Folk Art (Spring 1996)

MAGAZINE OF THE MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLK ART * SPRING 1996 * $6.00

40 *OK'44

%

EDDIE

ARNING

HOUSE

DRAWINGS

HILL 407 W. BROWN STREET BIRMINGHAM

GALLERY MICHIGAN 810-540-9288

STEVE MILLER • AMERICAN FOLK ART •

WILLIAM MATTHEW PRIOR "Child of the Coplan Family" Oil on cardboard. Paintings of black subjects are exceptionally rare. This example is a superb rendition of a child painted by Prior in the 1845 period. Provenance: Peter Tillou. Exhibited: National Galleiy, Washington, D.C.

17 East 96th Street, New York, New York 10128(212)348-5219 Gallery hours are from 1:00 pm until 6:00 pm,Tuesday through Saturday.

Other hours are available by appointment.

CHEST A fine paint decorated pine blanket chest, New England, c. 1840 34" W x 16" D x 27" H

BIRD Woodcarved and polychromed, probably Pennsylvania, c. 1900 8" Lx 6"H

photos by Tinsley & Laakso

TABLE A paint decorated side table with single drawer, Southeastern Pennsylvania, c. 1840-50 21 1/4" x 21 1/2" top, 31" H

tale

1-1116e

AMERICAN ANTIQUES FOLK AND DECORATIVE ARTS P.O. Box 1653 . Alexandria, Virginia 22313 703-329-8612

— Office of

S.E.HOLDE

11111111111111111111111111!

John Sideli Art & Antiques Stylish Objects ofthe 18th, 19th &20th Centuries 241 ROUTE 71 • PO BOX 149 • NORTH EGREMONT, MA 01252 • 413. 528. 2789

WOODARD& GREFASTEITS AMERICAN

ANTIQUES

Patriotic Quilt. Pieced and appliquE. Late 19th Century. 79 x 80 inches.

WOODARD WEAVE CLASSIC AMERICAN WOVEN CARPETS, AREA RUGS AND RUNNERS IN AUTHENTIC HISTORIC PATTERNS AND COLORS. Catalogue $6.00 506 East 74th Street New York, N.Y. 10021 •(212)988-2906m We are always interested in purchasing exceptional quilts. Photographs returned promptly. Telephone responses welcome.

FOLK ART VOLUME 21, NUMBER 1 / SPRING 1996 (FORMERLY THE CL4RION)

FEATURES

Cover: Detail of LOG CABIN, Barn Raising Design; Mary Jane Smith (1833-1869); Whitestone, Queens County, New York; 1861-1865; pieced cotton, wool, and velvet; 7334 x 81". Museum of American Folk Art, gift of Mary D. Bromham, grandniece of Mary Jane Smith. 1987.9.1

THE QUILT PROJECTS:HI-TEEN YEARS LATER Shelly Zegart

28

ROBERT PECKHAM: UNSUNG RURAL MASTER David Krashes

38

DIALOGUES WITH STONE: WILLIAM EDMONDSON,ERNEST "POPEYE"REED, AND TED LUDWICZAK Maridean Hutton

46

This quilt was documented by the New York Quilt Project. See page 35.

Folk Art is published four times a year by the Museum of American Folk Art,61 West 62nd Street, NY,NY 10023, Tel. 212/977-7170, Fax 212/977-8134. Prior to Fall 1992, Volume 17, Number 3,Folk Art was published as The Clarion. Annual subscription rate for members is included in membership dues. Copies are mailed to all members. Single copy $6.00. Published and copyright 1996 by the Museum of American Folk Art,61 West 62nd Street, NY, NY 10023. The cover and contents of Folk Art 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. Folk Art assumes no responsibility for the loss or damage of such materials.

Change of address: Please send both old and new addresses and allow five weeks for change. Advertising: Folk Art endeavors to accept 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 of services 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 of folk art and it is a violation of its 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 Folk Art that illustrate or describe objects that have been exhibited at the Museum within one year of placing an advertisement.

DEPARTMENTS

EDITOR'S COLUMN

6

DIRECTOR'S LETTER

11

MINIATURES

17

MUSEUM REPRODUCTIONS PROGRAM

62

MUSEUM NEWS

64

BOOK/VIDEO REVIEWS

70

TRUSTEES/DONORS

72

SPRING PROGRAMS

74

TRAVELING EXHIBITIONS

75

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

80

SPRING 1996 FOLK ART 5

EDITOR'S

COLUMN

ROSEMARY GABRIEL

helly Zegart is a recognized leader in the field of quilt scholarship and has devoted the last nineteen years of her life to collecting, selling, and studying quilts. Much of her work has been to spread interest in and appreciation for a wonderful textile art form, both in the United States and abroad. Zegart is a founder of The Kentucky Quilt Project, Inc., formed in 1981. She and her cofounders, together with all the directors of all the quilt projects that followed, have been responsible for documenting more than 157,000 quilts. Their work has resulted in an archive that will serve scholars and quilt enthusiasts forever. In her essay "The Quilt Projects: Fifteen Years Later," starting on page 28,Zegart outlines the task that the first state quilt project had to tackle and how it spearheaded the quilt project movement. Zegart applauds the dedicated leaders and volunteers who participated in the quilt projects—without their many hours of work, this phenomenon could not have taken place.

The Museum is very proud of its role in the New York Quilt Project and of Phyllis Tepper,the project's director, and of the dauntless work done in the field of quilt scholarship by Cathy Rasmussen in her role as director of the Museum's Great American Quilt Festivals. Zegart's essay is a tribute to them and to all the volunteers who worked with them.

Robert Peckham is a name that is not well known in the art field, except to those lovers of early nineteenth-century folk painting; David Krashes is such a lover. He and his wife have been collecting folk painting and antique furniture for more than forty years. Krashes is LOG CABIN STAR; Ellen Smith Tooke Vanzant and her daughvery familiar with the Peckham paintings ter Mattie Tooke Morris; Trigg County, Kentucky; c. 1890in the collection of the Forbush Memorial 1900; cotton;82 x 80.Collection of Sammie K. Morris Library in Westminster, Massachusetts, as well as those in Boston, Cooperstown, and New York."Robert Peckham: Unsung Rural Master," by David Krashes, starting on page 38,is an interesting introduction to a painter of elegant portraits and is illustrated with eleven stunning examples of his work.

"Dialogues with Stone: William Edmondson,Ernest "Popeye" Reed, and Ted Ludwiczak," written by Maridean Hutton, contrasts the motivation and technical approach of three very different folk sculptors, and suggests how motivation and technique informed the language each sculptor used—and in the case of Ted Ludwiczak, still uses—to "converse" with the stone. Having done some stone carving myself, I was struck by Hutton's understanding of the delicate confrontation that goes on in the process of coaxing an image out of rock. This informative, sensitive essay begins on page 46.

Also in this issue is Bets Ramsey's book review of Robert Shaw's Quilts: A Living Tradition, a calendar of exciting exhibitions offered by other institutions (see Miniatures), Gerard Wertkin's Director's Letter on page 11, and upcoming free programs for adults and children in Museum News. And,as a first for us, we've included a video review—see Chris Cappiello's review of"Folk Art Found Me," a film about folk art in Nova Scotia. I hope you enjoy our Spring issue, and I look forward to being with you again in June.

S

e2A7 6 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

FOLK ART Rosemary Gabriel Editor and Publisher Jeffrey Kibler, The Magazine Group,Inc. Design Tanya Heinrich Production Editor Benjamin J. Boyington Copy Consultant Marilyn Brechner Advertising Sales John Hood Advertising Sales Craftsmen Litho Printers MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLK ART Administration Gerard C. Wertkin Director Riccardo Salmona Deputy Director Joan M. Walsh Controller Mary Linda Zonana Director ofAdministration Helene J. Ashner Assistant to the Director Jeffrey. Grand Senior Accountant Christopher Giuliano Accountant Charles L. Allen Mailroom Collections & Exhibitions Stacy C. Hollander Curator Ann-Marie Reilly Registrar Judith Gluck Steinberg Assistant Registrar/ Coordinator, Traveling Exhibitions Pamela Brown Gallery Manager Blaire Dessent Weekend Gallery Manager Gina Bianco Consulting Conservator Elizabeth V. Warren Consulting Curator Howard Lanser Consulting Exhibition Designer Kenneth R. Bing Security Departments Beth Bergin Membership Director Marie S. DiManno Director ofMuseum Shops Susan Flamm Public Relations Director Alice J. Hoffman Director ofLicensing Valerie K. Longwood Director ofDevelopment Joan D. Sandler Director ofEducation and Collaborative Programs Janey Fire Photographic Services Chris Cappiello Membership Associate Maryann Warakomski Assistant Director ofLicensing Jennifer A. Waters Development Associate Claudia Andrade Manager ofInformation Systems, Retail Operations Catherine Barreto Membership Assistant Edith C. Wise Consulting Librarian Eugene P. Sheehy Volunteer Librarian Rita Keckeissen Volunteer Librarian Katya Ullmann Library Assistant Programs Lee Kogan Director, Folk Art Institute/Senior Research Fellow Madelaine Gill Administrative Assistant/Education Barbara W. Cate Educational Consultant Dr. Marilynn Karp Director, New York University Master's and Ph.D. Program in Folk Art Studies Dr. Judith Reiter Weissman Coordinator, New York University Program Arlene Hochman Volunteer Docent Coordinator Lynn Steuer Volunteer Outreach Coordinator Museum Shop Staff Managers: Dorothy Gargiulo, Caroline Hohenrath, Rita Pollitt, Brian Pozun; Mail Order: Beverly McCarthy; Security: Bienvenido Medina; Volunteers: Marie Anderson, Helen Barer, Olive Bates, Mary Campbell, Sally Frank, Jennifer Gerber, Millie Gladstone, Elli Gordon, Edith Gusoff, Ann Hannon, Bernice Hoffer, Elizabeth Howe,Joan Langston, Annette Levande, Arleen Luden, Katie McAuliffe, Nancy Mayer,Theresa Naglack, Pat Pancer, Marie Peluso, Judy Rich, Frances Rojack, Phyllis Selnick, Myra Shaskan, Lola Silvergleid, Maxine Spiegel, Mary Wamsley Museum of American Folk Art Book and Gift Shops 62 West 50th Street, New York, NY 10112-1507 212/247-5611 Two Lincoln Square(Columbus Avenue between 65th and 66th)

Dwight Mackintosh In celebration of his 90th birthday

May2-June 15

Untitled(4 Figures Blue Sky), 1984,felt pen, pencil and tempera on paper, 26"H x 40"IV

lIntitled(Figure, Animal, House, Blue Sky), 1982, pencil and tempera on paper, 23"H x 35"W

RICCO/MARESCA GALLERY 152 WOOSTER STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10012, 212 780 0071, (FAX)212 780.0076 e-mail: rmgal@aol.com http://artnetweb.com/artnetweb/gallery/galhome.html

Robert Cargo

FOLK ART GALLERY Contemporary Folk Art • Haitian Spirit Flags Southern, Folk, and African-American Quilts

Sybil Gibson (1908-1995). Cat. Tempera on paper, ca. 1980, plain goldleaf frame.

Dimensions: image, 241 / 4 x 19 inches; framed, 36 x 291 / 2 inches.

We have available a number of exceptionally fine paintings by Sybil Gibson, all done between 1970-1985, representing a variety of subjects: flowers, birds, women, girls, men, and boys.

2314 Sixth Street, Downtown, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35401 • Home Phone 205-758-8884 Open weekends only and by appointment • Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 2 to 5 p.m.

Rhythms and Movemem Drawings by Henry Speller and Wind Sculpture by Willie _links February 6 March 30. 1996

Untitled, 1989, crayon and pencil on paper.

14"H x 18"W

Coming in April: Group Exhibition

Obsession with Line Archer Locke Gallery 3157 Peachtree Road I Peachtree 8 Grandview) Atlanta. GA 30305 404.812.9600 fax 404.812.9616

ArcherS Free video catalogs and price lists available upon request

,

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AMERICAN FOLK ART AT CHRISTIE'S A watercolor and ink decorated Geburts und Taufschein by Christian Mertel, active 1789-1800, d. 1802, Dauphin and Lancaster Counties, Pennsylvania, dated 1791. Sold in the Pennsylvania German Folk Art and Decorative Arts from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Flanders Smith, Lebanon Valley Exposition Center,June 3, 1995 for $32,200. Accepting consignments until April 1, 1996 for our upcoming June sale. For further information, please contact the American Folk Art Department at (212)546-1181.

Christie's on-line: http://www.christies.com Principal Auctioneer: Christopher Burge #761534

CHRISTIE'S 502 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022

DIRECTORS

LETTER

GERARD C. WERTIUN

hrough the course of its recent history, the Museum has been fortunate to have developed several highly significant corporate partnerships. Of these, none is more important than the relationship that the institution enjoys with Ford Motor Company. As I prepare these remarks for press, only two or three months have passed since "Visiones del Pueblo: The Folk Art of Latin America" ended its three-year international tour with a presentation at the Museo nacional de las culturas in Mexico City. This wide-ranging exhibition of folk art from south of the border was organized and circulated by the Museum under a generous grant from Ford. But even as the objects are returned to storage or to their institutional and private owners, Ford Motor Company and the Museum have become partners in a new venture.

On March 2, 1996,"Discovering Ellis Ruley" opens at the Museum.

Ford Motor Company not only underwrote the organization of this exhibition by the San Diego Museum of Art, but very thoughtfully has supported its showing here in New York with a comprehensive grant to the Museum. Ellis Ruley(1882-1959) was a gifted African American artist whose creative exploration of the everyday world resulted in expressive images that are at once eerily familiar and entirely new.

Members and friends will recall that Stacy C. Hollander, the Museum's curator, and Lee Kogan, director of the Museum's Folk Art Institute, undertook research into Ruley's paintings several years ago. Their essay, which was published in Discovering Ellis Ruley(Crown, 1993), reveals Ruley's sources in the popular imagery of his day and discusses his pointed observations on life around him. I should like to thank Mabel H. Brandon, Director, Corporate Programming, Ford Motor Company,for her continuing friendship and many courtesies. I invite you to visit the Museum not only for an intriguing exhibition, but for a series of special programs designed to introduce you to Ruley and his fascinating world.

As I have previously commented in this column, the library is one of the Museum's special treasures. Among its resources is a file of clippings and photographic materials relating to signed American furniture that was assembled by the late Katherine B. Hagler and my predecessor as Director, Dr. Robert Bishop,for a publication that was never completed. Robert Bishop later donated these materials to the Museum with the thought that they would be useful to researchers, although highstyle furniture rather than folk art was emphasized. This was in keeping, however, with the broader mandate of the Museum to view folk art in the context of American culture in general. At my invitation, William C. Ketchum, Jr., who is well known as the author of many books on American folk and decorative arts and a popular instructor at the Museum's Folk Art Institute, completed the work originally undertaken by Bishop and Hagler.

American Cabinetmakers: Marked American Furniture, 1640-1940, published by Crown in association with the Museum,is the result of William Ketchum's efforts. He not only utilized the material that Robert Bishop placed in the Museum library, but with the assistance of an energetic team of Folk Art Institute students considerably augmented the scope of the work. This attractive 404-page, profusely illustrated volume,a veritable encyclopedia of American furniture makers and their

T

LONE RANGER Ellis Ruley Norwich, Connecticut 1939-1959 Oil-based house paint on posterboard 21V, 17" Collection of Judie and Bennett Weinstock

marks,is an indispensable resource for students and collectors in the field. It may be purchased through the Museum Book Shop for $45, with an additional charge of $4.00 for postage and handling; to order, write to the Museum of American Folk Art,61 West 62nd Street, New York, NY 10023, or call Beverly McCarthy at 212/977-7170.

With expanded needs in the field of education, and an even greater commitment to educational programming, the Museum has restructured its Education Department. Lee Kogan will continue as Director of the Folk Art Institute and will have oversight of such annual events as the popular"Uncommon Artists" symposium,organized in connection with each year's Outsider Art Fair. She is also playing a major role as staff coordinator of the Museum's exhibition "From the Mind's Eye: American Self-Taught Artists of the Twentieth Century," now planned for presentation in the fall of 1997, and will be responsible for other projects involving contemporary folk art. I have asked Joan D. Sandler, whojoined the staffjust prior to the end of the year, to oversee exhibition-related programming for children and adults.

Now Director of Education and Collaborative Programs for the Museum,Joan Sandler has had a distinguished career at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and other institutions. One of her key responsibilities will be to develop new audiences and to enhance the level of the Museum's outreach. This reorganization will allow the Museum to fulfill its principal mission more effectively and will signal the seriousness with which it approaches its public services. For members and friends of the Museum,the primary consequence of these changes will be an exciting round of new programs and learning opportunities.

Please plan to visit the Museum often and become a regular participant in what I know will be an engaging, multifaceted schedule of events.*

SPRING 1996 FOLK ART 11

THE

AMES

GALLERY MID 2661 Cedar Street Berkeley, California 94708 Tel: 510/845-4949 Fax: 510/845-6219 • Bonnie Grossman, Director • We specialize in the works of contemporary naive, visionary, and outsider art ist s„ and offer exceptional 19th & early 20th C. handmade objects. including carved canes, tramp art. quilts. and whittHe s.

CHIEF WILLEY DAVID BUTLER

MAY KUGLER

RAYMOND COINS

SR. GERTRUDE MORGAN

MILTON FLETCHER

MARY T. SMITH

FRANCE FOLSE

MOSE TOLLIVER

CLEMENTINE HUNTER

AUNT TOOTS

CHARLES HUTSON

WILLIE WHITE

"PAPPY" KITCHENS

CHUCKIE WILLIAMS

"Cigar Factory," acrylic on canvas board, 16" x 20"

WILLIAM T. PELTIER • FINE AND FOLK ART 376 Millaudon St. • New Orleans, LA 70118 • (504) 861-3196

By appointment only

12 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

Bill Peltier • Ken Paris

AMERICAN PRIMITIVE GALLERY 596 Broadway #205 New York, NY 10012 212-966-1530

‘P .

•

Mon—Sat 11am - 6om

•

••• Pens on manila paper 26"x21"

WELMON SHARLHORNE

Rosehips Gallery • Barbara Brogdon •1611 Hwy. 129 S.• Cleveland, Ga. 30528 706-865-6345

Clementine Hunter (1887-1988) Collection includes: J.B. Murray, Howard Finster, David Butler, Sam Doyle, Nellie Mae Rowe, Mary T. Smith, Jimmy Sudduth, James "Son" Thomas, Royal Robertson, James Harold Jennings, Mose Tolliver, Lonnie Holley, B.F. Perkins, Luster Willis, Raymond Coins, Charlie Lucas, Junior Lewis, William Dawson, LeRoy Almon, Sr., M.C. 50 Jones, "Artist Chuckie" Williams, Ike Morgan, Herbert Singleton, Burgess Dulaney, Dwight Mackintosh, Sarah Rakes, S.L. Jones, Rhinestone Cowboy and others.

GILLEY5 "Melrose Plantation" Quilt 67 x 49 Cloth and Paper Circa 1961

14 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

CALLEQY

8750 Florida Blvd.

Baton Rouge, LA 70815 (504) 922-9225

ELIJAH PIERCE (1892-1984)

THE

MODERN PRIMITIVE GALLERY

1402-4 NORTH HIGHLAND AVENUE, ATLANTA,GEORGIA 30306 (404)892-0556

Ginger Young Gallery Southern Self-Taught Art By appointment 919.932.6003 Works by more than four dozen artists, including Rudolph Valentino Bostic • Richard Burnside • Henry Ray Clark • Raymond Coins • Yahrah Dahvah • Patrick Davis • Brian Dowdall - Howard Finster • Sybil Gibson Lonnie Holley • Anderson Johnson • Calvin Livingston • Woodie Long Jake McCord • R.A. Miller • Sarah Rakes • Royal Robertson • Sultan Rogers Lorenzo Scott • Earl Simmons • Hugo Sperger • Jewell Starday • Jimmie Lee Sudduth • Mose Tolliver • Daniel Troppy • Fred Webster • Myrtice West

For a free video catalogue or a price list please call or write: Ginger Young Gallery • 5802 Brisbane Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27514 Phone/Fax 919.932.6003 • E-mail: gingerart@aol.com

Left: Four Eyes Are Better Than One by Jon Eiseman Marker, crayon, and watercolor on posterboard 29" x22', 1994.

SAM DOYLE King Kong House Paint on Canvas 19.5" x 16"

-r

, 5i

'I.

" "I V 11 " 41"'V,

(Louanne LaRoche, Former Owner of The Red Piano Art Galleries)

51 Pineview Road May River Plantation Bluffton, South Carolina 29910

(803) 757-5826 phone/fax

16 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

MINIATURES

COMPILED BY TANYA HEINRICH

UNTITLED (WY 012); Willie Wayne Young; Dallas, Texas; 1979; pencil on brown paper; 23 29. Courtesy Ricco/ Maresca Gallery, New York.

A Labor of Love Is it art or craft?"A Labor of Love," an exhibition of meticulously rendered and labor-intensive hand work by 50 contemporary American artists that blurs the distinctions between art and craft, is on view at The New Musetim of Contemporary Art in Manhattan through April 14.

Organized by director Marcia Tucker, the exhibition seeks to challenge fixed categorical distinctions between fine art, folk art, outsider art, and craft, with

works that meld both process and content, calling into question the notions of marginalization. Selftaught artists Chelo Amezcua, Bessie Harvey, Raymond Materson, A.G. Rizzoli, and Willie Wayne Young are included in the exhibition, as well as other artists who employ processes such as beading, carving, ceramics, drawing, embroidery,forging, glassblowing, painting, quilting, weaving, and woodcarving. The installation is arranged in generic

New York Stoneware Appealingly simple and strong salt-glazed stoneware replaced lead-glazed earthenware in the 18th century as a favored medium for the storage vessels so essential for preparing, storing, and serving food."New York Stoneware from the Collections of the New-York Historical Society," on view at the New-York Historical Society in Manhattan through April 7, traces early stoneware traditions, the development of new techniques and

boldly marked decoration, the impact of the Erie Canal, and the eventual decline of the industry in New York in the early 20th century. The exhibition of 70 objects includes jugs,jars, bottles, crocks, and churns, and the less common pitchers, bowls, inkwells, banks, and flowerpots, as well as potter's tools, price lists, and advertisements. For more information, please call 212/873-3400.

domestic environments and is augmented with recorded and live folk music programs about labor and laborers,featuring traditional American songs of the field, mill, mine, prison, and railroad."A Labor of Love" is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalog. For more information, please call 212/219-1222.

Coyle and Goodpaster at the Kentucky Folk Art Center "The Mystery of Carlos Cortez Coyle," an exhibition of semiallegorical paintings, drawings, and notes from the collection of Berea College in Berea, Ky., will be on view at the Kentucky Folk Art Center at Morehead State University in Morehead, Ky., through April 30. The Kentuckyborn self-taught artist created a highly personalized series of paintings in the 1940s that combine regional home truths and classical imagery with references to his own changing times.

"Denzil Goodpaster: Kentucky Folk Artist" will be on view from May 3 through August 31. Though he did not begin his work as an artist until he retired from farming, Goodpaster (1908-1995) produced an impressive number of lively sticks and painted wooden sculptures. The exhibition will consist of the artist's early, functional, beaded walking sticks as well as his more exotic depictions of animals, cheerleaders, celebrities, and bathing beauties. For more information on either of the exhibitions, please call 606/783-2204.

DOUBLE-HANDLED JUG; New York; 1810-1830; incised stoneware; 12 8.Collection of The New-York Historical Society, purchased from Elie Nadelman. 1937.837.

SPRING 1996 FOLK ART 17

MINI A TUR ES

CONCRETE CITY (detail' L.C. Carson South Carolina 1995

50th Anniversary HSEAD Meeting The 50th anniversary meeting of the Historical Society of Early American Decoration(HSEAD) will be held on April 20 and 21 at the Gideon Putnam Hotel at the Saratoga Spa State Park in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. An exhibition featuring original decorated pieces of tinware, papier-mâchÊ, glass, and wooden articles found in early American homes will be highlighted by an

original wooden Saratoga Trunk, 1850-1880,from the collection of Elizabeth Day,and several original paint-decorated tortoise shell Pontypool trays, made in Wales from 1670-1822,from the collection of Deborah Lambeth.

The public is invited, and admission is free. For more information, please call Beverly McCarthy at 212/586-6663.

SARATOGA TRUNK Artist unknown Saratoga Springs, New York 1850-1880 Paint and tin on wood 22 30. 18" Collection of Elizabeth Day

The Art of Aldo Piacenza in Chicago "The Art of Aldo Piacenza: Celebration of Church and Country," an exhibition of paintings and birdhouse sculptures inspired by the self-taught artist's Italian homeland, will be on view at Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art through March 30. The exhibition, organized by curator Bill Brooks, will be at Intuit's new site at the former stu-

dio of artist Roger Brown in Chicago. Piacenza(1888-1976) covered the interior and exterior walls of his home in Illinois with murals of architectural and natural monuments, and modeled his intricately embellished wood birdhouses after Italian cathedrals and churches. For more information, please call 312/759-1406.

National Gravestone Studies Conference The Association for Gravestone Studies is holding its 19th annual conference at the University of Southern Maine's Gorham campus from June 27 to June 30. The conference program will offer exhibits, guided tours of Colonial and Victorian cemeteries, scholarly lectures, preservation and

18 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

conservation workshops, and classes such as photography, gravestone rubbing, and cemetery mapping. Preregistration is required. For more information, please write The Association for Gravestone Studies, 19 Hadley Place, Hadley, MA 01035, or call 413/584-1756.

Symposium to Coincide with St. EOM Exhibition A symposium entitled "Still Worth Keeping: Communities, Preservation, and Self-Taught Artists" will be held on May 10 and 11 to coincide with the opening of"The Visions of St. EOM," an exhibition on view at the College of Charleston School of the Arts in Charleston, S.C.,from May 10 through June 8. The program, organized by Polly Laffitte and Tom Stanley, will address issues concerning the preservation of environments and the role of self-taught artists within their communities. Featured speakers will include Gregg Blasdel, Jenifer P. Borum, Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, Roger Manley, and Genevieve Roulin, as well as select artists and members of their families and communities.

"The Visions of St. EOM," organized by curator and director Mark Sloan, will focus on St. EOM's Land of Pasaquan environment in Buena Vista, Ga., and will include the artist's paintings and drawings of the site, photographs, and items from the house.

There will also be a CD-ROM virtual Land of Pasaquan available for viewing. The exhibition will travel to the Southeast Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, N.C.,from August 3 to October 2. For more information on the exhibition, please call 803/953-5680. For symposium information and registration, please call 803/737-4947, or write to the South Carolina State Museum,P.O. Box 100107, Columbia,SC 29202.

SOUTHERN FOLK POTTERY COLLECTORS SOCIETY -

•

I

•

••_

-t

•

presents

The Seventh Absentee Auction Sale Event of

A selection of southern folk pottery from the estate of MR. AND MRS. RALPH AND KATE RINZLER, THE LATE MR. RINZLER; PAST DIRECTOR AND FOUNDER OF FESTIVAL OF AMERICAN FOLK LIFE—SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, WASHINGTON, D.C., will be offered Proceeds of this important offering will go to initiate a memorial endeavor by the CENTER FOR FOLKLIFE PROGRAMS AND CULTURAL STUDY, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, WASHINGTON, D.C. also Selections from the collection of Daisy Wade Bridges. Over 250 rare examples, signatures, trademarks of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Includes 19th- and 20th-century selections, highlighted by an important 15-gallon Tennessee water cooler, signed and dated (1847) by maker.

Exhibition/Bidding begins April 3, 1996. Bidding closes June 1, 1996, at 5:00 EST. A four-color cover, fully-illustrated, biographical reference catalogue is available at $25.00 (includes post-sales results).

Southern Folk Pottery Collectors Society 1828 N. Howard Mill Road Robbins, NC 27325 Shop (910) 464-3961 Fax (910) 464-2530 N C Auction Firm Licence #5902

MINIATURES

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*

Carl McKenzie and Adam Brandau in Ohio "In Their Own Time: The Art of Carl McKenzie and Adam Brandau," organized by Liz Bank in association with the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee Art Museum, will be on view at the Ohio Arts Council's Riffe Gallery in Columbus, Ohio, through April 20. Half of the exhibition of 250 innovative objects will be a retrospective tracing the creative development of selftaught Kentucky sculptor

Carl McKenzie. Works include carved and painted wood figures, animals, articulated dolls, canes, and religious subjects. The other half of the exhibition is devoted to the life-size figurative sculptures constructed from found scrap tin and wood by self-taught artist Adam Brandau, a retired metal worker from Jackson, Ohio. For more information, call 614/466-2613.

HELP GUIDE THE YOUTH OF AMERICA; Rose Drab; Antigo, Wisconsin; 1938; embroidered 3 4 • 33/ 3 4 • 1/ 3 4. satin; 23/ Collection of the National Archives, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York.

131/2 h x 41/2"w x 31/2"d

photos: Penny Rakotf

BEACH BEAUTY artist unknown found in Ohio circa 1940s-1950s painted pine

J.E.PORCELLI AMERICAN FOLK ART and AMERICANA P.O. Box 200453 Shaker Heights, Ohio 44120 216/932-9087 Appointment and Shows

20 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

To the White House "Tokens and Treasures: Gifts to Twelve Presidents," an exhibition organized to showcase both simple and extravagant gifts given to American presidents since 1929, will be on view at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., from March 22, 1996, to February 2, 1997. The majority of the 200 unique objects, drawn exclusively from the gift collections of the National Archives Presiden-

tial Libraries, are humble offerings from ordinary citizens that were made to express support and affection. The exhibition will include handcrafted quilts, flags, paintings, woodcarvings, scrimshaw, and pottery, in addition to opulent presentations from foreign heads of state. For more information, please call 202/501-5500.

NOAH'S ARK; Carl McKenzie; Nada, Kentucky; 1988; paint, marker, and graphite on wood, plastic, nails, and glue; 26 3/0 x 29Âź 5 'Ai". Collection of Larry Hackley.

Folk Canes in Williamsburg On view at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center in Williamsburg, Va., through April 21 are 130 American folk canes, several of wlifeh have not previously been exhibited."Walking Sculpture: American Folk Art Canes from the Collection of George H. Meyer" features late 19th- and early 20th-century canes and walking sticks rendered into works of art and acces-

sories of personal expression.

The natural curve of wood suggested many of the carved forms, with subjects including animals, the human form, politics, religion, fraternal organizations, celebrities, military battles, work, and recreation. The exhibition is accompanied by an award-winning catalog, American Folk Art Canes: Personal Sculpture, published in 1992 by Sandringham Press in association with the Museum of American Folk Art. For more information, please call 804/229-1000.

Unusual fish knife with the handle exquisitely carved in the form of a female nude.

19th century New England,6 inches high.

Correction

BIBLICAL ANIMALS; attributed to Alanson Porter Dean; New York; 1884; varnished American boxwood; nickel-silver ferrule with steel washer and screw; 35 Yi 6 2.Collection of George H. Meyer.

Townsend Wolfe, Director and Chief Curator of The Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock, Arkansas, was inadvertently omitted as the curator of"Twentieth Century American Sculpture at the White House: Exhibition H." ("Miniatures," Fall 1995, Vol. 20, No. 3, p. 39).

DAVID WHEATCROFT 220 East Main Street Westborough, Massachusetts 01581 508. 366. 1723

SPRING 1996 FOLK ART 21

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Denzil Goodpaster, 1908-1995 Denzil Goodpaster was born May 28, 1908, and died on October 14, 1995. His passing is mourned by many,including Lexie, his wife of 66 years. From an early age, Goodpaster worked his hilltop farm near the town of Ezel, in eastern Kentucky's Morgan County. When he retired from fanning in 1968, he took up wood carving, making figures of small animals and functional canes and walking sticks.

His artistry soon evolved and he gained a name for himself through his imaginative and often humorous sticks, which included images such as entwined snakes, bikini-clad bathing beauties, and alligators. He also continued to create small animals and carved modest-sized figures of cheerleaders, as well as men in mortal combat with bears. Among his most exotic sculptures are snakes made from kudzu vines that he twisted and coiled into lifelike poses.

Although Goodpaster didn't begin making art until he was in his sixties, his work brought him widespread recognition late in life. His work has been exhibited widely, including exhibitions in Chicago, Milwaukee, Washington, D.C., New York, and Atlanta, and is valued as part of the permanent collections of the Museum of American Folk Art, the Kentucky Folk Art Center in Morehead, the Milwaukee Art Museum, and the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art in Owensboro, Kentucky.

In 1985 he was awarded an Al Smith Fellowship by the Ken-

tucky Arts Council and in 1988 he received an artist's fellowship from the Southern Arts Federation in Atlanta. His art was documented in essays and articles in numerous newspapers, periodicals, and art publications. He is also featured in several books, including the Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century American Folk Art and Artists, by Chuck and Jan Rosenak.

Goodpaster was the "elder statesman" of Kentucky stickmakers and a regular participant in the Kentucky Folk Art Center's Annual Stickmaker's Day. He will be greatly missed by fellow artists and folk art enthusiasts alike. Prior to his death, KFAC had already scheduled a retrospective exhibition of his work, which will open May 3.

—Adrian Swain Adrian Swain is the Artistic Director and Curator ofthe Kentucky Folk Art Center in Morehead, Kentucky.

JAMES BARD (1815-1897)

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ii

KENTUCKY SUN Nancy Miller Crider Russell County, Kentucky c. 1880 Wool 75 x 62" Collection of The Kentucky Quilt Project Photo courtesy The Kentucky Quilt Project, Inc.

Projects 15 Years Later

By SHELLY ZEGART

T

he quilt survey movement in the United States, a phenomenon largely of the last fifteen years, was not conceived as a national effort with standardized goals and methods—the idea began in Kentucky in 1981 and quickly spread across the country.

Today, only a few states have not done quilt surveys. Inspiration and methodology for these surveys have been borrowed or reinvented, with varying degrees of sophistication and application of scholarly standards. Most of the surveys have been designed and conducted by quilt enthusiasts rather than people trained as scholars in the decorative arts, folklore, art history, and the like.

As a result, concern has been expressed about many of the surveys' designs, methodologies, use and interpretation of col-

lected data, and, ultimately, value to quilt scholarship.'

28 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

HONEYCOMB Sophronia Ann Bruce Henry County, Kentucky c. 1880 Cotton, wool, silk; pieced and appliqued with stuffed work 107 92" Collection of Mrs. Ronda G. Taylor Photo courtesy The Kentucky Quilt Project, Inc.

SPRING 1996 FOLK ART 29

As a founder of The Kentucky Quilt Project, a collector and dealer of quilts, and an advocate for quilt scholarship, I have observed the quilt projects' evolution and their ability to embrace many points of view and strategies and consider the movement to be vital because of the diversity of opinions and validity of multiple approaches. As we celebrate the fifteen-year anniversary of the state and regional projects, I welcome the opportunity to share my perspectives on this period of quilt project development: where they are now, what they did well, what they might have done better, and what direction they are going in.

The First State Quilt Project he Kentucky Quilt Project, Inc., was formed in 1981 to survey the state's quilts.2 Since then, fiftysix projects—both state and regional—have undertaken surveys informed by the methods and directions of The Kentucky Quilt Project.3 That first survey took two years. To gather the quilts for study, we took The Kentucky Quilt Project to the people by developing the Quilt Days concept. We held twelve Quilt Days at different locations throughout the state, so that no one would have to travel more than fifty miles to participate. The Quilt Days were heavily advertised through the help of local organizations and the volunteer effort was assisted by the newly formed Kentucky Heritage Quilt Society. We created what became the magic of Quilt Days. Quilts that had been "hiding" in closets, trunks, and cupboards were raised to a hanging position—many seen "on the wall" for the first time—and

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30 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

lectures were presented about preservation and donation of quilts to museums within the state.

We had a one-page documentation sheet and took a brief oral history about each quilt that was brought in. We never intended to fully document the one thousand quilts that we saw, and in the end, we chose forty-four that represented the breadth of Kentucky quiltmaking to be shown in the exhibition "Kentucky Quilts 1800-1900." The exhibition appeared first at the Louisville Museum of History and Science in 1983 and then at twelve other museums under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service.4 John Finley, one of the authors of the accompanying catalog, extensively researched these quilts and the families from which they came. First published in 1983, Kentucky Quilts 1800-1900 told the story of this first large-scale documentation effort.

Because this was a pioneering effort, the concepts were new. As Eleanor Bingham Miller, one of the founders, stated:"We worked for pleasure, without dreaming what a landmark project in the history of quilt scholarship this survey would become. From the beginning, however, our goal was to conduct the survey according to the highest scholarly standards. Because we were doing this for ourselves, we approached this in the way that we approach the rest of our academic lives. We also wanted to leave precise records for any future groups which might become interested in what we had done."' Of course, there are things we could have done differently. Could we have done more complete documentation? Absolutely. Could we

CRAZY QUILT (detail) Anna Marie Steinbock Louisville, Kentucky Dated 1890 Silk and velvet 89 84" Collection of Elizabeth Steinbock Mills Photo courtesy The Kentucky Quilt Project, Inc.

a) Quilt Day, 1982. Louisville Visual Art Association at the Water Tower, Louisville, Kentucky. b) Children participating in an educational program developed by The Museum of History and Science, Louisville, Kentucky, during the exhibition "Kentucky Quilts 1800-1900" (February 4—March 31, 1983). Photos courtesy The Kentucky Quilt Project, Inc.

have done a better job of taking the oral histories? Yes. Within our group there were people with fund-raising expertise, public relations savvy, legal skills, and business management and accounting experience. Also onboard were volunteers, quilt enthusiasts, scholars, and quiltmakers. We recognize the importance of the volunteer "support" effort, but if we hadn't had adequate funding, if we hadn't received the national publicity, if we hadn't produced a quality catalog, then the project could not have energized other groups as it did. Because of our professional approach, we made everybody's job easier. We gave birth, but we didn't claim ownership. We are very proud of our role.6 We put all of our energy, our intellect, and our resources into the project, and we made it happen.7 Many groups that followed did it better or more completely.

Some changed direction and made significant advances in the study and methodology for quilt scholarship.

The Projects Evolve y 1984, eleven other quilt projects were officially underway. Between 1985 and 1988, thirty more were established, with eleven begun in 1987 alone. During these years, there were approximately 1,015 Quilt Days held among all the projects, making 1985 through 1988 the peak years for state quilt projects.'

Data gathering in most states concentrated on sampling quilts from the entire state; other projects, however, consciously limited their scope. Arkansas, for example, targeted the region of the Ozark counties. New Mexico

B

focused on the Hispanic quiltmalcing tradition in Taos County. Kentucky concentrated on nineteenth-century quilts, while other states elected to include more contemporary quilts; South Carolina, for instance, documented quilts made through 1970, and Nebraska stopped at 1920, a year that coincides with the end of the Homestead Act's influence on the state's settlement.

Some projects widened their geographical boundaries. Those in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Montana, states that were settled in the late nineteenth century, saw patterns of immigration, and turned up quilts that were made earlier in Kentucky, Ohio, or Pennsylvania—quilts that would have been missed in their home-state surveys. Interest in regional differences generated by the projects was the impetus for the development of a conference in Washington, D.C., in March 1995.9 Once the data was collected and an exhibition or a book followed, many states felt that their task was complete. Some states, however, chose to continue quilt study and outreach. The Texas Quilt Search, after compiling data on quilts from the state's first hundred years, went on to have an additional search, exhibition, and book about quilts made between 1936 and 1986.10 In an effort to ensure that the quiltmaking tradition would be carried on by the next generation, the Arizona Quilt Project developed an educational program called "Quilt-Ed," which they tested on thirty fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade classes during the winter of 1988.

Influences on the Projects here is no such thing as a "typical" quilt project— the shape of each project is deeply influenced by the interests and backgrounds of its organizers and the goals they set for the project.

Many projects are initiated, directed, and staffed by volunteers, whose original qualifications include little academic or on-the-job experience. In the end, according to some project directors, energy and organizational skill, a curiosity about women's history, and a love of quilts make up for the lack of formal training.

Organizers who are folklorists or historians have put together projects and books with different focuses. The Tennessee Quilt Project, for instance, emphasized local history. Sponsorship of the New York Quilt Project by the Museum of American Folk Art raised projects to a new level of scholarship and visibility, as did the inclusion of academics, historians, folklorists, and contemporary quilters on the New York Project's panel of consultants."There isn't one single point of view associated with quilts," explained Phyllis Tepper, the New York Quilt Project's director. "We've tried to give representation to all these various viewpoints.""

As early as 1982, the quilt project movement went international, with Australia being the first foreign country to feature projects of its own.'2 Nine projects are in

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SPRING 1996 FOLK ART 31

progress or complete in Canada, with three more in the preliminary phase. New Zealand, South Africa, and Ulster (Northern Ireland) have projects in progress, and a second project is underway in Australia. The United Kingdom has completed the first project in Europe, and an excellent new publication, Quilt Treasures: The Quilters' Guild Heritage Search, has resulted from the work done there." As we look more closely at the European origins of American quiltmaking, this publication will prove invaluable.

The Conferences ver the past fifteen years, conferences have played a major role in bringing together representatives of the projects to discuss a wide range of topics. In 1984, Katy Christopherson, organizer of volunteers for The Kentucky Quilt Project, and Ricky Clark of Ohio cohosted a meeting in Knoxville, Tennessee, to take advantage of the American Quilt Study Group(AQSG)meeting held there at the same time. The purpose of this meeting was to refine the data-collecting methodology. With the use of computer documentation and better research methods, the hope was that the projects would become more consistent and thorough and that they could develop and perfect the "ultimate" data form." This has continued to be an elusive objective.

In 1989, a seminar was held at The Great American Quilt Festival, sponsored by the Museum of American Folk Art. The aim of this seminar—which was called "Quilt Projects from Kentucky to New York to the Future: A Decade of Growth and Development" and was organized

by Phyllis Tepper and myself—was to initiate discussions about the first ten years of projects, their evolution, and the future of the information they generated. Surveys were sent out; thirty-one projects responded. The resulting data was shared with the more than fifty project representatives who attended the session."

On June 10, 1993, a Quilt Project Leadership meeting was held at the same time as the National Quilt Symposium Oral Traditions Project at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Of the project leaders invited to participate, thirty-two people who had initiated and directed quilt surveys in twenty-six projects convened to share information and methods and to discuss common problems and future directions. Two of the important areas discussed were the use of and access to the data collected by these projects and the possibilities for a publication to be planned by the leadership to document and interpret the quilt survey movement.

O

Perspectives uch has been written about the benefits of quilt projects for volunteers conducting the surveys.

Being a part of these historic events was a defining moment for many of them. The projects reaffirmed their own good judgment; they were interested in quilts and it was now their time in the limelight.

The quilt projects—with volunteers gathering information from family, local archives, and women's histories—have trained and inspired many women to go in new directions and focus on personal goals. Another important gain is an increased respect for quilts and their origins. Col-

M

32 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

lectors are now more aware of the history of the maker than they were previously.'6 In an article entitled "Rethinking Quilt Projects: A Folklorist's Perspective," Laurel Horton, folklorist and president of the AQSG, discusses quilt projects as training grounds for students in textiles, museum curating, history, community organizing, quiltmaking, folklore, and other related fields."

The recent publication and exhibition "Gatherings: America's Quilt Heritage" is an attempt to present a comprehensive picture of the volunteer phenomenon that allowed the documentation projects to function and to provide accurate, up-to-date data on project activities and accomplishments.' It discusses the projects as avenues of expression and as an opportunity to cultivate new friends and work with old ones."

The strews: n the world of quilts, groups are struggling with one

I

another over issues of power, gender, and "academy versus non-academy." Knowledge about these issues is critical to understanding the quilt project movement. Everyone has something at stake. The need exists for access to different and competing forms of scholarship. Competing theories are healthy for the field. Most of these struggles revolve around two issues: methodology and politics.

Methodology. Surveys recording this country's arts and crafts are not new. Before quilt projects, the major effort to document folk art was initiated during the Depression. The Works Progress Administration organized the Index of American Design, commissioning artists to record important classic Americana, including quilts. While this was one of the most ambitious undertakings ever conceived in the realm of the arts, it included only thirty-five states

Quilt Days—March 26, 1988, through November 11, 1989, New York Quilt Project. al Recording the history of the quiltmaker and the quilt. b) Volunteers hanging a quilt. c) Measuring and recording a quilt's physical and technical details. Photos courtesy New Tod( Quilt Project.

and unfortunately did not include many areas of culture beyond the reach of urban centers. Even with these omissions, the pictorial and research material in the Index is a major source of information about our artistic history.

Studying the Index gave me a point of reference for considering the imperfections of various methodologies used in quilt projects and allowed me to acknowledge the projects' deficiencies as part of their evolutionary process.

In 1990, in a discussion entitled "Future Trends and Quilt Research: Implications for Fieldwork," Joyce Ice, a panelist at the American Folklore Society, called for a review of project methods and goals. Folklorists from around the country looked at quilt projects from their perspectives and articulated a number of concerns. Patricia J. Keller wrote that "through systematic and rigorous application of analytical methodology, quilt scholars contribute meaningfully to a new, holistically balanced interpretation of women's lives and Western society, past and present. It is time to move beyond mass documentation efforts and 'quilts with stories' anthologies to more comprehensive historical reconstruction and to write the histories that scholar Virginia Gunn has heralded as 'the fourth era of quilt scholarship'."20 Keller further says, "Most current strategies of classification are unsystematic, with significant areas lacking a common appropriate nomenclature.

Adoption of a more uniform and exact classification scheme should be considered a major item of unfinished business in the development of a rigorous discipline of quilt study."21 Regardless of issues of methodology, the documentation effort needs to continue in at least one other important area: Oral histories of elderly living quiltmakers need to be gathered as quickly as possible.

Politics. Political struggles revolve around issues of gender and "academy versus non-academy." Lorre Weidlich calls it "different world views" because quilt scholars define themselves by their subject matter without or despite academic training, and the academically trained scholars refer to their formal training with quilts as one of their scholarly interests. Because quilts typically reside in the feminine domestic sphere, it is the opinion of some that

scholars researching quilts have been held back by their choice of subject matter. Weidlich cites a model by anthropologist Michele Z. Rosaldo, who suggests that there are two ways for women to gain power: move into the male-dominated public sphere or establish a female public sphere. They can do this by creating a sense of rank, order, and value in which women prevail.22 Many quilt scholars would confirm that quilt scholarship is one role in a complex women's sphere that provides multiple opportunities for empowerment of the women who inhabit it. This suggests that the function of quilt scholarship within the quilt world is expressive. Selfdefinitions like "quilt scholar," which are meaningless to academics, provide a recognizable and respected role for women who so define themselves within the quilt world.

The documentary impulse of quilt world research becomes understandable as the attempt to construct a history that legitimizes and reinforces a particular worldview. According to Weidlich, "Ultimately, it is an examination not so much of the content of quilt world scholarship as of its existence and the value system that informs it that will teach us most about the meaning that underlies the world of quilting today."

New Approaches n1990, the directors of The Kentucky Quilt Project decided that a group of events illustrating and furthering the extraordinary developments in the field over the past two decades would be an appropriate way to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the historic exhibition "Abstract Design in American Quilts," which opened in 1971 at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City.

"Louisville Celebrates the American Quilt" ran for seven months beginning in November 1991. This celebration served as a vehicle to address issues of concern to all interested in quilts in the United States and abroad and to establish goals, priorities, and methods for coming decades of quilt study and appreciation. There were six exhibitions, four conferences, and other sundry associated events designed to further quilt scholarship in specific areas.24 In 1992, the first issue of The Quilt Journal: An International Review, was published by The Kentucky Quilt Project, Inc. Its mission is to facilitate the work of those around the world who will be coming to quilt research from other fields with different visions. Looking at the future of quilt scholarship as interdisciplinary and international, it hopes to "further quilt scholarship by publishing the work of scholars of all fields who have something of importance to say about quilts and quilting."25 In 1993, Keller, who was director of the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, quilt documentation project from its founding in 1988 to 1993, and her steering committee felt that such a survey offered a unique opportunity for collecting and interpreting social and historical data. To fully exploit these possibilities, Keller assembled a distinguished multidisciplinary body of scholars and subjected the survey's design, methodologies, and interpretive potential of collected data to their scrutiny and suggestions. This was the first time such an approach had been applied to a quilt documentation project.26

I

SPRING 1996 FOLK ART 33

Lite actsr of kirsii•rie.s.s: Little YvVoof loVe is our Howie a Heaver'

V.ake our earil-P1 eden "ii‘t.le our Heavey., above Heaven is our Hoerne

irtd Icxy 0rds )fever Die h S 110 SOVIOrg

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Cita-pay' Xf.1),Ela.r4 3.'04 79 oveon nother 2iragrEicLiu.L.6,,..".

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PIETIES QUILT Maria Cadman Hubbard New York State Dated 1848 Cotton SSV2 811 / 2" Collection of the Museum of American Folk Art, gift of Cyril Irwin Nelson in loving memory of his parents, Cyril Arthur and Elise Macy Nelson. 1984.27.1 Photo courtesy New York Quilt Project

34 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

At its inception, the quilt project movement was virtually a white middle-class women's movement. Very few projects addressed women of color and Native American populations. Similar criticisms were leveled at feminism in the early 1970s. It is clear that work is broadening in these areas. The Michigan State University Museum, in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian(NMAI)and Atlatl(a national professional American Indian artists service organization), is developing a major exhibition on historical and contemporary quiltmaking in Native Hawaiian and North American Indian communities. Scheduled to open at the NMAI's Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House exhibit facility in 1997, the exhibition will place the various specific quiltLOG CABIN Cover Quilt Barn Raising Design making traditions in the larger continuum of American Mary Jane Smith (1833-1869) by documented was quilt his traditions. quiltmaking Indian culture and other American Whitestone, Queens County, New York Marsha McDowell, Michigan Quilt Project director of the the New York Quilt Project.

1861-1865 Michigan Traditional Arts Program at the Michigan State Without the precedent of The Pieced cotton, wool, and velvet University Museum,explained the project this way:"Of the 73 . 81" Kentucky Quilt Project and the Museum of American Folk Art, gift various American Indian art forms that resulted from conefforts of the New York Quilt of Mary D. Bromham, grandniece tact with Euro-American missionaries and settlers, perhaps of Mary lane Smith. 1987.9.1 the volunteers, and leaders Project the least well known is quiltmaking. However, throughout beauty of this quilt and the tragic the entire post-contact period, native quilts in the Hawaiian used have continent American North the on Islands and story of its maker would have colors and designs distinctly their own to make quilts slipped from history and been lost forever. which function in ways both similar to other cultural Mary Jane Smith was the daughter of John Smith and groups as well as in ways that have specific native cultural Mary Morrell Smith, prosperous farmers in Clintonville or pan-Indian meanings. To date there has been no single Whitestone), Queens County, New York. Mary Jane exhibition which examines the 'whole cloth' of native (now to Ephraim Gladfelter from Philadelphia, engaged was quiltmaking. The complex research plan developed and advisory the Union Army and was stationed at Fort in served who implemented for this project includes a national committee and extensive collaboration with quilters, elders, Totten, in Whitestone. While Ephraim was off at the front, and cultural specialists in local communities. Archival, fighting in the Civil War, Mary Jane worked on her wedmuseum, and field-based research, along with a series of ding trousseau, which included this finely crafted quilt 'Quilt Discovery Days' at American Indian events, tribal started by her mother. At the end of the war, Ephraim centers, or museums has already yielded a wealth of infora home in Philadelphia, to which he intended established mation that will provide the basis for many other future to bring his bride after their wedding. research, exhibition, and education projects."

It is clear from the above description of the AmeriMary Jane and her mother met the groom-to-be at his can Indian project that as more academically trained scholhotel in Manhattan. Although he was ill, he was anxious to ars enter the arena, such projects are becoming increasingly finalize the plans for their wedding, which was to take interpretive and complex. This is good news for all. One place on the following day. After returning home to can sense new energy as the intensified level of the disWhitestone that evening, a messenger arrived to inform course raises new questions and develops new ideas and that Ephraim Gladfelter had died of pneumonia. them concepts for quilt study. Accessibility to the information, early quiltmakers, early the history, research, records of Shortly after, Mary Jane's mother died and Mary Jane, diaries, and all other information about quilts and quiltmak- apparently unable to cope with two such devastating ing will be the key to the success of the future projects. losses, was moved to the Bloomingdale Asylum for the In early 1993, the founders of the first two quilt projInsane, where she died three years later at the age of 35— ects, Eunice Ray and I from Kentucky and Karey Bresenhan and Nancy O'Bryant from Texas, joined together to the quilt was never used. form a not-for-profit organization, The Alliance for AmeriInformation about this quilt, written by Phillis Tepper, can Quilts, to further two specific goals that would be of benefit to those interested in quilts, both in the United former director ofthe New York Quilt Project, was pubStates and abroad: The Center for The Quilt, a facility for lished in the Spring 1990 issue ofthe Museum's Quilt the study of all aspects of quilts, and The International Connection newsletter. Additional information was supQuilt Index, a computerized database of quilt-related mateby Museum docent Jeanne L Riger, based on her plied rials from all media. The Center for the Quilt would develop and was printed in the Summer 1995 issue ofthe research, as an international resource—a collective memory bank for all that is known and remembered about quiltmakers, same publication.

T

SPRING 1996 FOLK ART 35

quilt artists, and their quilts, and an active source of educational programming and outreach for the preservation and dissemination of quilt history. Easy and unlimited access to a growing body of quilt information at The Center will be a high priority, and the audience for this information should be broad, reaching not only members of the quilt world, but also scholars, educators, students, and the general public. The Center will also be developed as an inclusive project, working to join quilts, artists, and scholars. As part of the Index, the Alliance anticipates gathering the full range of information available in quilting and quiltrelated fields; the Alliance would serve as a repository for information.

Hosted by the Library of Congress, American Folklife Center, in Washington, D.C., sixteen advisors with perspectives from a variety of fields, including art historians, artists, folklorists, museum curators, and quilters met in August 1995 to discuss the mission of The Center and The Index and how to launch a comprehensive plan for their development. The Center is an ambitious and compelling idea.' The challenge is to bring together the creative people, resources, information, and hard work that would make the idea a reality. That the Alliance is able to contemplate this challenge is a recognition of the many individuals and organizations that have worked with quilts for the last thirty years. This can be the project of all projects, a legacy for future generations that we can accomplish together, regardless of our quilt politics.

As a result of fifty-six state, regional, and international quilt projects, documentation has been completed on over 157,000 quilts at more than 1,450 Quilt Days, spawning at least fifty exhibitions and forty-five books. It can safely be said that the quilt project movement is the largest grassroots phenomenon in the decorative arts in the last half of the twentieth century. These projects have contributed significantly to a global understanding of the quilt as a cultural icon. I believe that in the twenty-first century there will be even greater worldwide interest, awareness, and understanding of the quilt and its role in people's lives."* Shelly Zegart is afounder of The Kentucky Quilt Project, an author and lecturer, a collector and dealer ofquilts, and an advocatefor quilt scholarship.

NOTES 1 See Editors' Notes to Patricia J. Keller's "Approaching Analysis: The Lancaster County Quilt Harvest," The Quilt Journal: An International Review, vol. 3, no. 1(1994), p. 10.

2 The Kentucky Quilt Project's original directors were Shelly Zegart, Eleanor Bingham Miller, and Eunice Ray. 3 Leman, Bonnie,"The Needle's Edge," Quilter's Newsletter Magazine, no. 234(Jnly/August 1991), p.4."Ten years ago in July 1981, The Kentucky Quilt Project held its first quilt day. The organizers of that project were not the first to interview people about their quilts or to record quilts in private collections, but they were the first to organize a public event as part of a regional quilt survey. The Kentucky people developed the basic structure

38 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

of a statewide project: they gave us a name for what they were doing (many of the states and regions use the word 'project' in their title), and they inspired people around the world to survey the quilts in their own areas."

4 Kentucky Quilts 1800-1900. See p. 81 for additional information on the history of The Kentucky Quilt Project, Inc. This catalog is now in its third printing and has sold over 28,000 copies.

5 Miller, Eleanor Bingham,"Since Kentucky: Surveying State Quilts 1981-1991," Expanding Quilt Scholarship: The lectures, conferences and other presentations ofLouisville Celebrates the American Qui/t, Shelly Zegart and Jonathan Holstein, eds.

(Louisville, Ky.: The Kentucky Quilt Project, Inc., 1994), p. 13.

6 Zegart, Shelly,"Since Kentucky: Surveying State Quilts 1981-1991," Expanding Quilt Scholarship: The lectures, conferences and other presentations ofLouisville Celebrates the American Quilt, Shelly Zegart and Jonathan Holstein, eds.(Louisville, Ky.: The Kentucky Quilt Project, Inc., 1994), p. 16."The Kentucky survey was thoroughly planned at the start and well managed along the way and, as a consequence, was very successful. It created such features as quilt discovery days used later by other state projects. Its methods and results received national publicity.

Between March 1983 and July 1985, I lectured to 27 interested groups in 15 states on the aims, methods, and results of The Kentucky Quilt Project. The articles, exhibitions and lectures#20 effectively informed the country that such surveys were possible and could yield significant results."(As quoted from Abstract Design in American Quilts: A Biography ofan Exhibition, by Jonathan Holstein, published by The Kentucky Quilt Project, 1991.)

7 For the most recent article on The Kentucky Quilt Project, see George Muller Lockwood,"History's Mirrors: The Kentucky Quilt Project Revisited After 15 Years, Still Going Strong and Growing," Patchwork Quilts,(August/September 1995), pp. 5-9, 58. See also Zegart, op. cit., p. 17.

8 Data collected from the appendices of Gatherings: America's Quilt Heritage, catalog of the exhibition of the same name, text

by Kathlyn F. Sullivan and appendices by Katy Christopherson, published by American Quilter's Society, Paducah, Kentucky, 1995. It should be noted that some projects chose not to participate in Gatherings for a variety of reasons. Therefore, before using information in this publication as a basis for future analysis, one must take this into consideration.

9 The Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History, with support from the American Quilt Defense Fund, presented "What's American About American Quilts? A Research Forum on Regional Characteristics," on March 18-19, 1995, in Washington, D.C. This two-day program examining ethnic, cultural, and regional diversity in quilts throughout the country explored such topics as immigrant traditions, cultural styles, and regional characteristics reflected in American quilts, and examined the ethnic and geographical influences through which a stunning array of styles has evolved.

10 Both were projects of the Texas Sesquicentennial Quilt Association, led by Karey Bresenhan and Nancy O'Bryant.

11 Zegart, op. cit., p. 18, quote from an interview of Phyllis Tepper in preparation for a lecture.

12 Information on international projects was gleaned from back issues of the Canadian Quilt Study Group newsletter, Cover Stories, by editor Nancy Cameron Armstrong. She responded on short notice to my request and I gratefully thank her for her participation in this project. When the complete list of project information is published in a future issue of Folklore, I will include her well-researched international information.

13 Quilt Treasures: The Quilters' Guild Heritage Search (London, England: A Deirdre McDonald Book in association with the Quilters' Guild, 1995).

PINEAPPLE / ROSE OF SHARON Amanda Estill Moran Garrad County, Kentucky c. 1860 Cotton 100 • 86" Collection of Mrs. John Wade Walker Photo courtesy The Kentucky Quilt Project, Inc.

14 Sullivan, Kathlyn, Gatherings: America's Quilt Heritage, (Paducah, Ky., American Quilter's Society, 1995), p. 16. This book's mission was to present a comprehensive picture of the volunteer phenomenon of the quilt project movement; therefore, it is hard to explain the omission of any mention of two major conferences about quilt projects. Only one quilt project conference was mentioned in the publication.

15 Zegart, Shelly,"Quilt Projects: From Kentucky to New York and Into the Future," Antique Review, vol. 15, no.4(April 1989), p. 32.

16 Leman,op. cit.

17 Horton, Laurel,"Rethinking Quilt Projects: A Folklorist's Perspective," The Quilt Journal: An International Review, vol. 1, no.!(1992), p. 11.

18 Pilgrim, Paul, and Gerald Roy, Gatherings: America's Quilt Heritage,(Paducah, Ky., American Quilter's Society, 1995), p. 11.

19 Pilgrim and Roy,op. cit. I was surprised to note the omission

of information on the additional phases of two projects with which I am familiar, specifically the two projects of Texas Sesquicentennial Quilt Association and the continuing phases of The Kentucky Quilt Project, both of which were completed well before publication deadlines.

20 Keller, Patricia J., "Methodology and Meaning: Strategies for Quilt Study," The Quilt Journal: An International Review, vol. 2, no. 1(1993), p. 3. Quote from lecture presented by Virginia Gunn at the February 1992 conference "Directions in Quilt Scholarship: Louisville Celebrates the American Quilt," in Louisville, Kentucky.

21 Ibid., p. 4.

22 Weidlich, Lorre,"Quilt Scholarship: The Quilt World and the Academic World," The Quilt Journal: An International Review, vol.

3, no. 2(1994), p. 2. Lorre's credentials bridge the academic and the quilt worlds: she has a Ph.D. in folklore from the University of Texas and is also a quilter and designer, quilt teacher and lecturer, and exhibition organizer. Her writing on quilts has been published in both academic and popular publications. Credentials and experience such as Lorre's will become more common as scholars from many disciplines enter the area of quilt research.

23 Ibid., p. 4.

24 The current directors are Shelly Zegart, Eleanor Bingham Miller, and Jonathan Holstein. The conference topics included Directions in Quilt Scholarship, the Bibliography Conference (the beginning of the concept for the International Quilt Index), The AfricanAmerican and the American Quilt, and Quilts and Collections—Private, Public, and Corporate. Three publications were generated: Always There: The African-American Presence in American Quilts, by Cuesta Benberry; Abstract Design in American Quilts: A Biography ofan Exhibition, by Jonathan Holstein; and Expanding Quilt Scholarship: The lectures, conferences and other presentations ofLouisville Celebrates the American Quilt, edited from conference transcripts.

25 "The Quilt Journal: Mission Statement," The Quilt Journal: An International Review, vol. 1, no. 1(1992), p. 2.

26 See Editor's Notes to Patricia J. Keller's "Approaching Analysis: The Lancaster County Quilt Harvest," The Quilt Journal: An International Review, vol. 3, no. 1(1994), p. 10.

27 For a summary of the August meeting, more on "What is The Alliance," and biographies on each of the participants in the meeting, write The Alliance for American Quilts, P.O. Box 6251, Louisville, KY 40206.

28 A special thanks to those whose assistance were crucial to the development of this article, Karen Cozine-Keaniey, Kathleen Carpenter, Patricia J. Keller, Marsha MacDowell, and Lone Weidlich.

For a list of projects, including detailed exhibition and publication information, write The Kentucky Quilt Project, P.O. Box 6251, Louisville, KY 40206.

SPRING 1996 FOLK ART 37

Robert Peckham Unsung MRS. CHARLES COOLIDGE (NEE NANCY SPAULDINGI 1840-1850 Oil on canvas 30 26" Collection of the Forbush Memorial Library CHARLES COOLIDGE 1840-1850 Oil on canvas 30 25" Collection of the Forbush Memorial Library

obert Peckham, whose name is familiar to many modern

lovers of early nineteenth-century folk painting (even though his actual paintings may not be), was a master among the rural itinerant painters of his time. Unfortunately,

his work—unlike that of Ammi Phillips and Joseph Whiting Stock, for example—has not been studied, analyzed, and categorized in great detail.

Attributions to him must therefore be based mainly on style and on information passed down through generations of owners of paintings.

38 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

Rural Master

By DAVID KRASHES

WESTMINSTER VILLAGE IN 1831 1831 Oil on wood panel 23' 35¼ Collection of the Forbush Memorial Library

Through a few exhibitions of his work and publication of photographs of his paintings, as well as some "likely" attributions to him, we are able to say that this self-taught painter from north central Massachusetts was a highly talented and versatile artist. Peckham's oeuvre includes landscapes, large and colorful portraits of adults and children (many with toys) done in oil, several recently discovered pastel portraits of children, and oil paintings that reflected the social issues of his day.

As a result of research conducted by various scholars and collectors and preservation efforts on the part of the town of Westminster, where the artist lived, a great deal is known about Robert Peckham. Celia Bragdon and Ann Howard, twentiethcentury residents of Westminster, have examined local records and written histories of Peckham.' The town

has preserved a group of his paintings and their related histories2; with prior arrangement, one can visit the Forbush Memorial Library and view the eight or nine (the number depends on the interpretation of the records!) paintings attributed to Peckham and owned by the library.

Born in Petersham, Massachusetts, in 1775, Peckham married Ruth Sawyer of Bolton, Massachusetts, when he was in his early twenties. In 1820 or 1821, he moved to Westminster, where he lived for the next seventy-odd years. (Research indicates that he may have lived in other places for short periods.) Robert and Ruth Peckham lived in a white house on Academy Street, down hill from the old town common and across the street from a school. Their house still stands, and there is still a school, somewhat enlarged, across the street.

Peckham was a community-minded

man who was both interested and involved in the world around him and the lives of those who peopled it. It is said that he loved children—he and Ruth had nine of their own—and this seems to be confirmed by his numerous beautiful paintings of children. It is also said that children often came to Peckham's house from the school for drinks of water because there was no water in the schoo1.3 Like many of his contemporaries, Peckham was a religious man and served as a deacon in the town's Congregational church. "Deacon Peckham," as he is still referred to today, was known around the state as an artist and a man of conviction who was willing to back up his beliefs with strong words and actions. In the years before the Civil War, he took stands on the two major issues of the time: temperance and abolition. His temperance beliefs led to his being excom-

SPRING 1996 FOLK ART 39

MRS. WILLIAM COWEE WITH MUSIC c. 1836 Oil on cardboard ye 32 Vz x 26 Collection of New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown

CHILD ON STRIPED RUG 1830-1840 Oil on canvas 2" 1 46 35/ Private collection

municated from his beloved church, and it is believed by some that his abolitionist convictions led him to make his home a stop on the Underground Railroad (so far, however, no one has been able to confirm this).

Little is known of his means of livelihood prior to his becoming an artist. Based on 1815, 1817, and 1829 newspaper advertisements and on notices, it seems likely that he was a sign painter and decorator. He may have had several months of instruction in portrait painting from Ethan Allen Greenwood, a schooled portraitist who lived in the neighboring town of Princeton.'

According to historian and Peckham researcher Laura C. Luckey,' Peckham's earliest oil paintings were a head-and-shoulders JOSEPH AND ANNE RAYMOND c. 1840 Oil on canvas 55Âź 39" The Metropolitan Museum of Art, gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1966.

(66.242.27)

Originally attributed to Joseph Whiting Stock, this painting was attributed to Peckham in 1994 by Dale T. Johnson.

portrait of a man, c. 1809, and a remarkable portrait of sixteen members of the Peckham and Sawyer families, c. 1817, which measures only 27 inches by 32 inches and is now in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Although portraits established Peckham's reputation to the extent that he eventually advertised himself as "delineator of the human face divine,"6 his earliest wellknown work is a landscape, Westminster Village in 1831. From the time of its creation, it was owned by the Wood family of Westminster. It was passed down through the family for many generations, until it was finally given to the village's Forbush Library.

This work was done in oil on two boards that meet close to the painting's center; this type of landscape was rare for the period, but became more common thirty years later—in the 1860s, for example, Joseph Hidley produced beautiful paintings of Poestenkill and the surrounding eastern region of New York State.

Like many other rural artists of the first half of the nineteenth century, Peckham produced many head-andtorso portraits of adults. A beautiful pair of portraits of Mr. and Mrs. William Cowee, in which Mr. Cowee is holding a flute and Mrs. Cowee a book of music, is owned by the New York State Historical Association in Cooperstown. The portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Coolidge, which are

SPRING 1996 FOLK ART 41

owned by the Forbush Memorial Library, are attributed to Peckham because of anecdotal information passed along with the paintings and because of the style of the pieces. In this pair of attractive portraits, Charles Coolidge is holding a newspaper in his right hand and Nancy Spaulding Coolidge is holding a book; whichever of her two rings is her wedding ring, it is not worn on the "ring finger" of her left hand, as is customary today. The

42 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

adults in Peckham's portraits generally have modeled features, particularly cheeks, wear fine clothes, and are shown as forceful and clean-cut; hair is not depicted in a consistent style, but varies from one sitter to the next.

The backgrounds are usually plain and dark, and particular attention is given to the details of clothing and artifacts that indicate the profession or the major interest of the sitter. These details often convey the impression

that the sitters are well-to-do, which perhaps most of them were.

Peckham apparently loved children, for he painted many portraits of them. In an article published in 1979,7 historian Dale Johnson showed six appealing paintings of children that she said were by Peckham. However, Laura C. Luckey feels that, based on stylistic differences, these particular portraits are not by Peckham.8 To me, the attributions of the children's portraits seem correct, as the evidence— particularly the modeling of the faces and the locales of the children's homes—seems valid. With their many bright colors and details of clothing and toys, his paintings of children are quite different from his more somber, usually half-length, portraits of adults.

(See the double portrait of the Raymond children and Child on Striped Rug). Characteristics that frequently appear in "Peckham children" are hair painted in bands of black and brown, horizontal bands around the skirts of young boys and girls, lots of toys (including, at times, an impish-looking doll), and eyes that "lock on" to the viewers' eyes.

In 1994, the portrait known as Two Children with Doll showed up at auction. For various reasons, this pastel portrait has been attributed to Peckham. The dealer who first found it has said that the wallpaper backing of this pastel is similar to that of another painting that was actually signed

by Peckham.8 Also important is that the pastel descended in a branch of the Peckham family in Rhode Island.

Although the faces do not show the modeling typical of Peckham children, the hair is done in broad bands. Also, there is an impish doll in the center of the picture—which does not prove anything, as a signature would, but does suggest the possibility that this pastel may be a Peckham work. In the auction catalog entry discussing this work, it was stated that the two subjects were little girls, although the purchaser felt that they were in fact boys.

However, it may seem just as obvious to some that the bigger child is a girl and the little one is a boy. A year after Two Children with Doll appeared in public, the pastel portrait of Anna Catherine Dean and Elizabeth Dean was offered at auction. This work is

TWO CHILDREN WITH DOLL c. 1820 Pastel on paper 3 4" / 4x 25/ 213 Private collection

ANNA CATHERINE DEAN AND ELIZABETH DEAN OF TAUNTON, MASSACHUSETTS C. 1820 Pastel on paper, grisaille wallpaper on verso / 4 213 / 4 253 Courtesy Gemini Antiques, Ltd., New York, New York Photo courtesy Christie's, Inc., New York

WILLIAM COWEE WITH FLUTE c. 1836 Oil on cardboard 32/ 1 2 x 26 Ya" Collection of New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown

SPRING 1996 FOLK ART 43

quite similar to Two Children with Doll, but in this one the children are holding a cat between them. Because of the similarity, the auction firm attributed this second pastel to Peckham as well.

Unusual examples of Peckham's work include The Woes of Liquor and The Happy Abstemious Family, both of which are signed "R. Peckham." The former depicts a sick and suffering family whose troubles have been brought about by liquor; the second shows a happy nondrinking family. The backs of these works are painted light gray. These small "temperance" paintings were probably executed in the 1840s and are now in the collection of the Worcester Historical Museum.

Other Peckham paintings can be viewed in various museums and private collections. A private owner in Massachusetts has half-length portraits of three of Peckham's children'° done in the manner of Peckham's portraits of adults, with dark clothing and

dark backgrounds, as well as one painting of two children that is probably by Peckham. The Bolton, Massachusetts, Historical Society has two paintings of adults said to be by Peckham. Fruitlands Museums in Harvard, Massachusetts, owns a portrait of a young boy named Clinton Hager that was given to them by the Forbush Memorial Library. A museum in Maine has one portrait of a__woman.

Photographs of other Peckham portraits can be seen in catalogs of the Tillou collection" and an exhibition at Old Sturbridge Village, Massachusetts.'2 And an article in a 1983 issue of The Magazine Antiques" shows a

painting of five children that is probably by Peckham.

Was Peckham a good artist? On the basis of whether he produced an excellent likeness, who is to say? One favorite quotation of almost everyone who writes about Peckham comes from Peckham's most famous sitter, the poet John Greenleaf Whittier: "The picture was painted when I was 23, painted by Deacon Peckham of Westminster while he was on a visit to Haverhill. I only recall sitting for him two or three times, but how it looked I have no idea. If it was a good picture, it was a miracle, for the Deacon was eminently artless."4 In 1833 Peckham traveled by wagon from Westminster to Haverhill—what must have been a two-day trip—where he produced a painting of Whittier. The artist greatly admired the poet, and had undoubtedly wanted to do a good job. As Whittier's comment came nearly fifty years after the portrait was completed, Peckham probably never heard his sitter's criticism.

Peckham's signature from the back of The Woes of Liquor. There is a similar signature on the back of The Happy Abstemious Family.

THE WOES OF LIQUOR (INTEMPERANCE) 1840-1850 Oil on panel 5% 7/ 1 4" From the Collections of the Worcester Historical Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts. 1977.664

44 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

Regardless of Whittier's comments, judging by the standards of present-day admirers of early nineteenth-century folk paintings, Peckham was a master. He used different media and portrayed a variety of subjects. Unlike artists such as Belknap and Prior, he seems not to have had a standard format for any type of subject. He apparently tried to create something new with each individual work. If all of Deacon Robert Peckham's known and attributed paintings were gathered in one exhibition, his status as one of the master rural artists of early nineteenth-century America would undoubtedly be confirmed. *

David Krashes is an entrepreneur metallurgist. He is a member ofthe American Folk Art Society and has written articles onfolk paintingfor the Maine Antiques Digest(January 1985)and this publication (The Clarion, Summer 1990). He and his wife have been collectingfolk paintings and antiquefurniturefor more than forty years.

NOTES 1 Celia Bragdon,"Deacon Robert Peckham of Westminster, Massachusetts: His Life and Work," master's thesis, 1973 (filed in Forbush Memorial Library, Westminster, Massachusetts). Ann Howard,"Deacon Peckham's World of Art," paper for Westminster Historical Society, not dated (filed in Forbush Memorial Library).

2 See my article "Robert Peckham: Portrait Painter of Massachusetts," Maine Antiques Digest, vol. XV, no. 1 (January 1985), pp. 22D-24D. 3 Clara Endicott Sears, Some American Primitives: A Study ofNew England Faces and Folk Portraits(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1941), p. 84.

4 Georgia B. Bumgardner,"The Early Career of Ethan Allen Greenwood— Itinerancy in New England and New York," Dublin Seminarfor New England Folklife—Annual Proceedingsfor 1984 (Boston: Boston University, 1986), p. 221.

5 Laura C. Luckey,"The Portraits of Robert Peckham," The Magazine Antiques, vol. CXXXIV. no. 3(September 1988), pp. 550-557.

6 Bragdon, op. cit.

7 See Dale T. Johnson,"Deacon Robert Peckham: 'Delineator of the Human Face Divine'." The American Art Journal(The Kennedy Galleries, New York), vol. XI, no. 1 (January 1979), pp. 27-36.

8 Luckey, op. cit.

9 Marguerite Riordan, letter to the author, October 13,1994.

10 These works include portraits of the artist's son Henry,seated and holding a writing tablet; a son and daughter whose hands are not visible; and a blue-clad daughter, seated and holding a baby dressed in pink.

11 Where Liberty Dwells(Buffalo, N.Y.: Albright-Knox Gallery with the University of Connecticut, 1976), Figure 20.

12 Jessica Nicoll, Meet Your Neighbors: New England Portraits, Painters & Society, 1790-1850(Sturbridge, Mass.: University of Massachusetts Press, 1992).

13 Elisabeth Donaghy Garrett,"The American Home," The Magazine Antiques, vol. CXXIII, no. 1 (January 1983), p. 215.

14 John Greenleaf Whittier, 1880 letter to Dr. Crowell, filed in Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

THE HAPPY ABSTEMIOUS FAMILY (TEMPERANCE) 1840-1850 Oil on panel 5N 7 VS" From the Collections of the Worcester Historical Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts. 1977.665

SPRING 1996 FOLK ART 45

Dialogues With Stone:

TED LUDWICZAK

WILLIAM EDMONDSON_

46 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

Ernest "Popeye" Reed

By MARIDEAN HUTTON

work of art can be understood as a dialogue between an artist and his or her material. In this process, a new work is brought into existence as the artist's creative vision and skills interact with the nature of the medium.

The American sculptor William Zorach wrote that "A work of art is always, in a sense, autobiographical." Background and experience dictate the differences in the ways artists approach making art. Variations in how they handle their tools affect the way the material behaves in their hands. The control is not entirely theirs, however, because the material, especially when it is stone, tends to talk back.

In the field of American folk art, relatively few sculptors have tried to

talk with stone. Eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century gravestones were generally bas-reliefs, sharply cut but shallow, as suited the nature of the slate from which they were often made. Their makers were craftsmen, carving to meet a need and usually following formulas or basing their work on two-dimensional woodcuts and engravings. Some fully rounded heads or animal figures, many of them created by unknown artists, have been found. For a number of reasons, including access to materials and local artistic traditions, sculpture in stone by self-taught artists has been less common in comparison to the amount and variety of work done in wood and other mediums. I Stone is the most obdurate of all the sculptural materials, slow to respond to the tool and almost completely inflexible. Mistakes are seldom forgiven by the medium; the difficulty of making corrections may necessitate the sculptor's altering his entire concept. Carving too deeply into the block or boulder may shatter the stone and destroy the work completely. Yet the very slowness with which this material responds protects the sculptor against sudden errors, and when well handled, stone imparts to the sculptor's vision a dignity and sense of strength that in my opinion is possible in no other material. The works of William Edmondson, Ernest "Popeye" Reed, and Ted Ludwiczak, a newly recognized artist, are very dissimilar. Exploring the differences in the sources of their vision, their acquisition of skills, and the audience for which these artists sought to create leads to a greater appreciation of the rich variety of self-expression that can be found in folk sculpture.

SPRING 1996 FOLK ART 47

WILLIAM EDMONDSON (1870-1951), unquestionably one of the great folk artists of the twentieth century, began his career in art late in life, following retirement. Having worked on a farm, in the railroad yards, and finally as a janitor (until the closing of the local women's hospital where he worked), he began his new occupation, like other religious southerners, with a vision. While looking at some pieces of stone in his driveway, Edmondson, a member of the Primitive Baptist Church, said that he heard a voice from God telling him to pick up his tools and start carving. "I looked up in the sky and right there in the noon daylight He hung a tombstone out for me to make."2 And Edmondson wasted no time in heeding the words of that voice. Edmondson's niece Mary Brown told art historian Edmund Fuller, "He said he wasn't going to work anymore,just get my hammer and my chisel and cut away on some stones and everybody just laughed at him. We thought it was the funniest thing."'

Edmondson worked only from his own visions and saw little relevance in the works of others. After seeing pieces by the Nashville sculptor Thomas Puryear Mims (who paid tribute to Edmondson after his death), Edmondson said, "Mr. Mims he works pretty in plaster and clay.

That's mighty fine but the Lord didn't say nothing to me about that." 4 During an artistic career that spanned more than fifteen years, Edmondson produced several hundred pieces ranging in size from small birds (8 to 10 inches) to works nearly three feet high.5 A few were simple tombstones with minimal decoration beyond their idiosyncratic lettering, but most were fully developed three-dimensional figures— angels, preachers, crucifixions, portraits of Eleanor Roosevelt and the boxer Jack Johnson, birds, animals, and "critters" of no known species. Stubby, vigorous women were also a frequent subject—Eve, Jezebel, brides, and a progression of wonderfully spunky schoolteachers.

Edmondson carved few nudes. One of his few nudes, a depiction of Eve, he always kept covered.6 Edmondson worked in limestone. A steady supply of this material from street reconstructions and dismantled buildings was readily available in Nashville in the 1930s.

Already weathered by the elements, which hardens the material, the blocks could stand up well to further exposure, although this also made them more difficult to carve.'

While he had little choice in the proportions or the consistency of the stones, which ranged from porous to a type almost as smooth as marble,8 Edmondson's vision fit comfortably into the precut curbstones, lintels, steps, and windowsills delivered to him for a few dollars by the wrecking companies' trucks.

The sculptor said that he carved "stingily," and so his works generally retain something of the shape of the original block. Just as Edmondson said he saw his visions in the sky, Fuller felt that the artist also saw his subjects within the blocks, "and their forms must have been very close to the surface so that he could, as he said, cut stingily."

In Fuller's opinion, this blockiness was "just enough to strengthen his creation of a oneness, a wholeness." His basic tools were hammers, points and chisels made from old railroad spikes, and a rasp and file.

48 SPRING 19% FOLK ART

Many of Edmondson's pieces were placed in local graveyards by African American mourners who had paid him with a few dollars or a bottle of gin. He said God told him to carve, but didn't mention making money.1° Others were bought by sophisticated collectors who appreciated the abstract simplicity that fit so well with the aesthetic discoveries of the Modern Art movement. Though the New York photographer Louise Dahl-Wolfe was unable to place her images of Edmondson's work in Harper's Bazaar because publisher William Randolph Hearst would not print work by a black man," she had no difficulty exciting the interest of Alfred Barr, Jr., then the director of the Museum of Modern Art. In 1937 twelve of William Edmondson's sculptures were exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art; one of these was also included at an exhibition of modern American art at the Jeu de Paume in Paris the following year.

William Edmondson was that rare artist whose work satisfies the criteria of advocates on both sides of the question about the nature of folk art. To the folklorist, he may be seen as a local artist using available materials, drawing from tradition, and working to fill the needs of his own community. For the connoisseur of art, his works please because of their satisfying aesthetic qualities.

RAM William Edmondson C. 1940 Limestone 14 / 1 2 18 5 / 1 2" The Newark Museum, bequest of Edmund L Fuller, Jr. 85.20

Photography by: Armen

SCHOOL TEACHER William Edmondson c. 1940 Limestone 13½ 5' 9 The Newark Museum, bequest of Edmund L. Fuller, Jr. 85.19

PREACHER William Edmondson c. 1940 Limestone 17 10 5" The Newark Museum, bequest of Edmund L. Fuller, Jr. 85.17

SPRING 1996 FOLK ART 49

UNTITLED MALE NUDE Ernest "Popeye" Reed Jackson County, Ohio 1982 Gray sandstone - 8" 11 8 Collection of Lanford Wilson Courtesy H.S. Art, New York, N.Y.

50 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

WOMAN WITH TWO CHILDREN AND CAT Ernest "Popeye" Reed Jackson County, Ohio c. 1968 Gray sandstone 60 12 - 15" Museum of American Folk Art, gift of Dorothy and Leo Rabkin 1982.20.1

ERNEST "POPEYE" REED (1919-1985) was born of part American Indian parentage in the town of Jackson in the Appalachian region of south central Ohio.

After leaving school at fourteen, he worked as a cabinetmaker and in a sawmill; he made moonshine on the side.'2 When Reed was in his mid-forties, he took odd jobs as a carpenter while selling American Indian items, fake arrowheads, and his own carvings. The three thousand or more carvings Reed made during his lifetime were mostly arrowheads, pipes, and other tourist items, but at least two hundred can be classified as serious works of art.'3 Many of these objects used American Indian subjects as their theme, but he depicted mythological subjects, angels, nudes, and animals as well.

Like Edmondson, Reed worked in stone. Unlike the southern sculptor, however, Reed more regularly turned to outside sources for inspiration. Edmondson generally carved the visions that came from within himself or developed ideas in the process of working on the stone. Reed studied photographs from encyclopedias and magazines, copied American Indian material, and was particularly interested in Greek mythology.14 This use of pictorial visualizations made by others gave Reed's work a greater range of subjects than that of Edmondson. It also contributed to a lack of unity in Reed's style; his pieces sometimes appear to be the work of two or three different hands. Woman with Two Children and Cat, which is in the collection of the Museum of American Folk Art, for instance, is detailed, stiff, and very formal, whereas his gray sandstone male nude in Lanford Wilson's collection is a smooth arrangement of curving solids and voids.

Because he did not wait until retirement to become a sculptor but was carving in wood by the time he was fourteen,15 Reed had an entire lifetime to develop his skills, which were reinforced by his work as a cabinetmaker and carpenter. He talked of having made small animals by the time he was seven or eight.'6 Another important difference between Edmondson and Reed lies in how they each developed his technique.

Reed worked in both wood and stone, though he evidently did not begin working seriously with the latter until he was in his late forties." During his woodcarving years, he developed skill and expertise in handling volumes and space, a fluency that is much more difficult to acquire in stone. This facility enabled Reed to give many of his stone works a surprising complexity. His Woman with Two Children and Cat has had a large amount of stone removed in order to create complex shape relationships, its surface has been smoothed to show the contrast between textures of skin and cloth, and the figure itself is not frontal to the four-sided block but twisted to face where a corner has been. Edmondson's work, which respects the block of stone, conveys a subtle simplicity of form. Reed, having developed his sculptural vocabulary early by working first in wood, carves away the rock at will.

Kerry Schuss, who watched Reed work, identified another reason for Reed's fluidity. Unlike Edmondson, who used dry limestone, Reed frequently used sandstone, a relatively soft stone, working it wet to make it even softer.'8 This transforms it into a "friendlier" material. At the same

time, the lack of resistance, which aids in speed and fluency, removes one of the stone's most basic protective characteristics and comes close to violating its nature. Parts can easily be carved away because the binding that holds the granules together is weakened. An example of where the stone may have become weaker than the sculptor might have wished can be seen in an awkwardly proportioned angel that Reed has carved sitting on a large rock. Far too much stone has been removed, leaving only tiny legs to support the massive chest, though its brooding masculine face is a welcome concept in a category that is sometimes overly feminized.

Another difference between the two sculptors is intent. Edmondson may have been gratified if people liked his pieces, but he carved mainly to please God. Reed, however, was a showman. He was not primarily concerned with making large amounts of money, but he enjoyed demonstrating at fairs and he thrived on attention. He liked his sculptures to attract. Ted Ludwiczak, unlike either Edmondson or Reed, however, began carving only to please himself.'9

UNTITLED Ernest "Popeye" Reed Jackson County, Ohio c. 1970 Gray sandstone 9 11 7" Collection of Lee and Ed Kogan Courtesy K.S. Art, New York, N.Y.

SPRING 1996 FOLK ART 51

TED LUDWICZAK (b. 1927) now lives north of New York City. He was born in Poland but fled in 1949, when he was twenty-two. He got a brief glimpse of India, Egypt, and Greece before his ship landed him in Italy. Ludwiczak spent the next two years as a German-speaking guide in Rome, after which he became a civilian quartermaster for the U.S. Army in Germany, and then came to the United States in 1956, where he worked as a contact lens maker.

As has been true of other folk artists, Ludwiczak only became a sculptor when he retired. In 1987, while building a red sandstone wall on his property, he became interested in the artistic visual possibilities in one of the boulders he was handling—using a hammer, he created a face out of it. When he was finished, he cemented the face into his wall. It looked lonely, he said, so he added a few more. He made himself some tools, of which a metal blade from an old lawnmower is his favorite. His interest became so intense that he began looking for sculpture material at an old quarry. In the last eight years, he has carved at least three hundred heads, some small enough to fit comfortably into the crowd on his bedroom dresser, others as high as three-feet tall and weighing at least four hundred pounds.

These larger pieces had to be transported in the winter, when he could use a sled; fortunately, his son was able to help with the hauling.

Ludwiczak differs from Edmondson and Reed in the source of his vision, which comes from looking at irregular boulders of sandstone and granite, the shape of which, modified by a little carving, is an integral part of his final design. His only interest is the human face, but the variations he can produce on this theme are sensitive and subtle.

Most dominant is the heavy, simplified nose, which flows into the more delicately delineated eyebrows. Underneath the brows are the eyes, which are oversized and sometimes minimally lidded, sometimes not, with the iris and pupil incised. The mouth, generally expressed as two lips, is just slightly parted in a manner that is reminiscent of the Greek archaic smile, which helps give the faces their air of mysterious benevolence. Cheeks are sometimes gently rounded, sometimes sharply defined.

Many of Ludwiczak's sculptures have been placed on the hillside leading down to the water behind his house, where they create an atmosphere he feels is reminiscent of the mysterious stone heads on Easter Island. Unlike the Easter Island sculptures, Ludwiczak's heads are often broader than they are tall, the faces are contoured and detailed, and their gaze is interested and friendly. However, viewed as a group, they do evoke a similar sense of brooding mystery.

In his professional life, Ludwiczak gained an unusual form of sculptural experience as a technician making contact lenses. As explained to me by optician Larry Hall, in those days a hard plastic button was fastened to a spinning lathe while the technician used a diamond tool on a rod to "scoop out" plastic until the correct curvature had been reached. Then, after the lens was edged, it was smoothed with files and polished with rouge on a whee1.2° Ludwiczak's preference for focusing on carving the front face and his extensive vocabulary of subtle curves

52 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

come out of this background. Ludwiczak goes far beyond bas-relief—he digs deeply into the body of the stone, making the configuration constantly change relationships as the viewer moves slowly from front to profile. The subtle and obviously intentional asymmetry of the features is not typical of folk sculpture, but even more unusual is Ludwiczak's ability to explore such a wide range of possibilities in the contours of the human face. A close look at his work shows that he has not been interested in repeating a simple, basic facial vocabulary, as is developed by so many folk artists, but is still finding a fresh concept in every rock he carves. The large scale on which he so often works and his experience in handling subtle curves aid him in produc-

Ted Ludwiczak sitting among his works, 1995.

Ludwiczak is continually adding new sculptures to his environment. The heads shown here were carved between 1988 and 1995. Photo courtesy American Primitive Gallery, New York, N.Y.

UNTITLED (vertical head) Ted Ludwiczak New York State C.1992 Sandstone 15 17 15" Courtesy American Primitive Gallery, New York, N.Y.

UNTITLED (wedgeshaped head) Ted Ludwiczak New York State c. 1993 Sandstone 14 22 • 3 Courtesy American Primitive Gallery, New York, N.Y.

SPRING 1996 FOLK ART 53

ing a distinctive body of work that exhibits a sensitive exploration of the face that is unique in folk sculpture.

Three sculptors, three very unique bodies of work.

Edmondson gives the world a vision of simple serenity and profound beauty. "Popeye" Reed provides an energy and curiosity which at its best may shoot off in unexpected and exciting directions. Ted Ludwiczak's faces look out at the world with an immense and benevolent humanity. Folk sculptors in stone are few, but their willingness to develop their concepts in this difficult medium has made us all much richer.* Maridean Hutton, a Spring 1995 graduate of the Folk Art Institute, lectures on many aspects ofthefield. Aformer art teacher, she is particularly interested in the study ofhow folk artists use materials to convey their ideas.

NOTES 1 William Zorach,Zorach Explains Sculpture: What It Means and How It Is Made(New York: American Artists Group, 1947), p. 56.

2 Edmund Fuller, Visions in Stone: The Sculpture of William Edmondson (Pittsburgh: The University of Pittsburgh Press, 1973), p. 8.

3 Ibid., p. 6.

4 Ibid., p. 27, note 8.

5 Chuck and Jan Rosenak, Museum ofAmen can Folk Art Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century American Folk Art and Artists(New York: Abbeville Press, 1991), p. 112.

6 Louise LeQuire,"William Edmondson's Art: He Carved Pure, Strong, and Everlasting Monuments in Stone," Smithsonian (August 1981), p. 53.

7 For technical information on stone carving, see William Dawson,Practical Carving in Wood, Stone, Plastics and Other Materials(New York: Watson-Guptill, 1972).

8 Fuller, O.cit., pp. 14-15.

9 Ibid., p. 16.

10 Regenia A. Perry, Free Within Ourselves: African-American Artists in the Collection ofthe National Museum ofAmerican Art (Washington: National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1992), p. 65.

11 Fuller, op. cit., pp. 23-24.

12 Rosenak, op. cit., p. 255.

13 Ibid.

14 Ibid.

15 Ibid.

16 "Popeye Reed Stone Sculpture," Antique Review Preview (March 1986), p. 14.

17 Telephone conversation with Kerry Schuss, art therapist and folk art dealer, November 27, 1992.

18 Ibid.

19 Factual information on Ted Ludwiczak is taken from conversations with and written notes from Aame Anton, American Primitive Gallery, October—December 1992, updated on February 25, 1995. All discussion about the works themselves comes from the author's observations.

20 Telephone conversation with Larry Hall, optician and manager, Meyrowitz Optical Company, October 29, 1992.

46

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62 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

peg-hook wall plaques, accent mirrors, and fire and dummy boards.

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Dear Customer Your purchase of Museumlicensed products directly benefits the cultural and educational activities of the Museum. Thank you for participating in the Museum's continuing efforts to celebrate the style, craft, and tradition of American folk art. If you have any questions or comments regarding the Museum of American Folk Art Collection,TM please contact us at 212/977-7170.

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SPRING 1996 FOLK ART 63

Expressions of Trust Opens n exhibition of recent (Folk Art, Summer 1995), gifts to the permanent Hollander described some of the collection, organized by other works in this extraordinary the Museum's curator, Stacy C. exhibition and gave us a sense of Hollander, opened at the Museits scope. The exhibition of paintum's Eva and Morris Feld Gallery ings, sculpture, environmental art, at Lincoln Square on Tuesday, textiles, and furniture included a January 16. This exhibition, serene candlewicked bedcover which was on view through Febmade in 1847 in Connecticut and ruary 25,offered visitors an excita lively, primary-colored appliing survey of folk art. The diverquéd quilt made in Mississippi in sity of the more than 70 objects 1990. In addition to the stunning displayed underscored not only 18th- and 19th-century paintings, the Museum's inclusive mission, works by such contemporary but the wide range of artistic inter- masters as Eddie Arning, Thornton ests of its patrons.

Dial, William Hawkins, and One of the highlights of the Purvis Young were also on exhibition was a pair of 18th-cenview. tury portraits that were previously Timed to dovetail with the in the Bertram K. and Nina Museum's Opening Night Benefit Fletcher Little Collection. These Preview of the Outsider Art Fair, portraits of Mary Kimberly the members' reception to celeThomas Reynolds and James brate "Expressions of Trust" was Blakeslee Reynolds, painted held in the gallery on Wednesaround 1789, were featured in day, January 24. Members and Stacy Hollander's essay "Reuben friends joined Director Gerard C. Moulthrop: Artist in Painting and Wertkin, Trustees, and staff to Waxworks"(Folk Art, Fall 1994). thank the many donors who have In her essay "Expressions of generously given these significant Trust: Recent Gifts to the artworks to the Museum and to Museum of American Folk Art" the public.

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84 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

SACRED HEART OF JESUS Artist unknown Fallon, North Dakota c. 1907 Wood and paint 66" diameter

Ralph Fasanella (left) with Gerard C. Wertkin

A Subway First n Friday, December 15, 1995, Ralph Fasanella's Subway Riders became the first oil painting to be permanently installed in a New York City subway station. It is on view in the subway station mezzanine of the E and F line Fifth Avenue station at 53rd Street in Manhattan.

Mounted in a specially designed recessed wallcase under protective glass, Subway Riders is remarkably easy for all passersby to view.

The painting, owned by the Museum of American Folk Art, was presented to New York's subway riders by Ralph and Eva Fasanella and the Museum,through the efforts of Ron Carver and Public Domain, an initiative to place the paintings of Ralph Fasanella in museums and public institutions.

An installation ceremony was held in the station that morning at 10:00 A.M. Invited guests—as well as passing commuters—enjoyed a Continental breakfast buffet, live music, and a chance to meet the artist and his wife. After introductions were made, Ralph Fasanella spoke candidly and good humorredly about his life philosophy.

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The installation, carefully supervised by the Museum's registrar, Ann-Marie Reilly, curator, Stacy C. Hollander, and consulting conservators Barbara Appelbaum and Paul Himmelstein, was made possible by the Museum of American Folk Art; MTA Arts for Transit; MTA New York City Transit Capital Program Management Department and Division of Design and Engineering Services; Department of Subways, Division of Stations and Division of Infrastructure; Bergen Street Shop; Tiffany Place Shop; Transport Workers Union of Greater New York, Local 100; Anschuetz, Christidis & Lauster, Architects; and Hill & Knowlton,Inc. A wall plaque mounted next to the painting is inscribed with the following words from Ralph Fasanella:"I'd ride the subway every day, back and forth to my machine shop job. I'd ride and ride and sketch and sketch. I love the subway. It pulls the city together, pulls people together in a magic way."

Following the installation reception, Hill and Knowlton,Inc., sponsored an informal luncheon to honor Ralph Fasanella. At Fasanella's request, the luncheon was catered by Nathan's—hot dogs, French fries, salad, ice cream sandwiches, and champagne were served.

Ralph Fasanella (center) with Judy and Jim Taylor at the Hill & Knowlton luncheon.

LONNIE HOLLEY

The Museum Honors Black mong the most important objects in the Museum's permanent collection are artworks by African American artists. In conjunction with Black History Month,the Museum's education department held a variety of programs highlighting African American artists. The schedule included lectures, concerts, children's storytelling, and art workshops. Mounted at the entrance of the Museum's Eva and Morris Feld Gallery were photographs of many of the artists whose works are on extended view in the Daniel Cowin Permanent Collection Gallery or were included in the special exhibition "Expressions of Trust: Recent Gifts to the Permanent Collection" during the month of February. Represented were: Charles Butler(1902-1978) David Butler(b. 1898) Thornton Dial(b. 1928) William Lawrence Hawkins (1895-1990)

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History Month Clementine Hunter (1886/87-1988) Sister Gertrude Morgan (1900-1980) Leroy Person (1908-1985) Elijah Pierce(1892-1984) Lorenzo Scott(b. 1934) Sarah Mary Taylor(b. 1916) Purvis Young(b. 1943).

"Elephant in Black"(1993) Ink on paper, 14"x20".

EPSTEIN/POWELL Jesse Aaron

David Butler

Rex Clawson

Vestie Davis

Mr. Eddy FISHING FOR LOVE Thornton Dial, Sr. Bessemer, Alabama 1990 Watercolor, charcoal, and crayon on paper 30 22 / 1 2" Museum of American Folk Art, gift of Ron and June Shelp. 1992.19.1

Antonio Esteves

Roy Ferdinand

Howard Finster

Victor Joseph Gatto (Estate) S.L. Jones

Lawrence Lebduska

Justin McCarthy Peter Minchell Day Without Art his year, the Museum of American Folk Art again participated in "Day Without Art," the international day of action, mourning, and AIDS awareness.

On Friday, December 1,1995, five works of art were chosen to be covered in memory of those who have died of AIDS and in tribute to those living with the disease. Four of the objects— Carved Drinking Horn with Dragon-Style Decoration (1890), Bishop's Chair ofNordic Revival Type (c. 1905), Hardanger Violin (1871), and Hardanger Violin and Bow (1906)—were featured in the exhibition "Norwegian Folk Art: The Migration of a Tra-

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dition," which was on view from September 16 through January 7.

The fifth object, Flag Gate (c. 1876), is one of the Museum's signature pieces permanently on view in the Museum's Daniel Cowin Permanent Collection Gallery.

Placed in front of these shrouded works were contemporary poems about AIDS: Thinking About Bill, Dead ofAIDS, by Miller Williams, and Kate, by Kevin Jeffery Clarke. Both poems are from Poetsfor Life: Seventy-Six Poets Respond to AIDS, edited by Michael Klein, and were used with permission from Persea Books.

Inez Nathaniel

Old Ironsides Pry

Popeye Reed

Max Romain

Bill Roseman (Estate) Jack Savitsky Isaac Smith

Clarence Stringfield

Mose Tolliver George Williams

Chief Willey Luster Willis

... and others EPSTEIN/POWELL 22 Wooster St., New York, N.Y. 10013

By Appointment(212)226-7316

SPRING 1996 FOLK ART SS

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Musicians George Demertzis, Maria Asteriadou, Brandt Fredriksen, and Maria Kitsopoulos

Upcoming Exhibitions wo new exhibitions,"An American Treasury: Quilts from the Museum of American Folk Art" and "The Art of the Contemporary Doll," will be on view at the Museum's Eva and Morris Feld Gallery from May 4 through September 8.

The Museum's#quilt collection, which consists of more than 400 textiles dating from the late 18th century to the present, is one of the largest in the country.

Over the past three years, the collection has been thoroughly researched and cataloged by Elizabeth V. Warren and Sharon L. Eisenstat. Their research has been beautifully documented in Glorious American Quilts: The Quilt Collection ofthe Museum of American Folk Art, published by Penguin Studio in conjunction with the upcoming exhibition.

Approximately 25 of the most important and beautiful quilts have been selected for the exhibi-

tion, along with new information regarding their history and design sources."An American Treasury: Quilts from the Museum of American Folk Art," curated by Warren and Eisenstat, represents all major American quiltmaking classifications and includes new additions to the Museum's collection.

"The Art of the Contemporary Doll" showcases dolls made

mostly in the past decade and illustrates the shift in dollmaking from plaything to creative artistic expression. The exhibition curators, Krystyna Poray Goddu and Wendy Lavitt, have selected more than 50 unique dolls for this exhibition, some of which are fantastic creatures of the imagination. The dolls are sculpted in wood,cloth, leather, wax, resins, and clay, as well as porcelain and vinyl. Goddu and Lavitt's new book, The Doll by Contemporary Artists(Abbeville Press) with photographs by Lynton Gardiner, features 100 of the world's most outstanding doll artists.

Glorious American Quilts: The Quilt Collection ofthe Museum ofAmerican Folk Art and The Doll by Contemporary Artists are available at the Museum's Book and Gift shops and by mail.

For inquiries, call Beverly McCarthy at 212/977-7170.

host group provide transportation expenses for the lecturer(he or she will travel via mass transit) and guarantee attendance of at least 10 persons.

The Museum of American Folk Art offers the following lectures. "Expressions of a New Spirit" highlights three#centuries of American folk art from the Museum's permanent collection.

"New York Beauties: Quilts from the Empire State" features quilts documented by the New York Quilt Project."Santos de Palo: The Household Saints of Puerto Rico" focuses on the work and traditions of santeros(woodcarvers of devotional objects)."A Celebration of the Individual Spirit: 20th Century Folk Art"

explores the work of present-day self-taught artists. "You're Never Too Old to Express Yourself' brings together the work of Grandma Moses, Harry Lieberman, Bill Traylor, and other 20thcentury masters who began to create after retirement or otherwise late in life. "Visiones del Pueblo: The Folk Art of Latin America" provides a link between the past and the present through objects made for ceremonial, utilitarian, decorative, and recreational purposes."Victorian Vernacular: The American Show Quilt" presents a selection from the Museum's outstanding collection of embellished show quilts made in the mid- to late 19th century. "Norwegian Folk Art: The

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Outreach Programs et the Museum of American Folk Art come to you.

The Museum's Outreach Program is pleased to offer a series of slide presentations on various topics in the field of American and international folk art.

Slide presentation lectures, given by Museum Master Docents, are approximately one hour long and can include a question-and-answer period, if desired. We will schedule a lecture for you at a date and time to accommodate your organization's schedule. There is a nominal charge of $25.00 per lecture. If we must provide a slide projector, there is an additional charge of ten dollars. It is requested that the

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68 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

p .

:*414.1,9*tif ECB FEATHERED STARS Quiltmaker unidentified Pieced initials ECB Possibly New York State 1850-1860 Cotton 95/ 1 2 - 76 '/2" Museum of American Folk Art, gift of a Museum trustee. 1985.36.1

Book Signing and Concert n celebration of the exhibition "Norwegian Folk Art: The Migration of a Tradition" and publication of the book of the same title, the Museum held a book-signing reception and concert of Norwegian music in honor of guest curator and author Marion John Nelson. The event, which was open to the public and held on Tuesday evening, December 5, was generously sponsored by the Joseph Martinson Memorial Fund.

More than 75 visitors gathered to meet Dr. Nelson, chat with Museum director Gerard C. Wertkin, Museum trustees, and staff members around a festive refreshment table, and listen to music written by Norwegian composers Edvard Grieg and Christian Sinding and performed by members of the Adirondack Chamber Ensemble. The program included Norwegian Dances(duet for piano,4 hands), Sonata in G Major for violin and piano, and Trio in D Major for violin, cello, and piano. Performers included Maria Asteriadou and Brandt Fredriksen on piano, George Demertzis on violin, and Maria Kitsopoulos on cello.

"Norwegian Folk Art: The Migration of a Tradition," was on view at the Museum through January 7, 1996.

1

Migration of a Tradition" surveys a folk art tradition transported from Norway to America with roots going back to prehistoric times.

For more information on the programs available, or to arrange an outreach presentation, call Lynn Steuer, Outreach Program Coordinator, at 212/475-2802.

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(602)946-2910 Collector Nancy Clark Reynolds (standing) with dealer Leslie Muth

HOPI KACHINAS,C.1940

By Tewaquaptewa (1871-1960)

Folk Art Explorers' Club—Santa Fe Tour Folk Art Explorers' Club tour to Santa Fe took place November 8-13, 1995. Thirty-six Museum members enjoyed a trip that focused on the Hispanic and American Indian cultures in the area. Beth Bergin and Chris Cappiello of the Museum's Membership Department led the tour, which featured some of the major museums and galleries in the area. The tour also included such varied experiences as a stop at Santuario de Chimay& a locally famous small Roman Catholic church known for its healing powers(a moving experience for most tour members, regardless of their religious views), a visit to the Taos Pueblo accompanied by snow and high winds, lunch in the courtyard garden of a contemporary artist, and a visit with three generations of santeros.

Very special thanks goes to Museum members and collectors Barbara and Ed Okun,for entertaining the group at their wonderful home high in the hills of Tesuque; Larry Frank, for sharing his vast knowledge of Hispanic religious art and showing the group his collection of santos; and Nedra Matteucci,for opening up her home and sharing her fascinating collection of American Indian artifacts. Nancy Clark Reynolds also warmly welcomed the Folk Art Explorers to her home and talked to the group about her folk art collection. A Sunday morning spent with a family of santeros was a memorable stop for everyone. Gilbert Montoya, Jr., his uncle, Frank Brito, and his grandfather, Frank Brito, Sr., were present at Mr. Montoya's family home. Members of the Montoya family prepared their favorite recipes for

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Second Annual Self Taught Visionary, Folk Art Fair July 26 - 28, 1996 Saturday 9 - 6 • Sunday 9 - 5 Special Opening Night Preview Party Friday 6 - 9

JUDITH RACHT GALLERY 13707 Prairie Road • Harbert, Michigan 49115 One Hour East of Chicago For More Information 616-469-1080

Special Saturday Collectors' House Tour to benefit Intuit The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art

the group to sample. A catered lunch at the home of artist Ford Ruthling included a presentation by the artist, who described his printmaking techniques. Museum members Clifford and Joan Vernick were the gracious hosts of an evening cocktail party at their home. Thanks also to Leslie and Henri Muth, who hosted a delicious dinner at the Leslie Muth Gallery in Santa Fe. For information on future Folk Art Explorers' Club tours, call the Membership Office at 212/977-7170.

Aileen Luden—A Winner!

Arleen Luden, a volunteer at the Museum Book and Gift Shop at Lincoln Square since 1992, was the winner of a recent contest to sign up new members. The contest, sponsored by the Membership Department, offered a free Folk Art Explorers' Club tour to Santa Fe as the prize. Arleen brought in over $2,000 in new memberships during the fivemonth contest. All volunteers and staff members (excluding the Membership Department) were eligible to participate. Kenneth Bing, head of security at the Museum, was the runner-up.

Arleen enjoyed the tour and even signed up a few new members during the trip! You can find Arleen in the shop on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Li

Collector Larry Frank 'center) in his Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico, home with Museum members Howard Graff (left) and Jim' Barton

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REVIEWS

Quilts: A Living Tradition Robert Shaw Hugh Lauter Levin Associates,Inc. Southport, Connecticut 1995 312 pages, color illustrations $75.00 hardcover When Robert Shaw announced that he was undertaking to write a comprehensive book about quiltmaking, the response might have been,"Oh hum, here we go again," but he has proven the skeptics false. Faced with a monumental task that undoubtedly increased in magnitude as he progressed, Shaw has solicited the assistance of dozens of curators, quilt historians, collectors, and museum associates to aid him in his endeavor. The preliminary work involved masses of correspondence, numerous interviews and consultations, and extensive research. Hundreds of slides and photographs had to be scrutinized, compared, selected, and rejected, until the choices for illustrations were narrowed to a manageable number.

The result of Shaw's years of work is the splendid, large-format book Quilts: A Living Tradition. Even while immersed in such a demanding project, a certain detachment was required in order for the author to arrive at his own conclusions and present a compendium of fresh viewpoints and significant interpretations. The successful conclusion of this ambitious undertaking could not have been accomplished without personal sacrifice and a large measure of discipline and dedication.

Shaw has composed a wellplotted overview of the history and development of quiltmaking in America, especially as it relates to women and domestic

70 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

life. As most quilt enthusiasts know, quilts provide another avenue to the past in offering an addition to written history.

Social, economic, and political conditions are reflected in the making of quilts, which unlike a written chronology of historical events, also possess in themselves the human factor and family associations.

The evolution of the American quilt prior to the 1860s is well described and illustrated with a few choice early examples followed by text and illustrations denoting the rapid development of quilts in many forms through the 1960s. Shaw dates the present great revival from 1970, and gives a representative sampling of the diversity found in quilts of the last twenty-five years.

Traditional quiltmaking, based on patterns and methods of the past, has been extended, expanded, and given new life in many innovative ways. Even though modern quiltmakers may be producing quilts for the bed, their work may, at some point, be hung up and displayed as "art" in exhibitions. Thus, since the quilt is a familiar object to many viewers, they can appreciate the display as non-threatening art.

Shaw has chosen to examine several specific groups of quilters and their work to give further definition to the study. The quilt revival of the 1970s exploded and spread around the world.

Nowhere has it been more enthusiastically adopted than in Japan, and Shaw's text and stunning examples ably illustrate the ability of Japanese women to master the concepts of quilt art and make it their own. These women are in turn having an influence on quiltmakers in other countries, even the United States.

While the Japanese have found many ways to reinvent quilt design, the work of Amish women remains a hallmark of classic quilt beauty, and once again Shaw includes a wellillustrated overview.

Hawaiian and American Indian quiltmakers are similarly extolled for the unique vision and cultural authenticity present in their created works.

While much of the material in Quilts: A Living Tradition may not be new to some readers, many of the photographs have not been previously published, and to see them in a large scale is joyous indeed. The color reproductions are superb and the book design is skillfully developed to ensure a handsome book. Other large, colorful books have been produced but none contain so thoughtful and incisive a text.

Robert Shaw makes important distinctions, refrains from platitudes, and contributes a balanced view of the complex and changing world of quiltmaking.

Nowhere does he do this better than in the two chapters relating to African American quiltmakers and contemporary artist-quilters. The section on African American quilters allows the reader to see the complexity of diverse issues that have been raised in several studies. Because research in the area of African American—made quilts has been limited and evidence inconclusive, the author urges restraint in forming dogmatic viewpoints.

Perhaps some conclusions can be drawn when there is more substantive information available.

Despite the gulf that seems to exist between traditional and art

quiltmakers, Shaw succeeds in drawing the divergent forms closer together. He presents a sensitive appraisal of current movements in fiber arts where the quilt has been used as a vehicle for creative expression, a work for the wall instead of the bed, a painting with cloth, as it were. He extols the quilt as a glorious bond for a democratic way of life that can cross economic and national barriers to unite the world.

Shaw closes the book by saying:"The future of the quilt rests in our hands, in the development of our own understanding of its immense possibilities. The quilt is America's art form, a medium that has already shown itself to be large and flexible enough to represent this country in all its racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity. Given the chance, it may prove large and democratic enough to represent the global village as well."

Here is a challenge and a responsibility quiltmakers may carry forward. The future will tell how well they succeed. —Bets Ramsey Bets Ramsey, the Director ofthe Southern Quilt Symposium since 1974, co-authored The Quilts of Tennessee and Southern Quilts: A New View. She has curated many quilt exhibitions, writes a weekly quilt column in the Chattanooga Times, and has written numerous book reviewsfor this publication.

BOOK/VIDEO

REVIEWS

Folk Art Found Me Directed by Alex Busby Produced by Wisdom Teeth Productions, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and the National Film Board of Canada, Montreal, Quebec 1994 Running Time: 29 min., 50 sec.

With videotapes available to educate us on every topic from cooking to fitness, it is surprising that there are not more videotaped profiles of folk artists and their work. Video technology allows us to see and hear an artist speak, and even create, right before our eyes, without the filter of an author's personal viewpoint. With a video, one feels one has met the artist without ever having been in the same room, or even the same country. Folk Art Found Me, the National Film Board of Canada's delightful documentary on Nova Scotian folk artists, is an excellent example of the pleasures and possibilities offered by this medium.

This entertaining half-hour videotape, skillfully directed by Alex Busby, leaves the viewer with a wonderful sense of the distinct and delightful personalities of the Nova Scotian artists. The documentary profiles eight artists, interspersing interview footage with segments showing their artwork and techniques. One fastaction sequence shows Garnet McPhail carving an alligator with a chain saw, painting and finishing it, all in a matter of seconds.

We also see the three Nangler brothers, Leo, Ransford, and Bradford, stopping at the local Canadian Tire hardware store to buy supplies for their carvings.

Folk Art Found Me is most effective when it allows the artists to speak for themselves, in their distinct accents and with their

natural sincerity and good humor.

Eddie Mandaggio explains that "you got to study a piece of folk art...if you take it, and put it somewhere and keep looking at it, within short it's gonna grow onto you and you wouldn't part with it for the world." Leo Naugler clearly defines his sense of artistic independence when he tells us,"It's hard to paint something when people tells you what color to put where. It'd be no fun doing it really. I couldn't do it that way."

The video also provides ample opportunity to see the folk art created by these artists. Their work, simple and direct, is more lighthearted than much of the contemporary folk art in the States.

Wood-carved animals predominate; they are brightly colored, sometimes fantastically endowed, but unthreatening,joyful, and genuine.

Folk Art Found Me gives a nod to the "experts" in the field

by including interviews with several collectors and dealers. Many of these segments take place in urban environments, in galleries or collectors' homes, and they offer an interesting contrast to the quiet, rural lives of the artists.

With the exception of Bert Hemphill's brief appearance, however, these establishment figures often seem superfluous in a video that allows us to see the artists themselves.

There are, of course, criticisms that could be made of the video.

Almost all of the works shown are wood carvings, and there is no mention of folk painters from the area. Joe Norris, who continues to create his distinct, vivid landscapes in Halifax, would have been a good addition. The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia's permanent folk art exhibition is shown only briefly, and without mention of that institution's important work in promoting and preserving local folk art.

These are minor points, however, and if the opportunity to see and hear the artists is video's greatest benefit, then Folk Art Found Me must be counted a great success. The video gives the viewer a delicious taste of the folk art just north of the border and the unique people creating it.

Sandy Moore's music,featuring piano and drums, perfectly reflects the mood of the movie and the spirit of the artists: upbeat, down to earth, and fun.

To quote carver Sidney Howard, "I love it. I love it all." —Christopher D. Cappiello

As the Museum's Membership Associate, Christopher Cappiello co-directs the many tours offered by the Folk Art Explorers' Club. In September of 1995, he accompanied Museum members andfriends on the Museum's Nova Scotia tour, where they visited some ofthe artistsfeatured in "Folk Art Found Me."

SPRING 1996 FOLK ART 71

TRUSTEES/DONORS

BOARD OF TRUSTEES Executive Committee Ralph 0. Esmerian President Frances Sirota Martinson, Esq. Executive Vice President and Chairman, Executive Committee Lucy C. Danziger Executive Vice President Bonnie Strauss Vice President Joan M.Johnson Vice President Peter M.Ciccone Treasurer Jacqueline Fowler Secretary Anne Hill Blanchard Raymond C. Egan

MAJOR

DONORS

TO

American Folk Art Society Amicus Foundation William Arnett Asahi Shimbun Mr.& Mrs. Arthur L. Barrett Ben & Jerry's Homemade,Inc. Estate of Abraham P. Bersohn Dr. Robert Bishop Anne Hill & Edward Vermont Blanchard Mr.& Mrs. Edwin C. Braman Marilyn & Milton Brechner Mr.& Mrs. Edward J. Brown Iris Carmel Morris B. and Edith S. Cartin Family Foundation Tracy & Barbara Cate Edward Lee Cave Chinon, Ltd. Estate of Thomas M. Conway David L. Davies & Jack Weeden Mr.& Mrs. Donald DeWitt Gerald & Marie DiManno The Marion & Ben Duffy Foundation Mr.& Mrs. Alvin Einbender Ellin F. Ente Ross & Glady A. Faires Daniel & Jessie Lie Farber Eva Feld Estate of Morris Feld Janey Fire & John Kalymnios Susan & Eugene Flamm Walter and Josephine Ford Fund

RECENT

MAJOR

72 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

OF

AMERICAN

Members Edward Lee Cave Joyce Cowin David L. Davies Vira L.M.H. Goldman Susan Gutfreund Kristina Barbara Johnson, Esq. Susan Klein George H. Meyer, Esq. Cyril I. Nelson Julie K.Palley David C. Walentas L. John Wilkerson, Ph.D

THE

LINCOLN

SQUARE

Jacqueline Fowler Selma & Sam Goldwitz Mr. & Mrs. Robert Goodlcind Ellin & Baron J. Gordon Doris Stack Green Bonnie Grossman in memory of Alex A. Maldonado Cordelia Hamilton Taiji Harada William Randolph Hearst Foundation Terry & Simca Heled Alice & Ronald Hoffman Mr.& Mrs. David S. Howe Mr.& Mrs. Albert L. Hunecke, Jr. Mr.& Mrs. Yee Roy Jear Kristina Barbara Johnson, Esq. Joan M.& Victor L. Johnson Isobel & Harvey Kahn Louise & George Kaminow Shirley & Theodore L. Kesselman Susan & Robert E. Klein Kodansha,Ltd. Lee & Ed Kogan Wendy & Mel Lavitt Frances & James Lieu Howard and Jean Lipman Foundation, Inc. Robert & Betty Marcus Foundation, Inc. C.F. Martin IV Frances Sirota Martinson, Esq. Masco Corporation Linda & Christopher Mayer

FOLK

ART

Honorary Trustee Eva Feld Trustees Emeriti Cordelia Hamilton Herbert W. Hemphill, Jr. Margery G. Kahn Jean Lipman George F. Shaskan, Jr.

ENDOWMENT

FUND

Marjorie W.McConnell Michael & Marilyn Mennello Benson Motechin Johleen Nester, John Nester II & Jeffrey Nester Kathleen S. Nester NYNEX Corporation Paul L. Oppenheimer Dorothy & Leo Rabkin Cathy Rasmussen Ann-Marie Reilly Willa & Joseph Rosenberg Betsey Schaeffer The William P. and Gertrude Schweitzer Foundation, Inc. Mr.& Mrs. Richard Sears Mr.& Mrs. George F. Shaskan, Jr. Louise A. Simone Patricia Lynch Smith & Sanford L. Smith Stephanie & Richard L. Solar Mr.& Mrs. Austin Super Mr.& Mrs. Stanley Tananbaum Phyllis & Irving Tepper Two Lincoln Square Associates Anne D. Utescher Elizabeth V.& Irwin H. Warren Mrs. Dixon Wecter Gerard C. Wertkin Robert N.& Anne Wright Wilson Mr. & Mrs. John H. Winkler

DONORS

The Museum of American Folk Art greatly appreciates the generous support of the following friends: $100,000 and above Estate of Daniel Cowin Ralph 0. Esmerian Ford Motor Company Estate of Laura Harding The J.M. Kaplan Fund,Inc. The Henry Luce Foundation, Inc.

MUSEUM

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in conjunction with Norwegian Visions Jane & David Walentas Anonymous $50,000—$99,999 The Coca-Cola Company Lucy Cullman & Frederick M. Danziger Howard and Jean Lipman Foundation, Inc. David L. Davies & Jack Weeden Johnson & Johnson

Joseph Martinson Memorial Fund Anne Wright & Robert N. Wilson Anonymous $20,000449,999 Arista Records, Inc. Peter M. Ciccone Susan & Raymond C. Egan Joan M.& Victor L. Johnson National Endowment for the Arts (Continued on page 76)

CONTEMPORARY Minnie Adkins Jesse Aaron Linvel Barker Pricilla Cassidy Ronald Cooper G.C. DuPree Mr. Eddy Roy Ferdenand Denzil Goodpaster Homer Green Alvin Jarrett Sammy Landers Tim Lewis Carl McKenzie

FOLK

Braxton Ponder

ART

Hog Mattingly J. Mitchell Frank Pickel Braxton Ponder Dow Pugh Royal Robertson Sultan Rogers Jimmy Lee Sudduth Olivia Thomason Mose Tolliver Wesley Willis Troy Webb And Others

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SPRING

WILTON OUTDOOR ANTIQUES MARKETPLACE To benefit Wilton Kiwanis Projects

June 22 & 23, Sat. & Sun. 10-5 Admission $6 - with card/ad $5 Early Buying Sat. 8-10 a.m., Adm.$20 'The Meadows" North of Wilton High School

Route 7- Wilton, Conn.

A unique assemblage of 200 exhibitors from across the country, offering AUTHENTIC ANTIQUES, in room settings, under tents, in a meadow in WILTON - the most exciting show venue in the country.

This show has more fine dealers showing more noteable antiques covering a broader spectrum of the market at a range of prices that can be found anywhere.

Country and period formal furniture,folk art, fine art, American Indian arts, ceramics, American Arts and Crafts and 20th century design, silver,jewelry, textiles, toys...and much more.

There's never been a show like this, it's the "indoor show" held outdoors.

Produced by Marilyn Gould • Merritt Parkway: Exit 39B from the west Exit 41 from the east • 1-95: Exit 15, north Smiles • 1-84: At. 7, south 12 miles • Metro North railroad to Cannondale Station

Only 50 miles from New York City

MCG Antiques Promotions 10 Chicken St., Wilton, Conn.06897 (203)762-3525

74 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

PROGRAMS

Gallery Events Special free programs will be held in conjunction with the exhibition "Discovering Ellis Ruley" at the Museum's Eva and Morris Feld Gallery at 2 Lincoln Square, Columbus Avenue between 65th and 66th streets, New York, New York.

Tuesday, March 5 6:00 P.M. SYMPOSIUM "Discovering Ellis Ruley" Participants: Gladys Ruley Traynum, granddaughter of the artist; Joseph Gualtieri, director, The Slater Memorial Museum, Norwich, Connecticut; John Oilman, director, Janet Fleisher Gallery; and Glenn Smith, collector Saturday, March 9 12:00-4:00 P.M. ARTIST IN RESIDENCE Mary Whitfield, New York artist Ongoing demonstrations Mini-lecture at 1:00 P.M. Saturday, March 16 1:00-2:30 P.M. PUPPET SHOW "Underground Railway, Not a Subway" Performed by Dr. Schroeder Cherry Tuesday, March 19 6:00-7:00 P.M. LECTURE "From Trickster to Badman: The Black Folk Hero in Slavery and Freedom" Dr. John W. Roberts, Department of Folklore and Folklife, University of Pennsylvania Saturday, March 23 1:00-2:30 P.M. CONCERT "A Story of Freedom" Manhattan School of Music students perform a program of African American spirituals, opera arias, and songs

Tuesday, March 26 6:00-6:45 P.M. LECTURE "Diligence & Decorum: Women Artists in the 1800s" Deborah Lyttle Ash and Joan Spear Bloom Thursday, March 28 6:00-6:45 P.M. LECTURE "Ellis Ruley, Artist" Lee Kogan, director, Folk Art Institute Saturday, April 6 1:00 —2:00 P.M. STORYTELLING Intended for children ages 3 and up, accompanied by an adult.

Reservations are suggested.

SUNDAY CHILDREN'S ART WORKSHOPS 2:00-4:00 P.M. Ages 5 through 12.

Pre-registration is necessary.

March 3, 10, 17, 24, and 31 April 14, 21, and 28 TEACHERS'WORKSHOPS Educators' Workshops for teachers' organizations are available upon request. Workshops include curriculum packet with slides, lecture, and exhibition tour.

For program information and registration, call Pamela Brown at 212/595-9533.

TRAVELING

EXHIBITIONS

Traveling Exhibitions Mark your calendars for the following Museum of American Folk Art exhibitions when they travel to your area during the coming months: January 19—April 7, 1996 Signs and Symbols: African Images in African American Quilts from the Rural South Bayly Art Museum of the University of Virginia Charlottesville, Virginia 804/924-6321 May 26—July 21, 1996 Woven for Warmth: Coverlets from the Museum of American Folk Art Erie Canal Museum Syracuse, New York 315/471-0593

June 5—July 28, 1996 Signs and Symbols: African Images in African American Quilts from the Rural South Baltimore Museum of Art Baltimore, Maryland 410/396-7100 June 21—August 18, 1996 The Art of Deception: American Wildfowl Decoys from the Museum of American Folk Art Anniston Museum of Natural History Anniston, Alabama 205/237-6766

June 1—October 20, 1996 Norwegian Folk Art: The Migration of a Tradition State Historical Society of North Dakota, North Dakota Heritage Center Bismarck, North Dakota 701/328-2666 For further information, please contact Judith Gluck Steinberg, Coordinator of Traveling Exhibitions, Museum of American Folk Art, Administrative Offices, 61 West 62nd Street, New York, New York 10023, 212/977-7170.

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS The Museum's Volunteer Program offers rewarding opportunities for people interested in serving the public and enhancing their knowledge of American folk art.

AMERICAN CRAFTSMANSHIP at its best...

Traditional crafts,folk art and fine furniture * * * *

The Historical Society of Delaware Masters of American Craftsmanship Show May 18& 19, Delaware Technical & Community College, Newark, Del. * * * * Americana Artisans at

Hancock Shaker Village July 13 & 14, Junction of Routes 20 & 41, Pittsfield, Mass. * * * *

Wilton Historical Society Celebration of

American Craftsmanship November 16 & 17, 10 - 5 Wilton High School Field House, Wilton, Conn. * * * * These premier events showcase thefinest in collector quality traditional and contemporaryfolk artsfeaturing the work of many of the nations most talented artisans exhibiting in gallery or room settings.

Produced by Marilyn Gould

Enjoy the unique experience of working in one of the most vital art institutions in New York City today.

All docents and volunteers receive free tuition for one course per semester at the Museum's Folk Art Institute and 15% discount on all purchases at the Museum's book and gift shops.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN JOINING OUR PROGRAM,

please call Arlene Hochman or Pamela Brown at 212/595-9533 for more information.

MCG Antiques Promotions (203)762-3525 10 Chicken St., Wilton, Conn.06897

SPRING 1996 FOLK ART 75

RECENT

MAJOR

DONORS

(Continuedfrom page 72) NYNEX Corporation Restaurant Associates Industries, Inc. Barbara 8z Thomas W.Strauss Fund The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Anonymous $10,000419,999 AEA Investors Inc. William Arnett Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc. Anne Hill & Edward Vermont Blanchard Bristol-Myers Squibb Company John R.& Dorothy D. Caples Fund Edward Lee Cave Country Living Joyce Cowin Dietrich American Foundation & H. Richard Dietrich William B. Dietrich & William B. Dietrich Foundation Jacqueline Fowler Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson Susan & John H. Gutfreund Susan & Robert E. Klein The LEF Foundation Anne & Vincent Mai Merrill Lynch Kay & George H. Meyer, Esq. The Peter Norton Family Foundation The Pinkerton Foundation Schlumberger Foundation, Inc. Mr.& Mrs. George F. Shaskan, Jr. Barbara & L. John Wilkerson $4,00049,999 The American-Scandinavian Foundation ARTCORP The Beacon Group Big Apple Wrecking & Construction Company The Blackstone Group Clarissa & H. Steve Burnett Virginia G. Cave Christie's Cravath, Swaine & Moore Mr.& Mrs. Joseph Cullman III Mr.& Mrs. Richard Danziger Debevoise & Plimpton Department of Cultural Affairs, City of New York Duane, Morris & Heckscher Ernst & Young The FINOVA Group Inc. Gallery 721 Vira L.M.H.& Robert Goldman Goldman, Sachs & Co. Hill and Knowlton,Inc. Ellen E. Howe Naomi Leff and Associates,Inc. MBNA America, N.A. Linda 8z Christopher Mayer Mr.& Mrs. Kenneth J. McAlley Morgan Stanley Foundation New York State Council on the Arts Park Avenue Cafe Philip Morris Companies Inc. Dorothy & Leo Rabkin Mr. & Mrs. Frank Richardson Joseph E. Seagrams & Sons,Inc. Herbert and Nell Singer Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher,& Flom

76 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

Donna & Elliot Slade Sotheby's Time Warner Inc. $2,00043,999 American Folk Art Society Bergen Line,Inc. Ellen Blissman Mr.& Mrs. James A. Block Burson-Marsteller Capital Cities/ABC Mr. & Mrs. John K. Castle Lily Cates Laurie Churchman Barbara & Joseph Cohen Mr.& Mrs. Edgar M. Cullman Davida & Alvin Deutsch Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Gail & Jay Furman Ellin & Baron J. Gordon Pamela J. Hoiles Harry Kahn Susan & Jerry Lauren Ellen & Arthur Liman Macy's East Marsh & McLennan Companies,Inc. Gael & Michael Mendelsohn Norwegian Tourist Board Paige Rense William D. Rondina Cynthia V.A.& Robert T. Schaffner Peter J. Solomon Patricia A.& Robert C. Stempel Mr.& Mrs. Stanley Tananbaum Vesterheim Norwegian American Museum Elizabeth V.& Irwin H. Warren Anonymous $1,000—$1,999 Alconda-Owsley Foundation Mr. R. Randolph Apgar & Mr. Allen Black Didi & David Barrett Mr.& Mrs. Thomas Block Tina 8c Jeffrey Bolton Dr. & Mrs. Robert E. Booth, Jr. Lois P. Broder William F. Brooks, Jr. Mr.& Mrs. Edward J. Brown Meredith & Michael J. Bzdak Chemical Bank Liz Claiborne Foundation Katie Cochran & Michael G. Allen The Coach Dairy Goat Farm Mr. 8c Mrs. Norman U. Cohn Drs. Stephen & Helen Colen Conde Nast Publications Inc. Consolidated Edison Company of New York Susan R. Cullman Mr.& Mrs. David Dangoor Mr.& Mrs. Charles Diker The Echo Design Group,Inc. Sharon 8c Theodore Eisenstat Margot & John L. Ernst Helaine & Burton M Fendelman Mr.& Mrs. Charles Fabrikant Fortgang Brenda & Ken Fritz Mr. & Mrs. Bruce Geismar Dr. Kurt A. Gitter & Ms. Alice Yelen Anne & Eric J. Gleacher

Mr.& Mrs. Robert Goodkind Ann Harithas Mr.& Mrs. Walter W. Hess, Jr. Stephen M.Hill Dr. & Mrs. Josef Jelinek Richard Jenrette Kristina Barbara Johnson, Esq. Allan Katz Barbara & David Krashes Ricky & Ralph Lauren Taryn & Mark Leavitt Fred Leighton Barbara S. Levinson Nadine & Peter Levy Frances & James Lieu Sylvia Kramer & Dan W. Luflcin McGraw-Hill Foundation, Inc. Mr.& Mrs. Robert Meltzer Mr.& Mrs. Jeffrey Peek Anthony J. Petullo Susan & Daniel Pollack Random House Inc. Ricco/Maresca Gallery Grace Jones Richardson Trust Allison W.& Peter C. Rockefeller Amy & Howard J. Rubenstein Penelope & Paul Schindler Mr.& Mrs. David Schneider Mr.& Mrs. Michael P. Schulhof H. Marshall Schwarz Jean S. & Frederic A. Sharf Patricia Lynch Smith & Sanford L. Smith Ellen & David Stein Lynn Steuer Julie & David Teiger Peter & Lynn Tishman Mr. & Mrs. Raymond S. Troubh Sue & Edgar Wachenheim,III Jeanette & Paul Wagner Margot Grant Walsh Sue Ann & John L. Weinberg Bennett & Judie Weinstock Herbert Wells Gerard C. Wertkin Susan Yecies Marsha & Howard Zipser Anonymous $1500—$999 Joe C. Adams Tina & Aarne Anton Dorothy Harris Sandier June & Frank Barsalona Bergdorf Goodman Mr.& Mrs. Peter Bienstock Mr. 8c Mrs. Peter Bing Mr. 8c Mrs. Leonard Block Michael R. Bloomberg Boardroom, Inc. Charles Borrok Nancy Boyd Mr.& Mrs. Joseph Boyle Mr.& Mrs. Edwin C. Braman Robert Brill Brown Gale Meltzer Brudner G.K.S. Bush,Inc. Marcy Carsey Maureen & Marshall Cogan Prudence Colo

RECENT

MAJOR

DONORS

Mr.& Mrs. Stephen H. Cooper Mr.& Mrs. Lewis Cullman Cullman & Kravis Judy & Aaron Daniels Gary Davenport Charlotte Dinger Marjorie Downey Mr.& Mrs. Arnold Dunn Howard Drubner Mr.& Mrs. Frederick Elghanayan Epstein Philanthropies Mr.& Mrs. Anthony B. Evnin Mr.& Mrs. Robert H. Falk Betsy & Samuel Farber Mr.& Mrs. Howard P. Fertig Daniel M. Gantt Barbara & Peter Georgescu The Howard Gilman Foundation, Inc. Mildred & William L. Gladstone Howard M.Graff Marilyn A. Green Dr.& Mrs. Stanley Greenberg Grey Advertising Nancy & Michael Grogan T. Marshall Hahn,Jr. Cordelia Hamilton Pria & Mark Harmon John Hays Audrey B. Heckler Herbert W. Hemphill, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Richard Herbst Arlene & Leonard Hochman Gerry & Robert D. Hodes Fern K. & Robert J. Hurst IBM Imperial Wallcoverings, Inc. Laura N.& Theodore J. Israel Guy Johnson Penny & Alistair Johnston

RECENT

DONORS

Gifts James Benson Roger Cardinal David L. Davies Ralph & Eva Fasanella Jacqueline Fowler Ellin & Baron J. Gordon T. Marshall Hahn, Jr. Cordelia Hamilton Herbert W. Hemphill, Jr. Evelyn & Magdalena Houlroyd Jean Lipman Frances Sirota & Paul Martinson Gael Mendelsohn Holly Metz Steven Michaan

Jaclyn & Gerald P. Kaminsky Cathy M. Kaplan Leigh Keno Dr. & Mrs. Arthur B. Kern Diane D.& Jerome H. Kern Mary Kettaneh Barbara Klinger Sharon & Ivan Koota Robert Landau Wendy Lehman & Stephen Lash Mr.& Mrs. Leonard A. Lauder Wendy & Mel Lavitt Mr.& Mrs. John A. Levin Mr.& Mrs. Roger Levin Margot & Robert E. Linton Gloria M.& Patrick M. Lonergan Helen E. Luchars Gloria and Richard Manney Mr.& Mrs. John A. Mayer Judith McGrath Grete Meilman A. Forsythe Merrick Ira M. Millstein Thomas Monaghan Keith Morgan Susan & Victor Neiderhoffer Cyril I. Nelson Mr.& Mrs. Bruce Newman David Nichols Paul L. Oppenheimer Julie K.& Samuel Palley Dr. Burton W.Pearl Dale Precoda Eugenie A. Propp Mr.& Mrs. Milton S. Rattner Irene Reichert Alyce & Roger Rose Fran Kaufman & Robert C. Rosenberg Marion Harris & Dr. Jerry Rosenfeld

TO

THE

John Rosselli Selig D. Sacks Riccardo Salmona Merilyn Sandin-Zarlengo Mr.& Mrs. Richard J. Schwartz Cecille Barger & Myron Benit Shure Randy Siegel Francisco F. Sierra Linda & Ray Simon Stephanie & Richard L. Solar Elizabeth A.& Geoffrey A. Stern Rachel L.S.& Donald Strauber Carol Millsom Studer Mr.& Mrs. Myles Tanenbaum Mrs. Richard T. Taylor James Adams & Ruben Teles Barbara & Donald Tober Anne D. Utescher Anne Vanderwarker Sue & George Viener Dr. Sini von Reis Mr.& Mrs. R.A. Wagner Karel F. Wahrsager Eve Weinstein Daniel Weiss Anne G. Wesson G. Marc Whitehead Hall F. Willkie Honey Wolosoff Thomas K. Woodard Mr.& Mrs. William Ziff Rebecca & Jon Zoler Mary Linda & Victor Zonona Mr.& Mrs. Donald Zuckert

COLLECTIONS

Joy Moos Shari Cavin & Randall Morris Museum of Modern Art from the collection of Gordon & Nina Bunshaft Margery Nathanson Cyril I. Nelson Marion Harris & Dr. Jerry Rosenfeld Martin E. Segal Betty Sterling Agnes Lester Wade Shelly Zegart Bequests Laura Harding

SPRING 1996 FOLK ART 77

LOONS AND TOGERS Mll BEARS

OH MY!

"Tiger", 1994

Indian Joe Georgia Folk Artist

Artist, Minnie Adkins

Sculpture by Kentucky's Best Folk Artists Minnie and Garland Adkins Linvel Barker Calvin Cooper Ronald and Jessie Cooper Denzil Goodpaster Carolyn Hall Larry Hamm Jimmy Lewis

Junior Lewis Tim Lewis Thomas May Tim Ratliff Russell Rice Elijah Smith Hugo Sperger Genevieve Wilson

Kentucky Folk Art Center Museum Store 119 W. University Boulevard, Morehead KY 40351, Phone 606/783-2204

FOLK ART SOCIETY OF

AMERICA

Bird Tree 76" x 32"

Timpson Creek Gallery Route 2, Box 2117, Clayton, GA 30525 706-782-5164

7 AN INVITATION TO JOIN THE FOLK ART SOCIETY OF AMERICA The Folk Art Society of America is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization formed to discover, study, promote, preserve, exhibit and document folk art,folk artists and folk art environments.

Membership includes a subscription to the quarterly publication,Folk Art Messenger, and all other privileges of membership.

CATEGORIES OF MEMBERSHIP 0

Gold Star Membership

0

Silver Star Membership

0

Bronze Star Membership

$250

0

Contributing Membership

$100

E

$1,000 or more $500

Address Zip Telephone

Patron Membership

$50

General Membership

$25

Referred by

Student Membership

$15

Please make check payable to Folk Art Society and send to:.

fulitimel I.D. copy required Foreign Membership 0

Name

Gift Membership include message or card Back issues(when available)

78 SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

$35 U.S. $25 $7 each

FOLK ART SOCIETY OF AMERICA P.O. BOX 17041 RICHMOND,VIRGINIA 23226-7041 Contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

(Federal Tax I.D. No.54-141-5937)

1AAAAAA

V7VVVV7V7VVVYVY

150+ Antique Quilts 1780 - 1940 Specializing in that 'one of a kind' quilt Antique quilt tops,blocks and vintage fabrics 1780 - 1950 Total QUILT RESTORATION using VINTAGE fabrics. Restoration of hooked and braided rugs and woven coverlets. All work fully guaranteed and completely insured Let us dress your old dolls in clothing made from vintage fabric Expert custom hand quilting

Rocky Mountain Quilts Betsey Telford 3847 Alt. 6 & 24 Palisade, CO 81526 1-800-762-5940 ••• ••••

•• 7•••

14 JUNE — 27 JULY 1996

wWN ANTELOPES, Blue Spiral l's BOBCATS, first folk art exhibition to COUGARS explore the animal kingdom ...YAKS & from A to Z will ZEBRAS include the following artists:

JIM HAVNER JIMMIE LEE SUDDUTH U JUDITH CHENEY P I•R 11 1 PARKS TOWNSEND BESSIE HARVEY For additional JEFFREY MCDOWELL information CRYSTAL KING call or write: PATRICK CARDIFF Blue Spiral 1 38 Biltmore Ave. KIM ELLINGTON Asheville, NC 28801 IVY BILLIOT...

Tel: 704-251-0202 Fax: 704-251-0884 AND MANY OTHERS.

SPRING 1996 FOLK ART 79

Sidney Gecker • American Folk Art A RARE VVILHELM SCHIMMEL EAGLE

CUMBERLAND COUNTY,PENNSYLVANIA. CIRCA 1860-1890.

HEIGHT: 21 INCHES. WINGSPREAD: 381/2 INCHES, 226 West 21st Street,

INDEX

TO

New York, N.Y. 10011 (212) 929-8769

PROVENANCE: COLLECTION OF HELEN JANSSEN WETZEL, SPRING TOWNSHIP,PENNSYLVANIA. PRIVATE PENNSYLVANIA COLLECTION. Appointment Suggested

ADVERTISERS

24 American Artistry 25 American Pie American Primitive Gallery 13 12 The Ames Gallery Marna Anderson 79 9 Archer Locke Gallery 56 Artisans At Home Gallery 69 Blue Spiral 1 79 Sam Bridges/Southern Tangent 73 Gallery 26 CM Briddge 8 Robert Cargo Folk Art Gallery Christie's 10 Inside Back Cover Country Living 65 Epstein/Powell 69 Josh Feldstein 24 Finster Folk Art Gallery 22 Laura Fisher 78 Folk Art Society of America 60 Galerie Bonheur 63 Gallery Americana

BO SPRING 1996 FOLK ART

Sidney Gecker 80 Giampietro Back Cover 26 Anton Haardt Gallery 14 Gilley's Gallery John C. Hill 68 Inside Front Cover Hill Gallery Hustontown 69 Kentucky Folk Art Center Museum Store 78 Knoke Galleries 60 Kutztown Pennsylvania German Festival 55 2 June Lambert 16 The LaRoche Collection 74,75 MCG Antiques Promotions 56 Main Street Antiques & Art 25 Main Street Gallery/Clayton Galleries 1 Steve Miller 15 The Modern Primitive Gallery 73 National Film Board of Canada Olde Hope Antiques, Inc. 23,54 Eve Oughton 55

Patricia Palermino William Peltier J.E. Porcelli Judith Racht Gallery Ricco/Maresca Gallery Bryce M. Ritter Rocky Mountain Quilts Rosehips Gallery Bruce Shelton John Sideli Steve & Amy Slotin Southern Folk Pottery Collectors Society The Splendid Peasant, Ltd. Jef Steingrebe Timpson Creek Gallery Toad Hall Wanda's Quilts David Wheatcroft Wintzer Galleries Woodard & Greenstein Ginger Young Gallery

63 12 20 68 7 55 79 14 73 3 27,61 19 23 59 78 67 58 21 57 4 16

•

CuntryIiv

America's

Source

for

Folk

Art

and

A PUBLICATION OF HEARST MAGAZINES. A DIVISION OF THE HEARST CORPORATION

Antiques

CIAV IETQ 50 East 78th Street, New York City 10021 Tuesday - Saturday 11-5:30 (212) 861-8571

Over mantel painting on panel attributed to Rufus Porto; Henniker, New Hampshire. C. 1835