLARION
MINNIE EVANS THE ESTATE OF MINNIE EVANS IS REPRESENTED BY UNTITLED
1946 mixed media/paper 12" x 18"
LUISE ROSS GALLERY SO WEST 57 STREET
NEW YORK NY 10019
212 307-0400
Sam Doyle (1906 - 1985) Collection includes: J.B. Murray, Howard Finster, David Butler, Bessie Harvey, Willie White, Mary T. Smith, Jimmy Sudduth, James "Son" Thomas, Royal Robertson, James Harold Jennings, Mose Tolliver, Lonnie Holley, B.F. Perkins, Clementine Hunter and others.
7520 Perkins Road Baton Rouge, La. 70808 504-767-0526
Summer 1991
17
LESLIE GALLERY
MUTH Contemporary American Folk Art Specializing in folk artists from the southwest limbo" Davila
Ned Cartledge
"Uncle Pete" Drgac
Patrick Davis
Pete Ortega
Ike Morgan
Derek Webster
Mike Rodriguez
1114 Barkdull Houston Texas 77006 (713) 521-2639 and 690 Gonzales #11 Santa Fe New Mexico 87501 (505)986-1326 Death Cart
wood with mixed media
MOSE TOLLIVER • BILL TRAYLOR • FRED WEBSTER • OTHER ARTISTS • BUZZ BUSBY • REV. HOWARD FINSTER • LONNIE HOLLEY
LE0\..
_
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14
LOARD GALLERY
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_
6....Sa
1
2781 Zelda Road Montgomery, Alabama 36106 Woodie Long, "All Around the Mulberry Bush" acrylic on canvas36" x48" (205) 270-9010
In Alabama 1-800-235-6273 in USA
1-800-345-0538
Join us for a birthday celebration for Mose Tolliver on Sunday, July 28 from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. featuring an exhibition, "Mose T and Friends"
I .• JUANITA ROGERS •BERNICE SIMS •JIMMIE LEE SUDDUTH •ANNIE TOLLIVER •
.CLEMENTINE HUNTER •M.C."51I"JONES •CALVIN "RED DOG" LIVINGSTON .I
Luis Tapia
WOODIE LONG • ANNIE LUCAS • CHARLIE LUCAS • MARY LUCAS • R.A. MILLER • BROTHER B.F. PERKINS • BAMA QUATES
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THE CLARION
MINNIE EVANS (1892-1987)
LYNNE INGRAM FOLtAIT
"untitled", mixed media on paper 15v)" x 12'o"(paper)
Glen Bolick Jerry Brown Charlie Brown Louis Brown Albert Hodge Owens Billy Rae Hussey Georgia Blizzard Charlie Liske Works also by: Sudduth • Tolliver Jennings • Burnside McCord • Perkins Walker • Miller Lucas • Smith Robertson
CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN OUTSIDER/FOLK ART Representing: David Butler Rev. Howard Finster Clementine Hunter O.W. "Pappy" Kitchens Rev. McKendree Long Sr. Gertrude Morgan Jimmie Lee Sudduth Willie White and many other important Outsider artists
Photos available upon request. Appointment only.
GASPERI GALLERY
174 Rick Road • Milford, NJ 08848 908-996-4786
320 JULIA STREET • NEW ORLEANS, LA 70130 (504) 524-9373
DEVELOPMENTS JOHLEEN D. NESTER Museum of American Folk Art Exhibition Fund In December, 1990, a special request was sent to the Museum membership asking for contributions to the Museum of American Folk Art Exhibition Fund. The majority of Museum exhibitions are made possible with funding from corporations, however, each year there are several exhibitions that are supported in part with grants from government, foundation, or private sources. The Museum established the Exhibition Rind to provide the necessary additional support for those exhibitions that are only partially funded. As a result of the end-of-the-year solicitation, a number of donors were added to the long list of friends who had already made gifts. I would like to take this opportunity to gratefully acknowledge the generous support of these individuals: R. Sylvia Barton Iris Carmel Marian and Donald DeWitt JoAnn R. Fannin Marie and Howard Figueroa Laura Fisher Ronald J. Gard Ivan S. Gilbert Barbara Goldfarb Doris Stack Greene Terry and Simca Heled Louise R. Kaminow Jenny Mlawsky Dr. and Mrs. R.L. Polak Carole P. Sadler Samuel Schwartz Randy Siegel Karen & David Sobotka Judith S. Weinberg John and Marian Wezmar
Wish List Each year the Museum of American Folk Art presents between six and eight exhibitions at the Eva and Morris Feld Gallery at Lincoln Square; offers hundreds of educational programs, including lectures, demonstrations, workshops, storytelling, and school outreach; publishes The Clarion quar20
terly, the Bibliography of American Folk Art annually, and books and catalogues to accompany exhibitions; and travels exhibitions to twenty-five to thirty museums throughout the United States and abroad. As these projects are being organized and implemented, research and care of the permanent collection is ongoing, students and scholars utilize the resources of the Museum Library, and visually impaired and hearing-impaired visitors learn about folk art through tactile exhibitions with large-print and braille labelling. Every one of these programs requires the dedicated efforts of the Museum staff as well as specific support, both financial and in-kind, to ensure the successful completion of each. The listing below describes a number of projects for which specific gifts are needed. Financial donations toward purchase or in-kind gifts of the objects requested are important to the operation of the Museum and will be greatly appreciated by the staff working on these programs. For the permanent collection, the following types of objects are not well represented at present: Fraktur Pennsylvania German pottery Cobalt-decorated stoneware American samplers and needlework Hooked rugs Paintings, especially portraits by documented eighteenth- and nineteenth-century artists Bed rugs For the storage of the TwentiethCentury Folk Art Archives in the Library and for the storage of extended photography files in Photographic Services: Two five-drawer legal-size lateral file cabinets: $778/each For desktop publishing of the Quilt Connection newsletter and brochures for Folk Art Explorers' Club trips organized by the Membership Department: Aldus Page Maker software for IBM PC: $450
Microsoft Windows software for IBM PC: $88 Microsoft Mouse (two): $60/each For the New York Quilt Project: Additional color photography of quilts to be included in the book that will accompany the exhibition of New York State quilts at the Museum in Summer 1992: $2,000 For promotion of available traveling exhibitions to other museums across the United States: Colored copier paper(81 / 2 x 14") — 20 reams: $11.25/ream 500 folders to hold information and slides: $9.75/25 For the production of The Clarion and other printed materials: Light box: $174 For the Folk Art Institute: Printing of the Fall 1991 course listing brochure: $1,500 For the Library: Books in Print, 1990191(8-volume set): $349.95 (The Library is currently using a 1987/88 edition) Any ephemeral material relating to the early years of the Museum For the Eva and Morris Feld Gallery at Lincoln Square: Additional lighting tracks (4): $500 each track Closet piece to test lighting: $100 For computerization of a number of departments currently without adequate hardware capabilities: Museum Shops Traveling Exhibitions Department Curatorial Department Registration Department Accounting Department Publications Most of these departments are interested in Macintosh LC or Classic computers. If you are interested in making a donation of or toward a computer, full information is available upon request. To make a donation or to ask a question regarding the wish list, please contact me at 212/977-7170. The Museum looks forward to publicly thanking a long list of generous donors in the next issue of The Clarion! THE CLARION
THE ANTIQUES DEALERS'ASSOCIATION OFAMERICA,INC.PRESENTS THE FIFTHANNUAL
0111
ED SHOW
TOBEN1 IT HIST C HUDSON VALLEY
FRIDAY, JULY 19TH 12 NOON-8:00PM SATURDAY, JULY 20TH 12 NOON-8:00PM SUNDAY, JULY 21ST 12 No0N-5:00Pm ADMISSION:$8.00 WESTCHESTER COUNTY CENTER BRONX RIVER PARKWAY AT CENTRAL AVE., WHITE PLAINS, NY DIRECTIONS: Bronx River Parkway to County Center exit or Interstate Rte. 287 to exit 5. Follow Tarrytown Rd.(Rte.119) to County Center. Easily accessible by train from New York City.
CURATORIAL WALK-THROUGH OF THE SHOW SATURDAY, JULY 20TH 10AM (BY RESERVATION ONLY) Conducted by Joseph T. Butler, Senior Director, Historic Hudson Valley. For Tour information and reservations call (914)631-8200, ext. 36. For additional Show information call (203) 259-3844.
FREE LECTURES: FRIDAY, JULY 19TH AT 3PM:"AN INTRODUCTION TO FEDERAL FURNITURE" by Thomas G. Schwenke, prominent dealer of American antiques. AND SATURDAY, JULY 20TH AT 3PM:"A COMPARISON OF 18TH CENTURY FURNITURE OF BOSTON, PORTSMOUTH AND NEWPORT" by Brock Jobe, Curator of Collections, SPNEA. ALL ANTIQUES IN THE SHOW WILL BE VETTED BY A COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS TO ENSURE AUTHENTICITY AS TO AGE, ORIGIN AND CONDITION. LIST OF EXHIBITORS: Artemis Gallery Dennis & Valerie Bakoledis Leonard/Jacquelyn Balish Scott Bassoff/Sandy Jacobs Joan Bogart Campbell House Antiques Bea Cohen John J. Collins, Jr. Martin J. Conlon Cowan & Gonzales Kirtland H. Crump Ron & Penny Dionne Jacqueline Donegan Richard & Patricia Dudley Peter Eaton M. Finkel & Daughter Frank Gaglio/Kathleen Molnar James Grievo Fae B. Haight, Antiques Connie & William Hayes Haymarket Antiques Herrup & Wolfner Hillman/Gemini Corporation Julie Lindberg
Nathan Liverant & Son Gary & Martha Ludlow Mellin's Antiques Olde Hope Antiques E.G.H. Peter, Inc. Mary Carden Quinn Susan & Sy Rapaport J.B. Richardson Gallery John Keith Russell, Antiques Donald R. Sack, American Antiques Lincoln & Jean Sander Herbert Schiffer Thomas Schwenke,Inc. Lewis W. Scranton Smith Gallery Elliott & Grace Snyder George & Debbie Spiecker Edward L. Steckler Robert S. Walin Antiques Walters•Benisek Art & Antiques Byron C. & Craig White Stephen E. White Marc Witus/Mimi Gun Thomas K. Woodard Priscilla Hutchinson Ziesmer
THE
AMES GALLERY OF
AMERICAN
FOLK ART
2661 Cedar Street Berkeley, California 94708 415/845-4949 Bonnie Grossman Director
• We specialize in exceptional 18th-20th Century handmade objects. Our extensive selection of quilts, carved canes, tramp art,folk paintings and sculpture are available for viewing. Phone for exhibit information, hours or information. The Last Supper, Anonymous, 11" h., 25" w. c.1940
Photo: Ben Blackwell
BRIGITTe SCHweeR eaLLeRY PRIMITIVE, FOLK & ESKIMO ART
(formerly Arctic Art)
DAVID
ALVAREZ
LEROY
ARCHULETA
DEWEY DAVID
BLOCKSMA BUTLER FINSTER
HOWARD
MANUEL JIMENEZ LYNNE TOM
LOSHBAUGH
MAY
glinquaPaiA •3ken :owed
CONSTANCE
EDWARD LARSON:"ROMULUS AND REMUS:. ARTICULATED SCULPTURE,WOOD AND PAINT,54"X 38"X 24"
ROBERTS
BILLY
RODRIGUEZ
MOSE
TOLLIVER
929 BROADWAY DENVER COLORADO
80203
(303)825-8555
T FIC CLARION
American Masterpieces
Felipe Benito Archuleta
Ram, 21" x 14", Signed and Dated December 4th, 1975 FBA
American Masterpieces will pay the highest pricesforfine examples of Outsider and 19th and 20th Century American Folk Art 1616 Trotting Trails Road *St. Louis, MO 63005*(314) 532-2175*(By Appointment)
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Notable Examples from the Collection of the Late Edward Deming Andrews and Faith Andrews
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AN EXAMPLE OF FLAWLESS SHAKER DESIGN AND METICULOUS WORKMANSHIP FROM THE CELEBRATED ANDREWS COLLECTION. This unique washstand was made at the Shaker Community at New Lebanon, New York, circa 1810-30, constructed of pine with original red paint and turned maple knobs, 30 x 46 x 22 1/2 inches.
A full color illustrated catalogue "Notable Examplesfrom the Collection of the Late Edward Deming Andrews and Faith Andrews" is available for $15.00, postage paid. New York residents are required to add appropriate sales tax.
DAVID A. SCHORSCH Ji ncowiti 30 EAST 76TH STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10021 212-439-6100
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LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR DR. ROBERT BISHOP
he Library at the Museum of American Folk Art boasts a considerable collection of auction catalogues acquired for their focus on American folk art and decorative art. A number of the catalogues have come to the Museum through subscriptions, and an equal number are selected from announcements received from a variety of auction houses. Many generous individual collectors send us their auction catalogues as well. Edith Wise, Chief Librarian at the Museum,is in charge of servicing this collection and increasing its usefulness to members, researchers, and students. With the growth of Americana auctions in recent years, it became necessary to create a more detailed system for tracking the many catalogues that we receive. Merrilee Posner, a graduate of the Museum of American Folk Art/ New York University Folk Art Studies program and currently employed at Christie's East as Head of the American Furniture and Decorative Art Department, offered to create a computerized directory to the collection and was eagerly accepted. The result is an index to the various categories of folk art and the American decorative arts covered in the auction catalogues on file in the Library, and it is likely that this directory will be one of the most useful features of our new Library facility. It indexes all collections and collectors, by name and by special interest, and enables the user to find easily and quickly where and when the sale occurred. The computerized directory gives information on auction catalogues from more than forty auction houses — in some cases a complete run of catalogues, in others, no more than a single catalogue. There is no doubt that the directory will be an extremely helpful tool for library users, and Ms. Posner's interest in the Museum and its Library
T
Summer 1991
i scov t
• AMERICA • lo .aire 1+02 'W irp4 1992
and
FRIENDS SHARING * AMERICA. AA,
"mina Cluals CreateJ Mr The Carol Anverhon Omit Inheal
Museum of American Folk Art
is greatly appreciated. When you are next in the area, why not stop by our Library, located in our office complex at 61 West 62nd Street (3rd floor) in New York City. Our holdings are most impressive, and new material is regularly being acquired. Under the watchful eye of Edith Wise and the assistance of Eugene Sheehy, the cataloging process is ongoing and underpins the accessibility of the Library's collections. I am pleased to announce the arrival of two new books recently published under the Museum's banner. The Quilt Encyclopedia Illustrated, by Carter Houck, was made possible by Harry N. Abrams,Inc. This profusely illustrated volume details and expands on an exhibition mounted by the Museum from March 14 to June 9, 1991, an additional attraction for those visiting the Great American Quilt Festival 3 last month. Produced as a Festival publication is the wonderful new book, Discover America and Friends Sharing America, just released by Dutton Studio Books in association with the Museum of American Folk Art. This publication, available in paperback and hardcover, records the prizewinning quilts from two national contests celebrating the American experience. The quilts documented in this book formed part of a major exhibit at the Quilt Festival and will be traveling to a number of venues around the country over the coming two years. The books may be ordered from the Museum of American Folk Art Book and Gift Shop, Two Lincoln Square, New York, NY 10023-6214. The Quilt Encyclopedia (hardcover) is $39.95 plus $5.00 shipping and handling charges; Discover America is $16.95 (paperback only) plus $5.00 per book for shipping and handling. We hope you all enjoy them as much as we have! 25
U-4 1
MUSEUM NEWS COMPILED BY MELL COHEN
•March Gallery Openings On March 21, 1991,the Museum celebrated the opening of The Quilt Encyclopedia exhibition. The thirty-five quilts on loan from public and private collections that made up the show examined all the major American quilting traditions, both historical and contemporary. Included were examples
Left: Carter Houck,guest curator and author of The Quilt Encyclopedia Illustrated, with volunteer Marion Whitley.
of album, Amish, art, centennial, crazy, early American appliqué, fund raising, political, and religious quilts. "It's quilts from A to Z:' said Carter Houck, guest curator and former editor of Lady's Circle Patchwork. The exhibit was on view at the Museum of American Folk Art/Eva and Morris Feld Gallery at Lincoln Square, Columbus Avenue and 66th Street,through June 9, 1991. The opening also provided an opportunity for an autograph party for The Quilt Encyclopedia Illustrated, a major book by Carter Houck (see "Director's Letter," page 25). The exhibition was made possible through the generosity of the following donors to the Museum of American Folk Art Exhibition Fund: Mr. and Mrs. Edward J. Brown, Marion and Donald DeWitt,Simca and Terry Heled, Dr. and Mrs. R.L. Polak, and Randy Siegel. Also celebrating its opening on 26
March 21 was Access to Art®: All Creatures Great and Small,the second of the Museum's programs designed to make folk art available to all Museum visitors. Approximately eighteen objects, chosen for their tactile interest as well as their ability to display the continuity of the southwestern carving tradition and its roots in Hispanic religious carvings, were selected for the exhibition from the collections of the Museum by Irma Shore, Exhibition Coordinator, Access To Art. The show included works by ten contemporary Southwestern folk artists such as David Alvarez, Felipe Benito Archuleta, Leroy Archuleta, and Richard Luis Davila. To enhance the exhibition, there were bilingual large-print labels in Spanish and English and braille. This exhibition was made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, and with generous grants from The Xerox Foundation and The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation.(for more information on Southwestern animal carving, see pp. 34-40,this issue.)
•Folk Art Explorers' Club News Twenty-seven Museum of American Folk Art members enjoyed a trip to San Francisco, March 19
through 24, visiting private collections, museums,and galleries. Bonnie Grossman of Berkeley, CA, a member of the Museum's International Advisory Council, was instrumental in arranging many stops on the tour, which included collections in San Francisco, Mann County, and the East Bay area. In addition to private collections, the group was treated to a tour, led by curator Julie Silber of the Amish Quilt Collection at the Esprit Corporation; a visit to the home and workplace of artist Mark Bullwinkle; and visits to the Mexican Museum and the San Francisco Craft and Folk Art Museum. A delightful party at the Ames Gallery of American Folk Art in Berkeley introduced the group to local Museum members and others interested in folk art. Very special thanks to the following collectors and gallery owners for their contributions to the tour: Ben and Toby Rose, Bliss and Gitta Carnochan, Elida Scola of Galleria Scola, Paul Pilgrim and Jerry Roy, Irene Braden of Creative Growth, Dick Peters and Don Rice, Brian Hourican and Erik Martin, Betty Soloman, Barbara Beal, Oveda Maurer of Oveda Maurer Antiques, Linda Reuther of Hearts and Hands, Terri DeSalvo, and Virginia Brier of The Virginia Brier Gallery.
From left, Susan Simon, Lynne Ingram,Pria Harmon, and Lois Levine in front of artist Mark Bullwinkle's home. Part of group at Esprit Corporation listening to talk by Julie Silber.
THE CLARION
G7M
MUSEUM NEWS ML TS11 AI OF AMFRKAN- FOLtiART
•Museum Acquires Hudson River Quilt Through the generosity of the J.M. Kaplan Fund,the Museum of American Folk Art now numbers the Hudson River Quilt among the many important artworks in its permanent collection. The quilt, presented to the Museum in March, was created to bring attention to the need to preserve the beauty and purity of the Hudson River and its environs. Headed by Irene Preston Miller, a shop owner and dedicated conservationist, a group of thirty women spent three years(1969-1972) working on the quilt, each block of which depicts some aspects of life along or history of the river. The quilt was toured for eighteen years to museums and exhibitions across the country and abroad to promote the cause of conservation and celebrate the wonders of the Hudson River. At the end of its traveling odyssey in January 1990,the quilt was auctioned at
Sotheby's in New York City. The proceeds from the auction ($21,000— the highest amount paid to date for a contemporary quilt) were divided equally among Scenic Hudson, Clearwater, and the Hudson Valley Greenway Council, all groups dedicated to preserving the natural resource that is the Hudson River. The J.M. Kaplan Fund supports environmental and historic conservation and preservation among its numerous areas of concern. The Fund was eager for this landmark quilt to belong, in perpetuity, to the public realm and conducted a year-long investigation into determining the appropriate permanent home for it. The Museum was,to our great delight, their choice. The Hudson River Quilt formed part of the "Quilts of Conscience" exhibit during the Great American Quilt Festival 3, held from May 1-5, 1991, in New York City. Additional exhibition opportunities are now being planned.
Larry Clayton, Editor, and Bill Reed,Publisher,of Wood Magazine, with children at the holiday party.
•In Memory
Courtesy of IRENE PRESTON MILLER
Sheila Carlisle.former Shop Manager, Membership Director, and Docent at the Museum of American Folk Art, passed away on January 27,1991, after a long illness. The success of many Museum projects was due to her outstanding efforts. With the death of Sheila Carlisle, the Museum has lost a long-time and valued friend.
•Crafted for Joy Holiday Party with WOOD Magazine HUDSON RIVER QUILT; thirty women of the Hudson River area; 1969-1972; pieced and appliquéd cottons; 96 x 79"; Museum of American Folk Art. Gift of the J.M. Kaplan Fund.
Summer 1991
Wood Magazine hosted a holiday party at the Museum of American Folk Art on December 11, 1990,for 90 children from Family Dynamics Crisis Nursery and St. Barbara's Head Start Program in Brooklyn.
Guests at the Wood Magazine holiday party enjoy Ben &Jerry's Homemade ice cream.
The event celebrated the installation of Crafted for Joy: Children's Wooden Toys, an exhibition of award-winning toys designed and built by Wood readers for the magazine's Build-a-Toy competition and on view at the Eva and Morris Feld Gallery at Lincoln Square through January 6, 1991. All of the competition toys were donated to the Toys-for-Tots program of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Each child at the party, received a handcrafted wooden toy from Wood Magazine and enjoyed ice cream generously donated by Ben & Jerry's Homemade. "Silly Billy," one of the most popular children's 27
MUSEUM NEWS
entertainers in New York, provided stories, tricks, and laughter. Bill Reed, Publisher of Wood Magazine, described the publication's participation in the exhibition and party as follows: "This program promotes woodworking as a true art form, reflects the excellent craftsmanship and remarkable imagination of Wood readers, and demonstrates the generosity of woodworkers in contributing thousands of toys to youngsters through the Toys-forTots program. Overall, it's a wonderful way to help give underprivileged children back some of the childhood they've lost." In addition to bringing joy to many children, the exhibition delighted thousands of visitors to the Museum during the holidays.
4Star速 Computer Expansion The STAR速 Computer system (mentioned in the last issue of The Clarion) has proven so successful that we have expanded the system to include two additional users. The entire Museum mailing list of over 30,000 names is now being transferred from an outside data processing company and will be managed in-house on the STAR速 system. The list was compiled from the Membership, Development, and Public Relations Departments, The Clarion, and the Quilt Festival.
and Heritage Courses: Graining, Marbleizing, Painted Canvas Floor Rugs,Scene Painting on Panels or Boxes, String Quilting, Theorems: Painting on Velvet, Paint a Pennsylvania Dutch Box,A Fireboard in the Early American Style, Rug Hooking: Chair Pads,and Bandbox Workshop. For further informa-
tion, call or write the Folk Art Institute, 61 West 62nd Street, New York, NY 10023-7015; Tel. 212/977-7170.
Arts in American Life, American Furniture: Folk and Fine, Folk Art of the Hudson Valley, International Folk Art, Understanding Folk Art, and Museum Studies: Research and Documentation. Also offered
are the following hands-on Craft 28
"Harry Lieberman Remembered" Wednesday,July 24,1991 at 7 pm
Harry Lieberman's daughter and granddaughters share their memories of Harry Lieberman as a man and artist. PAINT,POWDER,AND LEAF: Selections from the Historical Society of Early American Decoration June 20,1991 to September 15,1991
.11 Special Programs Free to the Public
"Esther Stevens Brazer Memorial Lecture" Wednesday,June 26,1991 at 6 pm
Harry Lieberman: A Journey of Remembrance June 20,1991 to September 22,1991
Debbie Lambeth, Curator of the Historical Society of American Decorators, discusses the Museum's new collection of American decorative painting.
This exhibition has been supported, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts. "Harry Lieberman: A Journey of Remembrance" TUesday, June 25,1991,4 pm and 6 pm
Curatorial Lecture by Stacy Hollander, Guest Curator. Film: Hundred and Two Mature June 20,1991 to July 4,1991, 1 pm and 7 pm
Video on the life and art of Harry Lieberman. "House of Heritage" Tuesday, July 16,1991 at 6 pm
Anita Jacobson, Curator, Lower East Side Tenement Museum, discusses immigration in the early 1900s. She focuses on family histories within the different ethnic groups that settled on the Lower East Side.
4Folk Art Institute Registration is now open for the Fall 1991 semester of the Museum's Folk Art Institute, with classes beginning early in September. Among the courses being offered are: Art of the Western World, Folk
the Museum,discusses Jewish culture as it is reflected in the work of Harry Lieberman.
"Jewish Folk Art and the Works of Harry Lieberman" Wednesday,July 24,1991 at 6 pm
Gerard Wertkin, Assistant Director of Jean Ray Laury and the California Heritage Quilt Project were not acknowledged as the authors in the book review, Ho For California: Pioneer Women and Their Quilts, on p. 79 of the Spring 1991 (Vol. 16, No. 1) issue of The Clarion. We apologize for this omission. In the Spring 1991 (Vol. 16, No. 1) issue of The Clarion, the photo on page 16 of Felipe Benito Archuleta should be credited to Davis Mather.
QUILTS FROM AMERICA'S FLOWER GARDEN June 20,1991 to September 15,1991
This exhibition is made possible with a generous grant from Northern, the Quilted Bathroom Tissue. "Floral Patterns in Contemporary Quilts" Monday,June 24,1991 at6 pm
Curatorial Lecture, speaker to be determined. "Floral Prints and Their Historical Use in Quilts" Wednesday,July 10,1991 at 6 pm
Mimi Sherman, Fellow, The Folk Art Institute; Master's Candidate, Museum Studies Costume and Textiles, Fashion Institute of Technology. "Indigenous Gardens and Folk Environments" Wednesday, July 17,1991 at 6 pm
William Skillman, Horticultralist, discusses folk art gardens and environmental art works. "Summertime Flower Arrangements" Saturday, July 13,1991,2 to 4 pm
Jean Riger, Gallery Docent, demonstrates ways to make the best of summer's bounty. "Dried Flower Arranging" Saturday, August 3,1991, 2 to 4 pm
Diana Penzner, Author, Everlasting Design, demonstrates the art and craft of dried flower arranging.
THE CLARION
J.E. PORCELLI AMERICAN FOLK ART and AMERICANA JUDAICA—Recently Discovered "On the passing ofmy mother, my teacher. Completely hand drawn grizaille illumination of a mother's memorial stone. Artist signed, Poland, 1906. Found in Ashtabula Co., Ohio. Complete scholarly translation of the Hebrew is available.
12702 Larchmere Boulevard (2nd floor) Cleveland. Ohio 44120 216/932-9087 or 231-2121 Tuesday-Saturday 11-5 or Appointment Pencil, charcoal and ink on paper. 16-1/2", w x 22-1/2" h
TRAVELING EXHIBITIONS Mark your calendars for the following Museum of American Folk Art exhibitions when they travel to your area during the coming months: On view through June 27, 1992
May 13-July 5,1991
July 1-September 9,1991
Young People's America Fabric Drawing Contest: The Great American Quilt Festival 3
Discover America/Friends Sharing America: The Great American Quilt Festival 3
Children's Museum of Manhattan New York, NY 212/721-1223
Minnetrista Cultural Center Muncie, IN 317/282-4848
June 1-December 31, 1991
July 11-September 5, 1991
Double Wedding Ring Quilts
American Adventure Pavilion Epcot Center Walt Disney World Orlando, FL 407/824-4321
Double Wedding Ring Quilts
April 8-June 3, 1991
The Behring-Hofmann Educational Institute, an Affiliate of University of California at Berkeley Danville, CA 415/736-2280
Beneath The Ice: The Art of the Fish Decoy
June 14-August 18, 1991
St. Louis County Department of Parks and Recreation Clayton, MO 314/889-2863
The Cutting Edge: Contemporary American Folk Art
Laguna Art Museum Laguna Beach, CA 714/494-6531
April 25-June 20, 1991 Memories of Childhood: The Great American Quilt Festival 2
The Henry Morrison Flagler Museum Whitehall Mansion Palm Beach, FL 407/655-2833 Summer 1991
June 14-August 19, 1991 Beneath The Ice: The Art of the Fish Decoy
Tacoma Art Museum Tacoma, WA 206/272-4258
Memories of Childhood: The Great American Quilt Festival 2
Midland County Historical Society Midland, MI 517/835-7401 August 17-October 20,1991 Access to Art: Bringing Folk Art Closer
Madison Art Center 211 State Street Madison, WI 608/257-0158
For further information contact Alice .I. Hoffman, Director of Exhibitions, Museum of American Folk Art, Administrative Offices, 61 West 62nd Street, New York, NY 10023, Telephone 212/977-7170. 29
PAINT, POWDER, AND LEAF
A BriefHistory ofthe Historical Society of Early American Decoration Margaret Coffin uch everyday utilitarian and functional household standards as wooden boxes, tin table ware, and simple chairs have often been turned into items of dazzling appeal through the ingenious addition of painted decoration. Few households in the early years of this country did not include some bit of decoration,from brightly painted flowers on an everyday storage box, to a carefully stenciled wall design to add a touch ofcolor and grandeur to a room, to the exotic glow of bronze powder and gold leaf on an elegant serving tray. The decoration may have been done by professional painters or home craftsmen, but the result was the same — a bright note of vitality and charm to relieve the monotony of the everyday. By the middle of the nineteenth century, painted decora-
S DOME TOP TIN TRUNK; attributed to Zachariah Stevens; first quarter of nineteenth century; polychromed tin; 93/8 x 53/5 x 5. Gift of Marian Pooer in memory of her daughter.
GUILDFORD CHEST; artist unknown; Connecticut Valley; circa 1695; painted wood;46/ 1 2x 41 x awe.
Esther Stevens Brazer stenciling a Hitchcock chair at Innerwyck.
30
tion had become widespread, and many surfaces in the homes of the well-to-do sparkled with the sheen of bronze powders and gold leaf, with brilliant painted bouquets, romantic landscapes, or historical scenes, sometimes further enhanced with inlaid slivers of mother-of-pearl. Such painted decoration had become a charming addition to American life and today retains its ability to appeal to and seduce the senses through its simplicity ofdesign and creative use of paint often interspersed with metallic powders and leaf. That this art form has maintained a lively position in the world of decorative arts is due in large part to the efforts of the Historical Society ofEarly American Decoration, which has, over the last forty-five years, undertaken not only to establish an outstanding collection of all that was best of the available painted decoration in this country but also to continue the tradition of painted design through study, training, and the careful building of extensive research files for design elements. Esther Stevens Brazer, a remarkable woman ofoutstanding talents in the decorative arts, was the dynamic figure who sparked the creation of the Historical Society for Early American Decoration. Brazer, who died in 1945 at the age of forty-eight, had taught and inspired numerous students over the years, instilling them with her knowledge and love of painted decoration as well as passing on to many of them her mastery of the techniques that have guaranteed a continuation of this centuries-old tradition. Born Esther Stevens in Portland, Maine, on April 17,
1898, she was a descendent both of Paul Revere and of Zachariah Stevens, a Maine tinsmith and tinware painter whose shop had opened exactly one hundred years before Esther was born. As a child, she often painted wildflowers, choosing wild asters so often that her family began referring to them as "purple Esthers:' At about the age of ten, she became plagued with an illness that frequently kept her bedridden. During this period, her father found an artist who taught the ill child the elements of design, composition, and the use of color. She graduated from the Wayneflete School for Girls in Portland, Maine, then studied for a year at the Portland Art School, and later took part in advanced classes in interior decoration at Columbia University in New York. Esther married Dr. Cecil Eaton Fraser, a professor at Harvard University, in 1920, and they made their home in Cambridge, where Esther's interest in early decoration became well-established. The Frasers lived in an historic house, the first of several that Esther restored and decorated; she reproduced old wallpapers through stenciling and block printing and painted with stencils on walls and floors throughout the house. Under the tutelage of George Lord, an 87-year-old painter from Portland, Esther mastered the art of bronze-powder stenciling and was herself teaching by the time she was thirty. During this period, Esther met Homer Eaton Keyes, then editor of the magazine Antiques. He became her mentor, encouraged her research, and suggested that she write a history of American decorative design. Her book, Early
Museum ofAmerican Folk Art Acquires Historical Society ofEarly American Decoration Collections n April], 1991, the Museum ofAmerican Folk Art became the recipient of important holdings from the Historical Society of Early American Decoration. After a long and intensive search tofind a homefor the collections, the trustees of the Society voted to give full responsibility to the Museum of American Folk Artfor the care and custodianship of more than 600 items. This distinguished collection of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century ornamented furniture, tinware, and glass, papier mache, and wood objects will greatly expand the Museum's present holdings of early decoration, which now include such pieces as a sample box with ten painted panels of the New England itinerant artist MosesEaton(1753-1833)and a group offine painted boxes and outstanding pieces of painted and decoratedfurniture. To date, there has been only minimal representation in the Museum's permanent collection in the area ofdecorative tinware, and the additions ofthe Society collection are, therefore, ofgreat importance. The Society's extensive collection of research materials and patterns has also been transferred to the Museum's Library and Research Center and includes a compendium of hundreds of painstakingly accurate copies of designs from antique trays, chairs, bellows,face screens, and other objects made by artists trained to "read" originals, even those seriously worn or damaged. The whereabouts today ofthe original pieces is often unknown, and these files serve to document their designs for future decorators and researchers. This resource is reminiscent
O
Summer 1991
ofthefamedIndex ofAmerican Design at the National Gallery of Art, and it is anticipated that it will prove to be a significant research archivefor those working in thisfield. The Museum will continue tofulfill the mission ofthe Society by exhibiting, publishing, encouraging research, and making educational opportunities available in thefield of early American decoration. A selection of tinware embellished with floral motifs from the Society's collection will comprise "Paint, Powder, and Leaf: Selections from the Historical Society of Early American Decoration': an exhibition now on view at the Museum's Eva and Morris Feld Gallery, June 20 through September 15, 1991. The Museum is also organizing a traveling exhibition devoted to the history of decorative painting in America; it will serve as an overview of the field as well as a tribute to the Society and the memory ofEsther Stevens Brazen Additionally, a lecture series speccally dedicated to the memory ofEsther Stevens Brazer and a book on the history and tradition of decorative painting in America is being planned. The Folk Art Institute, the educational branch of the Museum, will present courses and workshops on the topic of early American decoration as well. The Museum welcomes this outstanding addition to its collections and is looking forward to a long and productive relationship with the Historical Society of Early American Decoration and its members.
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American Decoration, A Comprehensive Treatise, published in 1940, still remains a significant reference tool in the field, but notes in her research files suggest that she also intended to write a volume that covered an even broader spectrum of decorated material and design. By 1937 the Frasers were divorced and Esther married a fellow antiquarian, Dr. Clarence Brazer, whom she credited with teaching her "to know old houses" and "to learn characteristics of fine old furniture!" He encouraged her to continue teaching (which she did until her death), to write, and to lecture widely; she also became an expert restorer, working on furniture for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Pennsylvania Museum of Art in Philadelphia. The Brazers lived at Innerwyck,one of the oldest houses in Flushing, New York, and she again had the opportunity to restore an early home.The house itselfresembled a museum, filled with the painted furniture and accessories that the Brazers had collected; it also housed in the former buttery of the house (known in Esther's day as the "tin pantry") a collection of tinware from the shop of Esther's great-great grandfather, Zachariah Stevens. Esther Stevens Brazer was dedicated to the goal of furthering knowledge about the early decorative arts and devoted the remaining years of her life to this cause; she was the person most responsible for a revival of interest in the techniques needed for painted decoration — techniques that had come close to disappearing as mass production began to replace hand decoration after about 1850. She has been described in many ways: According to a friend, she represented "enthusiasm, love of the beautiful, generosity of spirit"2; she has also been called "a bright colorist;" and a person whose "dexterous skills" and "authentic accuracy"' were inspiring. Others complimented her teaching ability: "Esther's love of her work and her desire to give her best to each and everyone in the class made lessons days ofjoy..."5 Alice Winchester, former editor of Antiques and a close friend of Brazer's, praised her "ceaseless and untiring research" and a colleague explained, "the results she obtained in both teaching and decorating ... proved her soundness and wisdom. Her sense of humor,accompanied by her infectious laughter, enhanced the effect!' Brazer herself wrote: People say that I am a good teacher....It is probably because I believe that people learn best by doing, so going through all the motions in painting a design, the various processes became quite understandable and natural.' Nina Fletcher Little, author of books concerned with American decorative arts and, with Brazer and Janet Waring, one of a triumvirate of folk art researchers earlier in this century, commented in a talk:"I have seen her make a stencil from a wall design, put it on paper, and then expertly and quickly fill in color so when finished the two were absolutely identical!" After her death in 1945, eighty of her students came together to form the Esther Stevens Brazer Guild (later the Esther Stevens Brazer Guild of Early American Decoration) 32
to "honor her memory and perpetuate her work!' The Guild, initially established to continue teaching the art of decoration and to carry out research in the field, eventually began to amass a significant collection of historic decorated artifacts, starting with some fine examples of decorated tinware from Esther Brazer's own collection. Over the years both the activities and the collections of the Guild, which in 1952 changed its name to the Historical Society of Early American Decoration, grew rapidly. As interest in the decorative arts increased, the Society expanded on a national level; regular membership was open, after judging of their work, to craftspeople who did country painting and stenciling (a requirement still in effect); other categories of membership are available to those who are interested in painted decoration but not active artisans. Today, the Society numbers about eight hundred members and is still primarily a community of painters and decorators, often professional. The Society continues to offer courses in stenciling, metal leaf laying, bronzing, and other methods of decorative painting; it also publishes a biannual research journal, The Decorator, as well as occasional special interest books such as the Illustrated Glossary ofDecorated Antiques by Maryjane Clark and The Ornamented Tray and The Ornamented Chair, both edited by the late Zilla Rider Lea, with the assistance of Catherine Hutter. Until the death of Clarence Brazer in 1958, the Society's collections were lodged at Innerwyck;they were then moved, at the invitation of Dr. Louis C. Jones, then director of the New York State Historical Association, to the NYSHA complex at Cooperstown, New York, with display and work space in the Farmer's Museum and Bump Tavern there. After twenty years in Cooperstown, the Society moved to its own museum space in Albany, New York, drawing a constant stream of visitors to its elegant collections and eager students to the many classes offered. When the Society found it necessary to leave its Albany quarters earlier this year, its superb artifact collection, as well as its extensive research files including thousands of early stencils and decorative patterns, were transferred to the Museum of American Folk Art in New York City (see box story). The collection includes hundreds of excellent examples of the type of ornamented furniture and accessories that were found in American homes of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. There are the once-common gaily painted boxes and cannisters peddled from tin carts, "country-painted" stepdown Windsor and bronze-stenciled side chairs, paint-grained chests, scenic panels that once adorned the drawing room of a Mississippi side-wheeler, gold-leafed bellows from formal fireplaces, and elegant tea trays that graced long-ago drawing rooms. There are representative pieces from "mother" countries, especially Great Britain, including exquisite painted trays from Pontypool, Wales, and papier-mache writing boxes from England. The painters who decorated these articles were not untrained; most had learned their trades through rigorous apprenticeships. Country-painted wares, with their bright splashes of color, exude a spontaneous charm. They were often sold from tin carts and were apt to have found their first THE CLARION
COFFEEPOT; artist unknown; American; mid-nineteenth century; painted tin.
TRAY; made by Loveridge, England; painted papier mache Chipp. Gift of Willy and Maie McLean.
PANEL FROM MISSISSIPPI RIVER BOAT; artist unknown; nineteenth century; wood with paint and gold leaf.
BOX; artist unknown; Pennsylvania; circa 1800; painted wood.
homes in rural areas, bartered at the back doorstep for a pair of handknit mittens or a bundle of rags for the papermakers. Furniture like the chest from the Connecticut River Valley (see page 32)or a looking glass born in a cabinetmaker and japanner's shop in Boston or Philadelphia, represent the best to be found in the early homes of wealthy merchants along the seacoast. The Society's collection of artifacts and research materials were accumulated in a variety of ways: by bequest of Society members and friends, direct gifts from individuals or Society chapters, and curatorial purchases. In 1947, the Society(then still the Esther Stevens Brazer Guild) received its first gifts from Ann Boerntrager and Esther Oldham,daughters of Mrs. Arthur Oldham, a close friend of Esther's. They presented the group with a collection of signed pieces from the Greenville shop of tinsmith Aaron Butler. In 1948, Dr. Clarence Brazer gave the Guild his wife's patterns and research material. After his death, his heirs presented the Society with country tinware from Esther's famous "tin pantry!' The Society also was able to purchase additional pieces from the Brazer family. In 1959, another portion of the Oldham collection became available and was purchased by the Society. In 1964, Walter Wright, one of the Society's members and a teacher of outstanding artistic talent, presented his patterns of original designs to the Society; that same year the organization bought forty-three pieces of painted tinware from the estate of collector and member Clara McCaw. Over the years the Society's collection has also benefited from gifts given in memory ofdevoted members,including,but not limited to, Mildred Abbott, Bernice Drury, Sara Fuller, Charlotte Gordon, Evelyn Holmes, Terry Jay, Constance Klein, Clara McCaw, Marjorie Milliman, Thelma Riga, and Violet Milnes Scott. Pattern collections that have supplemented the Brazer-Wright files now include a wide variety of carefully documented patterns from the late author and teacher Ellen Sabine and a quantity of patterns that originated in the studio of Gina Martin, a long-time teacher and researcher. The latter comprises meticulous recordings of country tinware designs as well as about two hundred documented copies of stenciled and brush-stroke-painted walls. The research resource files also include tinsmith ledgers from the shops of Zachariah Stevens and Aaron Butler, nineteenth-century tinware catalogues, a catalogue of Victorian stencils, hundreds of the stencils used by early artisans Summer 1991
to ornament chairs and other objects with bronze powders, photographs, and books. In addition, there are files of information on the decorative arts, Brazer memorabilia and research notes, and sketches of painted furniture done by Esther Brazer. Dr. Brazer contributed glass slides ofPennsylvania painted six-board chests that he had studied, and author Shirley DeVoe's research files are part of the collection. There are tracings of chair backs taken by a turn-of-thetwentieth-century restorer who copied every old stenciled chair design he could find, and, finally, from Gloversville, New York, a letter from a woman to a family member in which she explains that she cannot lend her "wall pattrens (sic)" because they had become "all torn up" and needed recutting. Thus, we learn that not all wall stencilers were itinerant men! This wealth of research files and artifacts is now lodged in the Museum of American Folk Art in New York City, and plans are underway to introduce a far wider audience to the treasures that these important collections contain. As the Society moves into a new phase of its evolution with its agreement with the Museum, all involved now look ahead with enthusiasm to sharing the accumulated wisdom and beauty inherent in these unique acquisitions. MARGARET COFFIN is former Director of the Museum of the Historical Society of Early American Decoration and author of American Country Tinware and Borders and Scrolls: Early American Brush-Stroke Wall Painting, in addition to many articles on early decoration. All objects shown are from the Historical Society of Early American Decoration Collections in the Museum of American Folk Art. NOTES 1. Esther Stevens Brazer,"My Story:' manuscript found in Esther Brazer's desk after her death; published in The Decorator, Vol. 5, no. 2,October 1951. 2. Esther Oldham,"Antiquing with Esther and Mother:' The Decorator, Vol. 1, no. 2, May 1947. 3. From the "Memorial Dedication" in Early American Decoration:A Comprehensive Treatise, probably written by Dr. Clarence Brazer (Springfield, MA:Pond Ekberg Co., 1947). 4. Ibid. 5. Edith Holmes,"Esther Stevens Brazer:'The Decorator, Vol. 1,no. 1,October 1946. 6. Everett N. Robinson, "A Tribute to Esther Stevens Brazer, Researcher' The Decorator, Vol. 5, no. 2, October 1951. 7. From Brazer,"My Story': 8. Nina E Little, from a lecture given at Kingston, Massachusetts, on September 29, 1949, and published in The Decorator, Vol. 4, no. 1, Winter 1949-50.
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NEW MEXICAN HISPANO ANIMAL CARVING IN CONTEXT Text by Dana Everts-Boehm Interviews by Jeanette DeBouzek Artists' photographs courtesy of Davis Mather Folk Art Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Sculptures photographed by Gavin Ashworth, New York City.
FELIPE ARCHULETA,grandmaster of the contemporary New Mexican large animal carvers.
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istorically, animal carving has occupied a relatively unnoticed niche in the repertoire of traditional Hispano woodworkers in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. Hispano woodworkers have traditionally been divided into two distinct occupations: carpinteros(makers of furniture, doors, windows, corbels, vigas, and other household or architectural pieces) and santeros (makers of saints, who produce both bultos, or painted wooden sculptures, and retablos, or paintings on gesso-covered cottonwood or pine boards). Yet, animals are an integral feature of the traditional depictions of certain saints; for example, San Isidro is always shown with a cart pulled by oxen, Santiago is depicted on horseback, and San Francisco is shown surrounded by birds, lambs, and other animals. So, most santeros carved at least some animals. It is very likely that the carpinteros and santeros of earlier times also carved animals and other chucholucos (amusing things, or toys) on the side for family, friends, or sale. Until recently these objects were not taken as seriously as furniture, doors, and religious images and so were not systematically collected, documented, or studied. One exception is the work of famed santero Jose Dolores Lopez from Cordova, New Mexico, whose animal carvings (dating back to the 1920s) have been documented and collected along with his well-known and respected religious images. Now, however, a new breed of carvers has developed — carvers who specialize in producing large animal sculptures. There are also still a few present-day Hispano woodworkers — notably in the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado and in Cordova, New Mexico — who carve small animals, although they do not generally present these objects as an important element of their work. The species generally depicted in this small carved animal tradition include horses, bulls, cats, dogs, squirrels, pigs, birds, and beavers — in other words, animals the carver has probably seen on his own rancho and in the surrounding pasture and woodlands. Three characteristics distinguish these carved folk toys from the often life-sized painted animal sculptures
H
PIG; Felipe and Leroy Archuleta, Tesuque, New Mexico; 1982; cottonwood, paint, rope tail; 13 x 8 x 22. Animal Carnival Collection of the Museum of American Folk Art; Gift of Elizabeth Wecter.
Summer 1991
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RABBIT; Leroy Archuleta; 1985; cottonwood, paint, glass marble eyes, baling twine whiskers, rubber toe nails; 91/4 x 6V2 x15". Animal Carnival Collection of the Museum of American Folk Art; Gift of Elizabeth Wetter.
made today: size, species represented, and market orientation. The smaller predecessors of the huge snarling pigs and howling coyotes so revered by collectors were and are still made largely for local use within the Hispanic community, as an amusing toy for a child or relative. The present-day large animal sculptures depict numerous exotic animal species not previously represented in the older tradition — elephants, baboons, tigers, giraffes, and other species a native Nuevo Mexicano is likely to encounter only in a zoo. Presumably the introduction of these exotic species into the carving tradition is, at least in part, a response to market demands. Large animal sculptures are made for sale to an outside market of tourists and collectors and apparently serve little function for members of the Hispanic community other than as a source of livelihood for some of its members. Ferocious baboons, brightly dotted snakes, and churlish wart-hogs have become such a coveted commodity that galleries that hesitate to provide the addresses and phone numbers of "their" animal carvers, even to scholars, curators, arts administrators, and folklorists, for fear that the attention will divert these artists from their work, or, in some cases, because the artists themselves have requested privacy. Animal carvers are virtually the only category of folk artist in New Mexico who are so avidly guarded. Thus, the basic innovation in the tradition of small wooden animal figurines consisted of introducing three elements: substantial enlargement, de36
piction of exotic species, and targeting an outside market. The man responsible for this innovation was Felipe Archuleta, a native of Santa Cruz, New Mexico, who resided in Tesuque, New Mexico, and died earlier this year at the age of 90. A carpenter for over twenty years, Mr. Archuleta discovered that his carved toys — which he called, "whirlies" and "carretas" — sold well at shops in Santa Fe. Disenchanted with his career as a carpenter, and with the impetus, he declared, of a vision in which God told him to "carve wood;'he decided to focus on carving animals. He was quickly encouraged to make larger pieces by shop owners, as the bigger the piece, the better it sold. Mr. Archuleta's artistic genius burst into full bloom with these larger sculptures in the early 1970s, and his work was immediately noticed by collectors and museum curators. The Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe played a vital role in establishing Mr. Archuleta's reputation by presenting a oneman show of his work in 1981. Felipe Archuleta's work created a demand for large, painted wooden animals that other Hispanic woodworkers — often men with a background of traditional, informal training as catpinteros or santeros — also began to meet. Several of these carvers — such as Ron Rodriguez, David Alvarez, and Alonzo Jimenez, among others — worked directly with Felipe Archuleta, learning from him and sometimes,collaborating on pieces in the manner of the traditional Hispano workshops that produced furniture, carved saints,tinwork, and other arts in a particular style deriving from the tradition and the master. (The Cordova school of santeros is a recent example.) These apprentices have now gone off on their own,and many of these men,including Archuleta's son, Leroy, have become recognized and sought after in their own right. Examples of New Mexican large animal sculptures are now in the holdings of the Museum of International Folk Art, the Museum of American Folk Art, and many private art collectors. Articles exploring the topic of New Mexican carved animals have focused on the genius of Mr. Archuleta, the varied talents and stories of his"followers:' and the responses to the work
Animal Woodcarvers in Northern New Mexico Speak About Their Art In the summer of 1990, New Mexico folklorist Jeanette DeBouzek interviewed four of the animal woodcarvers whose work was featured in the Museum's recent "Access to Art" exhibition, All Creatures Great and Small. Following are some excerpts from those interviews. LEROY ARCHULETA JD: Can you tell me a little bit about how you learned to carve? LA: Well, it was with my father [Felipe Archuleta] that I really learned. JD: When was that? How old were you? LA: Back in the seventies, so I was
LEROY ARCHULETA,Tesuque, New Mexico.
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probably about twenty then. He had already been doing it ten years before that. But then there was too much demand, so I had to start helping him, and I've been doing it ever since. And love doing it. JD: What do you love about it? LA: Just the art itself, and the way it comes out. You know, I've never done a piece that hasn't come out. I just like doing it. Even if I didn't have so much demand and everything, I think I'd still do it and just keep the pieces for myself. JD: Tell me about working with your nephew, Ronnie [Ron Rodriquez — see following interview]? LA: He started when he was about six years old, started helping out. And he's been doing it ever since, and he's twenty-two now. Usually he'll work on his own piece and I'll work on mine. He's always asking me questions. He'll ask me,"What do you think? This look better this
you work every day in the workshop? LA: I'd say I work six days a week, probably ten hours every day. I'll sometimes work on Saturday or Sunday, but then I'll take a day off during the week. That's the thing about being self-employed. JD: Have you done any other kind of woodcarving besides the animal carving? LA: No, that's all. But I've done just about every animal — lions, tigers, dogs, snakes. Name it, I've probably done it. An elk I haven't done, but I already got one commissioned. JD: How big is it going to be, that elk? LA: Whew! Probably over eight feet tall with the antlers. I'll put the real antlers on it. I have a commission for a bear and I'm going to put a real skull inside of his head, so just the teeth show, real fierce looking. Sometimes I use real skins for the animals, like I'll use a deerskin for a badger. JD: Do you think there's any relationship between the kind of carving that you do and santo making? LA: There probably is. The Spanish have been doing it for what, since the sixteenth century, probably, so there's got to be a tradition there BLACK BEAR WITH LEATHER HARNESS;1988; that's tied up painted wood,leather harness;18 x 12 x 59". somehow. Gift of Elizabeth Wader. JD: Do you know people who make santos? way or that way? Should I change the face a little?" You know. And I'll get LA: Yeah, I do know a lot of santeros. But I myself have never gone ideas from him. Me and Ronnie into it. I just stay with the animals. continue the family tradition. People like 'em a lot, so as long as I JD: Tell me more about this idea of the family tradition. Do you feel got orders for'em,I'll do 'em. this is a tradition you should keep JD: How does it feel, to have exhibpassing down? its of your work all over the LA: For sure, yeah,'cause my father country? LA: Oh, I love it, you know. The started it. And I should keep it up. more exposure the better. I don't He started in, I don't have the exact mind it at all. Sometimes it gets a date, 1965 probably. Used to cut little carretas [carts], oxens, that's little hectic, you know, to have any what he started with. From there, he time. That's the only thing. Just just started doing big animals. gotta work harder, that's all. Summer 1991
JD: Do
RON RODRIGUEZ JD: How long have you been carving? RR: Since I was eight years old. I always used to hang out with Felipe and Leroy [Archuleta] in the summers. I would be in the studio and Felipe, he'd say,"If you're going to be out here, you'd better be doing something, or else go somewhere else!' And I guess little by little it happened.
RON RODRIQUEZ,Tesuque, New Mexico.
PARROT ON A SWING;1989; wood, paint, glass eyes, wire, tree branches; 27 x 14 x 15. Gift of Robert Bishop in honor of Elizabeth Wecter.
JD: What was it like working with Felipe? RR: Felipe would point out certain things but basically left it up to you. He'd assume you have a mind, so use it, you know. He always said that,"Use your mind! What are you
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evoked on the part of collectors, curators, and the general public. How the artists themselves define and evaluate their work and what the response to this art form is on the part of the New Mexican Hispano community is still an open issue. Is this form of carving an innovation that has gained acceptance and respect from the Hispanic community? Is it an art form that has particular meaning for them or serves a particular function? Would they,for example,like to see large animal carving included in the traditional section of Spanish Market (a yearly market in Santa Fe that presents the more accepted and "codified" genres of New Mexican Hispano folk art, and that presently excludes large animal carving)? Is this an art form that those who could afford to would put in their own homes? Do the artists themselves see this work as a continuation of the traditional woodcarving forms in New Mexico — an aesthetic form that essentially expresses the values and perspectives of New Mexican Hispanos — or do they see it as a personal expression of self, with perhaps an overlay of sensitivity to market expectations? Until these questions are addressed and a thorough study has been made of the role of this artform in the lives notjust ofthe artists but also of their communities, it would be difficult to assert that large animal carving is or is not "folk art" in the academic definition of the term. Only time will tell if such carving is to be a brief market fad or a deeper, more enduring part of the larger continuum of New Mexican Hispano traditional woodworking, as a recognized area of specialization and occupation comparable to the position of carpinteros and santeros. DANA EVERTS-BOEHM was the New Mexico Folk Arts Coordinator from 1987 to 1990. She currently works with the Cultural Heritage Center of the University of Missouri-Columbia in the role of Folklife Specialist. She received her Ph.D. in folklore from Indiana University, and her special interests are Hispanic/Latin American folklore, narrative, and folk religion. As a public sector folklorist, she has broadened her interest to include a wide range of folk art forms and folk groups. 38
doing? Use your mind!" Felipe, he wouldn't talk, he would yell. It was great, but it was insane,too. Me and Leroy would do things in pieces, "This is done first, then this;' and Felipe would jump from one thing to another. All of a sudden it would just balance, it would work. Felipe was so tough. I remember when he worked, he would work a lot, if it was sun or if it was snow. Me and Leroy, if it's a nice day, we'll go fishing. And he wouldn't. He was out there early and he'd stay late. He was obsessive about it. JD: Do you feel like you're carrying on a family tradition? an: Yes, but I would like to do other things with it, too. When you're out there with Leroy or Felipe, it's very Spanish, very traditional. I have respect for it, but that's not who I am.It's like a label,like you expect a santo or something. Maybe I just don't understand it yet. I think a lot of people come here looking for the Hispanic thing. I get that a lot,"Oh, you're the Spanish artist:' It's just crazy. I think Felipe sold his stuff because it was good, regardless. JD: So you want to try different things? RR: Yes! But a lot of people just won't go for it, because of the pace that's been set, because of the "tradition:' Most people would take the pleasant cat over the big angry dragon. And I prefer to do the dragon. But I don't understand how they're calling it "traditional:' I could see the santos being traditional, defmitely, but I don't know about the animals. Not yet, anyway. It's too soon to be calling them traditional. JD: Have you done other kinds of carving? RR: I've made faces, I've done jewelry, I've done pottery. But I really like this. I guess it's almost a greedy thing, this contentment of looking at something that you made. And I know it's good. Well, I think it's good. There was always a good feeling about that, too, with Felipe, when he appreciated something you had made. 'Cause he's not one to come out and say,"That's nice"; that's not him. So when he did like some-
thing, that was very, very good. JD: What did he like about a piece? an: He would always try and make something look as real as possible. But then it's real through his eyes. And the detail thing, he would always take it too far. Like, if he made a woodpecker, it had to be on a stump and had to have a little baby, and you had to put a little worm in the woodpecker's mouth. It was like a whole scene. He did these giraffes that were on a stand with a tree and it would appear that the giraffe was eating. He had this strange sense of humor. When he started working less and less, I could see that he was upset by that. It would take him longer to do things and he was always complaining. But that's who he was and that's what made him great. It's not anger, he's just aggressive, and that definitely added to his pieces. I prefer his work over anyone's. I remember a lot oftimes customers would watch him while he was working and he would literally put the brush in their hand. And if it was a great customer, they'd pick it up and start helping. He'd like that. It was a test, you know? He always wanted to see what you were made of. He was always testing everything. JD: What is it that motivates you to do this work? an: Everyday it's different. Sometimes I'll get up and I just can't do anything. And then it starts bugging me and I'll have to go out there. I think it's just odd that after doing so many things Felipe ended up doing art so late in his life. So!don't know where that would leave me, if I continue to do this. As of now, I would like to do it forever. Everyday I enjoy it more and more, I appreciate it more and more. And!feel very lucky and fortunate that I was born into it.
RICHARD LUIS "JIMBO" DAVILA JD: How long have you been carving? Ro: About ten years. I think I've made something like fifteen thousand snakes. The snakes are my THE CLARION
RICHARD LUIS "JIMBO" DAVILA, El Rancho, New Mexico.
RAINBOW TROUT; 1985; pine, paint; 11 x 7/ 1 2 x 41". Gift of Elizabeth Wecter.
signature pieces. The first ones I made were out of small scrap lumber, forms that I had poured some cement footings with. They evolved from my drawings, which had a lot of line and color. Now they're made out of one-by-twelve pine boards. I start out by drawing the shape on a board, then I use a handsaw to cut them out. What I'm trying to get is a nice tapered line. I like to think of the snakes as if they went from tail to tail they'd look good. Just as a line, they'd be interesting. A lot of carvers will take a log and say, "I see this shape in there!' Sometimes I do that, but usually I have the idea in my head of the shape I want rather than have the wood dictate to me. Then everything gets painted. I don't like going to the art store and spending a fortune, so I just use housepaints. JD: What else are you working on? RD:I've been making trout more and Summer 1991
more, just 'cause they're a little more interesting, a little more threedimensional. But the idea of the line is still there. And proportion. Sometimes if it's just a little bit off; a sixteenth of an inch here or there, it can really throw offthe whole feel of the piece. Then I've been doing a lot offigurative pieces, people. They're a challenge. It's always a process of learning and growing and trying to make the right choices, trying to figure out which way to go next. m: Where did you learn to carve? RD: Well, when I moved to New Mexico, I helped my sister and her husband build their house. That kind of led to a career of plastering. They have these kiva fireplaces here that are really sculptures. In doing them you learn a certain aesthetic of line and form. Then I poured this cement with this wood and I came home and made these snakes. And that changed my whole life. I like working with the wood. I like physically working with things. I like things that show a certain struggle to make. JD: Tell me more about your background. RD: When we were kids, my parents always dragged us to museums and made us sit on those little benches and look at the art. My favorite artists were Rousseau and Diego Rivera. And then my father's from Mexico, so all my life I've travelled down there. I remember when I was twelve years old going to Mexico City, seeing the murals. At the National Palace, there's a Diego Rivera mural which is the history of Mexico, told from the Marxist point of view, which I like. All that thirties socialism, the WPA stuff, I think it's great. JD: Do you know much about the other woodcarving traditions in this area, like santo making or even carpentry? RD: I really don't. I'm not religious at all, I don't know my saints and I'm not a furniture maker,so I'm not really aware of all that, either. It's even taken me a while to understand where I fit into the animal carving. Where the snakes come from is totally alien to what's going on. It's more out of my own head.
JD: Do you know any of the other animal woodcarvers? RD: The person I have the most respect for would be Felipe Archuleta. I met him a long time ago. I was plastering a house and these people had some of his work. I thought it was really neat. I couldn't afford much,but!went out and got a pig from him. He was a character. He's like the woodcarving himself. JD: How does the term "folk art" relate to your work? RD:I like the term "funk art!' A lot of people don't, but it certainly separates you from the traditional stuff. It came out of the hippie era in California in the seventies. Wild stuff. In fact, a lot of my early drawings came from that. I did a lot of dogs and hearts and flames and skeletons. They reflect not only my Mexican background but also what was going on in California at the time. Of course, I really didn't get that involved in it, 'cause I was only in high school. But it's there in the back of my head. Lately I've been reading more books on folk art. There's this crazy guy, Howard Finster. He had this vision, you know? His work, it's got this incredible drive. It's something! admire. Felipe's another guy who had that kind of drive. JD: Where does the drive for your work come from? RD: I don't know. I'm still figuring that one out. I just have a strong desire to make things. If! take off a couple of days and I don't make anything, I get really antsy. I gotta get back in the shop and make something. It's just busting out. It's just gotta get out.
MIKE RODRIGUEZ JD: What are the steps that go into
making a piece? MR: First!go look at my woodpile. I
like to stalk the wood. I walk around it. It's like when you go buy a car and you kick the tires. You check it out, check it out good. See what kind of potential that piece of wood has. Sometimes you even see something jump out at you. The wood will say,"This is what I want to be:, 39
That's what I'm a carver for, to make it what it wants to be. I use a chain saw for my initial cutting, but I like to do the rest by hand. I try to keep away from power tools. I don't think the vibrations of your hands can go through that machine and love that piece of wood, make it what you really want it to be. Then I have these rasps to shape the face, give it some character, give it a look. Maybe this dog's been looking for a meal in a garbage can or somewhere. Or he just went to see his girlfriend and he's real happy. When you're working on him, you have to be thinking about those things. A lot of carvers use all kinds of knives to do detail work, to shape the eyes and mouth and stuff. Since I started carving, I've only used this one carpet knife. It's real handy, it's one of my favorite tools. Then you have your hammers, different types of hammers. I have a wooden mallet 'cause sometimes I use marbles for the eyes. I drill a hole where the eye would go and then I just pound it in with a mallet. I use another hammer to nail in the legs, put on the ears. Then I have my paints, all kinds of colors. One of my most important colors is black. Black is real magical, it adds a lot to your finished product, your detail work, like around the eyes. Then I have purple, white, grey, red for the mouths and tongues, blues and greens for the eyes. After I paint a piece, I like to go over it again with this special brush. I've had it for years. I dip it in my paint then brush it on a board to get most of the paint off. Then you just dry brush over your first color so you get the effect of different layers of color. I don't like my things to be too even, too perfect, because it takes character away from 'em. You see a wild animal, he looks kind of scraggly. He's beautiful but he's not perfect. That's why I like to make my animals look a little rough. JD: Do you carve other things besides animals? MR: I started off carving santos, which is very traditional with Hispanics. But they didn't sell. One time I had this Virgin of Guadalupe, she's like the Virgin Mary of Mexico. I thought it was kind of nice, my 40
style and everything. This woman looked at her and said, "This is the ugliest thing I have ever seen:' So I told her, "Well, why do you think they were virgins?" I mean, what was I going to say? That's my sense of humor. A lot of people don't know it's humor and get angry, but you can only be you in life, you know,just do what you're doing, try your best. Then I started carving animals, not only because of that lady, but because how much character can you give a santo? He's only one Santo, whereas you can do two million dogs and still you won't get the same one again. And there's a
MIKE RODRIQUEZ, Rowe Mesa, New Mexico.
good market for animals. I guess to a lot of people, animals are like santos because animals are always your friend. You can always depend on an animal, you know. And I guess it makes people happy, too, to see an animal. When they look at it, they laugh or smile. They make themselves happy by looking at it. JD: Do you think animal carving has come out of santo making? MR: No. The reason the animal carving happened was Felipe Archuleta. I never studied under him, but he inspired me, simp"qi because I went to visit him one day and we talked and he showed me his things. He had a great knack for carving. It was like a lightning bolt set him into doing it. It make him very electric, very powerful, but very sensitive, too. JD: What inspires you in your work? MR:Inspiration comes from being in the studio really. I have a couple of wildlife books that I flip through, but basically I already know what every animal in the world looks like. When I first started, I didn't know whatI was doing. Youjust have to do what you're feeling, what you're thinking, instead of saying, "How does a coyote look? Do I have a picture of one? What am I gonna do?" You don't start to sweat about it. You do it the way you think it looks. Sometimes when I get depressed I get stuck. I guess it's a thing with artists. Sometimes you go into a depression where you can't move, you can't think. And the best thing to do, that I have found, is to come and sit in the studio until I get inspired. Might take three, four days, whatever, but all of a sudden the inspiration will come. Or maybe the bills come. You have to stay alive. That's one thing in life, it's all work. But I don't mind it one minute, I love to work. a folklorist with a special interest in Hispanic traditional culture, specifically folk religion. She is currently producing a video documentary on the representation of history and the performance of ethnicity in the Santa Fe Fiesta. JEANETTE DEBOUZEK is
SEATED COYOTE; 1985; cottonwood, paint, horsehair eyelashes and whiskers, white gesso teeth; 25/ 1 2 x 5 x 211/4 . Animal Carnival Collection of the Museum of American Folk Art; Gift of Elizabeth Wecter.
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J.A. DAVIS Identity Reviewed Arthur and Sybil Kern espite the fact that J. A. Davis was quite prolific, nothing was really known about this important nineteenth-century American folk artist prior to the research conducted by the authors. It is hoped, that by retracing the steps involved, the reader will not only have some idea of the techniques employed in the research but will also share in the thrills and frustrations experienced until the identity of the artist was firmly established. Knowledge of the paintings of J. A. Davis goes back to 1923, when three of the artist's portraits were first described by Frederick Fairchild Sherman.' Because they were found in Norwich, Connecticut, he first attributed them to James Sanford Ellsworth and later to Alexander H. Emmons, both of whom had worked in the Norwich area. In 1970, Nina Fletcher Little attributed three other portraits, which we now recognize as being the work of J. A. Davis, to two other painters: the portraits of John G. Barber and Samuel M. Demeritt to Joseph H. Davis and the double portrait of Eben Davis and his wife to Eben Davis, the sitter.'In 1973, fifty years after Sherman's article, Gail and Norbert Savage reported their attribution of four portraits, which had been done by the same hand as those described by Sherman and Little, to "J. A. Davis!" The four, which included the portrait of Samuel M. Demeritt, earlier attributed by Little to J. H. Davis,' two almost identical ones of Stephen N. Tingley, and a double portrait of Jacob and Mary Withington, all bore the signature of"J. A. Davis!' The following year an exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago,"Three New EngSummer 1991
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D
GIRL HOLDING FLOWERS; circa 1854-55; watercolor and pencil on paper; 12 x 9". Private collection. The subject of this unfinished portrait may be J. A. Davis'daughter, Harriet, who was12 or 13 years of age in 1854 or 1855. The painting may not have been completed because of the artist's terminal illness or death.
land Watercolor Painters,' included fifty-one portraits by J. A. Davis; since then, at least one hundred more have been discovered. Surprisingly, despite this large body of work, the identity of the artist remained an enigma. In 1976, while looking through a southern Rhode Island dealer's folder of unframed etchings and watercolors,
the authors spotted an unfinished and unsigned — yet unmistakable — J. A. Davis pencil-and-watercolor portrait of a young girl with flowers.5 Attached to its back was another sheet bearing a similar but more completely developed portrait of the same subject. Interest in J. A. Davis had already been piqued by the discovery several months earlier of 41
wick, Monday last by Rev. Job Manchester, Mr. Edward N. Davis of Norwich, Conn. married Miss Jane Anthony, daughter of Giles Anthony, Esq. of Warwick'? Confirmation of the wedding date was found in the February 3,1841, issue of the Republican Herald of Rhode Island, which contained the same wedding announcement. Could the Jane Anthony Davis of the marriage notice be the artist, J. A. Davis? Three publications —Artists in Aprons, Anonymous Was A Woman, and Remember the Ladies — had shed new light on the important role played by women in American folk art and supported the intriguing possibility that not a "he:' as had previously been assumed, but a "she;' Jane Anthony Davis, was the person being sought.' Using the four names available — Jane Anthony, Jane Anthony Davis, Giles Anthony,and Edward N.Davis — a search of vital statistics was conducted, but with no success. Only a sketchy genealogy for the Anthony family was available so, hoping for a lead, a review of published genealogies for other prominent Rhode Island families was carried out. Finally, after many failures, these efforts were rewarded; the name of Jane Anthony Davis was found in the volumes of the Greene family genealogy.' The first child of
WOMAN WEARING BLACK NECKLACE; circa 1844; watercolor on ivory; 21h x 2". Private collection. To date this is the only known J. A. Davis painting on ivory.
very good possibility that J. A. Davis might be a Rhode Islander. It was this that triggered the initial investigation, the results of which were published as a brief preliminary report in 1981.6 In their article on J. A. Davis in the Art Institute exhibition catalog,' the Savages suggested that the artist may have been Joshua A.Davis or Joshua N. Davis, who are listed as portrait painters in the Providence, Rhode Island, City Directories for the years of 1852 to 1856. However, these dates do not correspond to the period of the artist's activity, 1838 to 1854, nor is there any other evidence to support the consideration of either Joshua Davis as J. A. Davis. The name "J. A. Davis" was then sought in earlier Providence City Directories,in Rhode Island and Connecticut indices to the census from 1830 through 1860, in advertisements in Rhode Island and eastern Connecticut newspapers, in Davis family genealogies, and in town histories and vital statistics for both states, but without success. Finally, the name appeared in "Benn's Index of Rhode Island Graves:' examination of which surprisingly disclosed not a death notice but rather the following marriage notice reprinted from the Manufacturers and Farmers Journal of February 4, 1841: "In War-
STEPHEN N. TINGLEY;1839; watercolor, pencil, and ink on paper; 77/8 x SW.Private collection. The artist's name is below the inscription box and was obviously added at a later date.
MR. AND MRS. JACOB WITHINGTON; 1840; watercolor, pencil, and ink on paper; 5 x 7W.Private collection. Inscriptions on front: "Painted by J.A. Davis Sept 18th 1840";"Mrs. Mary Withington. Mr. Jacob Withington:' This painting is unique among Davis' work in its presentation of the subjects within painted ovals.
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a unique miniature watercolor on ivory of a young woman that reflected several attributes of work typical of the artist. That portrait and these unfinished drawings, which were found in the Rhode Island area near Connecticut, coupled with the knowledge that most known sitters were from Rhode Island and nearby Connecticut, suggested the
42
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Giles and Sarah Robinson Greene Anthony, of Warwick, Rhode Island, she was born September 24, 1821, and married Edward Nelson Davis February 1, 1840. This latter date is obviously erroneous as a marriage date of 1841, not 1840, was reported a few days after the wedding in two 1841 Rhode Island newspapers. Although no date is given for her death, it is noted in the Greene genealogy that her husband married her double cousin, Eliza Greene on June 25, 1856. The "Index of Deaths, Providence 1851-1870" was next consulted and the following entry was found: 33 years. "Davis, Jane. April 28, 1855:' Supporting evidence for the date of death is her death certificate, which also gives the cause of death as "consumption:' another name for tuberculosis. At this point it was established that Jane Anthony Davis had been born in Rhode Island in 1821 and that she had died there in 1855. These dates are significant, since study of the dated portraits by J. A. Davis indicated that the active period of the artist was between 1838 and 1854. Jane Anthony Davis, on the basis of time, therefore, could have been J. A. Davis. Furthermore, she was a resident of Rhode Island and her husband was from Norwich, Connecticut, the two areas in which practically all of the known Davis sitters had lived and where most of the paintings had been found. Now faced with the realization that all published facts had seemingly been exhausted, a search for living descendants of the immediate family was started. This was accomplished by going through city directories and burial and probate records. After extensive searching, a most exciting discovery was made in the library of the New England Historic Genealogical Society — a family record for Edward and Jane A. Davis, compiled by their grandson, Edward Davis Anthony, who died in Barrington, Rhode Island, in 1948. This established the correct Davis line to follow and led to a granddaughter of Jane's younger sister, Sally Ann. The granddaughter had two letters addressed to Jane Anthony at the Warren Ladies Seminary in Warren, Rhode Island. The first, written by Jane's mother, Sarah Robinson Greene Anthony, was dated May 24, 1838, shortly Summer 1991
after the school term had commenced; the second was from her maternal grandmother, Barbara Low Greene, and dated June 6, 1838. Significantly, there are no dated portraits by J. A. Davis prior to 1838, the year that seventeen-year-old Jane, away from home for the first time, attended the Warren Ladies Seminary. This raises the possibility that she began her serious painting in the stimulating atmosphere of the school and that the subjects for these early works were classmates, faculty, male students from the nearby Warren Academy, or local neighbors. That opportunity was present is evident from the school catalog for the year ending 1838, found at the George Hail Memorial Library in Warren: under tuition fees is listed drawing and painting at an extra charge of three dollars. Jane's name appears in the catalog's list of pupils, but only for the May through August term. Of the five portraits painted by J. A. Davis in 1838 and 1839, two of the subjects, George Sisson and Margaret Sharkey, were, in fact, from Warren. George Sisson, a relative of Jane Anthony's according to Vital Records at the Warren Town Hall, was a farmer, born in 1795. Margaret Sharkey, according to the same records, was born in Ireland and died in Warren on November 26, 1901, at the age of 80. The third subject was Samuel Demeritt, a New Hampshire school teacher who may have been teaching in Warren atthe time.'The reverse of this portrait bears an inscription that includes his name, age, and "By J. A. Davis July 23 & 24 1838:' Stephen N. Tingley, the subject of two nearly identical portraits, each inscribed "Mr. Stephen N. Tingley/ 1839/ by J. A. Davis:' was born in 1816, the son of Benjamin and Polly Tingley of Cumberland, Rhode Island; his sister, Almira Amanda Tingley Wheaton, was the wife of Methodist minister Reverend James Wheaton." Three girls by the name of Wheaton were at school with Jane Anthony.' The double portrait of Jacob and Mary Withington is inscribed "Painted By J. A. Davis September 18, 18407 Jacob Withington is listed in the Manchester, New Hampshire, census for 1840 and both he and Mary are recorded there in the 1850 census. There is no evidence to suggest that Jane Anthony
was an itinerant, but there are several reasons why the Withingtons might have come to the Rhode Island area in September 1840. The most likely was that Lydia Claflin Withington, daughter-in-law of Samuel, Jacob's brother who lived in Attleboro, Massachusetts(a town next to Cumberland, Rhode Island) died in Attleboro in October 1840'; Jacob and Mary may have been visiting there during Lydia's terminal illness. There was one problem. When the 1838, 1839, and 1840 portraits were painted and inscribed "By J. A. Davis:' Jane Anthony was not married and, therefore, did not yet carry the Davis name. However, close examination of these four inscriptions, as well as later ones, shows no consistency in style of execution, leading the authors, as well as a handwriting expert, to conclude that different people had done the inscriptions. It can be postulated that the inscriptions on these four signed portraits were added at some time after Jane's marriage, thereby explaining the use of the Davis name. In support of this hypothesis is the fact that many J. A. Davis portraits have an empty space below the painting, suggesting that this was left by the artist in case someone later desired to add an inscription. Perhaps most significantly, on the two portraits of Stephen Tingley the name of the subject is centered within the inscription box, with the date of execution barely squeezed in, while the words "By J. A. Davis:' in a different hand, are in the painted border below the box; thus, the signature would appear to have been added some time after completion of the portrait. About four months after doing the Withington portraits, Jane Anthony was married to Edward Nelson Davis, the son of Hannah Stafford Davis of Providence and the late John Davis. John's will had been drawn up in 1825 in Warwick, where his family may have been neighbors of the Anthonys. After the death of her husband in 1829, Hannah and her two sons, Edward and Benjamin, moved to Providence, where she is listed for the first time in the 1830 city directory. Both sons are listed with their mother in the 1838/1839 city directory, but neither in 1841. The previously mentioned 1841 wedding notice indicated that Edward was then a 43
(E) 211111A1 NHOf JONATHAN E. BOWEN;1843; watercolor, pencil, and ink on paper; 6 x 5". Private collection. This is the only one of the portraits of the Bowen family to have an inscription on the front of the paper.
MILLARD BOWEN;1843; watercolor and pencil on paper;8 x 6". Private collection. This is the largest of the five Bowen paintings.
resident of Norwich, Connecticut. Jane was married to Edward by his uncle, Reverend Job Manchester, pastor of the Old Baptist Church of the Warwick circuit, which included Cumberland in Rhode Island, and Plainfield, Norwich, and Voluntown in Connecticut. this is of particular importance because many of the families of the sitters were associated with the Baptist or closely related Methodist-Episcopal churches within this circuit. There are no dated portraits attributable to J. A. Davis between that of the Withingtons in September 1840 and one of the Caroline Frances Phillips, painted in November 1842. Because Jane became pregnant in April, two months after the wedding, and delivered her first child, Harriet Aspinwall Davis, on January 10, 1842, in Norwich, Connecticut,' it can be assumed that the young Jane was quite busy, first preparing for the wedding, then for the move from Rhode Island, and then the birth of her daughter. This would explain the postponement of her painting activity until the November 1842 portrait of Caroline Frances Phillips. According to the Rhode Island census of 1840, the Phillips family was living in Coventry, which is about ten miles from Warwick where Jane had originally lived, about twenty miles from Norwich where she was living at the
time she painted Caroline's portrait, and about fifteen miles from the Voluntown-Plainfield area of Connecticut where she was actively painting portraits in 1843 and 1844. By 1850 the Phillips family had moved, for the Rhode Island census of that year shows them in the town of Scituate and lists Caroline as 24 years of age, indicating an age of 16 when her portrait was painted.' The next painting in chronological order is that of Eliza Snow, probably done in 1843. The inscription on the reverse of the paper reads,"My mother 18 years/ old Eliza Snow/ Sparrow/ Willington Hills/ Conn!' According to Connecticut birth records, Eliza, daughter of Bartholomew and Ruth Eaton Snow, was born in Willington, Connecticut, September 25, 1825. An exciting recent discovery was a group of five portraits of members of the Bowen family. Fortunately, one of the five has an inscription on its lower margin that identifies the subject as Jonathan E. Bowen and the date of execution, 1843. Framed together with this portrait was one of a young woman; a pencil inscription in a later hand on the reverse of the backing board for the two, "Ellis Bowen and Lydia Bowen/ Jesse Bowen's father" suggests, first, that the middle initial"E" of Jonathan's name is for Ellis and, second, that he is the father of Jesse Bowen. A third
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LUCY BOWEN;1843; watercolor and pencil on paper; 75/8 x 6". Private collection. This portrait has a large empty area that the authors believe was left by the artist for later insertion of an inscription.
portrait, on its backing board, has the same type of pencil inscription identifying the subject as Millard Bowen, Jesse Bowen's grandfather. The fourth is identified on its backing board as "Lucy Bowen/ Millard Bowen's wife:' and the fifth, on the reverse of its backing board and at the top, is inscribed in pencil "Jane Bowen" and, near the bottom, "Ellis Bowen's sister:' The Bowens were residents of Thompson, a town that abuts Woodstock, Connecticut. Lucy was the second wife of Millard, and Lydia, their first child, was born in Thompson in 1815.1 'The 1850 Connecticut census yielded the information that Jonathan, then age 27 and a farmer born in Thompson, was married to Mary W. Bowen of Gloucester, Rhode Island, and their son, Jesse, then age five, was born in Thompson. This confirms the relationships as given in the inscriptions, that Jesse was the son of Jonathan and grandson of Millard and that Jonathan was Millard's son and brother of Lydia. It indicates that the Ellis mentioned was actually Jonathan, and that he was the brother of Jane as well as Lydia." Since Jonathan's portrait is dated 1843, it can be assumed that the five, which are stylistically similar, were all done at this time in Thompson, which is about thirty miles from Norwich and twenty miles from Willington. Attesting to the close relaT H E CLARION
tionship between the Bowen family and Jane Anthony Davis is the fact that William Bowen, listed in the 1850 census as residing at the home of Millard Bowen, and undoubtedly his relative, married Jeanette Greene, double cousin of Jane Anthony Davis. Three portraits of members of the Barber family were painted in 1844. The one ofJohn G.Barber, a full-length standing portrait of a boy, is inscribed on the front, "John G. Barber — taken August 7, 18447 The second is inscribed on the front "Mrs. Thankful Barber aged 497 By checking records for towns in the Norwich-Plainfield area, in Voluntown vital statistics it was learned that Thankful Lewis of Rhode Island had been born on July 5, 1795, confirming her age of 49 years as recorded in the painting's inscription, and that she had married Jabez Barber of Voluntown on September 18, 1814. Their son, John G., was born in West Greenwich, Rhode Island, in 1832, making him 12 years of age when his portrait was painted. The third portrait bears no inscription but records at Old Sturbridge Village indicate that the subject was the daughter of Thankful Barber. While trying to track down Thankful Barber, a death record for a Sabra Ann Barber was found in Westerly, Rhode Island, and names her parents as Jabez and Thankful. It can be concluded, therefore, that the painting's subject was, in fact, Sabra Ann Barber." The triple portrait of Hiram Browning, wife, and child is inscribed with his name and dated October 8th, with the year illegible; in all likelihood it is 1844. Information accompanying the painting identifies the infant shown as Ruth Ann Browning, born August 26, 1844." Also, Hiram, who was born in Exeter, Rhode Island, married Prudence Barnes of Preston, Connecticut, and a portrait of her sister by J. A. Davis is inscribed "Lucy Barnes Oct.9, 18447 just one day after the portrait of the Brownings was painted. Three other portraits by J. A. Davis, although not dated, are of Connecticut subjects and were probably painted during the 1843-1844 period, when the artist was active in that state. First is one of George Bishop, who appears in both the 1840 and 1850 census as a resident of Ashford, Connecticut, about seven Summer 1991
miles from Willington, home of Eliza Snow. The second in this group, of Eben Davis and his wife, may have been commissioned to celebrate their wedding, for on September 18, 1844, Eben Davis married Rhoda Ann Thatcher in Plainfield, Connecticut. In 1820, the year following Rhoda Ann's birth in Plainfield, her father became pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. In 1821, Jane Anthony was born in Warwick, which abuts East Greenwich, and it is likely that her parents were friendly with Rhoda Ann's parents both as neighbors and through church activities. Reverend Thatcher later was pastor of the Methodist Church in Byfield, Massachusetts, where his daughter undoubtedly met Eben Davis, but by 1840 the Thatcher family was back in Plainfield and only about ten miles from Norwich, where Jane Anthony was living.' On the wood backing is inscribed, "Mr. & Mrs. Eben Davis of Byfield/ Mass. painted by Mr. Davis before/ their marriage about — 1860:' Not only is this incorrect in regard to the name ofthe artist, but also
concerning the date of the marriage which,as has been noted, was 1844,not 1860. For many years this inscription was responsible for the attribution to Eben Davis of many watercolors now known to be by J. A. Davis, a typical example of a noncontemporary inscription giving false information.' The third portrait in this group is that of Mary Ecclestone Hoxie who lived in Norwich, Connecticut, where Jane Anthony Davis also lived from 1842 to 1844. She married William C. Hoxie of Griswold, Connecticut, on September 16, 1844, and this portrait may have been painted in celebration of their wedding. On the reverse ofthis painting is an erroneous attribution to Eben Davis that reads"Mary/ Eccleston Hoxsie/ of Westerly/ Rhode Island/ born in Jewett/ City. Portrait/ painted in/ Norwich, Conn/ by Eben Davis! (Massachusetts):' At some point late in 1844 Edward and Jane returned to Rhode Island and took up residence in Providence. The 1844 Providence City Directory shows Edward Davis, a clerk, at 85 High Street. In the 1847-1848 directory he is
EBEN P. AND RHODA ANN THATCHER DAVIS; circa 1844; watercolor and pencil on paper; 13/ 1 2 x 15/ 3 4.Collection of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center. Inscription on verso: "Eben Davis, he and wife'
45
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shown at both 55 Westminster Street, his work address, and at 151 High Street, his residence.' The next known dated portrait, "Woman with Sheet of Music in Her Lap;' was found in a decorated envelope postmarked New London, February 12, and addressed to Adeline Wetheril, Willimantic, Connecticut. The sitter may be Adeline Croade, Jane's music teacher at the Warren Ladies Seminary, and the painting was possibly sent by a relative living in New London to a namesake of Adeline's.' This, of course, is highly speculative. What is not speculative, however,is the inscription on the reverse of the painting, "Taken August 4, 1845 by J. A. Davis:' The portraits of Lydia Goddard and of James H. Bixby are signed and dated on the reverse, "By J. A. Davis! Nov. 10, 1845:' Although James was born August 1824 at Quadic, Connecticut, and later lived in Moosup, adjacent Plainfield, and nearby Webster, Massachusetts, his parents were from Rhode Island.' The fmal work of this period is inscribed "Portrait of Eunice A. Buss [or Busa]1829, March 22/ age 16 years/
ALCY ANN BOSS; circa 1845; watercolor and pencil on paper; 5 x 4". Private collection. The swagged drapery framing the subject is seen in only two other portraits by J. A. Davis.
46
daughter of David and Ar — — — na (Jones) Buss:' Search of Rhode Island and Connecticut records failed to yield anything concerning a family by the name of Buss or Busa. There were, however, numerous families named Boss in both states. Jeremiah Boss was a neighbor of the Davises on High Street in the 1840s and in the 1850 Rhode Island census he is listed there with his wife Euny Ann and two children. In the 1865 census he is listed there with his wife Elsie A. The 35year-old Euny Ann of the 1850 census and the 48-year-old Elsie A.of the 1865 census are obviously one and the same. Actually, she was Alcy Ann Manchester of Scituate, Rhode Island, a cousin ofReverend Job Manchester,the minister who not only was a cousin of Edward N. Davis but who married him to Jane Anthony. Alcy Ann was born February 23, 1817. As has been noted, the inscription on this painting is quite garbled and the dates are probably reversed. Instead of "1829/ age 16;' it should probably read "1816" (her approximate birth date) and "age 29"(her age when the portrait was painted), which would thus date the portrait to 1845 when the Davises and Bosses were neighbors on High Street, according to the city directory. Another gap in the J. A.Davis output of portraits occurs between those of 1845 and the ones of members of the Arnold family, painted in 1848. This hiatus, like the earlier one between 1840 and 1842, can be similarly explained; on April 26, 1847, Jane gave birth to her second child, John Edward Davis, in Providence.' In 1848 J. A. Davis painted five portraits of members of the Arnold family. Three of these are dated January 25 or 26, 1848, and the others presumably were done at the same time. James Arnold was born in Warwick, Rhode Island, in 1791, a contemporary of Giles Anthony, Jane's father.' Furthermore, his mother, Sarah Greene, was a distant relative of Jane's mother, and his great-grandfather was a brother of the great-grandfather of Jane's husband. One additional link between Jane and the Amolds might have been the Bixbys, earlier subjects of J. A. Davis, who lived in Webster, Massachusetts, just ten miles from Woodstock, Connecticut. Edward Greene Arnold, son
of James, was born in 1814 and in 1835 married Almaria Corbin, who was born in Woodstock in 1816." The two other members ofthe family who sat for J. A. Davis were the daughters of James and Almaria, Ellen A. and Emma L., born in Woodstock in 1837 and 1843 respectively. In view of the family ties, and the fact that Woodstock is only a short distance from the Connecticut area where the Davises resided between 1840 and 1844, a close relationship probably developed between the two families during this period. The occasion for the 1848 paintings is not known, but since the distance between Providence and Woodstock is not great, a visit by Jane to the Arnold's home or vice versa is not unlikely. In 1849 J. A. Davis painted two portraits of two-year-old Ellen Augusta Smith, one of which is inscribed with the date of execution. DAR records of births, marriages, and deaths in Rhode Island yielded the significant information that Edward Anthony, Jane's brother, married an Elizabeth Smith. Furthermore, Joseph Warren Greene married a Mary Augusta Smith, and the records of Christ Church of Westerly, Rhode Island, contain an entry for the baptism on December 21, 1845, of Julia Augusta Smith, daughter of Stephen and Marcia Smith. All of this connects the Smiths to Jane's family and to Westerly, not far from where Jane had lived. The portrait of Annie E. Holland, stylistically typical of the work of J. A. Davis,lacks an inscription but the subject has been identified by members ofthe family. The daughter ofRaymond and Rhoda Gould Holland of South Kingston, Rhode Island, she was born, according to notes in the family bible, April 27, 1842, and died February 28, 1849, at six years and ten months of age. It is the only known work by J. A. Davis in which the subject holds a bird and may be a posthumous portrait. Another portrait of a child, Alonzo Mowry, is inscribed "Painted July 1, 1854:' and is somewhat unusual in that it is one of only three known profile portraits by J. A. Davis." According to a Rhode Island descendant, Alonzo, the son of George W. and Hannah Aldrich Mowry, died in 1914 at the age of 70, which means that he was ten years old when his portrait was painted. THE CLARION
At the time he lived in Smithfield, Rhode Island, not far from Providence, where Jane resided. Abby Greene, daughter of Richard Greene, Jane's mother's brother, and Betsy Anthony, Jane's father's sister, was her closest friend.3 ' Attesting to the close ties between Jane Anthony Davis and the Mowry family is the fact that Abby married Jenckes Mowry of Smithfield. One month later still another child, Louella P. Hodges, was the subject. The inscription, "Louella P. Hodges, Aug. 1854:'is within a banner, the only time that such a device is used by J. A. Louella, the daughter of Valorous and Hannah Grover Hodges, was born January 5, 1852, in Mansfield, Massachusetts, about fifteen miles from Providence. Her maternal grandmother was Betsy Brownell of Providence,33 and the child may have been visiting her grandmother when the portrait was painted. The portrait of Louella Hodges is the last dated one attributable to J. A. Davis. Jane Anthony Davis died just eight months later, on April 28,1855, at the age of 33 and was buried in Pro-
conclusion that the artist known as J. A. Davis was Jane Anthony Davis. She lived, and was of an appropriate age, at the time of the artist's active period; she resided in Warwick and Providence, Rhode Island, and Norwich, Connecticut, the areas where most of the sitters of the artist lived and where the majority of the paintings have been found; she died very shortly after the last known dated portrait; and she was a friend, neighbor, or relative of most of the subjects of J. A. Davis.
vidence's Swan Point Cemetery, also the final resting place of one of her sitters, Alcy Ann Boss. In summary, the evidence gathered during the past nine years supports the
ARTHUR AND SYBIL KERN are researchers, writers, lecturers, and collectors in the field of early American folk art. They have published articles in The Clarion on Jane Anthony Davis, Joseph H. Davis, William M.S. Doyle, Benjamin Greenleaf, William Murray, Royall Brewster Smith, and Thomas Ware. Other publications include articles on Almira Edson, Benjamin Greenleaf, Joseph Stone and Warren Nixon, and Joseph Partridge. This article is based on a lecture given February 15, 1990, at the Folk Art Institute of the Museum of American Folk Art.
on those dates it must have been done in Warren, where she was attending school. Samuel Demerrit, born in Barrington, New Hampshire, was a school teacher who may have been working in Warren when Jane attended school there. 11. Raymon Meyers Tingley, The Tingley Family (1910), pp. 44. 12. Catalogue ofthe Officers and Pupils of The Warren Ladies Seminary for the Year Ending December, 1838 (Providence: Knowles, Vase & Company, 1838), pp. 2,7. 13. Vital Records ofAttleborough, Massachusetts to the End ofthe Year 1849(Salem, MA: 1934), p. 743. 14. The date of Harriet's birth was found in New Hampshire vital statistics. It also yielded the information that she lived in New Hampshire eight years prior to her death there in 1918 at the age of 76, confirming her birth date of 1842. 15. A descendant now living in Rhode Island confirmed Caroline's year of birth and added that she never married and remained in Scituate until her death in 1918. 16. Clarence Winthrop Bowen, The History of Woodstock, Connecticut, Vol. H (Norwood, MA: The Plimpton Press, 1930), p. 612 17. No record of a Jane Bowen has been found. However, Births, Marriages and Deaths for the Town of Thompson, Vol. 3, 1847-1868, lists the marriage in 1847 of Aron Daniels to Mary Jane Bowen, age 22; the latter was born in Thompson and,in all likelihood, was Jane, daughter of Millard, who, like her brother, Jonathan, was referred to by her middle name. 18. Death records in Westerly record that Sabra Ann Barber was born in Norwich and that she died from dysentery in 1889 at the age of65. This would make her 20 years of age when her portrait was painted in 1844.
19. Edward Franklin Browning, Genealogy of the Brownings in America from 1621 to 1908 (Newburgh, N.Y.: 1908), p. 148. 20. Connecticut 1840 Census Index, p. 132. 21. This inscription, as well as the ones on the portraits of Eliza Snow and others, emphasizes the importance of not relying too heavily on inscriptions, which are frequently added long after a painting is completed and, being based on memory, are often erroneous. 22. Vital Records of Norwich 1659-1848, Part II (Hartford, CT:Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Connecticut, 1913), p. 915. 23. The 1850 Rhode Island Census records that Edward was employed as a bank cashier and the Greene genealogy indicates that he was a cashier for 25 years at the Bank of America in Providence. 24. Elias Child, Genealogy of the Child, Childs and Childe Families (Utica, NY: Curtiss & Childs, 1881), p. 694. 25. Willard G. Bixby,A Genealogy ofthe Descendants ofJoseph Bixby 1621-1701(New York, NY: 1919), p. 644. 26. Clarke, The Greenes ofRhode Island, p. 545. 27. Bowen, The History of Woodstock Families, Vol. II, p. 222. 28. Elisha S. Arnold, The Arnold Memorial (Rutland, VT: Thttle Publishing Co., 1935), p. 242. 29. Clarke, The Greenes ofRhode Island, pp. 445,446. 30. The others are of Louella P. Hodges and an unidentified man. 31. Clarke, The Greenes ofRhode Island, pp. 544,545. 32. The fact that a banner is used just once supports the hypothesis that the inscriptions were later added by others. 33. Almon P. Hodges, Genealogical Record of the Hodges Family ofNew England (Boston: Frank H. Hodges, Publisher, 1896), p. 243.
ELLEN AUGUSTA SMITH; 1849; watercolor, pencil, and ink on paper; 71/8 x 61/8". Private collection. This is quite similar to Girl Holding Flowers.
NOTES 1. Frederic Fairchild Sherman, "Three New England Miniatures: The Magazine Antiques, December 1923, pp. 275, 276. 2. Nina Fletcher Little, "New Light on Joseph H. Davis, Left Hand Painter' The Magazine Antiques, November 1970, pp. 754-758. 3. Norbert and Gail Savage, "J. A. Davis: The Magazine Antiques, November 1973, pp. 872-875. 4. Because the "A" in the inscription was read as an "H',' and because another portrait ofthe same subject had been painted by J. H.Davis in 1836,this one was originally attributed to Joseph H. Davis. 5. This painting, although unfinished, shows many of the stylistic features of the work of J. A. Davis, including the use of pencil and watercolor, narrow waist, negative space between body and arms, threequarter turn of head and body, ragged part and characteristic hair style, blue around the eyes, and typical rendering of flowers. 6. Sybil B. Kern and Arthur B. Kern,"The Surprising Identity of J. A. Davis: The Clarion, Winter 1981/82, pp. 44-47. 7. Gail and Norbert Savage and Esther Sparks, Three New England Watercolor Painters (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1974), pp. 42-55. 8. C. Kurt Dewhurst, Betty MacDonald, and Marsha MacDonald, Artists in Aprons: Folk Art by American Women (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1979), pp. 1-102; Mirra Bank,Anonymous Wasa Woman(New York: St. Martin's Press, 1979), pp. 1-128; and Linda Grant DePauw and Conover Hunt,Remember the Ladies(New York: The Viking Press, 1976), pp. 1-168. 9. Louise Brownell Clarke, The Greenes of Rhode Island(New York: 1903), p. 545. 10. On the back of this painting is an inscription that includes the subject's name, age, and "By J. A. Davis July 23&24 1838'.'IfJane painted this portrait
Summer 1991
47
COSMOGRAMS AND CRYPTIC WRITINGS:
"AFRICANISMS" A Sharon D. Koota
lthough Minnie Evans, the African-American folk artist, began receiving wide recognition during the 1960s, the beginnings of her artistic career occurred almost thirty years prior to her first exhibitions. Evans' initial drawing efforts began after a compelling spiritual experience. On Good Friday in the year 1935, she reports hearing God's command telling her to draw. This experience, which resulted in two small abstract drawings now in the collection of the Whitney Museum, inspired the beginning of a remarkably beautiful and complex body of drawings and paintings that she produced over the next forty years. It also placed Minnie Evans within the tradition of her African artist ancestors who followed spiritual messages and created work in which aesthetics, re-
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ligion, and spirituality were merged. African aesthetic principles, which survived and were reinterpreted in the New World, are a direct reflection of the African religions, particularly the belief that the supernatural spirits who control all apsects of life can interact freely with the living. There is no separation between the aesthetic and the spiritual/religious in African art, no secular art tradition. The artist acts as an intermediary between the spirit world and the world of the living. Similarly, the spiritual nature of Minnie Evans' artwork, initiated after an intense religious experience, places her within this African tradition. Evans did not see her work as "art:' Her son, George Evans, reports that his mother was initially reluctant to draw, but was unable to resist the powerful spiritual admonition to "paint or die:' He speaks
of her as a "firm believer" whose hand was guided by an external force. As she drew, he recalls, "she could turn [her head] away [from her work] and talk [to you] and her hand would still be drawing:' Minnie Evans endowed several of her early drawings with special value and insisted on keeping them with her at all times, carrying them about in a small satchel. Mr. Evans, who drove his mother back and forth to work each day, recalls one day when they had to leave early and his mother forgot her satchel with the "dozen or so" special drawings that she kept inside. As they approached the gate at Airlie Gardens, where she worked as gatekeeper, his pickup truck suddenly caught fire. He barely had time to rescue his mother from the burning vehicle. They were certain that had the satchel been with her, the drawings would have been
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V7I' ',° )) *-)Y- ce itil 01-ely7rni-o-yv ? -. "1446Y/Unif -fr44 , 1 LICr\A/1 1 101.40 i MY VERY FIRST; 1935; ink on paper; 5V2 x Ph"; Collection of Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Gift of Dorothea M.and Isadore Silverman.
48
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THE CLARION
Summer 1991
basketry, pottery, and cane making. Beyond these utilitarian objects that bear a direct relationship to African artifacts because of their similar functions, survival ofreligions and religious rituals are also noted. Although the slaves often spent several years on the Caribbean islands before coming to the U.S. mainland and were prohibited from practicing their traditional African religions, their beliefs did not disappear. Instead, new syncretic religions emerged, ones that incorporated Christian beliefs and iconography with the traditional religious beliefs. Slaves brought to the United States from the islands evidently transported these new versions of old religious practices and iconography with them. Throughout the nineteenth century, African and Afro-Caribbean visual traditions interacted with European and Native American culture and traditions on the U.S. mainland, creating visual images that were passed from generation to generation, to resurface in the works of contemporary African-American folk artists.' The unique, highly personal, and multi-faceted work of Minnie Evans is a striking example of this process, called "creolization:' Born in Long Creek, North Carolina, in 1892 to a Southern black family who traced its origins to the arrival of "Moni;' a slave from Trinidad, in the early nineteenth century, Minnie Evans spent most of her life in Wilmington, North Carolina, and nearby Wrightsville Beach. Too poor to continue in school after completing the fifth grade, she married Julius Evans in 1908, gave birth to three sons, and joined her
FIGURE 2 UNTITLED(Green leaves w/writing); circa 1944-45; ink and graphite on U.S. Coast Guard paper; 91/2 x 7"; Courtesy Luise Ross Gallery, New York.
AN311V9 SSON 3S1111
destroyed. This incident confirmed for both the artist and her son the divine nature of the drawings. Mr. Evans also remembers his mother's concern when another early work "fell apart:' He reports that she would not discard it until she "asked God;' who apparently reiterated its value. Subsequently, the artist pasted the pieces of the drawing on a board so it could be saved.' Spiritual and divine connections to their art have also been expressed by other contemporary African-American folk artists. J.B. Murray and David Butler denied the concept of any "artistic" intent and viewed their work in purposeful terms, such as symbolizing communication with God, embodying a vision, or protecting against evil. Maude Wahlman explains these concepts as the surfacing of the "unconscious memory" of the protective nature of certain images from African traditions that have been passed on through the generations.' The survival of African traditions in the Americas has often been questioned because of the traumatic nature of the African arrival in the New World. But, contrary to previous beliefs that African slaves like Minnie Evans' ancestors arrived here bereft of their material culture, recent research has revealed that the African slave was not completely stripped of visual and material traditions but was, rather, a "culturally competent" immigrant who brought and applied the arts and crafts traditions of the homeland in the new world.' Evidence of the transmission of African material culture by the slaves appears in several crafts, including
A8311n SSON 3SIM
IN THE ART OF MINNIE EVANS
FIGURE 3 UNTITLED(Woman crying w/writing); circa 1944-45; ink on U.S. 2x 7"; Cour1 Coast Guard paper; 9/ tesy Luise Ross Gallery, New York.
49
I Rd 4tI 4 UNTITLED (Asymmetrical design w/writing); 1948; graphite, ink and crayon on paper; 12 x 9"; Courtesy Luise Ross Gallery, New York.
50
gardens, where she spent most of her life.5 Such conclusions, however, may be based on only a partial review of her work and consider primarily her later drawings and paintings. The spiritual and aesthetic African roots of her art are more apparent in a closer inspection of her earlier drawings. Minnie Evans'two earliest drawings, My Very First and My Second, are abstract linear compositions composed of various geometric shapes.(Figure 1) John Mason interprets them as ideographic with spiritual meanings and associations linked to African conceptions of the universe. He relates the
drawings to the Yoruba and Kongo traditions, saying they "map the ideal world, the spiritually guided world!' In My Very First,"energy"radiates from a central divine point into "concentric rings of power." My Second gives us a cross section of the "rings!' which are composed of "distinct elements working in harmony."6 Another significant connection to African and African-Caribbean culture in Evans' work is her use of "cryptic" symbols. In Africa, traditional ideographic writings are associated with learning, importance, and status in their societies and have spiritual and
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husband in his work for the family of Pembroke Jones as a domestic servant. In 1948, she became the gatekeeper for the former Jones' estate, Airlie Gardens, which was opened to the public. Minnie Evans remained in this position for more than 25 years. During this time she became acquainted with Nina Howell Starr, a photographer and graduate art student at the University of Florida, who was involved in the documentation of the work of contemporary folk artists. Mrs. Starr became Minnie Evans' representative and was instrumental in gaining national attention for the artist's works. Although considerations of Evans' relationship to her African heritage and her links to the Afro-Atlantic cultures in the Caribbean have been mentioned in previous discussions of her work, these analyses have focused on its religious (notably Christian) themes and visionary nature. Commonly cited inspirational sources for Evans' work are the Bible, especially the Book of Revelations, her visions and dreams, and the sophisticated and beautiful surroundings of her employers' home and
Fl(d RI 5 UNTITLED(Atomic bomb w/writing); September 1943; graphite and crayon/paper mounted on paper; 113 / 4x 9"; Courtesy Luise Ross Gallery, New York.
THE CLARION
protective value.' The symbols comprising the different writing systems are used to communicate with various religious spirits. In some regions, such symbols are drawn on the ground to mark spiritual spaces where spirits can be contacted. Other societies place these symbols in multiple patterns on clothing to protect the wearer from harm during battle and other dangerous undertakings. The sources for these scripts may be indigenous to the society or variations on Arabic.8 In the Americas, different African writing systems brought by slaves from various African regions were combined to make new "scripts" that functioned in remarkably similar fashions and served equivalent purposes.8 Anafuana script, in Cuba, is derived from the Nsibidi writing system developed by the Ejagham people of the Cameroon and Nigeria, where the symbols served religious and societal/governmental purposes. Anafuana symbols have been used in the initiation rites of the Abakua (Leopard) societies, which embodied the philosophies and moral tenets of their African forebears. Veve, the ritual ground drawings associated with the syncretized African-Catholic religion of Vodon, appear in Haiti. These complex signs are traced on the ground to sanctify a sacred space where a multitude of deities may be invoked. The symmetrical forms recall the Kongo cosmogram, which, when drawn on the ground, serve as the "point of contact" between the spirit world and the living world. In Trinidad, another syncretized religion practiced by the Shouters or Spiritual Baptists developed during the nineteenth century. Mystical signs drawn in chalk, then "sealed" by wax candle drippings, were also employed during initiation rites to summon spiritual entities to the initiate.'In presentday practice, Mollie Ahye, a Trinidadian who has studied the cultural roots of her homeland, reports that such "seals"(as they are now called), while having common elements, are more personally derived." Symbols and scripts with religious associations appear in the works of several African-American folk artists. The spirit writings of J.B. Murray, the notebook that accompanies James Hampton's monumental work The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Summer 1991
Nations Millennium General Assembly, and Pomegranate (Pommie) Bridgewater's depictions of incised symbols on animal beaks and shells are all reflective of a practice that has ties to Africa and the Afro-Caribbean cultures. Although symbols appear throughout the body of Minnie Evans' work, changes in emphasis are noted with the passage of time. In her earlier work, symbols are used extensively, sometimes making up a large portion of a given design. Later, the symbols are used more decoratively,such as inscriptions on a vase or a book within a drawing. In structure and form, Evans' symbols bear the greatest resemblance to the ground drawings of the Spiritual Baptists of Trinidad. Although it is tempting to deduce that the similarities relate to her Trinidadian ancestry, this conclusion rests only on circumstantial grounds. Any personal explanation from the artist was never given, as she herself could not explain their function or their inspiration. Most strikingly, the shapes of the symbols correlate to the configurations of the larger designs that make up some of her drawings and may be the prototype for these forms.' In other works, the symbols are freefloating within representational formats and seem to serve more elusive and
WISE ROSS GALLERY
FIGURE 6 UNTITLED (Horned head); circa 1945-55; crayon, ink and collage on paper; 12 x 9"; Courtesy Luise Ross Gallery, New York.
mysterious purposes. The five works to be discussed come from an early period in Evans' career, probably the 1940s, although exact dating is difficult because some dates appearing on the works may have been put there at a later time. The drawings can be divided thematically and stylistically into two groups. The first group of three works (Figures 2, 3, and 4) are curvilinear abstract designs that contain similar elements and design forms found in later, more elaborate works. Exotic figures and faces, disembodied eyes, curlicues and cuneiforms, vines, dots and dashes, and symbols predominate. Male and female figures or heads counterbalance each other. In these drawings, the shapes of the symbols seem to be echoed in the larger forms comprising the drawings; there is a subtle yet pulsating rhythm to these works. Figures 2and 3 contain multiple patterns and the symbols are contained in one portion of the overall design. In Figure 4, most of the design is colored solidly and the symbols appear as the singular pattern. Some of Evans' works are vastly different in composition from the previous group. In these works, there is a departure from the "design" composition to a representational and narrative form. The symbols appear to serve no decorative or design function but are "free-floating" within the picture. In an untitled 1946 work (not shown), a religious feeling is evoked by a kneeling figure in a prayerful position at the foot of the staircase and a seated priestly figure on the top. The roomlike setting contains an elaborately draped window framing a view of the horizon, large oriental ceramic jugs, and a fire-breathing dragon; the freefloating symbols appear in faint pencil markings below the seated figure. Figure 5 also contains realistic imagery and is possibly a landscape, albeit an ominous one. In its symmetrical format,trees are placed on right and left with a mysterious, possibly figural form between them. Above the trees float airplane-like shapes, which also appear below. The cryptic writings float around the central figure and one tree. In all, the drawing evokes a threatening feeling, with a central figure that could be vaguely interpreted as a bomb and an overall sense of inva51
52
AH311V9 SSOS 3SIM
sion. World War II themes of invasions and bombs had particular meaning for the artist, possibly because one son, Elisha, served in the armed forces and there was a military base close to her home. Nina Howell Starr reports that Minnie Evans felt she had prescient knowledge of the atomic bomb, which this drawing may depict. Mrs. Starr recalls the artist telling her about another ominous drawing, Invasion (The Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina), which, Evans claimed, had to be completed before the invasion of Axis territories could take place." There are further stylistic elements in Minnie Evans' drawings that relate to African symbolism. Symmetry has often been noted to be an important element in her work, and Maude Wahlman has related the underlying symmetrical structure of Evans' drawings to the Kongo cosmogram." The cosmogram, a cross-like form within an ovoid sphere, is diagrammatic of the Kongo religion; it depicts the unity of all life forces and represents the rhythmic stages of the life cycle, including the different phases of life and death.' The influence ofthe Kongo religion and the use of the cosmogram for religious rituals has been documented throughout the Caribbean.'In many of Minnie Evan's drawings, images are placed on a substructure of interlocking vertical and horizontal axes, recalling the Kongo cosmogram. The images used by Evans include the sun, water, the sky, and the horizon line, where water, setting sun, and sky meet.(In Figure 6, for example, a horizon line bisects the drawing and a vividly colored setting sun appears to be sinking into the water.) All these elements relate to corresponding elements in the Kongo religion. The Kongo believe that the worlds of the living and dead are separated by water and that there is continuity between life and death because all flow together. Dead ancestors continue to play a vital role in the life of the living. The symmetry and subtle rhythms in Minnie Evans' drawings evoke similar themes and feelings. Evans' depiction of human figures related vividly to traditional African sculpture. In Africa, human representation such as carved figures and masks
FIGURE 7 UNTITLED (Totemic faces); circa 1960; crayon, pencil, gouache and gold paint on paper; 13/ 1 2x11; Collection Susan Hirsch.
depict both living persons whose lives embody valued societal attributes and ancestors who continue to play powerful roles in the life of the living. African artists have traditionally portrayed these important community and tribal individuals in bronze, wood carvings, and multimedia assemblages. The dominant aesthetic principle reflected in African portraiture is the denial of the importance of making an "exact" copy of the person. Representational portraits emphasize the person's features considered most important by the culture, such as the head, identifying scarification, and reproductive organs. They are idealized representations, with individuals depicted in their most beautiful and powerful states." Stylized, idealized faces and heads appear in many of Minnie Evans' drawings and bring to mind a similar aesthetic sensibility. Like her African forebears, Evans' faces are not individualized "portraits" but rather idealized representations whose expressionless faces and often exotic, stylized features evoke awe and mystery. (Figure 7) Contemporary folk artists like Minnie Evans whose works span a considerable length of time and whose style varies considerably over the years provide an important source ofinformation for future scholarship in the field. Evans' art is particularly rich in its reflection of the different cultural and
societal influences of her time and place. The evidences of survival of her African heritage, as presented in this article, testify to the pervasiveness of cultural mores and the perseverance of individuals in continuing to explain their world and their relationship to it in traditional ways. It is hoped that this perspective will stimulate a broader appreciation of Minnie Evans' talents and inspire similar inspections of the work of other contemporary folk artists from multiple viewpoints. Only a comprehensive perspective will reveal the extent of their creative endeavors and help us to recognize and understand fully the range of their artistic visions. SHARON D. KOOTA is a student at the Folk Art Institute of the Museum of American Folk Art and a Master Docent in the Museum's Eva and Morris Feld Gallery at Lincoln Center. She and her husband,Ivan, are longtime collectors ofcontemporary American art and, more recently, American folk art.
NOTES
1. George Evans, telephone conversation, 2/23/91. 2. Maude Southwell Wahhnan,"Africanisms in AfroAmerican Visual Arts': in Baking in the Sun: VisionaryImagesfrom the South(Lafayette: University of Southwestern Louisiana, 1987), p. 29. 3. John Michael Vlach, "Arrival and Survival: The Maintenance of an Afro-American Tradition in Folk Art and Craft: in Perspectives on American Folk Art, I.M.G. Quimby and S.T. Swank, eds. (Winterthur, DE: Winterthur Museum, 1980), p. 179. 4. Judith McWillie, "Another Face of the Diamond',' The Clarion, Fall 1987, p. 43. 5. Mitchell D. Kahan, Heavenly Visions: The Art of Minnie Evans(Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1986). 6. Quotes from John Mason,"Old Africa, Anew," in Another Face of the Diamond: Pathways Through the Black Atlantic South (New York: INTAR Gallery, 1988), p. 21.
7. Maude Southwell Wahlman,"Religious Symbolism in African-American Quilts: The Clarion, Summer 1989, p. 37. 8. Ibid. 9. Ibid., p. 38.
10. George Eaton Simpson,"'Baptismal,'"Mourning': and "Building" Ceremonies of the Shouters in Ilinidad: Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 79, 1966, p. 544. 11. Mollie Ahye, telephone conversation, 10/12/90. 12. Judith MacWillie, personal conversation, 7/18/90. 13. Nina Howell Starr, personal conversation, 2/18/91. 14. Waldman,"Religious Symbolism: p. 38. 15. Robert Farris Thompson, Flash of the Spirit: African & Afro-American Art and Philosophy (New York: Vintage Books, 1983), p. 109. 16. Ibid., p. 110. 17. Jean M. Borgatti and Richard Brilliant, Likeness and Beyond, Portraits from Africa and the World
(New York: The Center for African Art, 1990), p. 31.
THE CLARION
00K REVIEWS Black Art: Ancestral Legacy. The African Impulse in African American Art ESSAYS BY EDMUND BARRY GAITHER, REGENIA PERRY, ALVIA
J. WARDLAW,
WILLIAM FERRIS, Um STEBICH, AND ROBERT FARRIS THOMPSON; WITH SUPPORT TEXTS BY DAVID DRISKELL, RICHARD BRETTELL, MAUREEN MCKENNA, AND ELIZABETH SIMON
Published by Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, 1989 300 pages, 170 color and 120 black and white photographs $45.50 hardcover, $24.95 softcover Black Art: Ancestral Legacy. The African Impulse in African American Art is a handsome catalogue published in conjunction with an exhibition that originated at the Dallas Museum of Art in 1989, then traveled to the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia,the Milwaukee Art Museum, Minnesota, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond. Ancestral Legacy was historic in its scope, ambition, and impact, and the catalogue remains one of the most comprehensive texts to date on the persistence of African traditions in the Western Hemisphere. Each of the book's contributors participates, firsthand, in these traditions either as African-American scholars and writers or as Euro-Americans whose professional commitments emerge from their spiritual indebtedness to Afro-Atlantic culture. As Dallas Museum director Richard Brettell states in the preface, these men and women comprise "a new generation" of scholars whose research confirms "the essential power and importance of African American art!' Significantly, works exhibited elsewhere under the rubric of folk art appear throughout the text on equal footing with classical African works and contemporary professional art. Ancestral Legacy not only introduces relationships between these works, it also helps to explode certain familiar dichotomies characteristic of the folk art vs. fine art debates of the 1980s. If, in that period, established critics and hisSummer 1991
WELCOME TO MY GHETTO LAND: From Black Art: Ancestral Legacy; Jean Lacy; Texas; 1986; mixed media on wood panel; 6/ 1 4 x 3 x 5/8"; Courtesy Dallas Museum of Art.
torians were busy arguing about the ethnographic vs. the aesthetic value of objects, black artists and scholars were consciously engaged in closing the gap between the motives of artists and the uses to which their works are applied. This was less a matter of institutional certification than an antidote to the intellectual and aesthetic anemia characteristic of the premise that works of folk art are about collective experience while fine art is the product of personal autonomy. African-American artists and scholars have long considered such dichotomies to be irrelevant because they perceive them to be institutionally constructed rather than indigenous to the works themselves; as the folklorist Henry Glassie has observed, these distinctions arise only "when we view the art of one tradition from the perspective
of another." "When that is done:' says Glassie, "it seems as though one's own tradition produces art, while the tradition of the other produces folk art!' ("The Idea of Folk Art:'in Folk Art and Art Worlds, Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1986, p. 291) Like folk artists, African-American artists have been "marginalized" in the past, due in no small degree to their insistence on a perceived relationship between objects, makers, and the cultural milieu that informs them. But, in both African and African-American systems, art is a vessel of spiritual effect and there is no rift between ethics and aesthetics. In other words, art exists as both a balancing agent within prevailing cultural circumstances and an embodiment of individual artists' best hopes for the future. Rather than contriving an academic African-American "style" that would deny Western influences, black artists have historically transformed all manner of natural and technological modalities from within,creolizing them and compounding their meaning. As a comprehensive introduction to these processes and to the diversity of Afro-Atlantic art, Ancestral Legacy is unprecedented. Classical African works are represented not as relics of the past, but as vessels of social values that continue to sustain black society today. Because these values are consciously transmitted, each generation of artists reveals them in new and appropriate physical forms. The "private visions" of folk and outsider artists are thus understood not as anomalies that separate them from common experience, but as special abilities "bestowed on particular figures within the community who have achieved communal grace, serenity, and wisdom"(p. 166). In "Heritage Reclaimed;' a chapter by Edmund Barry Gaither, Director of the Museum of the National Center for Afro-American Artists in Boston, we are introduced to the ways in which black intellectual life in the New World has "reworked and expanded" both 53
00K REVIEWS African and European precedents. Here, as in virtually every other essay in the text, the African impulse is characterized as the drive to reconcile. Gaither quotes the preamble of a 1970 CONFABRA convention dealing with the role of artists in society: "The function of art is to liberate man in the spiritual sense of the word, to provide more INTERNAL space. Total culture is not only imposed upon man but it IS man"(p. 25). In another chapter, Aliva J. Wardlaw, curator and Assistant Professor of art history at Texas Southern University, focuses on the institutions (museums, colleges, collections) that have promoted "an atmosphere of selfawareness" among black artists, freeing them from racial stereotypes. Wardlaw's emphasis on institutional life is canonical within present-day art historical practice, but she offers more than just a chronicle of patronage and appropriation. Much of the information she has collected can be directly applied to today's dialogues on multicultural art. For instance, readers may be surprised to discover that one of America's most venerable black educational institutions, Virginia's Hampton Institute, was open to both African Americans and Native Americans when it was founded in 1868. Hampton's philosophy of encouraging students to paint biographically rather than imitating prevailing trends foreshadows today's embrace of "outsider" art (that is, art originating from outside academic art history). Those unfamiliar with African-American history will also discover the role of Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz in developing early modernist collections for black colleges in the South. The black response to these works is also established. In addition, we are introduced to genres of historical painting, including activist murals from the 1960s and 1970s and earlier works, that combine narrative content with the stylistic experiments of the American avant-garde. Still, for all of their sophistication, the historical treatments in the text are but a backdrop for the vivid meditations on black vernacular culture, by both 54
professional and self-taught artists, that turn out to be the bedrock of the book. By inverting hierarchies normally associated with major art historical texts, Ancestral Legacy functions as a prototype for histories yet to come. Its unusual emphasis on vernacular culture as a source of endless inspiration for black artists may reflect the project's origins in the South, where the popularity of folk art has outstripped attempts to import "establishment" trends in academically acculturated art. In one revealing juxtaposition, a sandstone sculpture by the Chicago artist Mr. Imagination (a large, frontal "allseeing eye" on a plain base) is compared to a Four-Faced Helmet Mask from Gabon. These sorts of correspondences arise from the matic relationships in content rather than visual syncretism. All of the book's illustrations are of the highest quality and an alphabetized section on artists' biographies rounds out its structure and provides a handy reference tool for curators and collectors, as well as for the general public. The grass-roots atmosphere of William Ferris' essay, "Making the Picture from Memory," balances the sophistication of Gaither's and Wardlaw's histories and complements Regenia Perry's expanded account of quilting, carving, yard dressing, and vernacular painting. Ferris, a white anthropologist and director of The Center for the Study of Southern Culture of the University of Mississippi, exposes parallels between rural blues, storytelling, and folk art, showing how these mythoforms persist in individuals such as Sultan Rogers of Syracuse, New York, who learned carving from his father when he was a child in Lafayette County, Mississippi. Both Ferris and Regenia Perry associate African-American works with the arts of the Caribbean nations. Ferris even goes so far as to suggest that "we must visualize the Deep South and black culture as part of the Caribbean" (p. 77), a controversial idea transmitted with increasing frequency in the past decade. This association primes the reader for Ute Stebich's essay on the social conditions related to art making in Haiti and
Jamaica. The relationship between African religion and visual culture is more directly exposed in the island nations than in the United States; therefore, support systems for vernacular artists are more diversified. The success of creolized religions in the islands accounts for the proliferation of ceremonial objects and festival vestments there, along with painting and sculpture. In this setting, the arts still function overtly in a ritual context and it is not uncommon to discover that a gifted sculptor —Jamaica's Everald Brown, for instance — is also a practicing priest or healer. Art is also perceived as an immediate necessity, with visual literacy taken for granted. The various parallels between mainland artists and their counterparts in the islands are adequately explored by Stebich and Perry, who make the mythologies associated with African dieties immediately accessible. If, in comparison with Haiti or Jamaica, artists in the United States seem relatively pragmatic, Ancestral Legacy is likely to change that preconception. American artists, such as Rene Stout, Houston Conwill, and J.B. Murray, who draw from African sources are shown to be no less engaged in a spiritual transformation of the senses than the Haitian houngan. The curious difference is that, on the mainland, it is frequently the gallery or the museum that acts as the shelter for these assertions. Yet, even in this situation, concludes Regenia Perry, it is "the deeply rooted and firmly entrenched spiritualism" of Afro-Atlantic culture that "serves as [its] unifying element!' Bringing black spirituality into focus by revealing its relevance within contemporary life has been the special gift of Robert Farris Thompson,the Yale art historian and writer whose life's work has been dedicated to illuminating the African dimensions of the American experience. Thompson's essay, "The Song that Named the Land;' comprises over a third of the narrative section of the book. It represents the first time he has written so comprehensively on African-American contemporary art and the first time anyone has spelled out the motivational distinctions between THE CLARION
MAIN STREET ANTIQUES and ART Colleen and Louis Picek Folk Art and Country Americana I,
'\.1,t• .:. Ar,r/ •:::-:;.
•%.,$,••
Arikuglis-
(319) 643-2065 110 West Main, Box 340 West Branch, Iowa 52358 On Interstate 80
Send a self-addressed stamped envelope for our monthly Folk-Art and Americana price list
Beauty and the Beast An elegant George Kessler Illinois River mallard hen decoy and a folksy tin duck lawn sprinkler
ANTON HAARDT GALLERY David Butler Thornton Dial Sam Doyle Minnie Evans Howard Finster Lonnie Holly Clementine Hunter Calvin Livingston R. A. Miller B. F. Perkins Royal Robertson Juanita Rogers Mary T. Smith Henry Speller Jimmy Lee Sudduth Son Thomas Mose Tolliver Inez Walker Untitled, Inez Walker, 11x14
1220 SOUTH HULL STREET • MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA 36104 • (205) 263-5494 Summer 1991
55
Ertl
00K REVIEWS works by black artists such as Matthew Thomas and those of the modernists and post-modernists. There is also more than enough in "The Song that Named the Land" to keep folk art enthusiasts on the edge of their seats: for example, the stunning insights into encoded objects and gestures in black American "yard shows"; the linking of glossallalic writing in the art of the late Georgia visionary J.B. Murray and in the works of contemporary artists such as Rene Stout; conversations with these artists and others in which they openly discuss the development of their imagery; and in-depth perceptions of the laws of correspondence that drive this imagery. Thompson demonstrates, by example, the revelations that arise from active contact with artists, treating both historical and devotional works with a knowledge of their iconography and an openness to intention that sets a high standard for other art historians who,in the future, will have to reeducate themselves. To paraphrase the black critic
Greg Tate, this is an example of how to speak through the culture rather than simply about it. Since its publication in 1989, Black Art: Ancestral Legacy has been much discussed and evaluated, not only in art magazines but also in the popular press. Some omissions, although inevitable in a project of this size, are disturbing — the absence of David Hammons, Faith Rheingold, Jean Michel Basquiat, and Lonnie Holley among the artists, for example. Further criticism by young African-American scholars and writers, such as Tate (see: "Fear of a Mutt Palette" in the Voice Literary Supplement, Oct., 1990, p. 23) shed some light on these omissions and their opinions should be studied in conjunction with the book. Tate reminds us that contemporary discourse is progressing beyond the "cultural nationalism" of the 1960s. This "nationalism" is analagous to folklorists' fixations on "cultural purity" in a world where almost all societies are the product of mixing.
Writings such as Tate's "Fear of a Mutt Palette" are examples of the level of awareness that, in the future, must be applied to discourses on folk art as well. As he says,"It is not an overdetermined idea of ancestral imagery that makes work profoundly black or Afrocentric, but the artist's cultural literacy and fluency ... Ferrying us off to our own realm of the esthetic will not set us —Judith McWillie free JUDITH MCWILLIE is Associate Professor of Drawing and Painting at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. She is an exhibiting artist and a researcher of Afro-Atlantic tradition in the American South. She is a past contributor to The Clarion and curator of Another Face ofthe Diamond:Pathways Through the Black Atlantic South (INTAR Latin American Gallery, New York, 1989) and Even the Deep Things of God: A Quality of Mind in AfroAtlantic Traditional Art(The Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, 1990).
Inez Nathaniel Walker THE. GREY SMIRREL
May 18 - June 29, 1991
• NI• • •
A Gallery Celebrating the Spirit of American Craftsmanship for Collectors of all types of Folk Art. Fine Country and Painted Furniture Wonderful Windsors Fabulous Folk Art, Fracturs and Faux Finishes Graphic Quilts Serious Scherenschnitte ir4 Tantalizing Tole Hand Thrown Pottery and Other Beguiling American examples of wit, whimsey 8t ingenuity
liegooftomeso. The Grey Squirrel is located upstairs at Five Main St.(Rte 45)in the Village of New Preston, CT. Close to Lake Waramaug,outstanding Inns, Restaurants, Antique shops, Bookstores and Historic Litchfield.
Randall Gallery 999 North 13th, St. Louis, MO 63106 (314) 231-4808 Also featuring work by Howard Finster, Bessie Harvey, Jon Seri, Joe Salvatore, Gregory Van Maanen, S.L. Jones, Justin McCarthy, Raymond Coins, Tony Fitzpatrick, Bill Traylor, Joseph Yoakum, Sister Gertrude Morgan, Nellie Mae Rowe, James Harold Jennings and Miles Carpenter.
Thursday—Monday: Eleven to Five # 203-868-9750 56
THE CLARION
Li4.!*IDON
. OPKILYRUGS St KITS • NEEDLEP • QUILTS,. CERAMICS w Nantucket Gardens Series of hooked rugs. Send $5 for color catalog(refu firs,chase). ,.r.•!'.,'CLAIRE MUttRAYT. :. 1-603-543-0137 P.O.BOX 1089, DEPT.C,NORTH C4OLESTOWN,1+4 .45..V 3-9276 • NANTUCKET • SEATTLE • MO MELBOVRNE
•
and SI)ecatattue,
64nhlues,
6115 Main Street Vorhees, NJ 08043 (609) 751-6688 ALL YEAR CALL FOR HOURS 604 Broadway Barnegat Light, NJ 08006 (609) 494-0656 SEASONAL
Quilt made in 1840 by Anna Smith, Burlington County, N.J. We also have her sampler dated 1828.
Quality Country Furniture, Folk Art and Collectibles MARGARET RAPP
MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLK ART BOARD OF TRUSTEES Executive Committee Ralph Esmerian President Frances Sirota Martinson, Esq. Executive Vice President and Chairman, Executive Committee Lucy C. Danziger Executive Vice President Bonnie Strauss Vice President Peter M. Ciccone Treasurer Mrs. Dixon Wecter Secretary Karen D. Cohen Judith A. Jedlicka Joan M. Johnson Theodore L. Kesselman Susan Klein
Cynthia V.A. Schaffner George F. Shaskan, Jr.
Maureen Taylor Robert N. Wilson
Members Florence Brody Daniel Cowin David L. Davies Barbara Johnson, Esq. William I. Leffler George H. Meyer, Esq. Cyril I. Nelson William Schneck Kathryn Steinberg
Honorary Trustee Eva Feld 'fru,stees Emeriti Adele Earnest Cordelia Hamilton Herbert W. Hemphill, Jr. Margery G. Kahn Alice M.Kaplan Jean Lipman
DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE Judith A. Jedlicka Theodore L. Kesselman Co-Chairmen Lewis Alpaugh Hoechst Celanese Corporation Gordon Bowman Corporate Creative Programs
Frank Brenner Hartmarx Corporation John Mack Carter Good Housekeeping Jerry Kaplan Better Homes and Gardens Allan Kaufman
Francine Lynch Rachel Newman Country Living Thomas Troland Country Home Barbara Wright New York Telephone
INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL Frances Sirota Martinson, Esq. Mrs. Dixon Wecter Co-Chairmen Paul Anbinder William Arnett Didi Barrett Frank & June Barsalona Mary Black Susan Blumstein Judi Boisson Gray Boone Robert & Katherine Booth Barbara & Edwin Braman Milton Brechner Raymond Brousseau Edward J. Brown Charles Burden Tracy Cate Margaret Cavigga Joyce Cowin Richard & Peggy Danziger Marian DeWitt Davida Deutsch Charlotte Dinger Raymond & Susan Egan Margot Paul Ernst Helaine & Burton Fendelman Howard Fertig 58
Joanne Foulk Jacqueline Fowler Ken & Brenda Fritz Ronald J. Gard Robert S. Gelbard Dr. Kurt A. Gitter Merle & Barbara Glick Baron & Ellin Gordon Howard M. Graff Bonnie Grossman Michael & Julie Hall Lewis I. Haber Elaine Heifetz Terry Heled Anne Sue Hirshorn Josef & Vera Jelinek Eloise Julius Isobel & Harvey Kahn Allen Katz Mark Kennedy Arthur & Sybil Kern William Ketchum Susan Kraus Wendy Lavitt Mimi Livingston Marilyn Lubetkin Robert & Betty Marcus Paul Martinson Michael & Marilyn Mennello
Steven Michaan Alan Moss Kathleen S. Nester Helen Neufeld Henry Niemann Donald T. Oakes Paul Oppenheimer Ann Frederick & William Oppenhimer Dr. Burton W. Pearl Patricia Penn Dorothy & Leo Rabkin Harriet Polier Robbins Charles & Jan Rosenak Joseph J. Rosenberg Le Rowell Randy Siegel Sibyl Simon Susan Simon Ann Marie Slaughter Sanford L. Smith R. Scudder Smith Richard Solar Hume Steyer Jane Supino Edward Tishelman Tony & Anne Vanderwarker Clune Walsh John Weeden G. Marc Whitehead THE CLARION
Introducing:
MARK CASEY MILESTONE May 31
-
American Folk Art Sidney Gecker 226 West 21st Street • New York, N.Y 10011 • (212)929-8769
July 27
4,
Urban Artware Gallery 207 West Sixth Street Winston-Salem, NC 27101 (919) 722-2345
Watercolor of a girl holding her cat; 19th cent., New England Frame size: 12 x 10% inches
THE MUSEUM
SPECIAL EVENTS
OF AMERICAN FOLK ART requests the honor of your presence at the
MORNING WALKING TOURS $40.00 PER PERSON
OPENING NIGHT BENEFIT OF THE 1991 FALL ANTIQUES SHOW AT THE PIER Produced iiuI managed Is Sanford I. Smith
Wednesday, October 16, 1991 6 pm to 9 pm Festive Dress Pier 92, Berths 5 and 6 The Hudson River and West 52nd Street New York City Free shuttle buses will leave from the Museum of American Folk Art Eva and Morris Feld Gallery at Lincoln Square, Columbus Avenue and 66th Street (212/595-9533), on the hour and half hour Opening Night and throughout the Show.
Summer 1991
Includes entrance to the Show, a catalogue, and refreshments.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1991 10:00 AM "Living and Entertaining with American Antiques" Martha Stewart FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1991 10:00 AM "Collecting and Buying American Country Antiques" Mary Emmerling SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1991 10:00 Am "Decorating with Folk Art" Elissa Cullman SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1991 10:00 AM "Discovering American Folk Art for Children and Parents" Cynthia V. A. Schaffner
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CURRENT MAJOR DONORS
The Museum of American Folk Art greatly appreciates the generous support ofthe following friends: $20,000 and above Anheuser-Busch, Inc. Asahi Shimbun Ben & Jerry's Homemade,Inc. Better Homes & Gardens Judi Boisson Marilyn and Milton Brechner Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Chinon, Ltd. Estate of Thomas M.Conway Country Home The Joyce and Daniel Cowin Foundation Inc. Mt and Mrs. Frederick M. Danziger Mrs. Eva Feld Estate of Morris Feld Ford Motor Company Foundation Krikor The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation William Randolph Hearst Foundation James River Corporation/Northern Bathroom Tissue Kodansha, Ltd. Jean and Howard Lipman Joseph Martinson Memorial Fund Steven Michaan National Endowment for the Arts New York State Council on the Arts PaineWebber Group Inc. Philip Morris Companies Pro Helvetia, Arts Council of Switzerland Dorothy and Leo Rabkin Restaurant Associates Industries, Inc. Schlumberger Foundation Samuel Schwartz Two Lincoln Square Associates United States Information Agency Mrs. Dixon Wecter The Xerox Foundation $10,000-$19,999 ABSOLUT Vodka Estate of Mary Allis Amicus Foundation Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Martin Brody Lily Cates Country Living Culbro Corporation David L. Davies Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Deutsch Adele Earnest Fairfield Processing Corporation/Poly-fil Daniel and Jessie Lie Farber Walter and Josephine Ford Fund Taiji Harada Hartmarx Corporation Barbara Johnson, Esq. Joan and Victor L. Johnson Shirley and Theodore L. Kesselman Masco Corporation George H. Meyer
60
Kathleen S. Nester New York Telephone Mrs. Gertrude Schweitzer and Family Mr. and Mrs. George E Shaskan, Jr. Peter and Linda Solomon Foundation Springs Industries Mr. and Mrs. Robert Steinberg Barbara and Thomas W. Strauss Fund Robert N. and Anne Wright Wilson Wood Magazine $4,000-$9,999 The Bernhill Rind The David and Dorothy Carpenter Foundation Tracy Roy and Barbara Wahl Cate Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A. Mr. and Mrs. Edgar M.Cullman Mr. and Mrs. Richard Danziger Jacqueline Fowler Richard Goodyear Hoechst Celanese Corporation Margery and Harry Kahn Philanthropic Fund Lore Kann Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Robert Klein Wendy and Mel Lavitt George H. Meyer The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. Sallie Mae/Student Loan Marketing Association The Salomon Foundation S.H. and Helen R. Scheuer Family Foundation The William P. and Gertrude Schweitzer Foundation, Inc. Herbert and Nell Singer Foundation, Inc. Sotheby's Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Tananbaum Tiffany & Co. John Weeden The H.W. Wilson Foundation Norman and Rosita Winston Foundation $2,000-$3,999 American Folk Art Society American Savings Bank Estate of Abraham P. Bersohn The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Edward J. Brown Capital Cities/ABC The Coach Dairy Goat Farm Mr. and Mrs. Peter Cohen Mr. and Mrs. Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Mr. and Mrs. Donald DeWitt Richard C. and Susan B. Ernst Foundation Exxon Corporation Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Einbender Colonel Alexander W. Gentleman Cordelia Hamilton Justus Heijmans Foundation Johnson & Johnson Manufacturers Hanover Trust Marsh & McLennan Companies Christopher and Linda Mayer McGraw-Hill, Inc. Metropolitan Life Foundation Montefiore Medical Center Morgan Stanley & Co.,Incorporated
The New York Times Company Foundation, Inc. Ortho Pharmaceutical Corporation Betsey Schaeffer Robert T. and Cynthia V.A. Schaffner Mr. and Mrs. Derek V. Schuster Mr. and Mrs. Ronald K. Shelp Randy Siegel Joel and Susan Simon L.J. Skaggs and Mary C. Skaggs Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Austin Super Mt and Mrs. Richard T. Taylor lime Warner Inc. Alice Yelen and Kurt A. Gitter $1,000-$1,999 American Savings Bank William Amett The Bachmann Foundation Didi and David Barrett Mr. and Mrs. Frank Barsalona Michael Belknap Adele Bishop Edward Vermont Blanchard and M. Anne Hill Bloomingdale's Bozell Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Braman Mabel H. Brandon Ian G.M. and Marian M.Brownlie Morris B. and Edith S. Cartin Family Foundation Edward Lee Cave CBS Inc. Liz Claiborne Foundation Conde Nast Publications Inc. Consolidated Edison Company of New York The Cowles Charitable Rust Crane Co. Susan Cullman Gerald and Marie DiManno The Marion and Ben Duffy Foundation Deborah Dunn Echo Foundation Ellin F. Ente Margot and John Ernst Virginia S. Esmerian Mr.& Mrs. Thomas Ferguson Evelyn W. Frank Janey Fire and John Kalymnios Louis R. and Nettie Fisher Foundation M. Anthony Fisher Susan and Eugene Flamm The Flower Service Emanuel Gerard The Howard Gilman Foundation Selma and Sam Goldwitz Mr. and Mrs. Baron Gordon Renee Graubart Doris Stack Greene Terry and Simca Heled Alice and Ronald Hoffman Mr. and Mrs. David S. Howe IBM Corporation Inn on the Alameda Mr. and Mrs. Yee Roy Jear Judith A. Jedlicka
THE CLARION
THE SILVER1VIAN COLLECTION' A Unique Collection of"Ixtile Art Prints
41111 "Navajo Germantown Chief Blanket" circa 1880 JS-6A
An original signed silkscreen print by Jack Silverman. 30" x 41" ed. of 100 Arches paper $950. "Great collections are often the result of one man's inspiration and determination. Such is the collection of nineteenth century textiles brought together by artist-collector Jack Silverman. Silverrnan's goal has been simple: to assemble the finest examples of early Pueblo and Navajo textiles that he could find. By traveling throughout the country searching for and carefully buying and trading textiles, Silverman has developed a collection that is stunningly impressive. Accompanying the weavings are serigraphs created by Silverman. Employing a multiple layer technique of silkscreening, he achieves the illusion of woven texture. Through his serigraphs, Silverman seeks to document and disseminate the beauty of his collection." Robert Breunig, Chief Curator, The Heard Museum
Posters also available. Archival posters measure 24" x 36" and are produced on acid-free museum quality paper and printed with the finest fade-resistant inks. $35. MC/Visa
The Silverman Collection
Catalogue $3. Š 1990 Jack Silverman
PO Box 2610, Santa Fe, NM 87504-2610 505/982-6722
FAX: 505/982-6755
CURRENT MAJOR DONORS
Dr. and Mrs. J.E. Jelinek Isobel and Harvey Kahn Kallir, Philips, Ross, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Kaplan Lee and Ed Kogan Kyowa Haldco U.S.A. Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Lauder Estate of Mary B. Ledwith William and Susan Leffler Dorothy and John Levy James and Frances Lieu Macmillan, Inc. R.H. Macy & Co., Inc. Robert and Betty Marcus Foundation, Inc. Marstrand Foundation C.F. Martin IV Helen R. Mayer and Harold C. Mayer Foundation Marjorie W. McConnell Meryl and Robert Meltzer Brian and Pam McIver Michael and Marilyn Mennello The Mitsui USA Foundation Benson Motechin, C.P.A., P.C. National Westminster Bank USA New York Marion Marquis Mattie Lou O'Kelley Paul Oppenheimer Dr. and Mrs. R.L. Polak Random House, Inc. Cathy Rasmussen Ann-Marie Reilly Paige Rense Marguerite Riordan Mrs. John D. Rockefeller ifi Joanna S. Rose Willa and Joseph Rosenberg Mr. and Mrs. Jon Rotenstreich Schlaifer Nance Foundation Mr. and Mrs. William Schneck Mr. and Mrs. Richard Sears Rev. and Mrs. Alfred R. Shands Ill Mrs. Vera W. Simmons Philip and Mildred Simon Mrs. A. Simone Mr. and Mrs. Sanford L. Smith Mr. and Mrs. Richard L. Solar Mr. and Mrs. Elie Soussa Robert C. and Patricia A. Stempel
Sterling Drug Inc. Phyllis and Irving Tepper Anne D. Utescher H. van Ameringen Foundation Tony and Anne Vanderwarker Elizabeth and Irwin Warren Wayside Furniture Weil, Gotshal & Manges Foundation Wertheim Schroder & Co. Mr. and Mrs. John H. Winkler $500-$999 A&P Helen and Paul Anbinder Louis Bachman Baileys Original Irish Cream Liqueur Arthur and Mary Barrett David C. Batten Rogers. Berlimd Best Health Soda Peter and Helen Bing Robert and Katherine Booth Michael O. Braun Iris Cannel Classic Coffee Systems Limited Edward and Nancy Coplon Judy Angelo Cowen Edgar M.Cullman, Jr. D'Agostino's Allan L. Daniel The Dammann Fund,Inc. Days Inn — New York City Andre and Sarah de Coizart Mr. and Mrs. James DeSilva, Jr. Entenmann's Ross N. and Glady A. Faires Helaine and Burton Fendelman Mr. and Mrs. Howard Fertig Timothy C. Forbes Estelle E. Friedman Ronald J. Gard General Foods Mr. and Mrs. William L. Gladstone Irene and Bob Goodkind Great Performances Caterers Dr. and Mrs. Stanley Greenberg Grey Advertising, Inc. Connie Guglielmo The Charles U. Harris Living Trust
Denison H. Hatch Hedderson Lumber Yard Stephen Hill Holiday Inn of Auburn Mr. and Mrs. Albert L. Hunecke, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas C. Israel Guy Johnson Cathy M. Kaplan Louise Katninow Mary Kettaneh Barbara Klinger Janet Langlois Peter M. Lehrer Mr. & Mrs. Richard M.Livingston Hermine Mariaux Michael T. Martin Robin and William Mayer Mr. and Mrs. D. Eric McKechnie Gertrude Meister Gael Mendelsohn Pearson K. Miller New York Hilton and Towers at Rockefeller Plaza Mr. and Mrs. Arthur O'Day Geraldine M. Parker Dr. Burton W. Pearl Mr. and Mrs. Stanley M. Riker Betty Ring Mr. and Mrs. David Ritter Trevor C. Roberts Charles and Jan Rosenak Richard Sabino Mary Frances Saunders Sheraton Inn, Norwich Skidmore Owings & Merrill Smith Gallery Smithwick Dillon Amy Sommer Jerry I. Speyer David F. Stein Edward I. Tishelman David & Jane Walentas Marco P. Walker Washburn Gallery Frank and Barbara Wendt Anne G. Wesson G. Marc Whitehead Mr. & Mrs. John R. Young Marcia & John Zweig
OUR INCREASED MEMBERSHIP CONTRIBUTIONS DECEMBER 1990-FEBRUARY 1991 We wish to thank the following members for their increased membership contributions and for their expression of confidence in the Museum: Didi & David Barrett, New York, NY Rebecca A. Blackburn, Lafayette, LA
62
Barbara Bulley & Family, Highland Park, IL Barbara 8c Racy Cate, Maplewood, NJ Mr. & Mrs. Edgar Cullman, Jr., New York, NY Marjorie Currey, Dallas, TX Aaron & Judy Daniels, New York, NY Carl Ned Foltz, Reinholds, PA Karen Ann Frasco, New York, NY Mrs. Elizabeth Z. Johnstone, Mystic, CT
Barbara Kenworthy, Brooklyn, NY Natalie T. Levy, Brooklyn, NY Warren C. Lowe, Lafayette, LA Manic Lou O'Kelley, Decatur, GA David A. Mintz, Livingston, NJ Mildred Orlans, New York, NY Merrilee J. Posner, New York, NY Anne P. Schelling, Charlotte, NC
THE CLARION
NEW ENGLAND'S 8TH ANNUAL ULTIMATE CRAFT
SHOW & SALE!
"Considered the finest show of its type in the United States!" Exceptional artisans featured in EARLY AMERICAN LIFE, COUNTRY LIVING, COLONIAL HOMES & COUNTRY HOME magazines will be offering for sale authentic reproductions of American country & formal furniture & accessories, contemporary folk art, & country crafts. INCLUDING: Amish quilts, baskets, blacksmith, candles, carvings, clocks, copper, country & formal furniture & accessories, coverlets, decoys, dolls, grain painted items, dried flowers, lamp shades, lighting fixtures, needlework, pottery, primitive portraits, rugs, samplers, scissor cuttings, Shaker items, stencil work, teddy bears, tinsmith, toys, whirligigs, windsor chairs, & more!
LOCATION & SHOW HOURS
db.
ROYAL PLAZA TRADE CENTER, 1-495 and Rte 20. Marlborough, Massachusetts Directions North or South on Rte 495 to exit 24B Go straight west 1 mile to Royal Plaza Sign and turn right COLUMBUS DAY WEEKEND: OCTOBER 12- 13- 14, 1991 SATURDAY 5PM - 9PM Admission $5.00 SUNDAY 11AM - 6PM Admission $4.00 MONDAY 11AM - 5PM Admission $4.00
cbb •cf".•
ROYAL MARLBOROUGH PLAZA EXIT 248 RTE. 20 • \0.1
B1E- \-"
BOSTON
Of' 1??..
A Great Way to Augment Your Antique Collection'
Country Folk Art Festival
128
Judy Marks P.O. Box 134, Glen Ellyn, IL. 60138 (708) 858-1568
HANCOCK
SHAKER VILLAGE AMERICANA ARTISANS CRAFTS SHOW JULY 13 & 14
ANTIQUES SHOW
Saturday & Sunday 10:00 a.m. — 5:00 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday 10:00 a.m. — 5:00 p.m.
AUGUST 24 & 25
$5 admission,$11 to both Show & Village
$5 admission,$11 to both Show & Village
Professional artisans from 15 states will offer reproductions of 18th & 19th century traditional arts & crafts, fine furniture, folk art, decorative accessories for the home, prints, clothing,jewelry, lea therwork, children's goods, Christmas specialties and Shaker reproductions.
This distinguished and comprehensive show features American country and period formal furniture of the 18th and 19th centuries, appropriate decorative accessories, textiles, ceramics, fine art, folk art, prints, silver,jewelry, and architectural elements. And fine Shaker furniture & accessories.
Junction of Routes 20 & 41 5 miles west of Pittsfield, Mass. Managed by Marilyn Gould (203) 762-3525 For information:(413)443-0188 Summer 1991
63
MICKI BETH STILLER, Esq., formerly of Sweetgum Galleries, is pleased to announce the opening of COTTON BELT and her collaboration with BARRISTER'S GALLERY, New Orleans.
Bernice Sims
Baptism in Water Ruth Mae McCrane /Angel's Chicken Shack mixed media on canvas / 18" x 24"
COTTON BELT
225 SOUTH DECATUR STREET MONTGOMERY, AL 36104 205 834-5544 BY APPOINTMENT
Oil on canvas 16"x 20"
BARRISTER'S GALLERY 526 ROYAL STREET NEW ORLEANS, LA 70130 504 525-2767
$23.95 Sc $34.95 ho $2395 Sc $34.95 hc The New Lone Sow Quilt Handbook
Guy Quih alysary I I, NIA,'Is
(.11 Itli
Dndscapes Illusions
$19.95 $1495 $15.95
$19.95
$19.95
The Classic Favorites Quilting •Applique • Wearable Art• Crafts $14.95
64
C&T Publishing AT QUILT AND FABRIC SHOPS, AND BOOKSTORES. OR ORDER oilmen C&T PUBLISHING, 5021 BLum RD.#1-C6-1, MARTINEZ,CA 94553• FOR CATALOG CALL 800-284-1114 415-370-9600• CA ADD 7% TAX •$3 UPS $1 EA. ADD'L BOOK
$15.95
Scenes of JieMirties
3‘ U11( MUTH Write or Phone For Descriptive List alARCIA MUTH Studio—Gallery 2336 Camino Carlos Rey Santa Fe,NM 87505 (505)473-2688 THE CONCERT
20" x 26"
Visitors Welcome By Appointment
"Courage, The Boat" by Nancy Thomas'
3941 San Felipe
Houston,Texas 77027
Acrylic on Canvas
M
OUR GROWING MEMBERSHIP DECEMBER 1990-FEBRUARY 1991
The Museum trustees and staff extend a special welcome to these new members: K.A. Adams, Lansing, MI Letty Albarran, New York, NY Jennifer Alexander, Dallas, TX Robert & Susan Altshuler, New York, NY Marris Ambrose, New York, NY Art Anderson, Walpole, NH Allison Annon, Ormond Beach,FL Oscar Appel, Cedar Grove, NJ Barbara E. Appleyard, Hillsboro, NH Nancy Armstrong, Sacramento, CA Dr. & Mrs. B. Bacharach, Brigantine, NJ Shirley S. Baer, Norwell, MA John & Diane Balsley, Brown Deer, WI Kathleen Bartlett, New York, NY Judith Bell, Houston, TX Patricia S. Bennett, New York, NY Berkeley Public Library, Berkeley, CA Emily Berlin, West Cornwall, CT Esther Bernstein, Rockville Centre, NY W.L. Berry, New Orleans, LA Genuna Biggi, New York, NY Dewey Blacicsna, Holland, MI Margarita Blasco, Armonk, NY Roberta Block, Hewlett, NY Lois Bordner, Old Lyme,CT Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Boyle, Brooklyn, NY Joan Furedi Boyle, Brooklyn, NY Susan W. Brisbin, Las Cruces, NM Susan Gardner Brooks, Brooklyn, NY Anne W. Buford, Richmond, VA Marion Burg, Clarendon Hills, IL 'nixie Burke, Pelham Manor, NY Dr. Angela Butler, Upper Montclair, NJ Edna T. Cadillac, Saddle River, NJ Jean M. Calabrese, Naples, NY David A. Cantwell, Houston, TX Jeanne Capalbo, Brooklyn, NY Pat Caron, Chicago,IL John Cash, New York, NY Pattie Cerar, Shipbottom, NJ N.L. Chandler, Burke, VA Mrs. L.O. Chandler, Phillipston, MA Janis L. Clark, Houston, TX Kathleen Clayton, La Canada,CA Richard M.Cloney, York, PA David P. Colts, Youngstown, OH Cathie Conduitte, Miami, FL Joan Hayes Conklin, Suffern, NY George W. Cooper, Port Washington, NY Dorothy Cozart, Waukomis, OK Joseph J. Cronin, Palos Verdes Est., CA TV. Daley Jr. Bronxville, NY Thomas M. Davidson, Darien, CT Jamie De Roy, New York, NY John DeCristofaro, Watennill, NY Nancy Dennis, New York, NY Libby Dicker, Pocono Summit,PA Barbara Dickinson-Smith, Kennebunk, ME Nelson Dittmar, Cranford, NJ
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Tim Dixon, Media,PA Katherine Doran, Brooklyn, NY Lynne Douglas, New York, NY Carleen A. Eden, Erie,PA Janean Ensign, New York, NY Carol E. Faill, Harrisburg, PA Dian Fatula, Philadelphia, PA Laura Fisher, New York, NY A. Georg Fleischer, Staten Island, NY June Foster, San Francisco, CA Renee Fotouhi, New York, NY Mrs. Robert Fox, Meadowbrook,PA Charlotte Frank, New York, NY Micki Frankel, New York, NY Gordon Freesman family, Englewood Cliffs, NJ Sally L. Frey, New York, NY Carolee Friedlander, Greenwich, CT Rose Mary Fry, San Antonio,TX Paul Furgatch, Charlotte, NC A.G. Gardner, San Francisco, CA Peter S. Garre, New London, NH Diane Gerard, Morristown, NJ C.M. Grabowski-van Ginkel, Miami,FL Marilynn Gladstone, Miami,FL Milton Glaser, New York, NY Charlie N. Glassman, Scarsdale, NY Sherri Golden, New York, NY Robert Goodrich, Newville, PA Nancy H. Gordon,Palo Alto, CA Megan Granda, Austin, TX Sheila J. Grannen, Chicago, IL Deborah & Tennyson Grebenar, Boulder, CO Ms. L.L. Green, Brooklyn, NY Myrna & Bob Greenhall, Margaretville, NY Liza Greenwald, New York, NY Francine Grillo, Yonkers, NY Mrs. Bernice Grisorio, Irvington, NY Tamara Grobovsky, New York, NY Nellie V. Hadden, New York, NY Helen Hadjiyannakis, New York, NY Thomas Hamilton, Rockville, MD Sharon K. Hancock, New York, NY Hand-Mad, Hoboken, NJ Cynthia Harris, New York, NY Mr. & Mrs. Gilbert Harrison, New York, NY Fritz Hatt, Birmingham, MI Christine Wenuner Haupert, San Francisco, CA Pamela Hawkins, Flushing, NY John P. Hay,Grand Rapaids, MI Margaret Hazard, New Haven,CT Burton Heath, Montgomery, NY Aubrey B. Heckler, New York, NY J. Oyarzo Hickey, Palo Alto, CA Mrs. Rosemary Hitt, Jackson, MS Kay Trent Holloway, Potomac, MD Margareta B. Holtz, Moorestown, NJ Sue Hottenroth, New York, NY Tracy Hughes, New York, NY Kim A. Humphries, Brooklyn, NY Kathleen Hutcheson,Farmington, CT Mrs. Joan B. Hutchison, New Canaan, CT
Cannel Irons, New York, NY Carol H. Isaacs, New York, NY Mrs. Audrey Jacobs, Hebron,IN Christopher Jacoby, Pittsburgh, PA Dr. A. Everette James, Nashville, TN Susan Jenkins, London, England Rupert Jennings, Arlington, VA Christina E. Johnson, Philadelphia, PA Nancy Jones, Brooklyn, NY Robert W.Jones, Bronxville, NY R. Jorgensen, Wells, ME Gary Keefe, Chicopee, MA Lewis Keister, Panorama City, CA Nicki Kessler, Summit, NJ Lauren & Sally Kiest, Denver, CO Thelma Klein, New York, NY Ebenezer Knowlton, New York, NY Mrs. Monna Koger, Belle Plaine, KS Sarah & Victor Kovner, New York, NY Mr. & Mrs. Eric Krasnoff, Glen Cove, NY Mr. & Mrs. John Krasnoff, Union, NJ S. Kraus, Inc., New York, NY Arthur Kravetz, Bay Head, NJ Janis Krohn, Ann Arbor, MI Hedie Krueger, Fort Wayne,IN Constance Laessig, Lakewood,OH Robert Landry, Essex, MA William Laverack, Jr, Darien, CT Roselyn Leibowitz, Forest Hills, NY Sheldon Lerman, Ruxton, MD Meryl Lewis, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY Juan Lezcano, Miami, FL Debbie Linde, Huntsville, AL Jim Linderman, New York, NY Duff Lindsay, South Vienna, OH Roseanne M. Lipman, New York, NY Grace Lippman, Monroe, NY Nicholas A. Lobasso, Brooklyn, NY Nancy Login, West Caldwell, NJ Dorothy Long, Fort Lauderdale, FL Theo C. Lovell, Schenectady, NY Shelley Lowell, Atlanta, GA Mary Ann Luciano, New York, NY Barbara Lund, Brooklyn, NY David MacGregor, Washington, DC Mr.& Mrs.William E. Macht, Langhorne,PA Nancy A. Maclearie, Manasquan, NJ Jeff Maddy, St. Albans, WV Kimberly Maier, So. Orange, NJ Margaret Maier, Lincolnwood, IL Beverly Marcus, Riverdale, NY Marilyn H. Mason, Myrtle Beach, SC Nedra Matteucci, Santa Fe, NM Jan McCauley, Wauwatosa, WI Jean R. McDonough,Princeton, NJ Polly McDowell, Cleveland Heights, OH Mary McKown, Wichita, KS Rosemary G. McMahon, New York, NY Steven McMahon, Marietta, GA Mrs. Daniel G. McMullen,Palm Harbor, FL Ann McNulty, Columbus, WI
THE CLARION
fir
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11;14(5
31st Annual
Berkshire Garden Center ANTIQUES SHOW July 5 & 6,1991 Friday, 10-5:30 & Saturday, 10-5 Berkshire Performing Arts Center Kemble Street, Rt. 7A LENOX,MASSACHUSETTS
JOHN C. HILL AMERICAN INDIAN ART AMERICAN FOLK ART 6990 E. MAIN ST., Second Floor SCOTTSDALE,AZ 85251 (602)946-2910 Specializing in early Navajo and Pueblo jewelry, historic Pueblo pottery, Navajo blankets and rugs,southwest baskets and early Kachina dolls
Admission $5.00 with card/ad $4.50(one or two people) Early Buying & Continental Breakfast Saturday, 9:00-10:00 AM Admission $10.00 65 outstanding exhibitors from 10 states showing country and formal furniture, appropriate decorative accessories, folk and fine art,jewelry and textiles, indoors and in-room settings For information (413)298-3926
Managed by Marilyn Gould (203)762-3525
JULY 11 - AUGUST 31 INEZ NATHANIEL WALKER DRAWINGS FROM PRISON TO HOSPITAL: 1972-1990
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HOWARD FINSTEli R.A. MILLER J.B. MURRY MOSE T. HOME-MADE ART: FOLK • OUTSIDER • NAIF TRAYLOR • SPELCE • SCHEFFLEY • Al KEN • BISSONNETTE "OLD IRONSIDES" PRY • WILSON • WARFLE • FINSTER • McCARTHY
'JJJGNAGiCiM 147 MAIN STREET,BURLINGTON,VT 05401 802-658-5123
Summer 1991
NELLIE MAE ROWE And
Other Outsider Artists
John Denton 20 Main St., P.O. Box 429• Hiawassee, GA 30546 (404) 896-4863• Fax (404) 896-1212 67
TOAD HALL SARATOGA New York Artist Open House Saturday July 27,1991 12-6 PM 350 Broadway Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 (518) 583-0149 (24 x 36) Going to the Movies by Janet Munro
Barbara Olsen ilIZETE1=
6920-156 Koll Center Parkway #214 Pleasanton, CA 94588 (415)846-7312 FAX (415)846-2410 30 1/2 x 34 1/2 • oil on linen • painted frame • "A Kinder Gentler World"
68
"WORK BY ROBERT ROBERG • TALENT BY YAHWEH" Dedicated Pacifist and Street Minister Robert Roberg started painting as a means of witnessing to bystanders. Untrained and selftaught, Roberg credits YAWEH for his talent. His themes are centered around salvation and the Apocalypse. His body of work is now available to collectors along with works by other Southern Artists.
G.H. VANDER ELST Non-Traditional Folk Art THE WHORE OF BABYLON,1989 (30"x 24", Tempra & Acrylic on Canvas)
ROBERT ROBERG
1323 Mallard Drive Franklin, TN 37064 (615)794-9631
Howard Finster • Joseph Hardin • Lonnie Holley • Tiree Hudson • James H. Jennings • B.F. Perkins • Hugo Sperger • Vannoy Streeter • Jimmie L. Sudduth • Mose Tolliver• Fred Webster• and others•
VA I LLANCOURT FOL
ART
FRIENDS
Quinn REPRODUCTIONS 145 ARMSBY RD., SurroN, MA.01590(508)-865-9183 MoN.-FRI: 9-5, SAT. & SUN: 11-5
ETM
OUR GROWING MEMBERSHIP
Bryan McNutt, Arlington, TX Selby Watkins McRae,Jackson, MS Sonie Meit, Plantation, FL John L. Michel, New York, NY Mrs. Ernest J. Milano, Albany, NY Bamaby Millard, New York, NY Beverly Mirecki, Newport Beach, CA Caroline Moore, Brooklyn, NY Linda Moore, Brooklyn, NY Linda S. Moore, Appleton, WI Katherine Morgan, Flushing, MI Alan Moss, New York, NY Henia Muller, Toronto, Canada Patricia W. Munro, New York, NY Bob Newman, New York, NY Joe Nicholson, San Antonio, TX Northern California Women's Facility, Stockton, CA Maggie Norris, New York, NY Peter Norton, Santa Monica,CA Donal C. O'Brien, Jr., New Canaan, CT Evelyn O'Connor, New York, NY Mr. John Oliphant, Concord, MA Mrs. Robert Oppenheimer, Jenkintown, PA Wendy Seewagen Orenstein, New York, NY Patsy Overfield, Kerrville, TX Karen Finley & Michael Ovem, Nyack, NY David Pai-Ritchie, Glendale, CA Angela Fodale Palladino, New York, NY Sandra Pape, Grafton, WI Linda Parker, New York, NY Robert Parker, Chicago,IL Martine Parmentier, Olivenhain, CA Louise Patenaude, Otterbum Park, Canada Robert E. Pearce, Knoxville, TN Judy Peiser, Memphis,TN Mrs. Henry Pfeiffer, Chatham, NJ Geoffrey Piker, Washington, DC Herve Pinet, New York, NY Matthew Pittorie, Guilford, CT David Pleydell-Bouverie, Glen Ellen, CA William & LuAnn Polk, Groton, MA Yvonne Porcella, Modesto, CA Marilyn Putnam, New York, NY Annabelle L. Redway, Washington, DC
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Andrew D.Reis, New York, NY Beth Reynolds, Ellsworth, ME L. Rheuban, Canfield, OH Jerome Robbins, New York, NY Betty D. Robins, Columbia, MO Ruth Marks Rosen, Phoenix, AZ Dyan Rosenberg, Ryebrook, NY Luise Ross Gallery, New York, NY Tom Russell, Brooklyn, NY Louise Schachter, Linden, NJ Arlene H. Schachtner, Woodhaven, NY Marie A. Schmidt, Apple Valley, CA Rex W. Scouten, Fairfax, VA Ann Sears, Norton, MA Phyllis Arlow & Don Seeger, Great Neck, NY Tony L. Shank, Marion, SC Pauline Share, New Carlisle, OH Ed Sherman, Sacramento, CA Jay Siegelaub, Montrose, NY Deen Day Smith, Norcross, GA Linda A. Solimine, New York, NY Amy Sommer, New York, NY Marcia Spark, Tucson, AZ Judy Speezak, New York, NY Pauline Spiegel, St. Louis, MO Christine Splotta, Fort Lee, NJ Melie T. Spofford, Bedford, NY Geraldine R. Staadecker, North Bergen, NJ Robert Stebleton, Wiscasset, ME Dixie A. Stedman, Bath, ME Richard Steinberg, Stamford, CT J.M. Stewart, Victoria, Canada Joyce Stichman, New York, NY Mrs. George A. Stoddart, Mt. Kisco, NY Meryl Stoller, New York, NY Diane S. Stone, Modesto, CA Gerda Strupp, Fond du Lac, WI Swets Subscription Service, Berwyn,PA Pamela Tapp, Los Angeles, CA Joanna Taylor, Camarillo, CA Joseph M. Techet, Chicago,IL Andrea Thorns, Bloomfield, NJ Kathleen Thomson, Ann Arbor, MI Katherine Tredway, Crozier, VA Grace Trotter, Penn Valley, CA Edward M.Tugh, Milwaukee, WI Andrew Tuzinski, Millerstown, PA
G.H. Vander Elst, Franklin, TN Lois Verdi, San Francisco, CA Edward J. Wahl, Seattle, WA Juanita Fern Walker, Oakland, CA Mr. & Mrs. T.G. Walker, III, Stuart, FL Charles Warren, Huntsville, TX Pamela Webster, Shade, OH Janet West, White Plains, NY Mr. Bruce Williams, Colts Neck, NJ Charles H. Winberg, Richmond, VA Barbara Windom,Tesuque, NM Howard Witt, Youngstown, OH Marcilene K. Wittmer, Miami, FL Steve Woods, Baton Rouge, LA Mrs. Barbara Ziff, Narragansett, RI
Additional names for our new membership list: Walter L. Bomberger, Jr., Manheim,PA Emily Rand Breitner, West Boothbay Harbor, ME Linda Bronfman, Toronto, Canada Daniel L. Buccino, Baltimore, MD Richard B. Crockett, Fayetteville, NY Jill Davis-Newman, Columbus, OH Lin Druschel, Berkeley, CA Andrea B. Ehrlich, Philadelphia, PA Diane Gingold, Washington, DC John P. Grauer, Wayne,PA Mrs. Sherman V. Hasbrouck, Stone Ridge, NY Arleen Kestenbaum, New York, NY Linda Kitson, Brooklyn, NY Grace Lippman, Monroe, NY Susan K. Loda, Glenville, NC Daphne Loft, Westfield, NJ W. McMaster, Costa Mesa, CA Marilyn Meyer, Sparta, NJ Georgiana C. Mundy,Fort Lee, NJ Herb & Roberta Nechin, Chicago, IL Virginia W. Nelson, Annville,PA Patricia Newbauer, Newfane, VT William H. Overman, Jr., Wilmington, NC Beverly Ann Scaff, Fair Haven, NJ Rick A. Share, New York, NY Jane B. Stewart, Brooklyn, NY Dennis P. Sullivan, Abington, MA Weir Handmade, Rittman, OH
THE CLARION
Gra
MARKETPLACE TOP QUALITY DECOYS AND FOLK ART: Please send $1.00 for current illustrated list of over 100 items in original paint. Everything is guaranteed to be as represented. Russ Goldberger, RJG Antiques, PO. Box 2033, Hampton, NH 03842, 603/926-1770. PARK SLOPE FRAMING and GALLERY: Unique custom framing service and exhibition space. Innovative solutions using an extraordinary selection of framing materials. Extensive experience with textiles. Only acid-free materials used. Delivery available. All work guaranteed. By appointment only. 718/768-4883. IN THE HEART OF THE SOUTH. One of the South's largest inventories of contemporary folk art. Representing most major artists. Photos upon request. Call or write now! Sweetgum Galleries, PO. Box 5202, Montgomery, Alabama 36103. 205/567-9798. NOVA SCOTIA FOLK ART FESTIVAL, Sunday, August 4th, 12:00-6:00, St. James Parish Hall Grounds, Blockhouse, NS (one hour from Halifax). Features over 300 contemporary folk art works, special exhibitions, auction. For information, contact Pat Wyllie, RR #3, Bridgewater, NS B4V 2W2. Tel. 902/766-4382. LIMITED EDITION CARVINGS of pine, poplar, and basswood, ornamented with acrylics, brass, copper, dried grasses, dyes, fire and water, flour, glazes, hair, leather, pewter, sawdust, stains, string,twigs, and wire. Free color brochure. Bush Prisby, 388 Ingomar, Pittsburgh, PA 15216. CONTEMPORARY FOLK AND OUTSIDER ART. Andy Kane, Trotsky, Arthur James, Jim Dana, Jack Savitsky, many artists in Rosenak's book. Photos sent on request. Linderman Folk and Outsider Art, 530 West 46 Street #3W, New York, NY 10036. 212/ 307-0914. By Appointment. BRAZILIAN FOLK ART & AMAZONIAN INDIAN ART. Several hundred items on display. Carved wooden votive sculptures (exvotos), Macumba Candomble alSummer 1991
tar irons (ferramentos), Carrancas, and various Indian art of fifteen tribes. Tribe Gallery, 196 7th Avenue, Brooklyn N.Y. 11215. 718/499-8200. RUSSIA AS YOU LIKE IT. Special tours to RUSSIA (Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev, Tallinn) for textile artists and collectors organized in Fall and Winter 1991/92. 18-day all-inclusive packages cost $2,500. For information and reservation forms call 212/568-3706. Deadline July 1. FOLK ART OF OAXACA, MEXICO — THE DAY OF THE DEAD. Explore the craft villages of Oaxaca during El Dia de los Muertos, October 24-November 5, 1991. Information: Linda Craighead, 525 West End Avenue, 12F, New York, NY 10024. 212/496-5337. WANTED: Information on group-made quilts, new or old, and the people who made them for a book on communal quilting. Also interested in photos of groups working together, diary entries on quilting bees, etc. Contact Jacquie Atkins, 139 W. 19th Street, NY, NY 10011. 212/924-2963. FANCY FINISHES — THADDEUS & JOSEFSDOTTER, INC. Glazing: Clouds-country grainingfantasy finishes-marbling sponging, trompe l'oeil, woodgraining, stenciling, gilding, leafing. Mark Maillaro (718-7790555) & Eva Mizrakjian (212-4960926); Studio: 2231 Broadway, New York, N.Y. CLASSIFIED AD RATES: $95.00 per insertion. Box and phone numbers count as two words. Abbreviations and zip codes count as one word. Area codes must accompany phone numbers. Maximum is 40 words (including headline and address). Check or money order must accompany copy and be received prior to closing date. Make checks payable to MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLK ART, The Clarion Classified Ad Dept., 61 West 62 Street, New York, N.Y. 10023 NO PROOFS WILL BE FURNISHED FOR CLASSIFIED ADS.
600 EXHIBITORS — many under tenting June 8 - 9 and Aug. 31 - Sept. 1 L) E a\' 0 4 t°
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Sat. 10 am - 6 pm Sun. 9 am - 4 pm Free parking Admission: $3.00
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A national antiques event with leading dealers offeringfolk art,china,quilts,baskets, glass, clocks, dolls, primitives, advertising, jewelry,silver, Americana,vintage clothing, paintings, Orientalia, lighting, tools, toys, a great variety of reasonably priced country and formal furniture, and 1000's of fine collectibles. Early Admission Saturday at 7:00 am — $20.00 Farmington (CT)Polo Grounds Exit 39 off 1-84,9 miles west of Hartford
Revival Promotions,Inc. P.0.Box 388, Grafton, MA 01519 71
JAY JOHNSON America's Folk Heritage Gallery 1044 Madison Avenue, N.Y., N.Y. 10021
Tuesday thru Sunday 11-6 Closed Monday. 212-628-7280
"Grandma Moses On Main Street, Eagle Bridge, New York" by Barbara Schrag 01.1 on Canvas 30" x 40"
U41
I TISERS INDEX TO ADVE'
Inside Front Cover America Hurrah 57 Americana by the Seashore 23 American Masterpieces 13 American Primitive Gallery 22 Ames Gallery of American Folk Art 21 Antique Dealers' Assoc. of America 15 Joshua Baer & Company 64 C & T Publishing 4 Robert Cargo Folk Art Gallery 5 Cavin-Morris, Inc. 64 Cotton Belt/Barrister's Gallery 63 Country Folk Art Festival 67 John Denton 6 Double K Gallery 2 Laura Fisher 19 Gasperi Gallery 59 Sidney Gecker American Folk Art 11 Giampietro 17 Gilley's Gallery 72
56 The Grey Squirrel 55 Anton Haardt Gallery 67 John C. Hill Inside Back Cover Hirschl & Adler Folk 19 Lynne Ingram 72 Jay Johnson 18 Leon Loard Gallery 63,67 MCG Antiques Promotions, Inc. 55 Main Street Antiques 71 Marketplace/Classified 6 Frank J. Miele 1 Steve Miller Museum of Amer. Folk Art Fall 59 Antique Show 18 Leslie Muth Gallery 65 Marcia Muth Studio — Gallery 57 The Nantucket Collection 68 Barbara Olsen 12 Outside-in
Virginia Pope,Inc./Cave and Niles, Ltd. 12 29 J.E. Porcelli 56 Randall Gallery 71 Revival Promotions,Inc. 3 Roger Ricco/Frank Maresca 17 Luise Ross Gallery John Keith Russell Back Cover Antiques, Inc. 22 Brigitte Schluger 24 David A. Schorsch 61 The Silverman Collection 7 The Tartt Gallery 68 Toad Hall 59 Urban Artwear Gallery 69 Vallancourt Folk Art & Friends 69 G.H.Vander Elst 67 Webb & Parsons 65 Eldred Wheeler of Houston 8 Thos. K. Woodard THE CLARION
Portrait of Miss Adlaid L. Wetheril • by J. A.(Jane) Davis Aug. 4. 1845 • Watercolor & pencil on paper • actual size shown
Hirschl & Adler Folk 851 Madison Avenue, New York, NewYork 10021 (212)988-3655
JOILX kETTH ITSSELL AVIWES, L\,t. An Admirable Collection Reflecting Fine Shaker Design, From The Mount Lebanon Community.
SPRING STREET,SOUTH SALEM, WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N,Y. 10590 (914)763-8144 • FAX:(914)763-3553 TUESDAY-SUNDAY 10:00-5:30