Folk Art (Spring 1997)

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RICCO /MARESCA GALLERY

STEVE MILLER • AMERICAN FOLK ART •

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.

A.G. Rizzoli A

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S-11, Mother Symbolically Recaptured/The Kathredal, 1937,301/8" 501/4"

The e.rhibition,

A.G. RIZZOLI: ARCHITECT OF MAGNIFICENT VISIONS opens at the San Diego Museum ofArt on March 22, 1997.

The long-awaited book/cataloguefor the show,published

by Harry N. Abrams, Inc., is now available.

The Ames Gallery is the exclusive representative for the drawings ofA.G. Rizzoli.

THE

AMES

GALLERY MEP Dealers in exceptional self-taught, visionary, naive, and outsider art.

• Bonnie Grossman, Director •2661 Cedar St.. Berkeley, CA,USA 94708•510/845-4949, Fax 510/845-6219

FLEISHER OLLMAN GALLERY

Installation of William Edmondson exhibition, 1995

The Janet Fleisher Gallery is now known as the Fleisher/Oilman Gallery. We will continue to represent the finest works of self-taught artists

of the twentieth century.

FLEISHER OLLMAN GALLERY 211 S. 17th Street Philadelphia 1 9 1 0 3 (215)545.7562 (Fax)545. 6140

6 1 0 ONE AMBER LANE • NORTHAMPTON • MASSACHUSETT • ( 4 1 3) 5 8 6 • 3 9 0 9 • • BENISEK MARY WALTERS • DON

TIMES SQUARE by JotirfJex, 1951/52

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FOLK ART VOLUME 22, NUMBER 1/ SPRING 1997

MAGNIFICENT MANIFESTATION: THE SYMBOLIC ARCHITECTURE OF A.G. RIZZOLI Jo Farb Hernandez

34

SO MUCH TO DO,SO LITTLE DONE:THE MYSTERIES OF A G RIZZOLI Bonnie Grossman

39

QUILT REVIVAL 1910-1950: THE COLLECTION OF THE MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLK ART Elizabeth V. Warren and Sharon L. Eisenstat Cover: Detail ofS-15 MR.O.A. DEICHMANN'S MOTHER SYMBOLICALLY SKETCHED/TOUR D'LONGEVITY: A.G. Rizzoli(1896-1981), San Francisco, 1938, ink on rag paper, 59x29'. The Ames Gallery, Berkeley

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 1997 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.

FROM QUEBEC: THREE WAYS OF LOOKING N.F. Karlins

46

53

DEPARTMENTS

EDITOR'S COLUMN

6

DIRECTOR'S LETTER

11

LIBERTY NEEDLEWORK: LIPMAN FELLOWS' GIFT

18

MINIATURES

20

SPRING BENEFIT AUCTION

31

CONTEMPORARY CENTER FORMED

33

MUSEUM NEWS

70

MUSEUM REPRODUCTIONS PROGRAM

77

SPRING PROGRAMS

78

TRAVELING EXHIBMONS

80

TRUSTEES/DONORS

90

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

96

SPRING 1997 FOLK ARTS

EDITOR'S

COLUMN

ROSEMARY GABRIEL

FOLK ART Rosemary Gabriel Editor and Publisher Jeffrey Kibler, The Magazine Group,Inc. Design Tanya Heinrich Production Editor Benjamin J. Boyington Copy Consultant Gregory Baird Advertising Sales John Hood Advertising Sales Craftsmen Litho Printers MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLK ART

e've had a very busy season and our Spring issue is bursting with great good news. The Museum made the winning bid at Sotheby's for two rare Shaker drawings; be sure to read about it in Gerard Wertkin's Director's Letter on page 11. On page 18, Curator Stacy Hollander reports on the first annual Jean Lipman Fellows gift—a delightful example of schoolgirl embroidery dated 1808. After months of planning, the Museum's new Contemporary Center is established—see page 33 for details.

Our lead story in this issue is "Magnificent Manifestation: The Symbolic Architecture of A.G. Rizzoli," by Jo Farb Hernandez. It is accompanied by "So Much To Do,So Little Done: Solving the Mysteries of A.G. Rizzoli," an exciting sidebar by Bonnie Grossman. A.G. Rizzoli, driven by fantasies of utopia, spent his nights and weekends producing a formidable body of idiosyncratic architectural renderings. Hernandez and Grossman have shared their insights and findings with us, and their beautifully illustrated essays(pages 34-45)open our minds and hearts, as well as our eyes, to Rizzoli's benevolent dreams and magnificent obsession.

Elizabeth V. Warren and Sharon L. Eisenstat have spent the last six years researching and documenting the quilts in the Museum's collection. In "Quilt Revival, 1910-1950: The Collection of the Museum of American Folk Art," starting on page 46, Warren and Eisenstat have captured the color and texture of an era.

They explain the influences that urged quiltmakers to return to the cotton quilt, after the opulence and fussiness of Victorian decor, and how published patterns and manufactured kits changed quiltmaking for two generations. Their essay is illustrated with eight beautiful quilts from the Museum's collection.

S-12 GRACE M. POPICH The Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull, SYMBOLICALLY SKETCHED/ Quebec,occupies 24 acres of land and houses more "LITTLE MILADY LEADDA" than four million objects. N.F. Karlins recently visited (detail): A.G. Rizzoli, San Francisco, 1938, ink on rag paper, that extraordinary museum and reports on "Les Par25 x 35½. adis du monde: L'art populaire du Quebec"(Paradis- The Ames Gallery, Berkeley es of the World: Folk Art of Quebec), one of its most recent exhibitions. Karlins discusses three featured collections: the collection of Marius Barbeau, the first French-Canadian Rhodes scholar; the collection of Mrs. Nettie Sharpe, referred to as The English Collection; and Les Patenteux, a collection of contemporary folk art."From Quebec: Three Ways of Looking," by N.F. Karlins starts on page 53 and is worth the looking.

Also worth looking at is this issue's Museum News.It covers the Henry Darger opening, the Outsider Art Fair in New York, Uncommon Artists V (the Museum's annual symposium on contemporary folk art), the Museum's successful Benefit Dinner, and other Museum events. And,for upcoming exhibitions in your area, every issue of Folk Art includes Miniatures, an outline of events at other museums and institutions, and Traveling Exhibitions, Museum of American Folk Art exhibitions on the road.

I'd like to welcome all our new members and readers, and extend the Museum's wonders to you through the pages of Folk Art. I hope you enjoy this issue, and I look forward to being with you again in June.

IN

6 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

Administration Gerard C. Wertkin Director Riccardo Salmona Deputy Director Jeffrey S. Grand Manager ofFinance and Operations Helene J. Ashner Assistant to the Director Luis D. Garcia Accountant Natasha Ghany Accountant Charles L. Allen Mailroom Daniel Rodriguez Mailroom/Reception Collections & Exhibitions Stacy C. Hollander Curator Ann-Marie Reilly Registrar Judith Gluck Steinberg Assistant Registrar/ Coordinator, Traveling Exhibitions Sandra Wong Assistant Registrar Pamela Brown Gallery Manager Dale Gregory, Brian Pozun Weekend Gallery Managers 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 Sarah R. Case 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, Traci Jacobson, Ursula Morillo, Rita Pollitt, Brian Pozun; Mail Order: Beverly McCarthy;Security: Bienvenido Medina; Volunteers: Marie Anderson, Olive Bates, Mary Campbell, Sally Frank, Millie Gladstone, Edith Gusoff, Ann Hannon, Bernice Hoffer, Elizabeth Howe,Joan Langston, Annette Levande, Arleen Luden, Katie McAuliffe, Nancy Mayer, Marie Peluso, Frances Rojack, Phyllis Selnick, Lola Silvergleid, Maxine Spiegel, Myma Tedles, 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) New York, NY 10023-6214 212/496-2966 Administrative Offices Museum of American Folk Art 61 West 62nd Street, New York, NY 10023-7015 212/977-7170,Fax 212/977-8134, http://www.folkartmuse.org

SELL YOUR ART AT SOTHEBY'S

A Portrait ofa Brown-Haired Boy Wearing a Bluejacket and White Breeches with a Black-and-White-Spotted Dog, a Red Plumed Cap and a Sword, American School, 19th Century, circa 1840-1850, oil on canvas, 533/4 by 391/8 in.

(136.5 by 99.4 cm.).

Auction estimate: $30,000450,000

SOTHEBY'S Auction: June 1997 SOTHEBY'S IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT WE ARE ACCEPTING CONSIGNMENTS THROUGH APRIL 1 for our June 1997 auction of Important Americana. To find out more about buying and selling Americana at Sotheby's, please call Nancy Druckman or Kara Short at (212) 606-7225. To purchase an illustrated catalogue, please call (800) 444-3709; outside the continental U.S., call (203) 847-0465. Visit us on the World Wide Web at http://www.sothebys.com Sotheby's, 1334 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021

American Folk Art Sidney Gecker RARE AND POSSIBLY UNIQUE DRESSING TABLE MAINE • CIRCA 1840 IN SUPERB,ORIGINAL CONDMON. ROSEWOOD GRAINING IN RED AND BLACK WITH GILT FOLIAGE THROUGHOUT.

FINE PENNSYLVANIA DOWER CHEST LEBANON COUNTY MADE FOR ELISABETH MABOFREN. DATED 1793.

IN FINE CONDITION WITH EXCELLENT PRESERVATION OF ORIGINAL PAINT.

226 West21st Street, New York, N.Y. 10011

(212)929-8769

Subject to prior sale.

Appointment Suggested.

Full length portrait of a child with her pet cat.

American, circa 1835

Marguerite Riordan STONINGTON,CONNECTICUT 06378 Telephone:(860)535-2511 Appointment suggested

Exceptional wood carving of a dog, circa 1900, Pennsylvania, 9 1/2 inches high.

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

DIRECTOR'S

LETTER

GERARD C. WERTKIN

xpressions of intense spirituality have been a constant thread in the history of American folk art. None of these evokes a greater sense of wonder or mystery than the drawings.and paintings that were produced in the Shaker communities during a twentyyear period(1839-1859)of profound religious renewal. Eight or nine Shaker sisters at New Lebanon, New York,and Hancock, Massachusetts, created most of these striking works of art. They resonate with the power of visions and dreams.

Two of the most gifted visionary artists among the Shakers were Hannah Cohoon(1788-1864)and Polly Collins(1808-1884), both of Hancock. Until recently, Cohoon was known for four emblematic paintings that were collected early in the 1930s by Faith and Edward Deming Andrews. Exhibited widely since then, they were the only works by the artist thought to be extant. Although fifteen watercolors have been attributed to Collins, her work is virtually as rare as Cohoon's.

Several months ago,the discovery of two previously unrecorded Shaker paintings, one by Hannah Cohoon and the other by Polly Collins, caused a stir among scholars in the field of Shaker studies and collectors of Shaker objects. Hidden behind a framed print that was apparently purchased at a tag sale for five dollars or less, they were the sole works by either artist in private hands.

On January 19,1997, here in New York, Sotheby's offered both works of art for sale at public auction. I am delighted to share the good news that they were acquired for the Museum of American Folk Art. Sister Hannah Cohoon's The Tree ofLight or Blazing Tree(1845)and Sister Polly Collins's untitled watercolor(1854)enter a distinguished collection that represents the diverse spiritual traditions of the American people. These works speak to the hidden, intimate recesses of a sacred heritage that the Museum will respect and cherish for generations to come.

The Museum of American Folk Art has had a longstanding commitment to Shaker contributions to American culture. Mary Childs Black installed two outstanding Shaker exhibitions here during the Museum's first decade:"Religion in Wood: A Study in Shaker Design" in 1965 and "The Shaker Order of Christmas" in 1969. I visited the Museum for the first time in 1969 to see the second of these presentations, and was struck by the simple elegance of the installation.

I still have the lovely keepsake that I purchased at the Museum almost three decades ago during that initial UNTITLED visit: a tiny book on the Shaker Polly Collins (Mother AnnI (1808-18841 Hancock, Massachusetts way of keeping Christmas, as 1854 described in a fascinating manuWatercolor and ink on paper script record. Published by the 19 12" Museum of American Museum in a limited edition and

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TREE OF LIGHT OR TREE long out of print, the volume is illustrated with BLAZING Hannah Cohoon details from a drawing by Polly Collins. How Hancock, Massachusetts wonderful that the Museum's collection should 1845 Watercolor and ink on paper be enhanced by a work by this very artist so 16 20' H" Museum of American many years later!

As an institution, the Museum is expanding Folk Art, 1997 its purview in several directions at the same time. At the opening of"Henry Darger: The Unreality of Being" and again at the Outsider Art Fair benefit dinner, both in January, I had the privilege of publicly announcing the formation of the Museum's Contemporary Center.

Spearheaded by Trustee Sam Farber, Didi Barrett, and other good friends of the Museum,The Contemporary Center will bring together all Museum programming devoted to the painting, sculpture, and built environments of twentieth-century self-taught artists, and will permit more sustained development of this important aspect of the Museum's mission. A more detailed account of the formation of The Contemporary Center follows on page 33. For more information about ways in which you can assist The Contemporary Center to fulfill its objectives, please write or telephone Deputy Director Riccardo Salmona at the Museum's offices.

Among its other objectives, The Contemporary Center will serve as a storehouse of information about twentieth-century self-taught artists.

In this connection, I am pleased to report that a substantial archive devoted to the artwork of artist Inez Nathaniel Walker(1911-1990) has been established at the Museum through the generosity of Pat O'Brien Parsons of Burlington, Vermont,and Mr. and Mrs. William F. Webb of Vero Beach, Florida, and the interest of Michael Mendelsohn and CM Briddge, Ltd. Consisting of a large number of sketchbooks and notepads that contain scores of drawings by Walker; several hundred individual drawings, many of which are dated; and other primary materials, the Walker archive provides a comprehensive overview of the artist's powerful body of work. An essay on Inez Nathaniel Walker and a detailed description of this major gift will be published in an upcoming issue of Folk Art. All of us at the Museum are deeply grateful for this thoughtful expression of commitment to the Museum and its mission.*

Folk Art, 1997

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 1.1

ESPLENDID PEASANTff AMERICAN FOLK ART

,

Martin and Kitty Jacobs South Egremont, Massachusetts 01258 (413) 528-5755 http://www.splendidpeasant.com

"U.S. Frigate Independence," painted by Simon De George, 1831, New York.

Inscribed, signed and dated. Watercolor and ink on paper, 22 x 27 inches.

Peter O.0 Tiffou - „Tine Arts BOX 145 LITCHFIELD, CONNECTICUT 06759 860-567-5706

S 1ELLA

RUBIN Fine Antique Quilts and Decorative Arts

12300 Glen Road Potomac, MD 20854 (Near Washington, D.C.) By appointment (301)948-4187

Mifflin County Amish Wool Kaleidescope Quilt.

Circa 1930.

ArciükduriiI Barn &ars Pa. Ca. 1890 Poplar 7'9" Di. Original Paint Temporary Mounting Disassembles Into Seven Elements

Others Available

MORGAN ANDERSON AMERICANA P.O. Box 72 Keedysville, MD 21756 (near the intersection of 1-70 and 1-81)

American Country Furnishings, Decoration & Folk Art Anytime by appointment

(301)416-2787 •432-6925 (Voice Mail)

14 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

Principal Auctioneer Christopher Burge #761543

CHRISTIE'S

IMPORTANT AMERICAN AND ENGLISH FURNITURE, NEEDLEWORK, CERAMICS AND DECORATIVE ARTS FROM THE COLLECTION OF MR AND MRS. RICHARD BARRETT

Auction: New York, 19 June 1997 at Christie's

A wool on linen needlework pictorial, worked by Mary Russell, Massachusetts, 1784.

Inquiries: American Decorative Arts Department at 212 546 1181 Catalogues: 800 395 6300 502 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10022 tel: 212 546 1000 fax: 212 980 8163 on-line: www.christies.com

Marble Dust drawing of the Connecticut#Literary Society (currently the Suffield Academy), Suffield, Connecticut. Signed and dated "Sarah Jane Smith, 1857," in its original gold leaf frame.

Mint and bright condition.

Exhibiting at: Wilton Historical Society Antiques Show Wilton, CT March 15 & 16 The 23rd Street Armory Antiques Show Philadelphia, PA April 11-13

rr7 480 North Main Street, Suffield, Connecticut 06078 (860) 668-7262

WILLIAM & CONNIE HAYES Antiques & Textiles 90 Heide Lane • Belleville, PA 1 7004 • 717 935-5125 Shop Open By Appointment

Applique quilt, Cherry Tree, c. 1920 Made by Elizabeth Mayer, Orwigsburg, Schuylkill Co., Pennsylvania, with the blue ribbon attached from the 1934 Schuylkill County Fair. 80" x 82".

1401101

16 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

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Exceptional Architectural Birdcage.

Original paint, ca. 1880.27" w x 47" h

Important Trade Sign, ca.#20 1875.

Dramatic size and graphic quality. 4 ft. x 6 ft.

New England Drop-Leaf Harvest Table in original paint.

6 ft. Steer Weathervane by Cushing & White. • Rare 1906 Pedal Race Car. Joe Lincoln Hissing Goose. • Fireman's Parade Hat, ca. 1840.

John Sideli Art& Antiques Stylish Objects ofthe 18th, 19th &20th Centuries 214 ROUTE#71 • PO BOX 149 • NORTH EGREMONT, MA 01252 • 413.528.2789

ANNOUNCEMENTS

A Gift of Liberty

his Fall the Museum of American Folk Art inaugurated a new program to help provide for important acquisitions for the collection.

The Jean Lipman Fellows, named after the renowned scholar and collector, is a special group of friends dedicated to enhancing the Museum's permanent collection through the annual purchase of a work of art. The initiative was launched on October 16, when the Jean Lipman Fellows voted to purchase an exciting early nineteenth-century needlework from Connecticut dealer Marguerite Riordan. This engaging needlework from the Abby Wright School in South Hadley, Massachusetts, not only amplifies a much-needed area of the Museum's textile collection, but also introduces a significant early motif: the figure of liberty.

Symbolic elements played a meaningful role in the emergence of an American consciousness

T

after the War for Independence.

Codified images specifically identified with the young democracy were potent symbols of the new political system and important as emblems that captured the ideals of the nation. The design for the Great Seal, the architecture of the United States Capitol building, and other national features represented serious decisions made by the leading political figures of the day, who put much thought into their public effect. Americans were actively encouraged to bring these symbols into their hearts and homes through the decorative arts, as a tangible means of participating in one of their first shared national experiences: freedom.

Among the most powerful of these symbols were expressions of liberty that evolved slowly overtime. Liberty, as embodied in the form of a woman,descended from earlier images associated first with the North Ameri-

flag with colorful stripes and applied spangles. The figure bears an overflowing cornucopia, the entire composition contained within an oval with an embroidered border of flowers and wheat. The needlework bears many of the hallmarks associated with this Massachusetts school: minute seed stitches worked around shrubbery and trees, a small village in the background, a painted sky, and painted figures.

Although Abby Wright's letters indicate that no limner was employed at the school, it is possible that the watercolor areas were painted by a professional artist. An inscription on the back of another embroidery made at the school suggests that professional help was sometimes sought for the painted areas:"Lucy Griswold, aged fifteen/ This name to be put on/ Sir! wish you to paint the sky if you can."

Abby Wright was born in 1774 in Wethersfield, Connecticut. Shortly after her widowed mother remarried in 1779, the family moved to Pittsfield, Massachusetts. As a young woman, Wright taught at various district schools for several summers. At the age of twenty-six, she enrolled in the Westfield Academy.

can continent and later with the English colonies. The figure was originally identified as the American Indian Queen, and by the time it was introduced as a needlework project at the Abby Wright School at the turn of the nineteenth century, the allegorical figure had undergone a series of transformations, becoming synonymous with the United States and the spirit of rebellion from oppressive rule.

The needlework acquired by the Museum was made by Lusina Hudson of Oxford, Massachusetts, in 1808, while she was a student at the Abby Wright School. At least three similar examples are known; all four represent the figure as a young woman romantically garbed in classical dress and carrying a liberty pole topped by a pileus, a close-fitting cap that was worn in ancient Rome and symbolized liberty. In Lusina Hudson's needlework, the pole also flies a

MEMBER Keith & Lauren Morgan

Mama Anderson

Allan & Kendra Daniel

Don Waiters & Mary

David & Didi Barrett

Michael Del Castello

Benisek

Patrick Bell & Edwin Hild Robert & Kathy Booth

Scott & Lauren Fine

Richard Braemer & Amy

Jay & Gail Furman

Finkel

Wendell Garrett

Lois P. Broder

Fred Giampietro

Edward J. & Margaret

Peter & Barbara

Brown Virginia G.Cave

18 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

Michael & Janice Doniger Nancy Druckman

Goodman Barbara L. Gordon

..........P.P• 4.4.11 S *PPP." 4,4 ••41.••••••••••••••••••••••••,••••4..... t••• I..............................................

In 1803 she opened her own school on the site of what is now the Mount Holyoke Observatory.

Wright's venture proved so successful that for the first few years she had trouble boarding all the students who desired to attend the school.

Abby Wright was in her late twenties when she was formally educated(a mature age for a student). Her own students were between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one. Wright's letters and memoirs, now in the collection of the Mount Holyoke College Library, illuminate the purpose and philosophy of women's education in the early nineteenth century. Abby Wright was dedicated to instilling proper values in her students: her goal, she wrote, was to "lead them in the paths of rectitude and virtue, that they may establish an unblemished reputation and become ornaments to society." Today, this exquisite liberty needlework, produced as evidence of these attainments, continues to beautifully illuminate nineteenth-century dreams and values, and to resonate with the love of liberty we share with an earlier age.* —Stacy C. Hollander, Curator, Museum ofAmerican Folk Art

.1*.1111

Howard M.Graff Bonnie Grossman

Patrick M.& Gloria M. Lonergan

Stephen Score

David Teiger

Frederic A. & Jean S. Sharf

Sini von Reis Irwin H. & Elizabeth V.

Anne Groves

Frank Maresca

Joseph & Janet Shein

Warren & Sue Ellen Haber

Gael Mendelsohn

Raymond & Linda Simon

Pepi & Vera Jelinek

John E. Oilman

R. Scudder & Helen Smith

Peter & Leslie Warwick

Linda E. Johnson

J. Randall Plummer

Richard & Stephanie Solar

G. Marc Whitehead

Harvey Kahn

Drs. Jeffrey Pressman &

Lynn Steuer

Susan Yecies

Allan Katz

Nancy Kollisch

Steven & Helen Kellogg

Leo & Dorothy Rabkin

David & Barbara Krashes

Betty Ring

Jerry & Susan Lauren

Marguerite Riordan

Donald & Rachel Strauber Stanley & Doris Tananbaum Jim & Judy Taylor

LIBERTY NEEDLEWORK Lusina Hudson 11787-71 South Hadley, Massachusetts 1808 Velvet, spangles, metallic and silk threads, and watercolor on silk; replaced eglomise mat and frame 18 - 16,sight 121 23" framed) Museum of American Folk Art purchase with funds from the lean Lipman Fellows, 1996.

Warren

Note: The information about the Abby Wright School is based on Betty Ring's research published in Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers & Pictorial Needlework 1650-1850, Vol. I(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993).

Information on Lusina Hudson's birthplace and date was researched by Dianne T. Goodnow.

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

19

MINIATURES MORAVIAN PLATE Artist unknown Piedmont, North Carolina c. 1800 Lead-glazed earthenware 11114" diameter Collection of the Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina

COMPILED BY TANYA HEINRICH

The End Is Near!

"The End Is Near!," an exhibition that will present a variety of works by self-taught artists concerning big transformations on both an individual and universal scale, will be on view at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore from May 30, 1997, to January 4, 1998. Organized by curator Roger Manley, the exhibition will delve into visions of apocalypses, cataclysms, nuclear catastrophes, utopias and dystopias, oracles, prophesies, divine manifestations, messianic

North Carolina Pottery arrivals or returns, and revelations, as well as more personal fears and hopes. Unusual objects on view will include a perpetual motion machine, a prophesying time machine, an environment of wooden doomsday computers, a 1930s revival tent, a 300-foot painting illustrating biblical revelations, charts plotting the patterns of history, and healing machines by Emery Blagdon. For more information, please call 410/244-1900.

WEATHER SHARK PREDICTOR (detail) Paul K. Schimmack Washington, Pennsylvania c. 1926 Enamel on stamped copper mounted on wood 24 24" Collection of John and Diane Balsley

The abundance of natural clay deposits in some regions of/ North Carolina provided fertile ground for the proliferation of traditional potters and studio potteries since the early 19th century.

"The Ceramic Art of North Carolina," on view at the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, N.C., through August 24,showcases approximately 300 pieces, including expressions ofform and style unique to the region, such as ring jugs for carrying water and swirl ware, a combination of light and dark clays. The exhibition also includes early slip-decorated utilitarian earthenware items, ritual spiritual jugs

by African slaves, grotesque face jugs adopted from African forms, and art pottery of the 1920s. For more information, please call 704/337-2000.

VOODOO JUG B.B. Craig Vale, North Carolina 1978 Stoneware 12 • 8" Collection of the Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina

1,7AZI I ".; ... sr, •I. .14%Lrf, T

Fundamental Soul The traveling exhibition "Fundamental Soul: The Hager Gift of Self-Taught African American Art," organized by the Rockford Art Museum in Rockford, Ill., is on view at the Mitchell Museum (618/242-1236)in Mount Vernon, Ill., through April 6. The collection, built by James Hager, includes works by Hawkins Bolden, Thornton Dial, Sam Doyle, Dilmus Hall, Bessie Har-

20 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

vey, Theodore Hill, Lonnie Holley, J.B. Murray, Royal Robertson, Mary T. Smith, Jimmy Lee Sudduth, James "Son" Thomas, Mose Tolliver, Luster Willis, and Purvis Young. The exhibition, which is accompanied by a catalog, will travel to the Springfield Art Association (217/523-2631) in Springfield, Ill., from April 26 to June 14.

Louisiana Folk Artist "France Folse—Rediscovered," an exhibition of 32 paintings that depict the unique culture of rural Louisiana, is on view at the Louisiana State University Museum of Art(504/388-4003)in Baton Rouge through March 30.

It will then travel to Southdown

France Folse(1906-1985) was born in Raceland, La., and began painting after a crippling illness.

The exhibition, which is accompanied by a catalog, was organized by guest curator William T. Peltier and H. Parrott Bacot, director and curator of the

Plantation (504/851-0154)in

Louisiana State University Mu-

Houma,La., where it will be on

seum

view from April 6 to May 21.

of Art.

HE LOVES ME 30x48' Acrylic on Wood 1994

ANGELA PALLADINO upsTiudipowELL JESSE AARON DAVID BUTLER REX CLAWSON VESTIE DAVIS ROY FERDINAND VICTOR JOSEPH GATTO (ESTATE) LONNIE HOLLEY S.L.JONES LAWRENCE LEBDUSKA CHARLIE LUCAS JUSTIN McCARTHY ANGELA PALLADINO OLD IRONSIDES PRY POPEYE REED MAX ROMAIN OTHERS BILL ROSEMAN (ESTATE) JACK SAVITSKY CLARENCE STRINGFIELD MOSE TOLLIVER CHIEF WILLEY GEORGE WILLIAMS LUSTER WILLIS AMONG

EPSTEIN/POWELL 22 WOOSTER STREET NYC 100I 3 BY APPOINTMENT 2 I 2.226.73 I 6

MINI A T

UR ES

UNTITLED Anna Zemankova Prague, Czech Republic n.d.

Pastel and ink on paper 161 / 2 12" Collection of John Raimondi, courtesy Cavin-Morris Gallery, New York

Eddie Arning and Anna Zemankovii The highly sophisticated works of two self-taught artists will be on view this spring and summer at the High Museum of Art Folk Art and Photography Galleries in Atlanta.

"Abstract Realities: The Art of Eddie Arning," on view through May 3, consists of 30 works by the Texas artist, who

created more than 2,000 densely crayoned drawings while confined to a nursing home. Many of Arning's distinctly abstracted and color-saturated compositions were interpretations of popular print images—some of which are included in the exhibition.

"Exotic Species: The Art of Anna Zemankova," on view from May 10 to August 2, will exhibit the artist's evocative renderings of plants and flowers. Zemankova's beautifully delicate biomorphic forms, carefully delineated in pastels, paint, pen and ink, and crayon, as well as silk appliquĂŠ, embroidery, and beads, transcend botanical convention. For more information on either exhibition, please call 404/733-4444.

Tall Case Clocks Early American tall case(or grandfather) clocks, which were often a symbol of status and success and were generally displayed prominently in the home, are on view at the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, Pa., through May 31."Time Was...

22 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

"A.G. Rizzoli: Architect of Magnificent Visions," a comprehensive survey of the artist's finely rendered ink drawings of symbolic architectural sanctuaries, fanciful buildings, and city plot plans, will be on view from March 22 to May 18 at the San Diego Museum of Art. Achilles G. Rizzoli (1896-1981), a draftsman for a small architectural firm in San Francisco, privately recorded and interpreted his visions, imbuing each with poetic commentary. The exhibition, which will be accompanied by a

catalog, will be on view at the Museum of American Folk Art from January 10 to March 8, 1998(see feature article on p. 34 of this issue). For more information, please call 619/232-7931.

5-9 MR. & MRS. HAROLD HEALY SYMBOLICALLY SKETCHED A.G. Rizzoli San Francisco 1936 Ink on rag paper 35' 2 Courtesy The Ames Gallery, Berkeley

Bearing Witness Tall Case Clocks from the Mercer Collections" includes 18thand early 19th-century clocks made in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania's Bucks County. For more information, please call 215/345-0210.

Southern Arts and Crafts "Southern Arts and Crafts 1890-1940," a survey of the Southern interpretation of the British Arts and Crafts movement, is on view at Alabama's Birmingham Museum of Art through March 29. The exhibition focuses on the conscious decision by early 20th-century Southern artisans to turn away from the machine and return to handcrafting objects. Items on view include pottery, textiles,

Traveling Rizzoll Exhibition to Open in San Diego

furniture, woodworking, glass, basketry, metalwork, paintings, and works on paper. The exhibition, which was organized by the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, N.C., is accompanied by a 136-page catalog with essays by Andrew Glasgow, Bruce Johnson, James Jordan, Jane Kessler, Jessie Poesch, and Jane Starnes.

For more information, please call 205/254-2565.

"Bearing Witness: AfricanAmerican Vernacular Art of the South," an exhibition of works by 25 self-taught Southern black artists from the collection of Ronald and June Shelp, is on view at the New York Public Library's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City through March 29. Artists represented in the collection include Hawkins Bolden,

Thornton Dial, Sr., and other members of the Dial family, Bessie Harvey, Lonnie Holley, Charlie Lucas, J.B. Murray, Mary T. Smith, Jimmy Lee Sudduth, James "Son" Thomas, Mose Tolliver, and Purvis Young. Following its exhibition at the Schomburg Center,"Bearing Witness" will travel to sites throughout the United States through a tour organized by the Museum of American Folk Art. For more information, call 212/491-2200.

SQUIRREL James "Son" Thomas Leland, Mississippi 1987 Unfired clay and spray paint 5/ 1 2 6/ 1 2 3" Collection of Ronald and June Shelp, courtesy the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library, New York City

Robert Cargo

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

Jimmie Lee Sudduth (1910-

).

2 inches. Earth pigments, house paint, caulking compound, Pepsi-Cola can cutouts, / 2x271 / Left: Tokyo Pepsi-Cola, 1987, 271 on plywood panel. Shown in Kemp and Boyer, Revelations. Alabama's Visionary Folk Artists, p. 180.

2x19 inches. Earth pigments, house paint, on plywood panel. / Right, top: Detroit, 1988, 91 2 inches. Earth pigments, house paint, on plywood panel. / Right, bottom: New York, 1987, 16x211

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.

MINIATURES

Only through art can we emerg&from ourselves and know what another person sees.

- MARCEL PROUST. Maxims

Conference and Symposium Roundup

Blue Spiral I is pleased to present the paintings of JIMMIE LEE SUDDUTH

in a special exhibition with the photographs of JOHN BAEDER

from February 21 to April 12,1997.

JIMMIE LEE SUDDUTH - "Indian", mud and paint on board,48"H x 24'W

Blue Spiral I also represents the following contemporary folk artists: Cyril Billiot Ivy Billiot Patrick Cardiff Rev. Russell Gillespie Bessie Harvey Jim Havner R.A. Miller Mose Tolliver Parks Townsend Hubert Walters and a selection of southern folk pottery and hooked rugs

FINE ART

quit, Maine, May 2-4. The exhibition will focus on decorative pieces from Maine,including tinware and reverse glass painting.

Admission is free and the public is welcome. For more information, please call 207/676-4429.

The 20th annual National Gravestone Studies Conference at Becker College in Leicester, Mass., June 26-29. Highlights will include a hands-on conservation workshop on recording and mapping cemeteries and cleaning, resetting, and making simple repairs to gravestones. There will also be three guided bus tours to Colonial, Victorian, and Modern cemeteries in surrounding cities and towns. Non-members are welcome to attend; registration is required. For more information, please call 413/584-1756.

The 4-day conference "Folk Art and Folk Life in Education" at the New York University School of Education, June 29— July 2. This conference will explore ways of integrating American folk art into the classroom and will include a tour of the Museum of American Folk Art and various New York City galleries. For more information, please call 212/998-5090.

Open Mon-Sat, loam-5pm 38 Biltmore Avenue Asheville, NC 28801 704.251.0202•fax 704.251.0884

BLUE, S P I•R Ail

AMERICAN CRAFT

24 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

The following conferences and symposia will be held around the country this spring and summer: A one-day symposium,"Look OUT! Perspectives on Outsider Art in America," at Clayton Hall at the University of Delaware in Newark on Friday, April 11. Discussions will explore the production, interpretation, consumption, and exhibition of works often labeled "outsider." Participants will include Bonnie Grossman, Robert Hobbs, Barbara Luck, Roger Manley, Thomas McEvilley, Eugene Metcalf, and Wendy Steiner. For information, call 302/831-8415 or visit their web site at http://Seuratart.udel.edu.

The City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department's second "Living Roots" folk and traditional arts conference at the Los Angeles Theater Center, April 11-12. Included will be panel discussions designed to challenge traditional scholars, academic and cultural institutions, and folk artists to collectively reevaluate relevant issues. For more information, please call 213/485-2437.

The Historical Society of Early American Decoration's semiannual convention and exhibition at the Cliff House in Ogun-

CONTEMPORARY FOLK ART

Recycled, Re-Seen "Recycled, Re-Seen: Folk Art from the Global Scrap Heap," an exhibition of nearly 700 objects made from recycled industrial materials from 50 nations, is on view at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, N.M., through August 22. The exhibition focuses on the regeneration of mass-produced castoffs as a global phenomenon of the late 20th century, with objects includ-

ing bread-wrapper rugs, tin can travel trunks, sandals and water carriers constructed from rubber tires, a cloth money bag quilt, muffler men sculptures, and a bottle cap—encrusted throne by Chicago's Mr. Imagination. The exhibition is accompanied by a companion book of the same name. For more information, please call 505/827-6350.

GEORGIA Victor Joseph Gafto New York City or Florida C. 1944 Oil on canvas 24 29" Collection of Ellin & Baron Gordon, courtesy Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, Virginia

Flying Free "Flying Free: The Ellin & Baron Gordon Collection" will be on view at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center in Williamsburg, Va.,from May 18 to November 9. This exhibition is made up of approximately 150 bold and engaging works by such widely recognized 20th-century self-taught artists as Miles Car-

penter, Howard Finster, Victor Joseph Gatto, William L. Hawkins, S.L. Jones, Justin McCarthy,Ron Rodriguez, and Jon Serl, as well as emerging artists such as Levent Isik, Tim Lewis, and Melissa Polhamus.

For more information, please call 804/220-7698.

Bessie Harvey in Tennessee "Awakening the Spirits: Sculpture by Bessie Harvey" will be on view from April 4 to July 27 at the Knoxville Museum of Art in Knoxville, Tenn. Bessie Harvey (1929-1994), a deeply religious self-taught artist from Alcoa, Tenn., extracted haunting and enigmatic figures from tree roots and branches in her efforts to follow a spiritual calling to release forces from the wood. Her works, embellished with putty, paint, cloth, beads, glitter, hair, bits of jewelry, artificial flowers, feathers, shells, and other pieces of wood,celebrate the deeds of biblical heroes and recount events in the struggles of African Ameri-

GOLDEN BRANCHES Bessie Harvey Alcoa, Tennessee 1985 Painted wood, wood putty, and beads 15 10 11" Collection of Ann and John Oilman, Philadelphia

cans. The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalog. For more information, please call 423/525-6101.

Lillian Fay Barker 1930-1997 Lillian Barker was born on August 26, 1930, near Isonville, Ky., where she and her husband, Linvel, retired in the mid-1980s.

In 1988 Linvel began carving his now renowned animal sculptures, and Lillian began painting. Lillian's paintings focused entirely on stories from the Old Testament. Her work was soon included in various exhibitions,

STATESMAN Unidentified maker, carved polycluomed wood,143/4" high, c. 1870

P.O. Box 1653 • Alexandria, Virginia 22313 • (703) 329-8612 Fax:(703) 329-6271

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 25

MINIATURES

including "Local Visions: Folk Art from Northeast Kentucky" .• (1990),"Kentucky Spirit: The Naive Tradition"(1991), and "Generations of Kentucky" (1994), and is part of the permanent collections of the Kentucky Folk Art Center in Morehead and Kentucky's Owensboro Museum of Fine Art. Barker died as a result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident on an icy road on January 12. She is survived by her husband, a daughter, six grandchildren, one great-grandchild, two sisters, and four brothers.

Barker was buried near her home on Newcombe Creek on Wednesday, January 15.

—Adrian Swain Kentucky Folk Art Center

Charlotte H. Dinger 1930-1996 Charlotte H. Dinger, an outstanding collector of and authority on carousel figures, died on October 19, 1996, at New Jersey's Morristown Memorial Hospital.

Born in East Orange, N.J., Dinger had been a resident of Chatham, NJ.,for many years.

Her lifelong enthusiasm for the art of the carousel was sparked by a childhood visit to a carousel.

In 1972 she purchased her first carousel horse,followed by a second purchase of twenty horses.

Her collection of more than 100 carousel animals is exhibited at the World Carousel Museum in Lahaska, Pa. In 1983 Mrs. Dinger curated the exhibition "The Art of the

Carousel," sponsored by the Museum of American Folk Art. The exhibition was held at the PaineWebber Building. The accompanying catalog, now in its sixth printing, reviews the development of the carousel and is a general guide for museums, galleries, and collectors.

Dinger was owner and president of Carousel Art, Inc., of

Chatham Township, executive director of the World Carousel Museum,a founder and member of the board of directors of the American Carousel Society, and a consultant to Sotheby's.

Dinger is survived by her husband, Carl W.Dinger, Jr., two sons, Carl III and Jeff E., and two grandchildren.

—Lee Kogan

Ginger Young Gallery Southern Self-Taught Art

By appointment 919.932.6003 Works by more than four dozen artists, including: Georgia Blizzard • Rudolph Bostic • Raymond Coins • Yahrah Dahvah • Patrick Davis • Howard Finster • Lonnie Holley • R.A. Miller Sarah Rakes • Prophet Royal Robertson - Lorenzo Scott • J.P. Scott Jimmie Lee Sudduth • Mose Tolliver • Fred Webster • Myrtice West

For a free video catalogue or a price list please contact: Ginger Young Gallery, 5802 Brisbane Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27514 Phone/Fax 919.932.6003 • E-mail: gingerart@aolcom Website: http://members.aol.com/gingerart2/

Left: Assemblage by James Harold Jennings Wood, paint, 12" x 20", 1995.

26 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

MINIATURES

Nathan Lerner 1913-1997 Nathan Lerner, a distinguished photographer and the discoverer of the artistic and literary works of Henry Darger, died at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago on February 8 after a long illness.

Following Darger's death in 1973, Lerner, who was his landlord, came upon the artist's paintings and writings. Recognizing their artistic merit, Lerner arranged for the paintings to be shown at the Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago in 1977. Darger's reputation has grown steadily since.

Lerner studied painting at the Chicago Art Institute with Louis Rittman and Samuel Ostrofsky.

Later, he served as a "witness of life during the Great Depression in the poorest immigrant neighborhood in Chicago," creating his well-known photojournalistic series "Maxwell Street."

In 1937 he was accepted to the New Bauhaus school on scholarship; there he studied with the school's director, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and with Alexander Archipenko, Gyorgy Kepes, and Henry Holms Smith. During this time, he created the Lerner photogram machine and invented "the light box." In 1939 he became assistant to Kepes, who was head of the light workshop, and with him co-authored "The Creative Use of Light"(1941). In 1942 he became director of the photography workshop.

By 1945, after further experiments in developing a machine for forming plywood and a stint as a civilian light expert for the U.S. Navy, Lerner returned to the school, newly named the Institute of Design, where he was made dean of faculty and students and head of the design workshop.

When Moholy-Nagy died in

24"w x 24"

1946, Walter Gropius appointed Lerner educational director of the school.

Lerner's fascination with Japan was sparked by his marriage in 1968 to the Japanese pianist Kiyoko Asai, and his color photographs of Japan were exhibited at the Pentax Museum in Tokyo(1972),followed by other exhibitions in Chicago, Berlin, and New York.

Untitled(Episode 3 Place Not Mentioned), a large watercolor by Henry Darger and a gift of Nathan and Kiyoko Lemer to the Museum of American Folk Art, is currently on view at the Museum as part of the exhibition "Henry Darger: The Unreality of Being."

Another Darger work was donated for a recent Museum of American Folk Art benefit auction.

Lerner is survived by his wife, Kiyoko; a son, Michael; a daughter, Amy;two brothers, Henry and Martin; and six grandchildren. —Lee Kogan

LOG HOUSE

BY JIMMY LEE SUDDUTH House paint and mud on wood

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

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 27

"Artist Chuckie" Williams

r-fror-Vwer (11!1.1 16 Barbara Brogdon • 1611 Hwy. 129 S.• Cleveland, GA. 30528•(706) 865-6345 40, a http://web.intoave.net/—rosehms•email: rosehips@stc.net

APA L A eelebratioe of the acetates

Weathervane Folk Art Gallery

Earnest Lee, "Picking Oranges," 24 x 48 inches, acrylic on board

Torn Wells, Owner 324 Main Street, Thomson, GA 30824, (706) 595-1998 Two hours east of Atlanta Photos on request

28 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

SAM DOYLE LE BIT SR House Paint on Tin 29" x 39"

—1-LECTION

THE LAROCHF

Louanne LaRoche, Director 51 Pineview Road May River Plantation Bluffton, South Carolina 29910

(803) 757-5826 phone/fax

Hunter Clementine (1887- 1988) Collection Includes: "Artist Chuckie" Williams, Ike Morgan, J.B. Murray, Howard Finster, Mary T. Smith, B.F. Perkins, Jimmy Lee Sudduth, David Butler, Clementine Hunter, Royal Robertson, Reginald Gee, James Harrold Jennings, Mose Tolliver, Lonnie Holley, Luster Willis, Raymond Coins, Burgess Dulaney, Charlie Lucas, Nellie Mae Rowe, Sarah Rakes, Leroy Almon, Sr., M.C. 50 Jones, S.L. Jones, Rhinestone Cowboy and Albert Louden.

CALLMY

GILLEY8 Clementine Hunter's "Afro-American Strips and Bands Quilt" c.1960, 66" x 82" Also Shown: Works by Howard Finster, David Butler and James Son Thomas.

A

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F

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A

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ES

8750 Florida Blvd.

Baton Rouge, LA 70815 (504) 922-9225

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 29

CLEMENTINE HUNTER 1887-1988 DAVID BUTLER

SR. GERTRUDE MORGAN

MILTON FLETCHER

J.P. SCOTT

FRANCE FOLSE

MARY T. SMITH

ALYNE HARRIS

MOSE TOLLIVER

CHARLES HUTSON

AUNT TOOTS

"PAPPY" KITCHENS

WILLIE WHITE

MAY KUGLER

"CHIEF' WILLEY

SULTAN ROGERS

CHUCKIE WILLIAMS "Baptism," oil on board, 16" x 20, circa 1950s

WILLIAM PELTIER • FINE AND FOLK ART 376 Millaudon St. • New Orleans, LA 70118 • By Appointment Phone (504) 861-3196 Fax (504) 862-7403

JAMES HAROLD JENNINGS North Carolina Alsofeaturing work by:

Minnie Adkins Georgia Blizzard Richard Burnside Ronald Cooper Jessie Cooper Patrick Davis Minnie Evans Howard Finster Sybil Gibson Anderson Johnson

Chris Lewallen Woodie Long Sam McMillian R.A. Miller Vollis Simpson Bernice Sims Q.J. Stephenson Jimmy Lee Sudduth Mose Tolliver Myrtice West

American Pie Contemporary Folk Artfrom the Southeast

Elaine Johansen • 113 Dock Street Wilmington • NC 28401 • (910) 251-2131

30 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Museum of American Folk Art 1997 Benefit Country Auction Sunday, April 20, 1997 Sotheby's, 1334 York Avenue New York City 6:30 P.M. Cocktails and Silent Auction 7:30 P.m. Live Auction 8:30 P.M. Dinner Preview Friday, April 18, 10:00 A.M.-5:00 P.M. Saturday, April 19, 10:00 A.M.-5:00 P.M. To be featured in both Silent and Live Auctions: • Traditional and Contemporary Folk Art • Fine and Decorative Arts • Goods and Services

Tickets $1,000 Benefactor $500 Patron $350 Donor $150 Supporter (for cocktails and silent and live auctions only) Benefactor Table of 10 $10,000 $5,000 Patron Table of 10 For information or reservations, please call Jennifer Waters at the Museum's administration office 212/977-7170

ARROW-BACK WINDSOR SIDE CHAIR Possibly New England 1825-1835 Wood with later painted decoration 31% 18% 141 / 2 " Donated by Jean Lipman Auction estimate: $4,500

STRUGGLING (left) CREEPING CRAWLING (right) Thornton Dial Bessemer, Alabama 1993 Watercolor, pencil, and charcoal on paper 8 6" each (12 17" framed together) Donated by Pat Parsons Auction estimate: $1,000-1,500

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 31

AMERICAN PRIMITIVE GALLERY

594 Broadway # 205 New York, NY 10012 212 - 966 - 1530 Mon -Sat 11-6

JIM BAUER JIM BAUER'S past employment in an aluminum factory led to his flea market collecting of pots and pans. The assembly of these metal relics has evolved into mechanical figures and animals, many with internal lighting.

Coffee Pot Bust, 20 x 13 x 10 inches Mother With Baby Shopping, 26 x 22 x 7 inches

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

of founding Trustee and collector Herbert W. Hemphill, Jr., and former director Robert Bishop. Its renowned collection presently includes such twentieth-century masters as Henry Darger, William Edmondson, William Hawkins, Martin Ramirez, and Bill Traylor.

In recent years, Museum exhibitions have included "Muffled Voices" (1986), a survey of leading self-taught artists, a traveling exhibition of the Rosenak Collection (1990), a presentation of the Petullo Collection of international artists (1993), the first New York museum show of Thornton Dial's paintings(1993), and an exhibit focussing on the work of visionary artist Minnie Evans(1995).

The Museum's current exhibition,"Henry Darger: The Unreality of Being," is the first to be presented under the aegis of The Contempo-

The Contemporary Center of the Museum of American Folk Art irector Gerard C. Werticin is pleased to announce the formation of The Contemporary Center of the Museum of American Folk Art. This new Museum initiative is devoted to the exhibition, collection, publication, and scholarly research of the work of contemporary self-taught artists from all over the world. Self-taught artists, including those identified with the field of art brut, or outsider art, have created a powerful and moving, but frequently unacknowledged, body of work that is essential to a full understanding of art and culture around the world.

The Museum has long been a pioneer in presenting the work of twentiethcentury self-taught artists. By establishing a vigorous new framework for the collecting and exhibition of this important material, The Contemporary Center provides a more focused way to fulfill one of the Museum's fundamental missions. In assuming this leadership role, the Museum of American Folk Art will foster increased recognition and appreciation of this field. It will collaborate with prominent institutions worldwide and promote partnerships, not only in the United States, but in the international art community as well.

Museum Trustee Sam Farber and collector Didi Barrett have spearheaded the effort to organize The Contemporary Center. A Founding Committee, a number of whose members have been associated with the Museum for many years, will serve as supporters and advisers. Upon completion of a fund-raising drive, the Museum anticipates appointing a well-recognized expert to head The Center, develop programming, and further its collection of works by contemporary self-taught artists.

The Museum's venture into collecting and exhibiting twentiethcentury painting and sculpture began in the 1960s through the interests

D

TRAIN: Martin Ramirez, 1948-1953, pencil and 2 x 52. Museum of American / crayon on paper, 271 Folk Art, gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1990.1.2.

rary Center. Plans for future exhibitions include a comprehensive review of the significant self-taught artists of the twentieth century, selected by respected American curator Elsa Longhauser and international exhibitions organizer Harald Szeemann, and a retrospective of the highly idiosyncratic architectural drawings of A.G. Rizzoli.

With the conviction that the paintings, sculpture, and built environments of twentieth-century (and eventually twenty-first century) selftaught artists merit the appreciation, study, and exhibition accorded to works of art in the cultural mainstream, the Museum of American Folk Art has established The Contemporary Center.*

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 33

5-3 THE SPIRIT OF COOPERATIOW ACADEMICALLY THE ESSOSEE 1935 Ink on rag paper 179/16 - 235/e" The Ames Gallery, Berkeley

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THE SPIRIT OF COOPERATIOI 34 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

Magnificent Manifestation The Symbolic Architecture of AG.

Riz

zol•

By Jo Farb Hernandez

A. G. Rizzoli, c. 1918, gelatin silver print, photographer unknown, collection of the estate of the artist.

onsider: A shy immigrant's son. A father's disappearance and presumed death. A sister's illegitimate pregnancy and self-imposed relocation. An obsessive love for an ailing mother. I Consider: A utopian world's fair—The Panama-Pacific International Exposition, the proof to the world that the great city of San Francisco had risen, phoenix-like, from the shards and ashes of the great earthquake less than ten years before. II Consider: A teenage boy's belief in the power of architecture to reshape the world into something more closely approximating a heavenly paradise. I The story of A.G. Rizzoli (1896-1981) unfolds like a gripping mystery novel crossed with an evocative human drama; his art is both engrossing and enigmatic. It draws the viewer into a realm that both acknowledges and transcends our commonplace reality, leading us into the heretofore uncharted regions of the "Y.T.T.E."

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SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 35

Quietly and loyally laboring on mundane drafting work during the day, Achilles Rizzoli spent his nights and weekends obsessively working on a monumental yet secret task: the delineation of a new world,for which he served as "High Prince" and "Master Architect." Undertaken at the command of spiritual guides, Rizzoli's drawings and writings document a life lived, in his words, "in an unbelievable hermetically sealed, spherical, inalienable maze of light and sound, seeing imagery expanding in every direction...."' Unprecedented in its richness and clarity, Rizzoli's art has been hailed as the "find of the century."

The fourth of five children of Swiss-Italian immigrants, Achilles had an apparently uneventful childhood growing up as the son of a ranch hand in Mann County. By 1915, however, a series of traumas—the illegitimate pregnancy of an older sister, the unexplained departure of an older brother, and the disappearance and presumed suicide of his father—had broken up the family and led Achilles, his mother, and two other siblings to move to San Fran-

drafting, rendering, and life-drawing. Rizzoli never completed a full course of studies there, nor was he ever certified as an architect.

A.G.'s brother and sister soon married and left home; Achilles, however, never did, choosing instead to remain with his beloved mother, whom he supported with odd jobs in those early years. By 1927 he began the first of his ambitious creative endeavors, a series of literary works featuring the utopian efforts of a fictional group of idealistic architects. Verbose, stiff, and boring, each manuscript was rejected in turn by the various magazine publishers to whom it was submitted. In the first year that Rizzoli turned to literature, his annual income dropped from over $2,000 to just $51.2 In 1935, frustrated by the lack of positive response to his literary works but still inspired by utopian fantasies, Rizzoli shifted to producing large pen-and-ink renderings of architectural designs. Utopian images are found throughout the history of visionary architecture, but Rizzoli's elab-

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cisco. Standing in sharp contrast to the shock of these events—and perhaps partially alleviating them—were the optimism and excitement that the Panama-Pacific International Exposition inspired in Rizzoli, curiously enough, in that same portentous year. Shortly thereafter, the young A.G., as he by then preferred to be known,joined the San Francisco Architectural Club, taking classes in mechanical

36 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

REPRESENTED

cautiful 'Mother

orate buildings contrasted with these in that most were symbolic representations ("transfigurations," in his words) of people he knew, intended to glorify a heavenly world of his own creation. Many of his buildings are described on the drawings themselves as "heavenly homes" or "heavenly inheritances," meant to symbolize an actual metamorphosis of the person following death, as well as an architectural

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personification of their essential attributes. At times these foot of her bed—as he had while she lived—and continued terms referred to the physical being ("...blood, flesh and to do so for more than thirty years after her death.'° Perhaps bone converted into an/inheritance of stone-hard in an attempt to find solace, he came to believe that his elegance..."3); other times he wrote of "the conversion of only chance at attaining serenity would come through a the soul into objects of monumental character."4 His first religious and conservative life in which he would remain a major drawing was Mother Symbolically Represented/The virgin. He took a grim pleasure in his asceticism; he spent Kathredal, a birthday card/full-scale drawing honoring and little money on food and less on clothes, preferring instead symbolizing the strength, beauty, and spiritualism of his mother; it became the premiere structure in his Y.T.T.E. world exposition.

The meticulously crafted "Symbolization" drawings for this rapidly developing imaginary world combined Beaux-Arts architectural idioms with an eclectic borrowing of Roman, Renaissance, Baroque, Art Deco, and Art Nouveau styles. Spectacular lighting displays reminiscent of a Hollywood premiere (but probably more specifically referential to the lighting for the Panama-Pacific Exposition),5 as well as more populist elements recalling commercial advertising and P.T. Bamum's shows, were also added.6 This fusion of styles, many of which Rizzoli had probably seen only in books, was a juxtaposition not many could have successfully presented without parody. Such satire would have been unthinkable to him, however, given Rizzoli's selfassigned title of "earthly architectural assistant and transcriber" to God. Proud of the grand design of his work, Rizzoli described it as an "Expeau of Magnitude, Magnificence and Manifestation."7 The year 1936 brought new r,,.0 rho FRED C R055DEGREE, traumas to young A.G. In late sumABETTED FINANCLY IAL BY HIS VA; . 4cA"V. 9 SPOUSE AND THEIR DAUGHTER mer, twenty-one years after the disappearance of Rizzoli's father, his deteriorated bodily remains were discovered by hikers; it was A.G.'s task to identify the body. In that same year, Rizzoli's mother was hospitalized for gangrene, a complication from diabetes that resulted in the amputation of her leg. She never recovered, and died shortly thereafter.

These two shocks appear to have radically affected Rizzoli.

Always a quiet man who spoke only when spoken to, he became even more withdrawn; a to put his meager wages toward the purchase of art supcoworker at the architectural firm where he worked as a plies. His life outside of his drafting job became absorbed draftsman recalled that he "went to pieces." From the time more and more by mental visions of elaborate buildings of his mother's death, he left the house he had shared with and his efforts to translate them onto paper.

Neighbors rarely saw him, except for his punctual her the way it had been when she died: he kept her nightwalks to and from work or mass, small and silent in daily her bonnet, boots, underneath her bed, chamber pot time and corset in the closet and dresser.9 He slept on a cot at the his dated black suit. His home was slowly deteriorating .5.0.1504

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38 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

Despite the seriousness of his goal, Rizzoli had a wry sense of humor, which is revealed through the names of helpful imaginary "collaborators" (for example, Victor Betterlaugh and John McFrozen), public sculpture (such as The Sungkenart, "commemorating the lost art of remaining virgin lifelong"), buildings (the "P.P.P." and the "A.S.S." were the bathrooms), and the ancillary titles, acronyms, puns, and comments that were lettered around the borders of his works in illuminated characters. His humor is also demonstrated in works such as Shirley's Temple, an elaborate drawing that juxtaposed Rizzoli's classical "high art" objective with an obvious Hollywood reference, as he "symbolically sketched" six-year-old neighbor Shirley Jean Bersie. Shirley's Temple, like Rizzoli's other designs, is an ambitious mixture of excessive ornamentation with an almost fanatic, formal regard for the classicism and precision of the architectural line.

As he continued to design and render new buildings, Rizzoli concurrently developed a plot plan to situate the increasing number of structures constituting his utopian exposition, the Y.T.T.E.—an acronym for Yield To Total Elation. Beginning in 1935, he produced a half-dozen full revisions of this plan, which, although modeled after the 1915 Panama=0F = Pacific Exposition, bears a striking resemblance to the floor plan of a cathedral. With each incarnation, the number of structures included in the Y.T.T.E. increased: by 1939 eighty separate building units were included, as well as twenty "Major Statuary Compositions." Despite his extensive work, however, Rizzoli was still "haunted by an unsatisfied PREPARED BY THE CURATOR of rapture, there being 'so much to do, PAYMENT EXPECTED BEFORE ENTE, sense FOUNDED ON A MoNEY-DACK POLI. 104 ADMISSION so little done.' "la In contrast to the full-scale symbolizaHOURS I To 5 P.M. ,V:leVA4fdrifitiA74° ..(ILYA1934. ?" tion "portraits" of specific family and friends, the Y.T.T.E. monumentalized such abstrac2. / 2 101 / X-2 ACHILLES TECTONIC STUDIO, 1935, ink on rag paper,81 The Ames Gallery, Berkeley tions as labor, life, poetry, happiness, matrimony, culture, and peace. The Y.T.T.E. entrance court organized into seasonal formal a own their included with honored later were did who display. Those architectural symbolizations, although most of his sub- quadrants, which he named the Eagerray (spring), Neverjects never knew about or saw them. Rizzoli discontinued mine (summer), Roomiroll (autumn), and Tootlewoo the public exhibitions after 1940, but he honored the (winter)—a parody of the Court of the Four Seasons at the A.T.E.'s anniversary in later writings and left the draw- Panama-Pacific Exposition. Orienting structures such as the "Temple of Welcome" and the "Y.T.T.E. Information ings on display in his front room for the rest of his life.

Rizzoli's buildings illustrated his personal creed Bureau," centrally located along the main north-south about beauty, stature, and importance, as well as his fer- axis, accentuated the symmetry and clarity of his overall vent belief that these were God-given ideals. Exact stan- plan as they directed visitors to their destinations.

The acronyms,anagrams, word games,and invented dards of proportion defined by what the Beaux-Arts school determined were universally correct "laws" of har- vocabularies that Rizzoli used to title or describe his mony, symmetry, and balance infused his works, while buildings, while often inscrutable, are somehow enigmaticontemporary canons of architectural "character"(through cally evocative. Rather than using his new words to which buildings could manifest human characteristics and clarify his creations—the fundamental communicative even emotions'3)inspired him to imbue his drawings with function of language—Rizzoli's words instead emphathe personal attributes of his acquaintances. (It is also sized the mystery of his creations and served to distance likely that Rizzoli portrayed his acquaintances as build- himself from his viewers, because he understood his ings because he possessed the talent to do so; his portraits secret tongue and everyone else did not. His words, howwere amateurish and clumsy, and his writings were gener- ever, are not nonsensical; they are simply tied to a code that we cannot always break. ally turgid and at times incomprehensible.) around him: a hole appeared in the roof, vines covered the front of the house and protruded through the walls, piles of newspaper and cat feces surrounded him. The local children thought the house was haunted."

Rizzoli seemed oblivious to all this: his energies were concentrated on the heavenly domain that would follow this earthly "saddening well of tears."2 He did, however, want desperately to share his "gift" of architectural visions with the public, so beginning in 1935 he set aside the first Sunday in August as an open house for the presentation of his drawings. He arranged a "gallery" in the front room of his house for the "Achilles Tectonic Exhibit"(A.T.E.); a surviving floor plan and elevations of the walls indicate how he installed the work. To advertise, he put up hand-lettered signs around the neighborhood, but aside from some of the local children, only two coworkers and a few relatives ever attended this annual

CHILLES TECTONIC STUDIO EXHIBIT ROOM ECORATIVE ARCHITECTURE

DELINEATION

SO MUCH TO DO, SO LITTLE DONE: SOLVING THE MYSTERIES OF

A.G. RIZZOLI

By Bonnie Grossman t was not a significant birthday, no marriage or death occurred within our family, nor the birth of a child or grandchild. Nevertheless, July 12, 1990, became a major personal landmark. That is the date on which I first saw the images of A.G. Rizzoli.

I could not have known then where this adventure would take me or what mysteries and magic lay ahead. I knew only that these drawings captivated me completely. Even now, the excitement, the thrill, the rush that comes with each new revelation about Achilles Rizzoli is as intense as it was almost seven years ago, and my quest has still not ended. Reconstructing the life of A.G., as he preferred to be called, and translating his language has become as much my obsession as his work was his.

There has been no pattern to my uncovering of information.

Some of the discoveries have come in clusters, while in other cases frustrating weeks or months

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The renderings of the Symbolization buildings and the Y.T.T.E. plot plans continued for nine years, until 1944. Then, from 1945 to 1957, Rizzoli worked on an illustrated prose narrative that included sketches for new architectural transfigurations and introduced themes that would be explored later in greater depth. Unfortunately, only two sheets of the 207 believed to have been created during this period are extant.

Rizzoli experienced increasing numbers of visions from 1945 on; fully formed images of elaborate architectural edifices, they came to him at any and all times, day and night. He described them as multimedia "pageantry in which action and drama and melodies and imagery... are...very much of the substance of air...[and] well nigh as essential."15 He realized that others might experience "ear noises, headaches, sleepless nights" and interpret these disturbances as physical distress, but he believed them to be divine in nature and supernatural in origin.'6 He knew that such visions and voices were "held by many...[to be] controversial, by the majority ridiculous and mythical[;] nevertheless, to this transcriber spiritual communings are...as inherent as...life itself."7 On February 9, 1958, Rizzoli began a new project that he would work on for the rest of his life. This was the A.C.E., or AMTE's Celestial Extravag(r)anza, a compilation of more than 325 24 x 36" graphite-on-vellum sheets that he came to believe were the basis for the third, and final, testament of the Bible. AMTE (or Miss AMTE, as he formally referred to her), which stood for Architecture Made To Entertain, was introduced to his readers as his personification of a virginal consort of Christ who was Rizzoli's mentor, guide, and "principal collaborator."

She partnered him through the A.C.E.'s 2,600 pagesu8 of poetry, prose, and graphic imagery as he attempted to reproduce the words and visions of saints, historic heroes, departed family members, and even Christ himself" through means "acceptable to spiritual authorities."2° Throughout the A.C.E., Rizzoli emphasized that he was responsible only for "transcribing" the work and that its creation and manifestation were directed by spiritual "collaborators," each of whom was credited as a coauthor at the end of every poem. Despite professional differences—as well as divergences across countries and centuries—these collaborators cooperated effectively (if not always efficiently). Poem 879-3-X, for example, featured Michelangelo, Saints Cyril and Methodius, the French sculptor Jules Dalou, Enrico Caruso, and Rechi Tacteur(a pseudonym for Miss Amte, as well as an anagram for architecture)—as the liaison between heaven and earth.

As he worked, Rizzoli began to include increasing numbers of architectural illustrations to complement his poems. These varied in complexity from simple sketches to more elaborate drawings, including elevations and details of facade treatments. Poetic subjects included different architectural styles, interesting dictionary words, and secular, patriotic, and/or Catholic holidays or events.

Occasionally, he would include more unusual topics, such as hair, since he felt he was "thinning out on top;" the game of chess; leap year, which he liked; or daylight savings time, which he didn't. Although he started his opus

with the intention of revealing the poetry in architecture, he ultimately embraced a much greater range of subject matter than he had initially conceived.

The poems were also increasingly complemented by a succession of prose commentaries that functioned as diary, confessional, and newsletter as much as clarification and elaboration of the poems. The most compelling component of the commentaries is a separate series of writings and drawings meant as an illustrated record of spiritual "intercessions"; these feature the comments of the saints as they critiqued and encouraged Rizzoli's work. The saints also threatened, reminding him that he was being kept alive solely for the purpose of transcribing the visions they provided him. His designs occasionally elicited specific disapproval from the more critical heavenly professionals, as, for example, when architects Francois Mansard and Antonio Sangallo indicated that the aesthetics of Rizzoli's projects needed improvement, and later referred to his work as "at best vague...and amateurish..."21 How much greater a sting did this criticism have coming from his heavenly mentors rather than from his own self-critical musings!

The physical layout of the "intercessions," the stylized wording used to introduce, reveal, and close them, their altered lettering style, and expressive graphics are repeated with little variation throughout, underscoring the special significance of these sections. The illustrations accompanying them are markedly different from Rizzoli's other drawings: they are sketchier, more gestural, drawn with a faster and more agitated motion, and typically include representations of natural phenomena such as lightning bolts, stars, spatial debris, explosions, meteors, and so on, hinting at the agitation of these visionary experiences. "Ridiculing, raving, riding, rocketing, roar, roar, away,0 Lord! What? What are we hearing?" he questioned himself, answering,"...Nothing new,simply mental disturbances, likening brain cells bursting, that's all."n Unlike most other artists who create at this intensity of passion and pain, Rizzoli was able to candidly yet calmly describe his agony, carefully dating and documenting each visionary experience over a period of decades.

Work on the A.C.E. continued until February 23, 1977. With his last piece (Rest in Peace...Awhile) uncompleted, Rizzoli suffered a stroke as he was walking down the street. Curiously, he was found in an area rather far from his home, and it took some time for the police to identify him and locate any kin. His niece and her family arranged for Rizzoli to spend the last four years of his life in a convalescent home; he never regained the power of speech or movement. A.G. Rizzoli died on November 18, 1981, at age 85; he is buried next to his mother in a cemetery near San Francisco.

Through his drawings and writings, A.G. Rizzoli escaped his reality as the shy, repressed, low-paid son of poor immigrants, becoming a collaborator with God, protégé of the saints, and companion to heroic figures from past and present. Rizzoli lived simultaneously in two worlds, spending his days in one reality, his nights and weekends in another, each with a separate identity; he was apparently successful in maintaining a sense of

may have passed before the next epiphenomenon was unearthed. My sources of information have been as close at hand as the telephone book and as remote as Italian-Swiss graveyards, as old as handwritten village records from the late 1700s and as current as the Internet. I have pored over lists, books,and records at city halls, in libraries, at churches, and in cemeteries. I have walked the streets of Rizzoli's old neighborhood and scoured newspaper archives stored on microfiche. Occasionally, a realization has just hit me suddenly— and I would know that it was right, even before finding corroborating evidence.

What was the most exhilarating moment of this ever-evolving adventure? What revelation, what disclosure proved to be the most remarkable? I cannot say. And how often was the answer to one question the seed from which the next mystery sprang? From my first discovery, I was mesmerized. That single paper, the death certificate of Achilles' father, Innocente Rizzoli, should have served as a warning,for it certainly was an indication of how unusual this whole pursuit was going to be.

I found it while searching the official records of Mann County. Then, going to local newspapers of that week in 1936,I saw the headlines "Devil's Gulch Skeleton...That of Ranch Hand Who Suicided 21 Years Ago;

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 41

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objectivity about this contradiction, as well as an ability to distinguish between the two. It is clear that his role as "earthly architectural assistant and transcriber" to God held greater interest—and, in a sense, greater reality—for him. This divinely inspired reality was a world to which he felt he was more properly suited: a world with grand

symbolic sanctuaries. He used historical idioms to dignify and validate his work, but there is no evidence that Rizzoli ever really expected that his projects would be executed, although apparently they could have been; Rizzoli seemed content to have them function as works on paper, their main intent being artistic, symbolic, and religious.

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buildings, poetry, stellar masters of art and literature, morality, and culture. His work helped reduce his feeling of alienation from the real world and brought him a new measure of self-esteem, protection, and control. Periodically using the metaphor of the ship, with a "cargo" of poems and drawings, he sought satisfaction, serenity, and salvation through his spiritual voyage.

The rich iconography of Rizzoli's drawings is tempered with self-consciousness and self-aggrandizement as he reminds us that he and he alone was the one chosen to transcribe these heavenly visions. He described himself as the "High Prince," the "First degree, Master Architect and Master Builder" and his work as "the most magnificent...neo-architecture mankind can ever hope to see."23 But his pride in his work alternated with intense feelings of incompetence as he regularly fell short of his personal ideals in recording the spiritual imagery and verses that he beheld. Although Rizzoli's drawings superficially presented public spaces, in reality they depicted private,

Expressing both his vulnerability and a sense of personal power, Rizzoli's "labors" are at once passive and assertive, urgent and lyrical, Edenic and absurd. They are humorous and pathetic, evocative and mysterious, and they stand out as a phenomenal achievement. His raw strength of vision and purpose was articulated through meticulous craftsmanship; his personal faith was offered up as public structure. A.G. Rizzoli has finally found his audience. *

Editor's Note: This article is adapted from Jo Farb Hernandez,"Divine Design Delights: The Life and Works of A.G. Rizzoli," from the book A.G. Rizzoli: Architect of Magnificent Visions,(Harry N. Abrams,Inc., 1997). The exhibition of the same name is on view at the San Diego Museum of Art from March 22 through May 18, 1997, and will be presented at the Museum of American Folk Art in January, 1998.

Identified By Rusty Gun." In the summer of 1915, a few years after his family had moved to Oakland, without him, Innocente stole a gun from his employer, left a suicide note citing his ill health, and went into the woods. Twenty-one years later, his bones, boot, and rusted gun were discovered by a hiker. The family, then living in San Francisco, was located and told of the finding. A.G. Rizzoli was listed as the informant on the death certificate. And so my adventure began!

I set about trying to find people who might have known this reclusive man, people who could help me to know him. I made innumerable phone calls to strangers, some of whom were so shocked—both by my questions and by the information that A.G. had provided me about them—that they gasped audibly. I could almost hear their jaws drop in astonishment. My persistence has paid off.

I've located almost two dozen people from Rizzoli's life, most significantly his neighbors— the children who became part of his images,including Shirley Bersie, Grace Popich, and Virginia Entwistle.

Along with the amazing "symbolic" buildings Rizzoli created, there was a series of works delineating an exposition—the Y.T.T.E.(pronounced "itty")— made up of some seventy-five buildings. Not only are there plot plans desig-

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 43

Jo Farb Hernandez, curator ofthe exhibition "A.G. Rizzoli: Architect ofMagnificent Visions," has worked in the museum fieldfor more than twenty years, recently serving as Director of the Monterey Peninsula Museum ofArt and President ofthe California Association ofMuseums. Academically trained as afolklorist, she is now afreelance curator working with a variety of international clients. She continues to write and lecture widely.

NOTES 1 A.G. Rizzoli, A.C.E.(2,600 pages of poetry, prose, and graphic images, created by Rizzoli between 1958 and 1977)407, Auxiliary Comment 855-C, March 17, 1966. All A.C.E. citations herein are direct quotes from Rizzoli's writings.

2 A.G. Rizzoli, tax return for the calendar year 1928. Unpublished papers, The Ames Gallery, Berkeley.

3 A.C.E. 342, Poem 879-3-0, November 29, 1964.

4 A.C.E. 337, Auxiliary Comment 752-B, November 11, 1963.

5 Rizzoli's use of light rays is a thematic idiom throughout his works. Beyond the obvious connection to spectacular secular events, they also recall the auras emanating from heroic or heavenly figures—found throughout art history—that indicate divine grace or genius, and reference heavenly visions and dialogue with God. Rizzoli specifically mentioned rays of light as part of the visions he experienced, and interpreted them in the same way.

6 Kevin Michael Day,in his unpublished thesis Allegorical Architecture: Interpreting the Visions ofA.G. Rizzoli(Berkeley: University of California Department of Architecture, 1995), astutely noted Rizzoli's innovative juxtapositions of distinct iconographic elements: "Rizzoli's drawings present an ingenious interface between the high art of the Beaux-Arts rendering, and the popular mode of the commercial advertisement. Unlike the more democratic perspectives proposed by current social theories of art, the hierarchical division between the high and the popular was the accepted convention in the 1930s. This fact makes Rizzoli's art all the more unique from our present understanding." p. 26.

7 Rizzoli, The Y.T.T.E. Plot Plan, Fourth Preliminary Study, 1938.

8 Margaret E. Griffin, interview with Bonnie Grossman and John MacGregor,June 18, 1991.

9 Gary Grauberger, Rizzoli's grandnephew, telephone interview with author, March 1, 1996. Grauberger and his family cleared out Rizzoli's home after his stroke in 1977.

10 A.C.E. 492, Auxiliary Comment 889-C, July 29, 1970.

11 Donna and Marty D'India, former neighbors, interview with Bonnie Grossman and John MacGregor, September 2, 1991.

12 A.C.E. 373, 823-R, August 22, 1965.

13 Day,op. cit., pp. 2-3.

14 A.C.E. 328, Auxiliary Comment 710-C, n.d.[May 1963].

15 A.C.E. 443, Auxiliary Comment 858-L, August 27, 1967.

16 A.C.E. 359, Supplementary 809-G, September 27, 1964.

17 A.C.E. 479,Implementing 806-2-K,January 9, 1970.

18 It may be assumed that Rizzoli had no preconception that the A.C.E. would become as massive as it did; periodically he wrote of finishing, but the end of this opus did not come until his health prohibited further work almost twenty years after its inception.

19 As the A.C.E. developed, Rizzoli distinguished less and less between biblical figures, historical eminences, saints, and neighbors.

20 A.C.E. 212, Poem 30, March 21, 1958.

21 A.C.E. 499, Auxiliary Comment 875-K, n.d. [c. May 19, 1971].

22 A.C.E. 454,"Molten E. Allegheny" 251-M,n.d.[May 1968].

23 Rizzoli, Mr. 0. A. Deichmann's Mother—Toure Dlongevity, 1938.

44 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

nating the placement, shape, and name of each of these buildings, but there are a number of drawings showing what are described as "major units" of this grand exposition, which had clearly been influenced

by San Francisco's Panama-Pacific International Exposition (P.P.I.E.).

The one question I asked everyone I contacted was,"Can you tell me what Y.T.T.E. means? What do the letters stand for?" Their meaning continued to elude me,and no one seemed to have the answer. When the subject came up, they said, A.G.'s response had been,"You'll find out someday." Some of the best guesses were, -Young Till The Eighties" and "Your Trip To Eternity."

Finally, after more than a year and a half, the riddle was solved.

The words just fell out of the mouth of a woman who had worked with A.G. in the late 1930s. Our conversation was quite brief. I called her and said,"I have a drawing here that was dedicated to a woman with the same name as yours, and I wondered if it might be you?"

"I doubt it," was her immediate response.

"But," I said,"this was done more than fifty years ago by a man named Rizzoli."

"Oh," she said,"I always wondered what happened to him. He ate such a strange diet— flour and water pancakes without any eggs, some nuts and berries from his garden; that's all."

When I asked if she remembered his drawings of buildings, she did, and she tossed off her recollections of that thing he'd called "Yield To Total Elation." There it was! I scrambled for something to write with, grasped a pencil—no paper. So in the corner of the day's newspaper I hastily recorded those elusive words, Y-I-E-L-D T-0 T-O-T-A-L E-L-A-T-1-0-N. A piece of the puzzle was now solved, but there was still so much to do. What was the Y.T.T.E. intended to be, and where was it meant to be built? The answers were yet to come.

Throughout my investigation, it was evident that Rizzoli's devotion to his mother was quite remarkable. He revered her in life and after her death in poetry, prose, and with the most extraordinary drawings of magnificent "Kathredals.- But what of his father? Innocente Rizzoli was rarely mentioned and certainly had no overt tributes paid to him. Or did he? My curiosity now focused on a central building of the Y.T.T.E., which in all the many versions of this grand "expeau" continued to be singled out, highlighted in a script and color different from the other units. It was called "The Dark Horse of the Festival Year." I repeated the phrase over and over, giving emphasis to each part of it in turn. Which was the "Festival Year?" And who,or what, was the "Dark Horse?" And then—ah!—ofcourse!

A.G.'s Festival Year was 1915, the year of the P.P.I.E. And the dark happening was his father's suicide that same year.(Coincidentally, when Innocente's remains were found twenty-one years later, it was within days of the ground-breaking for the Bay Area's second fair or festival, the Golden Gate International Exposition—the Treasure Island World's Fair). So the Y.T.T.E. was the tribute to A.G.'s father, and with the Kathredal also a part of that landscape, the whole family could again, one day, be together in this place of "magnificence, magnitude and manifestation."

Was it meant to be Heaven? I didn't think so—how could it be? If A.G.'s father had committed suicide and Achilles himself was an unbaptized Catholic, neither of them would be welcomed in that celestial place. But probably the most telling support for my theory was another of the buildings described as part of this fantasy world:"The Shaft of Ascension, in which euthanasia is available to those desiring and meriting a pleasant, painless bon voyage from this land." If the Y.T.T.E. had been Heaven, where would one ascend to? But if it was Limbo,it would happily accommodate these troubled souls until such time as they were able to take that final step.

Then one evening, almost by chance, 1 glanced at the local weather report on television, which sent me running to my map drawer.

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approach A.G. Rizzoli's work with enthusiasm. I have never before tackled a project that was so immersed in riddle and allusion, a puzzle so compelling that it could not be set aside.

In preparation for the San Diego Museum of Art's traveling exhibition and the accompanying catalog, I have shared my many years of research on the life and work of A.G. Rizzoli with Jo Hernandez, John Beardsley, and Roger Cardinal. Their further study of his work and their scholarly and imaginative interpretation of it have been both impressive and exciting. My dialogues with them have been energizing and often inspiring.

"So much to do, so little done," is a phrase that recurred frequently in Rizzoli's later work, a phrase with which I identify.

That's the way I feel when I contemplate the many unsolved mysteries still awaiting solution. *

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place where his family first lived. A.G.'s fantasy exposition was sited in an inlet called "Paradise Cove."

In this brief essay I have touched on only a few of Rizzoli's many rid-

dies and shared only those solutions that dealt with the Y.T.T.E. I've always enjoyed word games, crossword puzzles, double acrostics, puns, and anagrams,so I was able to

Bonnie Grossman is the primary researcher on the life and work ofA.G. Rizzoli. She has been lecturing and writing about Rizzoli since she first discovered his work in 1990. Grossman is ownerdirector of The Ames Gallery, established in Berkeley in 1970. She serves on museum boards and advisory committees, curates public exhibitions, and lectures widely. In addition to Rizzoli, her lecture topics include early utilitarian American folk art, selftaught, visionary and outsider art, and artists' rights. A codirector and producer of eight television programs on California artists and a founding member ofBay Area (now California) Lawyersfor the Arts, Grossman has lived in Berkeley since 1965.

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 41

LADIES' DREAM QUILT Mary Etta (Mrs. Edward Emmet) Bach Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1930-1940 Cotton 841 / 2 841 / 2" Bequest of the estate of Mildred P. Bach, 1992.27.1.

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By Elizabeth V. Warren and Sharon L. Eisenstat

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uilts of the 1910 to 1950 period have often been disparaged for their

lack of originality and modest sewing skills.' In fact, many were made using inexpensive fabrics dyed in garish colors that wore out quickly and that no longer appeal to today's tastes. However, as many of the examples in the Museum of American Folk Art's collection prove, quilts from this era can be as distinguished by inventiveness, attention to detail, and precise workmanship as those made in previous centuries.

By the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the power of professional tastemakers to influence quiltmakers had been already firmly established.

As styles changed and Americans rejected what came to be seen as the excessive ornamentation of the late Victorian period, the makers of quilts were again guided by influential trendsetters who now urged them to look backward for inspiration. They

4I SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

were eagerly led in this search by a profusion of designers, editors, and manufacturers.

An interest in the American past had already been sparked by the Centennial Celebration of 1876, in which the New England Kitchen, furnished with a potpourri of antiques from various periods, was one of the more popular exhibits at the fair. The growing sense that the artifacts of

Early America were worthy of attention coincided with the advent of the Arts and Crafts Movement, a design style that was gaining in popularity at the turn of the century and that helped pave the way for the comeback of the cotton quilt. While the proponents of the Arts and Crafts Movement may not have set out to revive quilting, as they had embroidery and other handwork, "such a revival was, neverthe-

INDIAN WEDDING RING QUILT Quiltmaker unidentified United States 1935-1945 Cotton 82/ 1 2 703 / 4"framed Gift of Robert Bishop, 1993.4.38.

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 47

Quilt Revival 1 1 -1950 On view from July 12 through October 26, 1997

n the first part of the 20th century, a sense of pride in America's heritage led to a revival of interest in quiltmaking traditions and a fresh appreciation of the simplicity and beauty of the cotton quilt.

While some quiltmakers rediscovered and reinterpreted authentic 19th-century quilt patterns, designers such as Marie Webster created original patterns that featured naturalistic elements in a pastel palette and emphasized exquisite craftsmanship. Catalogs, newspapers, and magazines published the availability of quilt patterns and kits sold through the mail and "The American Quilt" became all the rage.

In "Quilt Revival: 1910-1950," curators Elizabeth V. Warren and Sharon L. Eisenstat critically examine the quilts of the first half of the 20th century. See the Summer issue of Folk Art for a listing of related lectures and workshops, or call the Museum's education department at 212/977-7170 for information.

I

48 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

less, understandable as handmade for inspiration, creating a twentiethcrafts, the use of natural unadorned century version of a type of bedcover materials and simple, straightforward that had been popular in the late eighdesigns were championed."' The cot- teenth and early nineteenth centuries. ton quilts that were made before the This flowering tree design was origionset of the popularity of silk and fine nally adapted from palampores wool show quilts were seen as precur- (chintzes brought from India and sors of Arts and Crafts simplicity, and often finished in that country as bedby the first decade of the twentieth covers—they were sometimes stuffed century patchwork quilts were with cotton and quilted), but by the defined as art objects—and collected 1920s or 1930s, when this quilt was made, the seamstress was probably as such—for the first time.

At the beginning of the twenti- copying either an antique bedcover eth century, the elabo- that she had seen or an illustration. rate show quilts of the She may also have been inspired by previous generation— antique fabrics, as some of the motifs like the portieres, table in the center of the quilt were cut covers, lambrequins, from chintz that was printed in the and other "dust catch- first half of the nineteenth century. ers" that they comple- Other fabrics, interspersed throughout mented—were believed the center field and the border, date to be not just out from the early twentieth century.

It has not been determined of style, but actually unhealthful, promoting whether the maker adapted the "Tree tuberculosis and other of Life" pattern herself from an earlier infectious diseases. In quilt or whether the design was pubcontrast, cotton patch- lished. While patterns for patchwork work quilts were viewed had been printed in such magazines as as the appropriate acces- Godey's since the first half of the sories for the new, nineteenth century, by the early twen"cleaner" decorating tieth century the periodicals of the day styles that drew their were actively catering to a quiltmakinspiration from a ing audience. Some of the more romanticized American upscale publications, such as The past. Colonial-style Ladies Home Journal, commissioned houses, Cape Cod cot- artists and designers to develop origitages, and rustic bunga- nal quilt patterns. The most influential lows that recalled, how- of these was Marie Daugherty Webever inaccurately, the ster, who was an Indiana housewife Early American period, and amateur quiltmaker when, in replaced the ornately 1911, she was selected to be the first trimmed Victorian designer to have her quilt patterns feabuildings and were filled with fur- tured in color in the Journal.

Marie Webster was a self-edunishings that the editors of the popular journals believed our forefathers cated though sophisticated woman would have used for their decorating. who traveled widely and toured As one 1912 article stated, "These Europe in 1899, at a time when the quaint old Colonial beds are in great Arts and Crafts movement was at its demand just now and there is nothing height in England and on the Contimore suitable for a covering than one nent. When she decided to make quilts, she found the popular designs of these patchwork quilts."3 For some quiltmakers, the of the late nineteenth century not to resurgence of interest in "old fash- her taste. She felt that they were clutioned" cotton quilts meant actually tered, over-decorated, and often made pulling the old textiles out of the in intense colors; dissatisfied, she cretrunks and attics where they had been ated her own patterns and used her stored and copying the original pat- own color palette. Her quilts featured terns as closely as possible. The a pastel color scheme that employed maker of the "Tree of Life Cut-Out the new shades made possible with Chintz Quilt" went far back in time improved synthetic dyes, distinct bor-

TREE OF LIFE CUTOUT CHINTZ QUILT Quittmaker unidentified Initialed "GMR" Probably Wiscasset, Maine 1925-1935 Cotton 96 90" Promised gift of Cyril Irwin Nelson, P1.1992.4

STAR OF FRANCE QUILT Quiltmaker unidentified United States 1930-1940 Cotton 813 / 4 813 / 4"(framed) Gift of Cyril Irwin Nelson in honor of Robert Bishop, Director (1977-19911 of the Museum of American Folk Art, 1990.17.4.

ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN QUILT Jennie Pingrey (Mrs. Charles O.) Stotts Yates Center, Kansas 1930-1935 Cotton 95 773 / 4" Gift of Cyril I. Nelson, 1987.17.1.

ders, and a medallion center that recalled quilts sewn a century earlier.

Her flower garden was her primary inspiration, and she created appliqué poppies, irises, sunflowers, and other blooms in a new naturalistic style that clearly broke with late-nineteenth-centtuy tradition.

Webster began publishing her designs in 1911, and her book, Quilts, Their Story and How to Make Them, the first entirely devoted to the study of quilts, was published in 1915 (and is still available). But it was not until the 1920s that her influence became widespread. Until then, twentieth-centiny quiltmakers were using primarily darker-hued calicoes to sew pseudoColonial scrap designs and few were willing to purchase the relatively expensive, color-coordinated fabrics that Webster advocated. Further, her appliqué designs and those derived from them required more quilting skill and time than did the traditional patchwork patterns.'

For those who did follow Webster's innovative style, the results were quilts that exhibited a fresh, new, twentieth-century look. The Museum's collection does not include any quilts that were made directly from her published patterns, although there are a number that were clearly influenced by her designs. Among these is the "Apple Blossoms Quilt"' made by members of the Ladies' Aid Society of the Hoag's Corner (New York) Methodist Church. This is in the center-medallion style Webster promoted, although the blossoms cross the center in an asymmetrical, Oriental-inspired

manner. This quilt's elegant, overall floral design, made from a Paragon kit, also recalls the crewel-work spreads and palampores that were used as bedcovers in the eighteenth century.

By the early twentieth century, providing patterns, kits, and even finished quilts for the quilt revival had become big business. In keeping with the fad for all things with an Early American pedigree, many of the mailorder companies (as well as newspapers and magazines with syndicated sewing columns) invented fictional grandmas and aunts who assured buyers that their patterns were authentically Colonial."Grandma Dexter," for example, was the fictitious designer of the Virginia Snow Studios, and "Grandma Clark" advertised the patterns of the W.L.M. Clark Company.

While some of the designs created by these and other companies were original, many were adaptations of traditional quilt designs, sometimes with a new name.

The "Ladies' Dream Quilt," made by Mary Etta Bach of Philadelphia, is an example of a traditional mid-nineteenth-century floral appliqué design that was revived and updated by a pattern company for a twentiethcentury market. "Ladies' Dream," sold by mail order by Mrs. Scioto Danner of Kansas, was marketed as a copy of a quilt that had been in the same family for six generations. The pattern's reputed well-documented heritage made it a best seller in the 1930s.6 Like the many "Grandmas" and "Aunts" of the period, however, such claims have often proved to be quite fictional.

Frequently, many companies offered what were basically the same designs, with perhaps just a detail or two changed; consequently, it is often impossible to determine the origin of the pattern. Like the "Ladies' Dream," however, a number of the quilts in the Museum's collection are distinctive enough to be firmly attributed to specific designers or companies.

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 49

The blocks of potted flowers that comprise the "English Flower Garden Quilt," for example, were designed by Ruby S. McKim and published in Capper's Weekly Quilt Block Service in 1929 and the Kansas City Star in April 1930.7 It was also included in McKim's 1931 book, 101 Patchwork Patterns, where it was described as "A quilt which is as picturesquely English as Anne Hathaway's cottage."8 McKim, one of the best-known designers of the period, was a graduate of Parsons School of Design, a syndicated columnist, and the art needlework editor for Better Homes and Gardens.

Along with her husband, she also operated the McKim Studios of Independence, Missouri, a mail-order pattern company. She is renowned today for her series of Art Deco—inspired flower patterns.

The "English Flower Garden Quilt" as it appears here was not, however, totally designed by Ruby McKim. The maker of the quilt, Jennie Pingrey Stotts of Yates Center, Kansas, combined McKim's design for the blocks with a border created

by Evaline Foland, McKim's successor at the Kansas City Star. Stotts also added her own small touches to the design. She followed McKim's suggestion for green-and-white gingham flowerpots, but added an orange stripe across the top of each pot.

Also, the centers of her flowers are orange rather than yellow or green, as originally called for in the pattern.

The "Kitten Appliqué is another well-documented pattern from the same period. It was published in syndicated newspaper columns under the name Laura Wheeler (pattern No. 2769). Laura Wheeler was a pseudonym used by Needlecraft Service of New York, a mail-order company that was started in 1933 and is still in business. To obtain the pattern, readers would send money either to the local newspaper that carried the column or directly to the company in New York. In the example owned by the Museum, the maker of the quilt used printed muslin feed sacks as the background diamonds for some of the white kittens.

This common practice was promoted by the cotton bag manufacturers, who

50 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

in the mid-1930s were faced with increased competition from the makers of paper bags. To give their bags more consumer appeal, the cotton bag makers printed them in floral and geometric designs and advocated their use by the consumer for home sewing projects, including quilts.

While many of the quilt designers of the Revival period relied on the past—real or imagined—for their inspiration, some of the designers drew on contemporary sources. By the end of the 1920s, the Art Deco style (originally called "art moderne" or simply "moderne") was gaining popularity in America, primarily due to the Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes that was held in Paris in 1925. In designs for industry, fashion, and home furnishings, geometric and rectilinear shapes were

beginning to replace the graceful curvilinear and asymmetrical designs of the Art Nouveau style. In quilts, this translated to both pieced and appliquéd examples with a geometric, abstract, almost cubist look.

The Art Deco designs adapted for quilts tended to incorporate straight lines, hard edges, and motifs of zigzags, rays of light, and checkerboards. A feeling of power, or what has been called "art imitating machines" rather than nature,' can be seen in the "Star of France Quilt," which is believed to have been inspired by a military decoration of the Napoleonic era. This pieced and appliquéd design was kit number 151 from H. Ver Mehren's Home Art Studios of Des Moines, Iowa. The maker of the quilt purchased the kit in a typical Art Deco palette of four shades of

CENTURY OF PROGRESS QUILT QuiRmaker unidentified Ohio Dated 1933 Cotton with cotton embroidery 1181 / 2 • 741 / 4" Gift of Shelly Zegart, 1995.26.1.

KITTEN APPLIQUE QUILT Quiltmaker unidentified Possibly Kentucky 1930-1945 Cotton (including muslin feed sacks) with cotton embroidery 83 67" Gift of Laura Fisher, Antique Quilts and Americana, 1987.8.1.

yellow sateen—the color scheme suggested by the designer—although the kit was also available in four shades of blue, orchid, or pink."

The "Century of Progress Quilt," made for entry in the Sears, Roebuck—sponsored contest at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair (also known as The Century of Progress Exposition), includes not just the machine-inspired motifs of the Art Deco period, but also literal depictions of some of its modern technological advances. A representation of the replica of Fort Dearborn, one of the first attractions erected on the fair site, fills the central panel of the quilt, and other buildings from the exposition are depicted in the bottom left and right. At the top, a covered wagon and an airplane illustrate the "Century of Progress" theme, as does the contemporary Chicago skyline shown beneath Fort Dearborn.

Quilt competitions had existed, primarily on the local or state level, since the middle of the nineteenth century. But the nearly twenty-five thousand entries received for the "Century

of Progress" contest showed just how far the tradition of making quilts had "revived" by the end of the first third of the twentieth century. Part of the incentive for entering the contest was undoubtedly the $1,000 first prize—a substantial sum during the Depression.

It is interesting to note, however, that while many of the entries, like the Museum's example, explored the theme of the contest(a bonus prize of $200 was offered if the top quilt was an "original design commemorating the Century of Progress Exposition"2), the grand prize winner was a traditional "Eight-Point Combination Feathered Star."

As the Art Deco style evolved, quilt designs began to lose some of their hard edges and exchange straight lines for curves. Once again, the impetus for change came from the industrial world, which by the mid-1930s was streamlining everything from automobiles to toasters. Many of the popular quilt patterns of the period also emphasized curves, including "Dresden Plate," "Grandmother's Flower Garden," and "Double Wedding Ring,"" the most common pattern in the Museum's collection."

Quilts of the "Double Wedding Ring" pattern are often examples of what are commonly called "scrapbag" quilts, for which the makers frequently mixed small pieces of fabrics in a variety of different colors and prints. Unlike the abovementioned darkhued scrap designs that were popular at the beginning of the century, by the middle of the 1920s quiltmakers were opting for light, bright fabrics that they would typically combine on a white or pale background. The wide range in colors and textile designs was made possible by post—World War I improvements in synthetic dyes and new technology for printing them," as well as the

availability of inexpensive cotton in a greater variety of prints and weights than ever before.

There has been much discussion in the quilt literature regarding the origin of the "Double Wedding Ring" design, much of it reviewed in a previous Museum publication, The Romance of Double Wedding Ring Quilts. In short, the argument has involved whether the pattern dates from the nineteenth or the twentieth century. A possible explanation for the divergent theories regarding the origin of this pattern is that the "Double Wedding Ring," as it was marketed in the twentieth century, was an updated version of a design that already existed—although perhaps in slightly different formats—in the nineteenth century. This would hardly be surprising, since, as noted above, designers, manufacturers, and needlework editors were all looking to the American past for inspiration for their quilt designs. The "Hexagon" or "Honeycomb" pattern of the early nineteenth century, for instance, became the "Grandmother's Flower Garden" of the twentieth century, and "Dresden Plate," is essentially a variation of the popular nineteenth-century "Fans" pattern.

A pieced quilt made between 1830 and 1850 in the collection of the Winterthur Museum16 bears a striking resemblance to the pattern called "Double Wedding Ring" today; some versions of the nineteenth-century pattern known as "Orange Peel," which can be made as either a pieced or appliqué design also resemble the "Double Wedding Ring" pattern. A number of other nineteenth-century quilts displaying what is essentially the interlocking rings motif can also be identified in both pieced and applique work and under a number of different names.° In all probability, the pattern makers of the twentieth century, looking for designs they could market as "authentically Colonial," adapted one or more of the nineteenth-century examples. To make it acceptable to the quiltmaker of the 1920s, the colors were updated, the edges were rounded off—scalloped borders were especially popular during this period—and the suggested backgrounds were white or pastels.

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 51

An appealing variation of the "Double Wedding Ring" design is the pattern that has been published as both "Pickle Dish" and "Indian Wedding Ring." The Kansas City Star published Evaline Foland's "Pickle Dish" pattern in October 1931, calling it "A quilt with all the intrigue of the Wedding Ring and a still greater opportunity for effective color display...."'s The newspaper warned, however, "If you have made a successful Wedding Ring quilt try this one, but if you are a brand new quilter better stay with the simplier [sic] designs."

Traditionally, quiltmakers have shared patterns, both individually and through quilting groups or published sources, and just as traditionally they have adapted those designs to suit their skills and the prevailing fashions.

Perhaps because there are so many more twentieth-century quilts extant than earlier examples, the repetition of patterns and the existence of substandard workmanship during this era stands out. In general, poorly made eighteenth- and nineteenth-century quilts or those made in pedestrian designs were simply used up, and it is primarily the "best" quilts, the ones that were used for show or company, that have survived. For the period of the Quilt Revival, however, we are fortunate to have a great variety of

bedcovers—both those made for hard use and those made for "show"— available for study.* Editor's note: This article is adapted from Glorious American Quilts: The Quilt Collection ofthe Museum of American Folk Art(Penguin Studio, 1996), by Elizabeth V. Warren and Sharon L. Eisenstat.

Museum ofAmerican Folk Art consulting curator Elizabeth V. Warren and Sharon L Eisenstat are graduates ofthe New York University Master's Program in Folk Art Studies. They have worked together as guest curatorsfor the Museum ofAmerican Folk Art exhibitions "Victorian Vernacular: The American Show Quilt"(April 8—September 10, 1995)and "An American Treasury: Quiltsfrom the Museum of American Folk Art"(May 4—September 8, 1996). Their latest collaboration, "Quilt Revival: 1910-1950, The Collection ofthe Museum ofAmerican Folk Art," is scheduled to be on view at the Museumfrom July 12 through October 26, 1997. Warren and Eisenstat are the co-authors ofGlorious American Quilts: The Quilt Collection of the Museum of American Folk Art, (Penguin Studio, 1996).

NOTES 1 See,for example, Penny McMorris and Michael Kile, The Art Quilt(San Francisco: The Quilt Digest Press, 1986), p. 30.

APPLE BLOSSOM QUILT Ladies Aide [sic] Society of the Methodist Church Hoag's Corner, New York 1925-1935 Cotton with cotton embroidery 92 78" Gift of Lorraine Slighter, 1991.16.1.

52 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

2 Ibid., pp. 26-27.

3 Quoted in Cuesta Benberry,"The 20th Century's First Quilt Revival, Part II: The First Quilt Revival," Quilter's Newsletter Magazine (September 1979): 25.

4 Barbara Brackman, Clues in the Calico: A Guide to Identifying and Dating Antique Quilts(McLean, Va.: EPM Publications, Inc., 1989), p. 29.

5 This bedcover was published as "Dogwood Appliqué Quilt" in Glorious American Quilts: The Quilt Collection of the Museum ofAmerican Folk Art. Recent information received from quilt researcher Beverly Dunivent correctly identifies the pattern as "Apple Blossoms," a Paragon kit.

6 Thomas K. Woodard and Blanche Greenstein, Twentieth Century Quilts, 1900-1950(New York: E. P. Dutton, Inc., 1988), p. 12.

7 Information on this pattern was provided by Cuesta Benberry, Edith M. Leeper, and Louise 0.Townsend.

8 Ruby McKim,101 Patchwork Patterns, 2nd ed.(New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1962), p. 44.

9 This bedcover was published as "Calico Cat Quilt" in Glorious American Quilts.

The pattern has been published under both names in a number of different sources, but the original "Laura Wheeler" pattern went under the name of "Kitten Appliqué."

10 McMorris and Kile, op. cit., p. 9.

11 Woodard and Greenstein, op. cit., p. 74.

12 Merikay Waldvogel and Barbara Brackman, Patchwork Souvenirs ofthe 1933 World's Fair (Nashville, Tenn.: Rutledge Hill Press, 1993), p. 35.

13 McMorris and Kile, op. cit., p. 37.

14 Most of the Museum's"Double Wedding Ring" quilts were in the collection of the late Dr. Robert Bishop. The quilts were given to the Museum in a series of gifts both before and after his death.

15 Brackman, op. cit., p. 31.

16 See Susan Swan,Plain & Fancy: American Women and Their Needlework, 1700-1850(New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1977), p. 207,for a photograph and more information on this quilt.

17 For a complete discussion regarding the origin of the "Double Wedding Ring" pattern, see Robert Bishop, The Romance ofDouble Wedding Ring Quilts(New York: E.P. Dutton in association with the Museum of American Folk Art, 1989), p. 3.

18 Harold and Dorothymae Groves,eds., The Kansas City Star Classic Quilt Patterns: Motifs & Designs(Kansas City, Mo.: Groves Publishing Co., 1988), p. 43.

19 Ibid.

DECOY Artist unknown Early twentieth century Wood and paint 6 Nettie Sharpe collection

From Quebec:Three

Waysof Looking

By N.F. Karlins

he Canadian Museum of Civilization, located

T

in Hull, Quebec, just across the river from Ottawa, recently presented a stunning show of French-Canadian folk art spanning the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It was

called "Les Paradis du monde: L'art populaire du Quebec," ("Paradises of the World: Folk Art of Quebec"). Besides presenting a delightful and varied selection of objects, the exhibition explored how folk art is defmed by delving into the origin of three of the museum's most important collections and by scrutinizing the collectors that amassed them.

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 53

APOSTLE'S HEAD Louis Jobin Late nineteenth century Wood 133/8 65/16" Barbeau collection

54 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

COVERLET Madame BoudreauIt 1875-1900 Wool and cotton 78/ 3 4 x 69%" Barbeau collection

Guest curator Pascale Galipeau began her study, as she says in the foreword to the exhibition catalog, by wanting to "demystify" the "ideology underlying the preservation of heritage." While acknowledging that aesthetic judgments are creative in nature, she focused her attention on the less obvious political aspects of collecting and allowed pieces from the collections to speak for the biases of their creators.

The three collections were assembled during three different periods. The Marius Barbeau Collection was collected by the noted ethnographer Marius Barbeau from the teens to the late 1930s.

Mrs. Nettie Sharpe began collecting in a desultory fashion in the 1930s, then from the 1940s to the 1980s focused her attention on gathering a francophone collection, even though her own heritage was not French. She contributed 884 French-Canadian works, which the exhibition refers to as part of "The English Collection," to the Museum of Civilization.

Finally, the most daring of the collections and the most contemporary is that of les patenteux—tinkerers or jacks-of-all-trades. This collection is not the work of a single person, but an evolving and ongoing one under the auspices of the Museum. Les patenteux are artistically untrained and often from the lower social and economic rungs of society. Like "outsiders," "les patenteux" was once a term of scorn but is now a mark of merit. These

Assumption sashes, and more than one hundred forty samples of other cloth.

According to Galipeau, Barbeau's folk art is "resolutely traditional." Most of the pieces from the Barbeau

Marius Barbeau became the first French-Canadian Rhodes scholar and studied anthropology at Oxford....

artists (or non-artists, to some) were first brought to the public's attention in the early 1970s by three art students who spent time with a number of them and praised their offhand objects, paintings, textiles, and especially their assemblages and environments. The Canadian Museum of Civilization has continued to collect and document this type of work.

Marius Barbeau: Folk Art and Material Culture Marius Barbeau (b. Sainte-Marie de Beauce, Quebec, 1883, d. Sainte-Marie de Beauce, 1919) spent much of his childhood in Idaho, where his father went to prospect for gold. After attaining a degree in law from Quebec's Laval University, Barbeau became the first French-Canadian Rhodes scholar and studied anthropology at Oxford and, later, at the Sorbonne. He met the American anthropologists Franz Boas and Edouard Sapir and carried out research on the Wyandot Hurons before a suggestion by Boas turned his attention to his own French-Canadian background.

Marius Barbeau began his formal research by collecting songs and oral literature. Later, he began obtaining objects, funding his study collections by selling items to many museums and private clients. In addition to his exceptional objects in the Folklore Division of the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Barbeau contributed over five hundred more typical pieces to the History Division, including butter and maple sugar molds, candlesticks, and a large selection of textiles—rugs, blankets, braided garters,

Collection are of wood—small carvings or architectural reliefs, both ecclesiastical and secular. Most are by unknown makers, like a relief carving of two branches of hollyhocks tied with a ribbon, and a gold-leafed tabernacle door from a church around Charlebourg with a lamb lying on a fallen cross with rays of glory streaming upward.

The largest piece and only item of furniture in the exhibition was a magnificent bedroom bureau. Marius Barbeau had plenty of opportunity to admire the piece— it belonged to him. His father, Charles, had made it for him while Marius was studying in England between 1907 and 1910. Five drawers are arrayed below a flat surface that resembles a fold-down desk top. Above are two smaller drawers, separated by cutwork, and three small platforms, supported by brackets, one of which holds a mirror. The piece is decorated with applied wooden leaves, flowers, pinecones, and various decorative moldings with porcelain keyholes for the bottom drawers.

French fleurs-de-lis and related designs are carved into the lower drawer fronts, and a pair of patterns appear on either side of applied wood initials "CB," painted in gold on the upper part of the work. Instead of clashing, these elements resolve into a charming one-of-a-kind piece of furniture that must have been a cheery thing to see first thing in the morning.

The exhibition of the Marius Barbeau Collection also included three winning textiles. Two were couvertures boutonnues by Madame Ulric BoudreauIt from Iles aux

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 55

The Canadian Museum of Civilization ituated on the northern bank of the Ottawa River in Hull, Quebec, the Canadian Museum of Civilization (formerly the National Museum of Man) opened in 1989. It consists of two huge, distinctive buildings that seem to be integral to its 24-acre tract, which is exactly what Douglas Cardinal, a Calgary-born architect of Canadian Blackfoot heritage, intended. His firm used computer technology to help design the wind-swept curves of the Canadian Shield Wing, which houses more than four million objects, the staff, and conservation labs, and the organic-like massing of the Glacier Wing with its almost 200,000 square feet of exhibition space.

In the Glacier Wing is the Grand Hall. This dramatic elliptical space has a glass wall facing Parliament Hill in Ottawa just across the river and houses the world's best collection of totem poles and Pacific Coast house facades. On upper floors, the Canada Hall provides life-size settings of scenes from Canadian history and culture arranged roughly chronologically. The recently completed first phase of installations features many

pieces of folk art and artifacts of popular culture to 1890. A second phase, now under construction, will trace the opening of Western Canada and provide an overview of modern Canadian life to 1940.

A series of special exhibitions includes, at present, "Folk Art in Canada: Land and People." In addition, the building contains a children's museum, a 500-seat theater with its own theatrical company, and a Cineplus movie installation showing both IMAX and OMNIMAX films. The museum also has an active schedule of gallery tours, lectures, plays, and concerts.

The people of the United States will soon have an opportunity to see another Douglas Cardinal building much closer to home. Cardinal, who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in architecture from the University of Texas, has been commissioned to design the Smithsonian's Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. It is scheduled to open to the public in 2002. 窶年.F.K.

56 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

Coudres. These two chenille coverlets have raised, primarily abstract floral designs in navy and dark red against a pale background. They were made of linen and cotton between 1875 and 1900. The third, and even more spectacular, was a floral chenille carpet by an unknown maker from the Eastern Townships of Quebec.

Barbeau also championed a group of self-taught carvers led by Louis Jobin(1845-1928)of Sainte-Anne-deBeaupre. He considered Jobin the last in a series of great French-Canadian carvers who supposedly kept alive the French Renaissance in Canada for two centuries. In fact, Jobin and his forebears were merely talented craftsmen, who simplified and adapted academic styles to local taste and made everything from life-size ecclesiastical figures to small boxes. Included in the exhibition was Jobin's Apostle's Head (possibly Saint Paul) which has a grim look and was carved in a watered-down Mannerist style.

At a time when Canadians were searching for their nation's roots, perhaps one can be understanding of Barbeau's making the claim, as he did in one learned paper, that "Spiritually, Jobin was of the school of Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci." Galipeau is wise to refute such claims. She also notes that Barbeau demanded retranscriptions of certain songs that did not conform to his ideas about them and that he asked that lace edgings be taken from hooked rugs the museum had purchased because they upset his idea of purity.

Despite his social science training, Barbeau occasionally succumbed to nationalistic sentiments, conjuring up notions of a "golden age" of Canadian folk art linked to Renaissance sources. He was a pioneer in Canadian material culture, but one who revered the past so much that he willfully ignored the encroaching modern industrial world.

The English Collection When anglophiles started collecting French-Canadian folk art during the thirties and forties, there were two distinct communities in Quebec: English and French. Until quite recently, most of the French-Canadian pieces that entered the collection of the Canadian Museum of Civilization came from collectors with English roots. The largest collection to be acquired by the Museum up to the mid-1970s was that of Mrs. Nettie Sharpe.

When anglophiles started collecting French -

Nettie Covey Sharpe, born before 1810, was the daughter of a Scots mother and an American father, a lumber merchant who had moved to the small town of Woburn, near Lake Megantic, for health reasons. Although her parents never bothered to learn French, she mastered it in school and delighted in spending time with a Frenchspeaking girlfriend who lived on a farm.

After her marriage, Mrs. Sharpe, who never went to college, often traveled door-to-door in small villages picking up French-Canadian items, often for resale. Despite her limited means, collecting became a passion as her appreciation for folk art grew. She went into partnership

CANADIAN BIRCHES Georges Bedard c. 1980 Acrylic on cardboard 41 ,59'/B" Les patenteux

with a friend who sold Quebec furniture and, eventually, other items that Sharpe collected. They prospered, because many other anglophiles had developed a liking for FrenchCanadian furniture and other antiques.

Many of her items were what are called "smalls," portable decorative pieces—decoys, butter and maple sugar molds, small carvings, toys, and hooked rugs. One idiosyncratic taste of Mrs. Sharpe's was for carved-wood toy tops.

A gaily painted red-and-white buffet and an ornately carved and painted hanging cupboard with a mirror attest to her eye for larger pieces.

While Galipeau bemoans the lack of documentation for many of the more than eight hundred pieces in the Sharpe Collection, this lack really comes as no surprise, for Mrs. Sharpe was far more interested in aesthetics than ethnology, especially at first. Mrs. Sharpe did, however, main-

scene worked into the upper part of it. Some of her pieces document farm life—Monte vite a l'abatoire (Up to the Slaughterhouse)(c. 1970) depicts a bull, bigger than the truck he is to ride in—while others, like Rene Levesque en conference(c. 1970),comment on current events.

Mrs. Sharpe also discovered Leo Fournier, a man who repaired houses and made things of wood and iron to support his large family. From him, she scooped up one of the best pieces in her collection, the circa 1980 carved wood-sculpture Human Pyramid, with acrobatically balanced nude men and women painted entirely in a burgundy color. The 'artist's son had offered the work to her diffidently, thinking she might reject it because of the nudes.

She pounced.

Galipeau stresses that "The collections of English collectors like Nettie Sharpe are filled with primitively made objects on rural or religious themes that refer to the image of a traditional, inward-looking Quebec." She further opines: "The Nettie Sharpe Collection is evocative of the mental image the English had of a certain Quebec. Our appreciation of the collection must begin with the awareness of this filter that colours the representation of ourselves." This leaves little doubt as to the continuing divide between citizens of French and English origin in Quebec.

"Les Patentees": The New and Daring

In the early seventies in Quebec, three art students— Louise de Grosbois, Raymonde Lamothe, and Lise Nantel—replaced aesthetics with a populist approach to folk art. Their engagement

Canadian folk art during the thirties and forties, there were two distinct communities in Quebec: English and French.

tamn several long-term documented relationships with various artists, among them the carver Philippe Roy. Included in the exhibition was a trio of Roy's white-painted wood and metal Reindeer (c. 1975) and animals—these represented one part of his oeuvre; religious carvings made up the other. Especially moving were a number of Crucifixions, in which many of the Christ figures had real hair.

Mrs. Sharpe's unwavering support permitted other artists to flourish as well. Her willingness to buy everything that Marie LaPlante Joyal, a farmer's wife and rug-maker, was to create for ten years allowed Joyal to hook more than nine hundred pieces. Each rug has a description of the

with the artists that they met allowed them to give voice to the often disadvantaged makers of offhand objects, crudely made paintings, and gardens and other environments that had been overlooked until then. In 1974 they published Les patenteux du Quebec, which inspired a new approach to collecting—one more focused on social class and popular culture than on formal aspects. Pierre Theberge, a curator at the National Gallery of Canada, and Greg Curnoe created their Association for the Documentation of Neglected Aspects of the Culture of Canada in the same year.

As in the United States during and after this period, when anyone with a few dollars and a sympathy for

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 57

REINDEER Philippe Roy c. 1975 Wood and metal 12'/8 11%n. • 5" (largest figure) Nettie Sharpe collection

"Les Patenteux": The New and Daring. In the early seventies in Quebec, three art students—

BOY WITH PIG Oscar Heron Mid-twentieth century Wood and metal 10 • 141 / 2 • 4" Nettie Sharpe collection

58 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

ANGEL OF PARADISE Hosanna Dupuis c. 1975 Painted pressboard 373 / 4 21%" Les patenteux

creative types suddenly began to collect folk art, some of the pieces were more important for their nose-thumbing value than for their aesthetic quality. One collector—turned—research scholar is quoted in the Les Paradis du monde catalog as saying, "We collected some real monstrosities!" The work of sorting the good stories from the not-so-good art is still taking place in both countries.

Galipeau admits to a partiality to les patenteux, and she has assembled a diverse gathering of their works from the seventies to the present. Pieces by some of the early discoveries are already considered "classics," like the dioramas of Archelas Poulin (1891-1969), which, like many of the pieces in the Sharpe Collection, relate more to the past than to the present.

Poulin was a logger who was injured when a load of logs fell on his back. To earn money, he carved in wood the Stations of the Cross, put them in a trailer, and toured Canada and the upper United States until an employee stole his exhibit. Not to be deterred, he next carved dioramas of the months of the year, featuring old-fashioned farm scenes with cloth-dressed wooden figures and props. He later constructed his masterpiece, the automated Ballroom (late 1940s) crammed with hundreds of elegantly dressed patrons. He mounted these pieces in a schoolbus and toured with them, asking visitors to give what they could. The Canadian Museum of Civilization has restored these treasures, and they are among the most intriguing pieces in the exhibition. Also included were the works of Hosanna Dupuis,Edward Chatigny, and Georges Bedard.

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Louise de Grosbois, Raymonde Lamothe, and Lise Nantel—replaced aesthetics with a populist approach to folk art.

Hosanna Dupuis (1898-1987) lived in a painted frame house he built himself. Its outside was decorated with painted reliefs, including the sun, a moon, a Sacred Heart, L'ange du paradis (The Angel of Paradise), and other religious motifs. Parts of his display live on in the museum along with small freestanding pieces of toylike sculpture in painted wood and metal. Whether they were fish, rockets, or flying bugs, all these works were called Jouets de Dieu (Playthings of God).

A farmer and whittler turned sculptor in his old age, Edward Chatigny produces crudely carved wood flowers, birds, and animals. He paints them in bright colors, adding spots and stripes, and often assembles them in groups upon stool-like pedestals.

While most of les patenteux work in three dimensions, Georges Bedard uses two, painting Canadian landscapes or cities copied from history books. Despite artistic aspirations as a child, he had only a few years of schooling before he was sent into the sawmills by his father to learn on-the-job skills. When his first wife was ill and he had to stay home to care for her, he started painting to relieve the boredom. What started as a way to spend time and to make something for his children became the career he had always hoped for. He uses acrylic paint with textural additives on cardboard, Masonite, or wood.

"Les Paradis du monde" included a few of the museum's acquisitions from the 1990s, likes Dragster, a race car executed in wood, plastic, and metal by Andy Lacroix, so elongated that it looks like it was made of pulled putty, and a religious assemblage of beads, shells, and jewelry by Brother Palmerino. There is also a selection of hard-to-classify pieces collected in one corner so that visitors can apply their own aesthetics to things like a Mickey Mouse hooked rug (c. 1975)—is it art, kitsch, or something in between?

This exhibition by the Canadian Museum of Civilization may not define "folk art," but under Pascale Galipeau's capable direction, it certainly exposes some of the biases that have gone into selecting works we consider "genuine" and asks probing questions about how each of us sorts out and accepts (or rejects) controversial pieces. The show may travel, most probably within Canada, and if it does, it is well worth making an effort to see it. * N.F. Karlins, the art criticfor the New York City newspapers The Westsider and Chelsea Clinton News, has on several occasions been a guest curatorfor the Museum ofAmerican Folk Art. She received her doctorate in American Studies, specializing infolk art,from New York University and has lectured and written on Americanfolk artfor many years.

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 59

ANNE BOURASSA

"Happy Anniversary"

45" x 65"

"Soda Fountain Sweethearts" 45" x 60"

"Bea's Candy Kitchen"

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i‘rerfewt'97 Folk ikrwt Slicmsr James A. "Buddy" Snipes David Leonardis Gallery Woods of Wunder Folk Art Modern Primitive Gallery Kata Billops Wanda's Quilts Chris Lewallen Mose Tolliver, Jr. Coosa Rustics Tom Stafford Michael "Catfish Man" Suter North Shore Gallery Elayne Goodman Bernice Sims

Steve Shepard R.F. Seven LC Van Savage Frank McGuigan America, Oh, Yes! B. Wilson Pottery Helen LaFrance Hummel Studios Joaquin Venado Jim Shores Ned Berry Pottery Plus Rocky Wade

April 215,26,etiadL 2'7,199'7 Ccorweritima efiz'Trade Center NT•artla Hall• Cialumlbuis, Friday, April 25, 1997: 6 pm - 11 pm Saturday, April 26, 1997: 10 am - 11 pm Sunday, April 27, 1997: 12 pm - 6 pm For additional information on the Riverfest '97 Folk Art Show, contact Ann Howard at(706)644-1746.

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MUSEUM

NEWS

Darger Opens

Second Annual Benefit Dinner

rec major retrospective of the astonishing work of lusive Chicago artist Henry Darger opened at the Museum of American Folk Art on Saturday, January 18."Henry Darger: The Unreality of Being,"

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O

Marvin Baten and Carl Hammer

Sam and Betsey Farber with Myeko Lerner

Stacy C. Hollander and Frank Maresca

organized by The University of Iowa Museum of Art and augmented by the Museum of American Folk Art's curator, Stacy C. Hollander, features 63 of the most beautiful and bizarre works of art ever seen at this museum.

The presentation, designed with exceptional clarity by Frank Maresca, is installed so that visitors can best understand the scope and complexity of Darger's work.

Hollander and Maresca have created a natural path, starting in the Museum's Garden Court, by which the viewer can venture in stages into Darger's stunning inner world, ultimately arriving at a U-shaped island in the center of the rear gallery, where the works added by the Museum of American Folk Artâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and the most startling and violent imagesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;are displayed.

The exhibition also includes a video produced by the Museum

70 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

n Thursday, January 23, close to 300 guests turned out in support of the Museum of American Folk Art at the Museum's Second Annual Benefit Dinner following the preview of the Outsider Art Fair. The buffet supper was held in the Skylight Ballroom of SoHo's Puck Building, upstairs from the fair.

The Museum's appreciation goes to Chairwomen Anne Hill Blanchard and Gael Mendelsohn and to the members of the National Committee, Didi and David Barrett and Laura and Richard Parsons(New York), Ellin and Baron Gordon (Virginia), John and Stephanie Smither(Texas), Jim and Judy Taylor(South Dakota), and George and Sue Viener (Pennsylvania),for making this a memorable evening.

Through the generosity of Kiyoko and Nathan Lerner and courtesy of the Carl Hammer Gallery, a double-sided Henry Darger painting was auctioned

of American Folk Art on Henry Darger's life and work. The Museum urges parents to watch the video and preview the exhibition before accompanying children into the galleries.

The Members' Reception to celebrate the opening of"Henry Darger: The Unreality of Being" was held on Wednesday, January 22, timed for the day before the Outsider Art Fair Preview and the Museum's Benefit Dinner.

Nathan and Kiyoko Lerner, who knew Henry Darger and discovered his work, were major lenders to the exhibition and donors of an important work by the artist to the Museum. Mrs. Lerner was present at the reception and spoke gently about Henry Darger. Also

present was Chicago dealer Carl Hammer, who was instrumental in facilitating the gift to the Museum. Director Gerard C. Wertkin thanked Kiyoko Lerner, Carl Hammer, Frank Maresca, and Stacy Hollander for their participation. He also thanked Trustee Sam Farber and his wife, Betsey, for their generous support of the exhibition.

More than 350 guests attended the reception. Although some found the images troubling, the consensus was that Henry Darger was a highly gifted artist and a master of composition, color, and narrative power. The exhibition will be on view through April 27.

Photography by Matt Flynn

Myron

Benit Shure

President Ruth Manhattan Borough Left to right: and New York Times Messinger, Gerard Wertkin, Editor Annette Grant Arts and Leisure

flame and Tina Anton, American Primitive Gallery

off at the dinner. Deputy Director Riccardo Salmona acted as auctioneer and led the lively bidding.

Prominent Chicago collector Mike Shure made the winning bid of $19,500. The proceeds from the auction benefit the Museum's exhibition and education fund. Special thanks go to Corporate Patrons The Coca-Cola

Company, Gateway 2000, and Time Warner,Inc.; the Dealer's Steering Committee, including Shari Cavin, Bonnie Grossman, Carl Hammer,Phyllis Kind, Frank Maresca, Randall Morris, John Oilman, Roger Ricco, and Luise Ross; and the Burnett Group,for their beautiful invitation design.

Left to right: June and Ron Shelp with Michael and Gael Mendelsohn

Left to right: Blanchard, Anne David LaW5011, Bambi Lyman, Connie Lawson, and Monty Blanchard

Left to right: David Barrett, Taryn Leavitt, Frank Maresca, Salmona, Clarissa Burnett, and Geoffrey Elizabeth Stern, Riccardo Stern

Outsider Art Fair 1997 he annual Outsider Art Fair was held once again at the Puck Building in New York's SoHo district.

The fair, which previewed on Thursday evening, January 23, was open all day, Laurie Carmody, Galerie Bonheur Friday through Sunday.

Roberta Smith wrote in The New York Times Art in Review (January 24, 1997) that "Lately, little seems more 'in' than outsider art, and this thriving fair, now in its fifth year, deserves some of the credit...."

The exhibition floor was vibrating with excitement as dealers, collectors, art scholars, and enthusiasts came together for this important event. Despite the overcrowding in some booths—dealers tried to get as much of this "in" art in as possible—the overall quality of the Leslie and Henri Muth, work shown was the highest in the fair's five-year history. Leslie Muth Gallery "It keeps getting better and better" said Virginia collector Baron Gordon.

As expected, many recognized artists were repreOutsider Art Fair Directors Caroline sented, including Henry Kerrigan and Colin Lynch Smith Darger at Carl Hammer, William Edmondson at lections. Leslie Muth showed Fleisher/Oilman, Clementine Hunter at Gilley's, Raymond examples of pan° arte, as did several other dealers. Eighty-sixMaterson at American Primyear old Malcolm McKesson, itive, and Barry Simons at The Ames Gallery. Artists less known represented by Britain's Henry Boxer Gallery, was on hand to to the general public were also sign copies of his illustrated represented; these included novel, Matriarchy: Freedom in Charles A.A. Dellschau at Ricco/Maresca, Nicholas Herrera Bondage. Other interesting offerings included the work of three at Leslie Muth, Willie Jinks at Icelandic artists at Luise Ross, an Modern Primitive, and Art array of voodoo flags and other Prostkoff at Archer-Locke.

Haitian art at Galerie Bonheur, The artwork of James Castle, and a Possum Trot figure by featured at the J. Crist booth, Calvin and Ruby Black and a commanded great attention and, series of exquisite Ledger Drawafter this event, will surely find ings at Cavin-Morris. its way into many important col-

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SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 71

MUSEUM

NEWS

CHRISTOPHER

BLAKE

Kogan, Ken Grimes, Symposium participants Lee William IL Fagaly Phyllis Komfeld, and Dr. Regenia Perry,

Lecturers Dr. Join] MacGregor and Dr. Stephen Prokopoff with collector Bob Greenberg

Special Programs o coincide with the Outsider Art Fair, the Museum presented special programs on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, January 23, 25, and 26. The Museum's Folk Art Explorers' Club took a day trip on Thursday, which included a tour of the exhibition "Henry Darger: The Unreality of Being" and a visit to The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture to see "Bearing Witness: AfricanAmerican Vernacular Art of the South." The group had lunch at Sylvia's, a famous Harlem restaurant, before visiting the home of collector Audrey Heckler, and viewing an exhibition of the works of Eddie Arning at Giampietro.

The Museum's symposium, "Uncommon Artists V: A Series of Cameo Talks," was held on Saturday afternoon. Dr. Regenia Perry's talk on Sam Doyle was received with great enthusiasm.

William A. Fagaly spoke on Sister Gertrude Morgan and played an audio tape of her singing.

Phyllis Kornfeld spoke with a

T

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sensitive understanding on pato arte, envelope art, and other art created in the prison environment. Frank Maresca presented the work of Ken Grimes, who joined Maresca at the podium to talk about his art. The program was moderated by the symposium coordinator Lee Kogan.

To round out the weekend and celebrate the opening of the Henry Darger exhibition, the Museum presented a special Sunday morning program with Dr. Stephen Prokopoff, Director of The University of Iowa Museum of Art and originating curator of the exhibition, and Dr. John MacGregor, art historian and author.

Prokopoff spoke of the concerns and challenges of mounting an exhibition of Henry Darger's work. MacGregorâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;with actress Leigh Armor, who read from Darger's manuscriptâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;interpreted Darger's astounding words and related them to his art. The total effect was mesmerizing, and the audience was held spellbound throughout.

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Upcoming Exhibition Passion for the Past: The Collection of Bertram K. and Nina Fletcher Little at Cogswell's Grant" will be on view from May 3 through July 6, 1997.

This superb assemblage of 18th- and 19th-century furnishings gathered over a lifetime by two outstanding connoisseurs of Americana will be shown for the firstâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and probably onlyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;time outside of rural New England.

The paintings, furniture, textiles, ceramics, and decorative arts that Bertram K. and Nina Fletcher Little chose for Cogswell's Grant, their country home in Massachusetts, offer a unique reflection of life as it was in New England during the past two centuries.

Cogswell's Grant is undergoing renovation as a permanent home for the collection.

The exhibition includes approximately 115 objects of remarkable quality reflecting the Littles' extraordinary contributions to the study of American folk and decorative arts. It is particularly fitting that the exhibition travel to the Museum of American Folk Art. The Museum not

A

The artist with mixed media construction.

John W. Banks Hector Alonzo Benavides Cyril Billiot Carl Block Hawkins Bolden Richard Burnside Rhinestone Cowboy Burgess Dulaney Baltimore Glassman Homer Green Mark Greene Rev. J.L. Hunter James Harold Jennings M.G. 5c Jones Ivan Laycock S. L. Jones Joe Light R.A. Miller

Carl Nash Ernestene Polk Royal Robertson Sultan Rogers Xmeah ShaElaRe'EL 011ie Smith David Strickland Jimmie Lee Sudduth Rev.Johnnie Swearingen Rev. L.T. Thomas Son Thomas Texas Kid Watson Derek Webster Willie White George White Artist Chuckie Williams George Williams Onis Woodard

Webb Gallery 107 North Rogers Waxahachie,Texas 75165 (214)938-8085

74 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

DIANTHA ATWOOD GORDON Attributed to A. Ellis Fairfield, Maine c. 1832 011 on panel with gilding 253/e 213/4"

only had a close relationship with the Littles during their lifetime, but also has been fortunate in acquiring several important works from the Littles' collection, most notably the striking pair of portraits (c. 1789)of Mr. and Mrs. James Blakeslee Reynolds, attributed to Reuben Moulthrop. The exhibition is organized by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities and The American Federation of Arts, and funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts; additional support has been provided

by Sotheby's. The presentation at the Museum of American Folk Art is funded by generous contributions from Virginia G. Cave, Joyce B. Cowin, The Joe and Emily Lowe Foundation, Vira Hladun Goldman, Susan and John H. Gutfreund, Frances and Paul Martinson, Jacqueline Fowler, and Museum friends.

Outreach Update ee Kogan, Director of the Museum's Folk Art Institute, lectured in New Canaan, Conn.,on early schoolgirl samplers on September 8, 1996. The program, part of the Museum's outreach initiative, was sponsored by the Art Committee of the Friends of the New Canaan Library.

Temple Isaiah in Stony Brook, N.Y., the Greater Port Jefferson Arts Council, and the Music Department of the State University of New York at Stony Brook sponsored "A Celebration

L

of Contemporary Jewish Art, Poetry and Music" on November 17, 1996. The program featured a lecture and slide presentation on Harry Lieberman, given by the Museum's outreach coordinator, Lynn Steuer, and included the poetry of Adam Fisher and liturgical music by Franz Schubert and Sheila Silver.

You can schedule a slide presentation lecture, given by a Museum master docent, for your organization. For a list of lecture topics and more information, call Lynn Steuer at 212/475-2802.

Carousel horse mg delivered on Columbus Avenue

Vira

HladunGoldman answering

questions

Two enthusiastic youngsters from P.S. 191

A Very Merry Go-Round he Carousel Project of the Museum's education department got off to a galloping start last Fall. Museum Trustee Vira Hladun Goldman,the catalyst for the project, worked closely with the Museum's educational staff and volunteers to bring the art of the carousel horse—and other fantasy carousel figures—to New York City children.

The Project team coordinated the program with local Public School 191. Activities included school visits, during which Goldman spent time in the classroom to introduce the project through stories, games, and a painting workshop; a class outing to the Central Park Carousel; and a class visit to

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the Museum, where the youngsters spent close-up time with a pair of carousel heads from the Museum's Touch Collection. The highlight of the Museum visit was an opportunity for the children to gather around and learn about a beautifully carved full carousel horse, which Trustee David Walentas had delivered to the Museum especially for the occasion.

The project was enormously successful, and plans are now underway to repeat the program with other classes at P.S. 191. A curriculum guide about the history and art forms of carousel animals is being developed by the Museum's education department to be circulated at other public schools.

A Day Without Art n Sunday,December 1, 1996,the Museum of American Folk Art participated in the international day of action, mourning, and AIDS awareness known as"Day Without Art." On this day, six works of art featured in the exhibition "A Place for Us: Vernacular Architecture in American Folk Art," on

O

view from September 14 through January 12, were chosen to be covered in memory of those who have died of AIDS and in tribute to those living with the disease.

Placed in front of these shrouded works were contemporary poems about AIDS,allowing Museum visitors a moment of pause and contemplation.

Museum Charlotte Zander SchloB Bonnigheim

"Painters of The Holy Heart" Bauchant, Bonnbois, Rousseau,Seraphine,Vivin. to February, 23. 1997

Revolution and War Naiv Art — Art Brut March, 1.1997 to June, 15. 1997

HauptstraBe 15, D-74357 Bonnigheim, Germany Tel:07143-4226 Fax:07143-4220 Opening Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 11 am. 3 p.m.

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 75

MUSEUM

NEWS

John W. Dallas artist Rev. talks to Hunter (center) Estelle tour participants Carol Bafferliur (left) and Learmont.

Youth Empowerment Program s a result of the Museum's commitment and outreach to the surrounding community, an arts partnership with the local Youth Empowerment Program was implemented in September of last year. This program serves the youngsters in the Amsterdam Houses,located in the Lincoln Center area. Despite the many cultural offerings in the immediate community, many of the lowincome residents of this complex are often underserved.

Last fall, the education staff of the Museum responded to a request from two parents of the Youth Empowerment Program to offer free art workshops for 50 to 60 youngsters in the program. As a result, a portion of the groupâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; on a rotating basisâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;regularly

A

participates in a series of handson arts workshops that explore the living folk traditions and diverse cultures in today's urban settings.

The great success of these workshops is the result of the commitment of the Museum's talented pool of docents, our gallery manager, Pamela Brown, and the core of highly motivated parents and volunteers from the Amsterdam Houses. Through a grant from the Beard's Fund, the Museum was recently able to retain museum educator Romy Phillips, formerly of the Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Modern Art, as a consultant to the project for program continuity, planning, and project development. This program operates for ten months of the year.

Museum members (left to right) Audrey Heckler, Henn lmber, and Flip Imber admire a welded-metal animal sculpture

by David Strickland.

Folk Art Explorers Visit Texas wenty-five members and friends of the Museum's Folk Art Explorers' Club went to Texas from October 29 to November 3, 1996. This special tour took the group to Houston and Dallas, where they visited many local artists, collectors, galleries, and built environments.

Among the artists seen were Patrick Davis, Rev. John W. Hunter, Isaac Smith, David Strickland, and Venzel Zsatoupil.

The group also enjoyed a stop at Houston's famed Orange Show, where director Suzanne Theis welcomed them and then led an "Eye Opener Tour" of other Houston environments.

Marilyn Oshman and Ann and Jim Harithas held cocktail receptions at their homes to welcome the group, and John and Stephanie

T

Smither hosted a memorable Tex-Mex dinner in their beautiful Houston home. The Smithers also invited the group to their lakeside home in Huntsville, and provided invaluable assistance in planning the successful itinerary.

Very special thanks to them.

In addition to those mentioned above, Beth Bergin and Chris Cappiello of the Museum's membership department would like to thank the following people for their generous involvement: Alan Govenar and Kaleta Doolin of the 5501 Columbia Gallery, Sally Griffiths, Paige and Todd Johnson, Mary Milkovisch, Mamie Shuman of American Artistry Gallery, Murray Smither, Cleveland Turner, and Bruce and Julie Webb of the Webb Gallery.

Spring Benefit Auction Gallery Manager Pamela Brown supervises an art class, and eager youngsters cut and paste.

76 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

oin us on Sunday, April 20, 1997,for the Museum of American Folk Art's second Benefit Country Auction at Sotheby's. The cocktail reception and silent auction will begin at 6:30 P.M. and will be followed by a live auction at 7:30. Dinner will be served at 8:30. Previews of all auction items will take place at Sotheby's(1334 York Avenue, New York City) on Friday, April 18, and Saturday, April 19,from 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.

J

Tickets for the Benefit Country Auction and Dinner are $1,000 for Benefactors,$500 for Patrons, and $350 for Donors.

Benefactor tables of 10 are available for $10,000 and Patron tables of 10 are available for $5,000. Supporter tickets for the cocktail reception and silent and live auctions only are available for $150. For information or reservations, call Jennifer Waters at the Museum's administrative offices, 212/977-7170.

American Pacific Enterprises

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Representing over 300 years ofAmerican design,from the late 1600s to the present, the Museum ofAmerican Folk Art CollectionTM brings within reach ofthe public the very best ofthe past to be enjoyedfor generations to come.

New Directions The Museum welcomes its newest licensee: * Syratech Corporation Holiday and year-round decorative gifts and accessories for the home and office are on the drawing board for introduction later this year.

News from Museum Licensees Look for the many new products from our family of licensees, featuring new designs inspired by the Museum's collection. * American Pacific. If you haven't yet shopped by catalog, it's time you did! American Pacific has created four quilted bedcovers inspired by the Museum's stunning quilt collection.

These bedcovers are now available nationwide. Check your Spiegel catalog and these stores near you—Macy's East, Macy's West, Burdine's, and Rich's. * Dynasty Dolls. Don't delay!

Reserve your doll today. Dynasty introduced Jane Ann Campbell at the February Toy Fair. Jane Ann is the second doll in the Museum's Stepping Out of the FrameTM limited-edition series of porcelain dolls. Jane Ann comes complete with her own little porcelain doll, as shown in the original painting. * Enesco Corporation. Make your list now! Enesco previewed the Museum's 1997 Folk Art Christmas in February, during the International Gift Fair. Thirty-two unique holiday items reflecting America's diverse Christmas heritage include hanging ornaments,

Santa Claus figures, music boxes, vases, and decorative accessories. * Mary Myers Studio. Everyone is nuts about Mary and the Museum's nutcrackers. Mary introduced two new hand-carved nutcrackers—Santa and Rooster— at the February Market Square.

Two old favorites, All-America Bear and Lady Liberty, sold out when featured on QVC,but are still available—along with the Chalkware Cat, Toy Soldiers, and Uncle Sam—through the Museum's mail-order department. * Tyndale,Inc."Be Foxy and Try One." Light up your room or office with the Museum's newest table and desk and floor lamps by Tyndale—a perfect way to enjoy one of yesterday's status symbols.

Eight new lamp designs—picturing exquisite motifs from the Museum's Kane-Greenberg Collection of cigar-label art, including a very sophisticated fox—are now available.

Special Events White House Honoree. Mary Myers, one of our Licensee family members, was chosen to create several ornaments for the White House Christmas Tree this past season. Mary and her family visited the White House and were treated to a tour. We send our heartfelt congratulations to her.

Gravestone Artist Lecture.

Maryann Warakomski was the featured guest speaker at New Jersey's South River Historical Society's Annual Meeting on November 20, 1996. There was standing room only as Maryann

A Melting itt the Wind

Wild Apple Graphics

recounted the life and times of John Frazee— known as America's first sculptor—and his New Jersey gravestones. The evening was so successful that Maryann has already been booked by the Historical Society for next year's meeting.

A New Exercise in Folk Art Collecting. On December 4, Alice J. Hoffman enjoyed an evening of festivities surrounding the publication of her book Indian Clubs by Harry N. Abrams. The Museum held a book signing and exhibition. More than 100 books were sold that night. On January 2, Alice appeared on the cable station Personal fx: Collectibles with a selection of Indian clubs and her book. If any of you saw her, please drop us a line.

Dear Customer Your purchase of Museumlicensed products directly benefits the exhibition 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 CollectionTM please contact us at 212/977-7170.

Tyndale ,a

Family of Licensees Abbeville Press(212/888-1969)gift wrap, book/gift tags, and quilt note cube.* American Pacific Enterprises(212/944-6799)quilts, shams, and pillows. Andrews & McMeel (816/932-6700)traditional folk art songbook.* Carvin Folk Art Designs,Inc.(212/7556474)gold-plated and enameled jewelry.* Concord Miniatures(800/888-0936) 1"-scale furniture and accessories.* Danforth Pewterers,Ltd.(800/222-3142).pewter jewelry and accessories, buttons, ornaments,keyrings.* Dynasty Dolls(800/736-4438)collectible porcelain dolls.* Enesco Corporation (800/436-3726)decorative home giftware collection. Hermitage Des Artistes(212/2431007) tramp art objects.* Imperial Wallcoverhigs, Inc.(216/464-3700) wallpaper and borders. James Hastrich (800/962-2932) miniature painted furniture reproductions in limited editions. The Lane Company,Inc., including Lane/Venture and Lane Upholstery (800/447-4700)furniture (case goods, wicker, and upholstered furniture) and mini-chests.

Limited Addition (800/268-9724)decorative accessories.* Mary Myers Studio(800/8299603) nutcrackers.* Saunders & Cecil (212/662-7607) paper and stationery products, photo albums, calendars, and journals. Sullins House(219/495-2252) peg-hook wall plaques; gift, desk, and vanity boxes; decorative mirrors and fire and dummy boards.* Syratech Corporation (617/561-2200)holiday and decorative home accessories. Takashhnaya Company, Ltd.(212/350-0550) home furnishings accessories and furniture (available only in Japan). Tyndale,Inc.(312/384-0800)lighting and lampshades. Wild Apple Graphics,Ltd. (800/756-8359)fine art reproduction prints and posters.* *Available in Museum of American Folk Art Book and Gift Shops.

For mail-order information, contact Beverly McCarthy at 212/977-7170.

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 77

SPRING

itt

PROGRAMS

or

gndurinq grace Quiltsfrom the Shelburne Museum Collection

Y iliraitti-50;s0A-

st

Special free tours, lectures, and children's programs are held on an ongoing basis at the Museum of American Folk Art, Columbus Avenue between 65th and 66th Streets, New York City. For information, please call 212/595-9533.

Exhibition Tours Henry Darger: The Unreality of Being Call to arrange a free group tour of the exhibition for 5 or more adults; the exhibition is on view through April 27.

Thursday Evening Lecture Series 6:00 P.M. Thefollowing lectures arefree and registration is not necessary.

Celia Y Oliver with Quilt lit,, don, by I roncic

11,41bine Quin. _

75iscover the beautiful treasures of one of America's largest and most diverse collections.

Enduring Grace celebrates Shelburne Museum's fifty years of collecting. Curator Celia Oliver presents an intriguing history of quilts in the American home, as well as the fascinating story of the woman behind the Shelburne collection, Electra Havemeyer Webb. Instructions for five quilts from the collection. Add this elegant book to your collection. $24.95, softcover, 112 pages, index, color throughout, 81/2" x 11", #10146

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Call for a free catalog or write to C&T Publishing. P.O. Box 1456, Lafayette, CA 94549, or e-mail us at: into actpub.com. Add $4.50 for shipping, $1 each additional book. California residents add 825% sales tax.

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March 13 NEW PERSPECTIVES IN A CONTINUING DIALOGUE: THE SELFTAUGHT AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTIST AND THE ARENA Kinshasha Holman Conwill, Director, Studio Museum in Harlem March 27 FOLK ART IN URBAN LIFE: A LOOK AT AFRICAN AMERICAN TRENDS Drunell L. Levinson, Ph.D. Candidate: Art Education, New York University Children's Sunday Art Workshops 2-4 P.m.

For ages 5 and up. Reservations are necessary Materialsfee $1.00 March 16 and 23 PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH INVENTIONS Bird motifs are prominent in Pennsylvania-German pottery and other art forms. Make bird constructions of colored paper and decorate paper plates inspired

by Pennsylvania-German designs.

April 6 and 13 PORTRAITS Eighteenth- and nineteenthcentury artists traveled from town to town drawing and painting portraits. Paint a portrait of yourself or a friend by applying some easy "tricks of the trade."

April 20 and 27 HOME DECORATION Wall and furniture painting was extremely popular in early America and is as much fun today as it was then. Learn some of the earliest and easiest techniques—stenciling, sponging, feather painting, and more.

May 4 and 11 MOTHER'S DAY GIFTS A hand-made gift is always special—a hand-made Mother's Day gift is a tradition. Create your own one-of-a-kind gift for that special someone you love.

May 18 and 25,and June 1 RECORDING THE PAST Artist Harry Lieberman grew up in Poland. He moved to America and lived to be more than 100 years old. In his very old age, he painted pictures of his childhood from memory so that his grandchildren would know about his past. Make a painting or drawing about what you would like your grandchildren to know about you.

June 8 and 15 FATHER'S DAY GIFTS Does your dad or another special person in your life deserve a medal? Come and make trophies and medals for that special him or her. It's easy and fun.

Free public programs are supported in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and a generous grant from NYNEX.

0

7

YARD DOG

I'm 1510 South Congress IX Austin, Texas 78704 (512) 912-1613 www.yarddog.com 111

Artist Chuckie Sainte-James Boudrot Burgess Dulaney Sybil Gibson Glassman Rev. J.L. Hunter S.L. Jones Reginald Mitchell Royal Robertson Xmeah ShaEla'ReEl Isaac Smith Jimmy Lee Sudduth Mose Tolliver and more

MATT SESOW at BEVERLY KAYE WOODBRIDGE,CT

203.387.5700 by appointment

LUISE

ROSS

568 BROADWAY

GALLERY

NEW YORK

212 343-2161

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 79

TRAVELING

It's more than just another credit card it's a contribution.

MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLRART EVA AND MORRIS FELL) GALLERY AT LINCOLNISIZMRE

AIBNA

•

53a9 1234 5678 5329 00/Or

WWOOMO

C BARD COLE

Now you can help raise money for the Museum of American Folk Art simply by making a purchase with your No-Annual-Fee Museum of American Folk Art Gold MasterCard?

Every time you make a purchase with your No-AnnualFee Museum of American Folk Art Gold MasterCard, MBNA America® Bank, the card's issuer, makes a contribution to support the Museum of American Folk Art. Your No-Annual-Fee Museum of American Folk Art card also benefits you in a big way with credit lines up to $50,000 and up to $500,000 Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance on charged fares:' The Museum of American Folk Art card features...

• No Annual Fee! • Additional cards at no cost for family members or associates.

• Worldwide acceptance at millions of locations.

• A bank that is always available, 24 hours a day,365 days a year.

Best of all, it's backed by a 24-hour commitment to Customer Satisfaction that has made MBNA one of the leading issuers of bank credit cards.

Request your NO-ANNUAL-FEE Museum of American Folk Art Gold MasterCard today!

Call 1-800-847-7378 TTY users, call: 1-800-833-6262 Please mention priority code FDNI when you call.

'Certain restrictions apply to these and other benefits described in the benefits brochures sent soon after your account is opened. There are costs associated with the use of this card. You may contact the issuer and administrator of this program, MBNA Americas Bank, to request specific information about the costs by calling 1-800-847-7378 or writing to P.O. Box 15020, Wilmington, DE 19850. MBNA America is a federally registered service mark of MBNA America Bank, N.A. MasterCard is a federally registered service mark of MasterCard International Inc., used pursuant to license.

1996 MBNA America Bank, N.A. ADG-H-5 ADG-11-10-96 ADG-C1AA5-11/96

80 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

EXHIBITION

Mark your calendars for the following Museum of American Folk Art exhibitions when they travel to your area during the coming months: February 27—May 31 Norwegian Folk Art: The Migration of a Tradition Nordic Heritage Museum Seattle, Washington 206/789-5708 April 1-8 An American Treasury: Master Quilts from the Museum of American Folk Art Pencil Points Co., Ltd. Tokyo, JAPAN 03-3498-6361 May 2—June 27 Quilts from America's Flower Garden Rock County Historical Society Janesville, Wisconsin 608/756-4509

May 11—October 19 The Image Business: Shop and Cigar Store Figures in America Heritage Plantation of Sandwich Sandwich, Massachusetts 508/888-3300 May 17—August 2 Amish Quilts from the Museum of American Folk Art Heritage-HjemkOmst Interpretive Center Moorhead, Minnesota 218/233-5604 June 2—July 28 Quilts Fantastic Skokie Public Library Skokie, Illinois 847/673-7774

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.

Charles Ives at the Museum n Saturday, October 26, 1996, Museum members and friends attended a free performance of Charles Ives's Trio for Violin, Cello, and Piano. Held at 5:00 P.M. at the Museum on Columbus Avenue in New York, this show was a preview of the Bard Music Festival at Lincoln Center, which was held on November 2 and 3.

The event, spearheaded by Museum Education Committee member Sin von Reis, was made possible by support from The Overbrook Foundation and The Marstrand Foundation. The musicians—Mark Kaplan on violin, Robert Martin on cello, and Diane Walsh on piano—played to an enthusiastic and charmed audience. Cellist Robert Martin discussed and demonstrated the

O

The lees Concert in the Conway gallery at the Museum: Mark Kaplan on violin, Robert Martin on cello, and Diane Walsh on piano

folk and popular sources of the Ives work,including college songs, hymns, and marching tunes. The exhibition "A Place for Us: Vernacular Architecture in American Folk Art" provided a fitting background for the work of this most American composer.

VFolk Pest '97 Self-taught • Outsider • Visionary Southern Folk Pottery • Anonymous • Folk Art Come see the

VISIT OVER 80

WORLD'S

GALLERIES GREATEST

THIS SUMMER e, A Orr o IMI.IAO.

1997

,11,r• ten WI TS NM,

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GEORGIA

Friday Aug. 15, 1997 5-10 pm ($15)

Directions:

Price includes Catalog and Readmission for entire weekend.

To Chattanooga 1-75

Atlanta To Augusta To Birmingham

Saturday Aug. 16, 1997 10-7 pm ($5)

1-20

To Montgomery

Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport

North Atlanta Trade Center 1-85 and Indian Trail Road

Sunday Aug. 17, 1997 10-5 pm ($5)

For a FREE copy of the 20th Century Folk Art Newspaper & more information on Folk Fest '97, call or write: Steve Slotin 5967 Blackberry Lane Buford, GA 30518 (770)932-1000 FAX: (770)932-0506

OaPetde Tonheutt auIteCcomody

since 1980 Ontehnationd goPI2 LAkt 10046 Conway ci2oad gt. gouts, L.Arto. 62124 LAppointment: 214-992-9851 gar 214-992-4790 1-800-762-610S Ralph Auf der Heide Gabriel Bien Aimee, Haiti Jeannette Carballo, Costa Rica Rita Hicks Davis Mamie Deschillie Esperanza Espinoza, Nicaragua Amos Ferguson, Bahamas Victor J. Gatto Katarzyna Gawlowa, Poland Dora Gonzalez, Costa Rica Haitian Art & Masters Serge Jolimeau, Haiti Georges Liautaud, Haiti Mexican Artifacts

Justin McCarthy Rafael Morla, Dominican Rep. NIKIFOR, Poland Antoine Oleyant, Haiti Frank Pickle Jack Savitsky Lorenzo Scott Jose Antonio da Silva, Brazil Horacio Valdez Voodoo Flags & Bottles, Haiti Fred Webster L. Wiecek, Poland Malcah Zeldis (and many others)

FOWL PLAY!

"Calvary" Nascius Joseph Haiti Woodcarving

E.1-.•.•.e•-•%••••••••%9..

4 1.

WHoLL/ • .

N.• MAckEREL •Is Exreriovo e tfio AATfiloy NAre, Sectiar\ • • Folk Art. • of

-Chicken"

Artist: Calvin Cooper

See amazing egg laying hens and vicious fighting cocks April 4 - June 30 Kentucky Folk Art Center 119 West University Boulevard Morehead, Kentucky 40351 Phone: 606/783-2204 Open Mon-Fri 8:30-4:30, Sat 9:00-5:00

82 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

MAH0NE BA'/ HisToRK PRoPERTIEs HAUFAY, NoVA SCOTIA CANADA Ups MAIN Si

902-624-1258 e-mail: whomac@auracom.com

111,111,111r PARTICIPATING EXHIBITORS FOR

INSIDE

OUTSIDERS INSIDE ( CHICAGO )

AS OF 12.1816

Inside in Chicago PREMIERING MAY 30 - JUNE 1, 1997

AMERICAN PRIMITIVE GALLERY, NY

SATURDAY 10 AM TO 8 PM, SUNDAY 10 AM TO 6 PM

CHARLES AUERBACH, OH

THE WHITE TOWER BUILDING

KENNETH BURKHART/1913, IL

847 WEST JACKSON, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

LINDA AND CECIL BURROUS, IL

OPENING NIGHT PREVIEW PARTY

OUTSIDERS INSIDE( CHICAGO )

DARYL DANZL, MN

FRIDAY, MAY 30, 5 TO 10 PM

ArJ, OUTSIDERS OUTSIDE( HARBERT)

FENTIMAN & ALWARD FOLK AND OUTSIDER ARTS, MI FISH OUT OF WATER, IL GALERIE BONHEUR, MO GILLEY'S GALLERY, LA INSTINCT GALLERY, WI

ITEMPROCAT VITRITEITTIME

HARVEY ANTIQUE & ART, IL

ARE PRODUCED BY

JUDITH RACHT GALLERY 13707 PRAIRIE ROAD

HUSTONTOWN, PA

HARBERT, MICHIGAN

HYPOINT, IL MAIN STREET GALLERY, GA THOMAS MCCORMICK WORKS OF ART, IL LESLIE MUTH GALLERY, NM NORTH SHORE GALLERY, TN

Outside in Harbert

PLEASE CALL

RETURNING AUGUST 29 - AUGUST 31, 1997 SATURDAY 10 AM TO 6 PM, SUNDAY 10 AM TO 5 PM

ARON PACKER GALLERY, IL

JUDITH RACHT GALLERY PANGAE'LA INDIGENOUS FOLK ART, AR

13707 PRAIRIE ROAD, HARBERT, MICHIGAN

THE PARDEE COLLECTION, IA

OPENING NIGHT PREVIEW PARTY

RISING FAWN FOLK ART, TN

FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 6 TO 10 PM

ROSEHIPS, GA BRUCE SHELTON GALLERY, FL LARRY R. SCHLACHTER, GA DOUGLAS WYANT, MI

FOR MORE INFORMATION

( 616) 469.1080

The most exciting summer show in the country...morefine antiques than can befound anywhere, shown by America'sfinest dealers.

the source for what's new in today's quilts...

T/I.CT

Magazine

the quilts, the artists,

WILTON OUTDOOR ANTIQUES MARKETPLACE To benefit Wilton Kiwanis Club and Wilton Y

June 21 & 22, Sat. & Sun. 10-5 Admission $6 - with card/ad $5 Early Buying Sat. 8-10 A.M. Admission $20

the shows, the issues, the reviews...

the Art of the Quilt.

Special for Folk Art readers: 1 year(4 quarterly issues) for $28. Sample copy $7($10US overseas) Subscribe for great quilts in great color reproductions plus informative articles on what's new ***T/Quu Pook Serrice*** Nancy Crow at the Renwick color poster(shown above)$8 pp Exhibit catalog: Nancy Crow Improvisational Quilts $21.95 pp *** Send SASE for our list of books and goodies.*** To subscribe, send check for $28($38US for overseas) to:

."T/Quitfi Magazine I Folk Art Offer PO Box 630927 / Houston,TX 77263-0927 / fax 713/975-6072 (MC/Visa accepted)

"The Meadows" North of Wilton High School

Route 7- Wilton, Conn.

WORKS BY

SUSAN SLYMAN

A unique assemblage of 200 exhibitors 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 an outdoor show like this, it's the "in-door show" held outdoors.

Produced by Marilyn Gould •

•

•

•

Merritt Parkway: Exit 398 from the west Exit 41 from the east

CAN BE SEEN AT

FRANK J. MIELE

1-95: Exit 15, north 8 miles 1-84: At. 7, south 12 miles Metro North railroad to Cannondale Station

CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN FOLK ART 10E36 MADISON AVENUE NEW YORK, N.Y. 10028 212.249.7250

WILTO df

Only 50 miles from New York City

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

84 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

GALLERIE JE REVIENS ONE RIVERSIDE AVENUE WESTPORT CT. 06E3E10 203.227.7716

THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE

Americana Artisans The Delaware Crafts Show

AMERICAN CRAFTSMANSHIP at its best...

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

The Historical Society of Delaware Americana Artisans

May 17 & 18 Sat & Sun 10 - 5

The Delaware Crafts Show May 17 & 18 Delaware Technical & Community College, Newark,Del.

Delaware Technical & Community College, 400 Stanton-Christiana Rd., Newark,DE,1-95 Exit 4B

****

Admission: $6 (with brochure or ad $5)

AMERICAN CRAFTSMANSHIP at its best...

Traditional crafts,folk art and fine furniture The premiere Middle Atlantic showcase for artists and artisans working in the traditional manner today to create the heirlooms of tomorrow.

This stylish show offers both retail and wholesale buyers an opportunity to see and buy from some of America's finest artisans.

Benefits Historical Society Delaware

Americana Artisans at Hancock Shaker Village July 12 & 13 Junction of Routes 20 & 41,Pittsfield, Mass. ****

Wilton Historical Society Celebration of American Craftsmanship November 15 & 16 Wilton High School Field House,Wilton, Conn. **** These premier events showcase the finest in collector quality traditional and contemporary folk arts featuring the work of many of the nations most talented artisans exhibiting in gallery or room settings.

Produced by Marilyn Gould

Produced by Marilyn Gould MCG Antiques Promotions, Inc. 10 Chicken St., Wilton, Conn.06897 (203)762-3525

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

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 85

IN ATLANTA

AgtAt AttMesil of Atlanta ESTABLISHED 1973

SpEciAliziNg IN OuAliry 1 9T1T ANd 2041 CENTURy AMERiCAN

ART

FEATURiNq IMPORTANT

woRks by SOUTI-IERN CONTEMPORARY Folk ARTiSTS ANd TRAd ITIONAI SOUTI-IERN Folk POTTERS 5325 ROSWELL ROAD,N.E. ATLANTA,GEORGIA 30342 (404)252-0485 • FAX (404)252-0359

"PlAying CARds" by CLEMENTINE HUNTER ( 1 88 7-1 988) Oil ON CANVAS, 18" x 24" , $2,850 WE GAVE A COLLECTION Of LINE pAiNTiNgS by CIEMENTiNE HUNTER

V mix JonEs A 1WIT111R129 A S11121111 RfIKI.S 1 C.i

HOME

:

Is

IMMIDE A MIMES HAR

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GALLERY

CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN fOIK ART & SEIf-TAUGHT ART Mike Smith•At Home Gallery•3916 Pondfield Court Greensboro, North Carolina 27410

i= a

By Appointment Only

: CJ

910/664-0012

Fe 13£111-1Y

JIM SUDDUTH A fillEARL; 1 SIIIITII

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86 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

NORTH SHOREFOLKARTSHOW BLOMQUIST GYMNASIUM 617 FOSTER STREET NORTHWESTERN CAMPUS EVANSTON,ILLINOIS MAI(

3 Sc 4, 1997

iim, 75 ARTISTS traditional to contemporary AMERICAN FOLK ART admission $6 — free parking — sat. & sun. 10-6 anne brattan — 2721 harrison st. — evanston, il. 60201 information-847-475-8710 •••••••••••••••••••••••• PERCENTAGE OF PROCEEDS TO NORTHWESTERN SETTLEMENT HOUSE

HE PHILADELPHIA ANTIQUES SHOW 36th ANNUAL BENEFIT for the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center

,

--rut

April 12 - 16,1997 s

Az/e/z-tie7 r

"Pioneering Americana: A Mercer Museum Centennial" Veww

For tickets, or information about events and programs: (215) 387-3500 103rd Engineers Armory • 33rd Street North of Market Street • Philadelphia

vs Proceeds benefit the New Maxillofacial Reconstruction Center at Penn 1#41011,...

Managed by Sanford L. Smith and Assoc., Ltd.

Ajtj,„

11A11111i1•11M111/11111•1111‘111111AdialkaiNNIU11111 NEW WORLD ANTIQUES ALt i4 & ART OF THE AMERICAS SHOW AND SALE A unique show of New World expression through antiques

MARCH 22 & 23,1997 Saturday llam - 6pm Sunday Ilam - 5pm GLENDALE CIVIC AUDITORIUM 1401 N. Verdugo Rd., Glendale, CA Admission $6 • American Indian & Tribal Arts Pottery, baskets, masks,jewelry, weavings, kachinas, beadwork • Latin American Paintings, furniture, textiles, silver, santos, retablos, pottery, ornamental iron • North American Formal to primitive furniture, fine, folk & outsider works of art, weather vanes, diaries, whirligigs, quilts, toys, Hawaiiana, photographs, trade signs • Old West cowboy,charro,gaucho,saddles, bits, spurs, stirrup,, braided horsehair, chaps,sombreros, old weapons,clothing.

New World • P.O. Box 651 • Topanga, CA 90290 Tauni Brustin 310.455.2894 • Peter Bartlett 213.876.3226

WIPWIMMIPIIMPIN REPRESENTING

AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN OUTSIDER ART

Southern Vision's Pottery and Folk Art PO Box 526 • Seagrove, NC 27341

(910)381-3090 Lainer Meaders

C.J. and Billy Meaders

Reggie Meaders

Nub Meaders

Louis Brown

E.J. Brown

Terry King

Anna King

CLEMENTINE HUNTER. HOWARD FINSTER, WALTER ANDERSON, HOWARD FINSTER, BILL TRAYLOR, WILLIAM DAWSON AND UNKNOWN AMERICAN FOLK ARTIST

Davis Brown

Crystal King

JUDY A SASLOW GALLERY

Hewell Family

WORKS BY (CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT)

300 WEST SUPERIOR STREET SUITE 103 CHICAGO ILLINOIS 60610 3129430530

S$ SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

Specializing in

Southern Folk Art If you want it, we can find it!

B.B. Craig

PURVIS YOUNG

PEICIaDq0 NEW ORLEANS 5 04 • 58 1

DISCOVER the largest collection of American Folk Art prints available today. Magnificent works of art from leading museums and prestigious private collections.

Charming portraits, colorful landscapes and still-lifes.

Meticulously reproduced rare samplers and quilts. Over 150 outstanding American Folk Art prints beautifully illustrated in our new full color catalog.

SEND ONLY SIX-DOLLARS

HEDGEROW HOUSE 6401 East Rogers Circle•Boca Raton, Florida 33487-2647 Tel (561)998-0756 • Fax (561)998-0763

• 1 706

CONTEMPORARY FOLK ART Braxton Ponder Dow Pugh Royal Robertson Sulton Rogers Jimmy Lee Sudduth Olivia Thomason Mose Tolliver Troy Webb Bobby Williford Wesley Willis And Others

Minnie Adkins Linvel Barker Ronald Cooper G.C. DePrie Mr. Eddy Roy Ferdinand Denzil Goodpaster Homer Green Helen LaFrance Junior Lewis Tim Lewis Jesse Mitchell

Stone carvings by Tim Lewis, Devil Family by Sulton Rogers

BRUCE SHELTON

KATHY MOSES, GALLERY DIRECTOR

SHELTON GALLERY & FRAME STANFORD SQUARE • 4239 HARDING ROAD, NASHVILLE, TN 37205 • (615) 298-9935 www.folkartisans.corn/shelton Call to see when we are in your area Exclusive representation of Jesse L. Mitchell & Bobby Williford

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 89

TRUSTEES/DONORS

MUSEUM

OF

AMERICAN

FOLK

ART

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 L. John Wilkerson Treasurer Jacqueline Fowler Secretary Anne Hill Blanchard

RECENT

MAJOR

$100,000 and above Estate of Daniel Cowin Mr.& Mrs. Joseph Cullman 3d Ralph 0.Esmerian Sam & Betsey Farber Ford Motor Company Estate of Laura Harding Howard and Jean Lipman Foundation, Inc. The Henry Luce Foundation, Inc. Philip Morris Companies Inc. Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in conjunction with Norwegian Visions David C.& Jane Walentas Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund L. John & Barbara Wilkerson Anonymous

$20,000449,999 Arista Records,Inc. Burnett Group Virginia G. Cave Peter M.& Mary Ciccone Joyce B. Cowin Raymond C.& Susan Egan Virginia S. Esmerian Joan M.& Victor L. Johnson Vira Hladun Goldman Joseph Martinson Memorial Fund National Endowment for the Arts Julie K.& Samuel Palley Restaurant Associates Industries, Inc. The Smart Family Foundation Inc.

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

DONORS

The Museum of American Folk Art greatly appreciates the generous support of the following friends:

$50,000499,999 The Coca-Cola Company General Cigar Co. Lucy C.& Frederick M. Danziger David L. Davies & Jack Weeden Johnson & Johnson NYNEX Corporation Anonymous

Members Edward Lee Cave Joyce B. Cowin David L. Davies Samuel Farber Vira Hladun Goldman Susan Gutfreund Kristina Barbara Johnson, Esq. Susan Klein George H. Meyer, Esq. Cyril I. Nelson Julie K. Palley David C. Walentas

Barbara and Thomas W.Strauss Fund Time Warner Robert N.& Anne Wright Wilson Anonymous 810,000—$19,999 William Arnett Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. Anne Hill & Edward Vermont Blanchard Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Edward Lee Cave Country Living The Dietrich American Foundation & H. Richard Dietrich, Jr. William B. Dietrich & William B. Dietrich Foundation Jacqueline Fowler Susan & John H. Gutfreund Kristina Barbara Johnson, Esq. Susan & Robert E. Klein The LEF Foundation Kiyoko & Nathan Lerner Fred, Jeff,& Alan Lowenfels in honor of George F. Shaskan,Jr. The Magazine Group George H.& Kay Meyer The New York Community Trust The Peter Norton Family Foundation The Pinkerton Foundation Schlumberger Foundation, Inc. Anonymous $4,000-89,999 ARTCORP Beard's Fund Michael R. Bloomberg John R. and Dorothy D. Caples Fund Christie's Cravath, Swaine & Moore Department of Cultural Affairs, City of New York Duane, Morris & Heckscher Gallery 721 Gateway 2000 Mr.& Mrs. Ronald S. Lauder The Joe and Emily Lowe Foundation

MBNA America, N.A. Vincent & Anne Mai Marstrand Foundation Morgan Stanley Foundation New York State Council on the Arts The New York Times Company Foundation Leo & Dorothy Rabkin Marguerite Riordan William D. Rondina The William P. and Gertrude Schweitzer Foundation, Inc. Joseph E. Seagrams & Sons,Inc. George F. & Myra Shaskan Mr.& Mrs. Elliot K. Slade Sanford L. Smith & Associates, Ltd. Sotheby's Lynn Steuer 82,000—S3,999 ABC,Inc. American Folk Art Society David & Didi Barrett Patrick Bell & Edwin Hild Bergen Line, Inc. Ellen Blissman Mr.& Mrs. James A. Block Robert & Kathy Booth Richard Braemer & Amy Finkel Edward J. & Margaret Brown Cigna Joseph & Barbara Cohen Mr.& Mrs. Edgar M. Cullman Allan & Kendra Daniel Richard M.& Peggy Danziger Michael & Janice Doniger Nancy Druckman Richard C.& Susan B. Ernst Foundation Burton M & Helaine Fendelman Scott & Lauren Fine Jay & Gail Furman Fred & Kathryn Giampietro Peter & Barbara Goodman Warren & Sue Ellen Haber Stephen M.Hill Pepi & Vera Jelinek (continued on page 92)

90 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

HUSTONTOWN

Internet Art Gallery www.cyspacemalls.com/huston/ 1997 Calendar March

Morrow Paddock paintings and drawings

April

Evang. Ruby C. Williams Plant City, Fla. paintings

May

bine

Anonymous Works Daniel Toepfer assemblages and glitter hard hats

Exhibiting at...

Outsiders Inside, Chicago The White Tower Building May 30 - lune 1 1997 Showing...

MORROW PADDOCK Betty Forbes & Linda Turner

Antiques Shows March 22 & 23 HARTFORD.CT The 24th Annual Connecticut Spring Antiques Show America's Outstanding Show of Original American Furniture to 1840 & Appropriate Accessories State Armory, Capitol Avenue and Broad Street Saturday, Show Opening: 8:30-10 a.m., $15 General Admission: Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., $8 Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., $8

Gene Beecher Ed Ott The Glassman Popeye Reed

860 Path Valley Rd Fort Loudon, Pa. 1 7224

By Appointment 717.369.5248 ebeecher@epix.net

JOHN C. HILL ANTIQUE INDIAN ART 6962 E. FIRST AVE., SCOTTSDALE, AZ 85251

(602) 946-2910

Sunday. May 18 EAST NORWALK.CT The 21st Taylor Farms Antiques Show An Outdoor Show Overlooking Long Island Sound Calf Pasture Road, off Gregory Blvd.

Early Admission: 8-10 a.m., General Admission: 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Sunday.June 1 COVENTRY.CT The 30th Nathan Hale Antiques Festival An Outdoor Show in the Secluded Fields Surrounding Hale's 1776 Homestead South Street, off Silver Street and Route 44 Early Admission: 8-10 a.m., General Admission: 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Saturday. Tune 7 REDDING CENTER. CT The 22nd Redding Antiques Fair An Outdoor Show Hosted at Redding Historical Society's Restored 18th Century Farmhouse Lonetown Farm Road, Route 107 Early Admission: 8-10 am., General Admission 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

For Additional Information, Contact LINDA TURNER 45 Larchwood Road,South Portland, ME 04106 20'7—767—3967

Germantown Sampler, circa 1890, 101/2" x 131/2"

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 91

RECENT

MAJOR

DONORS

Continuedfrom page 90 Harry Kahn Steven & Helen Kellogg David & Barbara Krashes Jerry & Susan Lauren Mel & Wendy Lavitt Patrick M.& Gloria M.Lonergan Macy's East Maine Community Foundation Keith & Lauren Morgan Norwegian Tourist Board The Overbrook Foundation Daniel & Susan Pollack Polo Ralph Lauren Drs. Jeffrey Pressman & Nancy Kollisch Frederic A. & Jean S. Sharf Joseph & Janet Shein Raymond & Linda Simon Louise M.Simone Nell Singer R. Scudder & Helen Smith Richard & Stephanie Solar Donald & Rachel Strauber Stanley & Doris Tananbaum Jim & Judy Taylor Peter & Lynn Tishman United States Trust Company of New York Don Walters & Mary Benisek Irwin H.& Elizabeth V. Warren Peter & Leslie Warwick Anonymous $1,000â&#x20AC;&#x201D;$1,999 Alconda-Owsley Foundation Marna Anderson Mr.& Mrs. Thomas Block Marvin & Lois P. Broder Diana D. Brooks Lawrence & Ann Buttenwieser The Coach Dairy Goat Farm Liz Claiborne Foundation Katie Cochran & Michael G. Allen Conde Nast Publications Lewis B.& Dorothy Cullman Cullman & Kravis, Inc. Marion Dailey Michael Del Castello Derrel B. DePasse Don & Marian DeWitt Mr.& Mrs. Charles Diker The Echo Design Group,Inc. Mr.& Mrs. Alvin H. Einbender Theodore & Sharon Eisenstat Epstein Philanthropies Mr.& Mrs. Anthony Evnin Fairfield Processing Corporation Mr.& Mrs. Bruce Geismar The Howard Gilman Foundation, Inc. Dr. Kurt A. Gitter & Ms. Alice Yelen Eric J. & Anne Gleacher Barbara Goldsmith Barbara L. Gordon Baron J. & Ellin Gordon Robert M. Greenberg Stanley & Marcia Greenberg Bonnie Grossman Anne Groves Mr. and Mrs. James Harithas Marion Harris & Dr. Jerry Rosenfeld Robert F. Hemphill, Jr.

92 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

Ellen E. Howe Robert J. & Fern K. Hurst Sandra Jaffe Linda E. Johnson Harvey & Isobel Kahn Maurice C.& Channaine Kaplan Allan & Penny Katz Diane D. Kern The Hess and Helyn Kline Foundation Mark & Taryn Leavitt Diana Lee in memory of Seymour Margulies Fred Leighton Barbara S. Levinson Peter & Nadine Levy Lynn M. Lorwin Dan W. Luflcin & Silvia Kramer Judith McGrath Marsh & McLennan Companies,Inc. Christopher & Linda Mayer The Helen R.& Harold C. Mayer Foundation Robert & Meryl Meltzer Michael & Gael Mendelsohn Cyril I. Nelson John E. Oilman Anthony J. Petullo Guy Peyrelongue J. Randall Plununer Mortimer & Eugenia Propp Ricco/Maresca Gallery Betty Ring Stephen Score George & Susan Soros Mr.& Mrs. Stanley G. Mortimer, Ill Oscar de la Renta Peter J. Solomon David & Ellen Stein Patricia A.& Robert C. Stempel Maureen Taylor David Teiger G. Marc Whitehead Susan Yecies Anonymous $500â&#x20AC;&#x201D;$999 Joe C. Adams Richard C.& Ingrid Anderson R. Randolph Apgar & Allen Black James & Deborah Ash The Bachmann Foundation,Inc. Frank & June Barsalona Henry Barth Dr.& Mrs. Alex Berenstein Bergdorf Goodman The Bibelot Shops Peter & Lynn Bienstock Peter & Helen Bing Jeffrey & Tina Bolton Joseph & Joan Boyle Gale Meltzer Brudner Betty W.Johnson & Douglas F. Bushnell Robert T. Cargo Suzanne Cole Mr.& Mrs. Stephen H. Cooper Judy Cowen Monica Longworth & Michael F. Coyne Susan R. Cullman Aaron & Judy Daniels Keith De Lellis Alvin & Davida Deutsch

Lynne W.Doss Howard Drubner Arnold & Debbie Dunn Ross & Gladys Faires Frank & Fran Frawley Ken & Brenda Fritz Galerie Heike Curtze Daniel M.Gantt William L.& Mildred Gladstone Harriet & Jonathan Goldstein Howard M.Graff Marilyn A. Green Peter Greenwald & Nancy Hoffman Grey Advertising T. Marshall Hahn, Jr. Cordelia Hamilton Robert & Elizabeth Harleman Mark & Na Harmon Brian C.& Ellen Harris Herbert W. Hemphill, Jr. Robert L.& Marjorie Hirschhorn Leonard & Arlene Hochman Carter Houck Imperial Wallcoverings, Inc. Laura N.& Theodore J. Israel Guy Johnson Robert J. Kahn Cathy M. Kaplan Mary Kettaneh Jonathan & Jacqueline King Barbara S. Klinger Mr. & Mrs. Theodore A. Kurz Robert A. Landau Evelyn & Leonard A. Lauder James & Frances Lieu Mimi Livingston Earle & Carol Mack Richard & Gloria Manney Virginia Marx Grete Meilman Robert & Joyce Menschel ha M. Millstein Museums New York Victor & Susan Niederhoffer Mr.& Mrs. Bruce Newman Paul L.& Nancy Oppenheimer Burton W.Pearl, MD William & Terry Pelster The Perrier Group of America Mr.& Mrs. F.F. Randolph, Jr. Mr.& Mrs. Milton S. Rattner Irene Reichert John & Margaret Robson Mr.& Mrs. Peter C. Rockefeller Roger & Alyce Rose Fran Kaufman & Robert C. Rosenberg Mr.& Mrs. Winthrop Rutherford, Jr. Selig D. Sacks Merilyn Sandin-Zarlengo Judy A. Saslow Diane H. Schafer Richard J. & Sheila Schwartz Mrs. Stewart Seidman Arthur & Suzanne Shawe Ronald K.& June Shelp Bruce B. Shelton Cecille Barger & Myron Benit Shure Randy Siegel Joel & Susan Simon (continued on page 94)

candle in the wind studios collector quality

CRAIG FARROW

woodcarvings

Cabinetmaker

Tammra & Gil Russell 288 Stafford Street Charlton, MA 01507 (508)248-6928 See us at Marilyn Gould's American Craftmanship Shows: Wilmington, DE - May 17 & 18, 1997 Hancock Shaker Village, MA -July 12 & 13, 1997 Wilton, CT - November 15 & 16, 1997

F

,y

Fine Reproduction and Contemporary Art Available at fine galleries Nantucket Country — Nantucket, MA - 508.228.8868 Gallery Americana — Houston, TX - 713.622.6225 For dealer inquiries call 717.240.0797

History and Artistry in Wood 17th and 18th Century American Furniture Reproductions P.O. Box 828 Woodbury, CT 06798

Please call 203-266-027G

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 93

RECENT

MAJOR

DONORS

Continuedfrom page 92 John & Stephanie Smither Geoffrey A.& Elizabeth A. Stern Victor & Carol Millsom Studer Myles & Roberta Tanenbaum James Adams & Ruben Teles Donald & Barbara Tober Mr.& Mrs. Raymond S. Troubh

RECENT

Anne Vanderwarker Karel F. Wahrsager Clifford & Gayle Wallach Bennett & Judie Weinstock Anne G. Wesson Jane Q. Wirtz Jon & Rebecca Zoler

DONORS

Gifts Judith Alexander James Benson Roger Cardinal David L. Davies Glenn P. and Susan D. Dickes Ralph & Eva Fasanella Henry T. Ford and William C. McCallion in memory of Barnaby Millard Jacqueline Fowler Louise E. Francke Edwin F. Gamble Ruth 0. Gildesgame Ellin & Baron J. Gordon T. Marshall Hahn,Jr. Cordelia Hamilton Joan & Victor Johnson

JEAN

LIPMAN

Co -Chairmen Keith & Lauren Morgan Don Walters & Mary Benisek Founding Members Marna Anderson David & Didi Barrett Patrick Bell 8z Edwin Hild Robert & Kathy Booth Richard Braemer & Amy Finkel Lois P. Broder Edward J. & Margaret Brown Virginia G. Cave Allan & Kendra Daniel Michael Del Castello Michael & Janice Doniger Nancy Druckman Scott & Lauren Fine Jay & Gail Furman Wendell Garrett

94 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

TO

THE

COLLECTIONS

Cyril Irwin Nelson Herbert W. Hemphill, Jr. Evelyn & Magdalena Houlroyd May Jones Kiyoko & Nathan Lerner Jean Lipman Frances Sirota & Paul Martinson Gael Mendelsohn Holly Metz Steven J. Michaan Joy Moos Shari Cavin & Randall Morris Museum of Modern Art from the collection of Gordon & Nina Bunshaft Margery Nathanson Cyril I. Nelson Pat O'Brien Parsons

Leo 8z Dorothy Rabkin Marion Harris & Dr. Jerry Rosenfeld Mr. & Mrs. F.F. Randolph, Jr. Martin E. Segal Betty Sterling Leslie Sweedler Maurice and Patricia Thompson Agnes Lester Wade Mr. and Mrs. William G. Webb Susan Yecies Shelly Zegart Bequests Mildred Hart Bailey Trust Laura Harding Anne S. Marsh

FELLOWS

Fred Giampietro Peter & Barbara Goodman Barbara L. Gordon Howard M.Graff Bonnie Grossman Anne Groves Warren & Sue Ellen Haber Pepi & Vera Jelinek Linda E. Johnson Harvey Kahn Allan Katz Steven & Helen Kellogg David & Barbara Krashes Jerry & Susan Lauren Patrick M.& Gloria M.Lonergan Frank Maresca Gad Mendelsohn John E. Oilman J. Randall Plummer Drs. Jeffrey Pressman & Nancy Kollisch

Leo & Dorothy Rabkin Betty Ring Marguerite Riordan Stephen Score Frederic A.& Jean S. Sharf Joseph & Janet Shein Raymond & Linda Simon R. Scudder & Helen Smith Richard & Stephanie Solar Lynn Steuer Donald & Rachel Strauber Stanley & Doris Tananbaum Jim & Judy Taylor David Teiger Sin von Reis Irwin H.& Elizabeth V. Warren Peter & Leslie Warwick G. Marc Whitehead Susan Yecies

PROVENCE --41111‘

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ANNOUNCING THE PREMIERE OF THE

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ARMORY

eYrWertee4, ...the book availablefrom yourfavorite bookseller ...the quilts availablefrom PHILADELPHIA,

PA

Kathryn Berenson Washington, D.C., 202/686-2727

FRIDAY, APRIL 11 thru SUNDAY,APRIL 13, 1997 Fri.: 12 Noon - 5 p.m.

Sat.: 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. Sun.: 12 Noon - 5 p.m.

—.-1THE 1

MAIL ORDER FOLK ART GALLERY QUILTS AMISH AFRICAN-AMERICAN FOLK ART Graphic African-American with crocheted appliques.

Ohio Amish with rare animal border, c. 1920's.

19th & 20th C. Folk, tramp, obsessive, and outsider art.

Carvings, quilts, paintings and lots more.

This Spring plan to attend Philadelphia's uniquely American Antiques Show featuring 39 nationally recognized American Antiques specialists.

No Previews o No Early Buyers This is an event you won't want to miss! o Formal & Rural Furniture a Exceptional Folk Art a Textiles a Ceramics o Fine Art Metalwares * Garden Architecturals o Period Accessories and much more...

BARN STAR Box 256, Mentone, AL 35984 (205)634-4037 http://www.folkartisans.com Home page design & web hosting available.

Free Lists by request. Photos Lent. Specify Interests.

PRODUCTIONS

A Presentation of Barn Star Productions Frank Gaglio, Manager 56 E. Market St., Suite B Rhinebeck, NY 12572

For Brochure and Further Information Call: (914) 876-0616 or Show Phone,(215) 561-2345

SPRING 1997 FOLK ART 95

MAIN STREET ANTIQUES and ART Colleen and Louis Picek Folk Art and Country Americana (319)643-2065 110 West Main, Box 340 West Branch, Iowa 52358 On Interstate 80

Send a self-addressed stamped envelope for our monthly Folk-Art and Americana price list

INDEX

TO

An imaginative old birdhouse 20" x 18" x 16"

ADVERTISERS

Alton Insurance Agency, Inc. 66 American Pie 30 American Primitive Gallery 32 The Ames Gallery 2 Morgan Anderson Americana 14 Antique Arts 67 Art/Quilt Magazine 84 Artisans 95 At Home Gallery 86 Barn Star Productions 95 Kathryn Berenson 95 Christopher Blake 72 Blue Spiral 1 24 Anne Bourassa 60-63 C & T Publishing 78 Candle in the Wind Studios 93 Robert Cargo Folk Art Gallery 23 Christie's 15 Country Living Inside Back Cover Nikki and Tom Deupree 16 Epstein/Powell 21 Craig Farrow 93 Fleisher/Oilman Gallery 3 91 Forbes & Turner Antiques Shows Galerie Bonheur 82 Sidney Gecker 8 Giampietro Back Cover

96 SPRING 1997 FOLK ART

Gilley's Gallery 29 William & Connie Hayes 16 Hedgerow House 89 Heritage Market 68 91 John C. Hill Hustontown 91 Beverly Kaye 79 Kentucky Folk Art Center 82 Knoke Galleries 86 Kurt W. Knudsen 64 June Lambert 25 The LaRoche Collection 29 MBNA America 80 MCG Antiques Promotions,Inc. 84,85 96 Main Street Antiques and Art 1 Steve Miller Museum Charlotte Zander 75 New World 88 North Shore Folk Art Show 86 Peligro 89 William Peltier 30 Penguin Studio 66 87 The Philadelphia Antiques Show 27 J.E. Porcelli Judith Racht Gallery 83 Ricco/Maresca Gallery Inside Front Cover Marguerite Riordan 9

Bryce M. Ritter Riverfest '97 Rosehips Luise Ross Gallery Stella Rubin Judy A. Saslow Gallery Bruce Shelton Greg Shooner John Sideli Steve Slotin Susan Slyman Sotheby's Southern Vision's Pottery and Folk Art Kolene Spicher The Splendid Peasant, Ltd. Jef Steingrebe Peter A. Tillou Fine Arts Walters/Benisek Wanda's Quilts Weathervane Folk Art Gallery Webb Gallery David Wheatcroft Wholly Mackerel Yard Dog Ginger Young Gallery

73 68 28 79 14 88 89 64 17 81 84 7 88 93 12 65 13 4 69 28 74 10 82 79 26

America's Source for Folk Art and Antiques

C i untry Living A PUBLICATION OF HEARST MAGAZINES. A DIVISION OF THE HEARST CORPORATION.

'amfrietro

SAMUEL ROTHBORT (1882-1972) SELF-PORTRAITS AND SCULPTURE

APRIL 1 - MAY 10

GIRL PLAYING LUTE 25 East 73 Street New York, NY 10021 212.861.8571 http:11www.giampietro.comlfolkart