Folk Art (Summer 1999)

MAGAZINE OF THE MUSEUM'Of AMERICAN FOLK ART'* SUMMER 1999

LAURA CRAIG

IneNEL

ARTIST BOOKS AND CATALOGS AVAILABLE PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE OR CALL FOR DETAILS

RICCO/MARESCA GALLERY529 W 20TH ST THIRD FLOOR NYC NY 10011 TEL 212/627-4819 FAX 212/627-5117 E-MAIL rmgal@aol.com WEB www.riccomaresca.com

STEVE MILLER • AMERICAN FOLK ART •

Cast iron weathervane by Rochester Iron Works,Rochester,New Hampshire.

Last quarter of the 19th century.

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.

AMERICAN PRIMITIVE GALLERY 594 Broadway #205

New York, NY 10012

212-966-1530

MON.-SAT. 11-6

RAYMOND COINS (1904- 1998) The largest stone figure (height 43 inches) we have owned in 15 years of representing the art of Raymond Coins.

There are few stone carvers in the folk art field. We also have available works by Tim Lewis, Ted Ludwiczak, William Edmondson and anonymous early stone sculpture.

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FROM OUR COLLECTION OF 19TH CENTURY WEATHERVANES Martin and Kitty Jacobs • South Egremont • Massachusetts 01258 •(413) 528-5755

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WALTERS BENISEK ART S. ANTIQUES ONE AMBER LANE • NORTHAMPTON • MASSACHUSETTS • 01060 • • ( 4 1 3) 586 • 3 9 0 9 • • DON WALTERS • MARY BENISEK

PENN4I

Locomotive and Tender Paintings by Charles H. Caruthers Probably Philadelphia. c. 1860-65 • Gouache and ink on paper • Measurements 18" x 18"

FOLK ART VOLUME 24, NUMBER 2/ SUMMER I 999

FEATURES

Cover: Detail ofDIAMOND IN THE SQUARE QUILT: quilonalcer unidentified, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 1910-1925, wool, 78 x 78", Museum ofAmerican Folk Art, gift ofFreyda Rothstein, 1998.8.2

Folk Art is published four times a year by the Museum of American Folk Art, 555 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019-2925, 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 1999 by the Museum of American Folk Art, 555 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019-2925. 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 offolk 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.

AMISH QUILTS IN THE MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLK ART Elizabeth V. Warren

18

WAS J.A. DAVIS JANE ANTHONY DAVIS? NEW SUPPORTING EVIDENCE Arthur and Sybil Kern

26

A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY: ARCHITECTURE AND VISIONARY EXPERIENCE IN THE ART OF EDDIE LEE KENDRICK Alice Rae Yelen

DEP

AR

T

MEN

32

TS

EDITOR'S COLUMN

6

DIRECTOR'S LETTER

11

MINIATURES

14

MUSEUM REPRODUCTIONS PROGRAM

44

MUSEUM NEWS

52

SUMMER PROGRAMS

57

TRAVELING EXHIBITIONS

57

TRUSTEES/DONORS

58

BOOKS OF INTEREST

62

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART 5

EDITOR'S

COLUMN

ROSEMARY GABRIEL

t has been a very busy spring season for us, and as most of you know, we have moved our administrative offices to 555 West 57th Street. We were literally working out of boxes as we prepared this issue of Folk Art for the printer. But thanks to Jeffrey Grand, Jennifer Scott, Cecilia Popkowski, and Daniel Rodriguez, the move went exceedingly well and we made our deadline. The curatorial and registrar departments also did not skip a beat."The Art of Nellie Mae Rowe: Ninety-Nine and a Half Won't Do"closed on May 16 and was crated for travel to The National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., where it will be on view through August 15. And "Beyond the Square: Color and Design in Amish Quilts" opened without a hitch at our Museum at Two Lincoln Square on May 22.

Although Amish quilts reflect both the Amish community's religious values and the extraordinary creativity of Amish quiltmakers, it is their strong visual qualities that have made them favorites of quilt enthusiasts worldwide. In our cover story,"Amish Quilts in the Museum of American Folk Art," starting on page 18, curator Elizabeth V. Warren highlights some of the quilts in the Museum's current exhibition. These visually arresting quilts, with their spare geometric designs, radiant colors, and grand scale, reflect the essence of Amish cultural traditions and spiritual values.

Spirituality informs many varied folk art expressions. In "A Spiritual Journey: Architecture and Visionary Experience in the Art of Eddie Lee Kendrick," Alice Rae Yelen explores the religious significance and the importance of architecture in the work of this Arkansas folk artist.

Kendrick strongly believed in guardian angels and depicted them hovering above his compelling and fantastic architectural structures. He believed that they watched "over us day and night out through time."

Yelen carefully discusses each of the images chosen to illustrate her insightful essay, which begins on page 32.

As exciting as it is to report on a relatively new artist in our field, it is equally as exciting to be able to offer new information on an artist who was featured in FOUR IN BLOCK-WORK QUILT our publication in 1982 and again in Annie M. Peachey Swarey 1991. Arthur and Sybil Kern, diligent as Yellow Topper Amish, Byler Group Mifflin County, Pennsylvania always, have unearthed new supporting 1925-1935 evidence that paintings signed J.A. Davis Cotton, rayon, and synthetics and dated 1838, 1839, and 1840 are 85 72/ 1 2" Museum of American Folk Art, gift of indeed the work of Jane Anthony Davis.

Mr. and Mrs. William B. Wigton, 1984.25.10 Please read "Was J.A. Davis Jane Anthony Davis? New Supporting Evidence," starting on page 26. For those readers who may not have read the previous essays on the Davis controversy, we will be happy to provide you with photocopies; see the editor's note at the end of the essay on page 30.

I hope you will visit the Museum this summer to see "Beyond the Square." It is a truly beautiful exhibition. Please contact the education department at

I

212/977-7170 for information on related programming and our special Quilt Weekend. Until then,I look forward to being with you again in September.

FOLK ART Rosemary Gabriel Editor and Publisher Jeffrey Kibler, The Magazine Group,Inc. Design Tanya Heinrich Associate Editor Jocelyn Meinhardt Production Editor Loretta Mowat Copy Editor John Hood Advertising Sales Mel Novatt Advertising Sales Patrick H. Calkins Advertising Graphics Craftsmen Litho Printers MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLK ART Administration Gerard C. Werticin Director Riccardo Salmona Deputy Director Jeffrey S. Grand Director ofFinance and Operations Susan Conlon Assistant to the Director Cecilia Popkowsld Accountant Daniel Rodriguez Mailroom Beverly McCarthy Mail Order/Reception Collections a Exhibitions Stacy C. Hollander Senior Curator and Director ofExhibitions Brooke Davis Anderson Director and Curator of The Contemporary Center Ann-Marie Reilly Registrar Judith Gluck Steinberg Assistant Registrar/ Coordinator ofTraveling Exhibitions Sandra Wong Assistant Registrar Dale Gregory Gallery Manager Gina Bianco Consulting Conservator Elizabeth V. Warren Consulting Curator Howard Lanser Consulting Exhibition Designer Kenneth R. Bing Security Departments Cheryl Aldridge Director ofDevelopment Beth Bergin Membership Director Marie S. DiManno Director ofMuseum Shops Susan Flamm Public Relations Director Alice J. Hoffman Director ofLicensing Joan D. Sandler Director ofEducation and Collaborative Programs Janey Fire Photographic Services Christopher Cappiello Membership Associate Jennifer Claire Scott Special Events Coordinator Mary C.Thomas Development Associate Kathy Maqsudi Membership Assistant Wendy Barreto Membership Clerk 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/Curator ofSpecial Projects for The Contemporary Center Madelaine Gill Administrative Assistant, Education Barbara W.Cate Educational Consultant Dr. Marilynn Karp Director, New York University Master's and PhD.Program in Folk Art Studies Dr. Judith Reiter Weissman Coordinator, New York University Program Arlene Hochman Docent Coordinator Linda Simon Associate Docent Coordinator Museum Shop Staff Managers: Dorothy Gargiulo, Caroline Hohenrath, Rita Ponta, Suzanne Sypulski; Security: Bienvenido Medina; Volunteers: Marie Anderson, Olive Bates, Angela Clair, Sally Frank, Millie Gladstone, Emily Mann, Nancy Mayer, Judy Rich, Frances Rojack,Phyllis Selnick, Lola Silvergleid, Maxine Spiegel, Marion Whitley Museum of American Folk Art Book and Gift Shop Two Lincoln Square(Columbus Avenue at 66th Street) New York, NY 10023-6214 212/496-2966 Administrative Offices

aA7 If SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART

Museum of American Folk Art 555 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019-2925 212/977-7170,Fax 212/977-8134, http://www.follcartmuseum.org

polychrome carved wood 800 160 14'

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Lenope c 1971

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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@aol.com Website: http://members.aol.com/gingerart2/

Face Jug

by Lanier Meaders 10" tall, circa 1980

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DIRECTOR'S

LETTER

GERARD C. WERTIGN

n the spring 1997 issue of Folk Art, I announced the formation of The Contemporary Center of the Museum of American Folk Art. Although newly organized as a Museum department, The Contemporary Center is rooted in the institution's long-standing commitment to the work of twentieth-century self-taught artists. This aspect of the Museum's mission may be traced back three decades to a series of provocative exhibitions organized by the late Herbert W.Hemphill Jr., the Museum's first curator.

It is now my pleasure to announce the appointment of Brooke Davis Anderson as director and curator of The Contemporary Center, effective June 1,1999. Since 1992, Brooke has been the much admired director of the Diggs Gallery at Winston-Salem State University, North Carolina, where she also served as assistant professor of fine arts. During her tenure at the Diggs, Brooke earned a national reputation for the excellence and rigor of her exhibitions, which supported the teaching mission of the historically black university. Among her presentations was "The Art and Mystery of Memory Jugs," one of many fascinating explorations in which she drew upon African and African American materials.

Having earned a Master of Arts degree in New York University's graduate program in folk art studies in 1990,she is well known to the Museum of American Folk Art community. On behalf of the trustees and staff of the Museum and the support committee of The Contemporary Center,I am delighted to welcome Brooke "home." My thanks go to Brooke for accepting this new challenge, and to the members of The Contemporary Center's search committee, Trustees Anne Blanchard and Sam Farber, and Didi Barrett, who joined me in interviewing a gifted roster of candidates.

There are other significant changes in the Museum's curatorial staffing. I have appointed Stacy C. Hollander, who has served as the Museum's curator since 1992, as senior curator and director of exhibitions. Stacy joined the professional staff in 1985; the exhibition program has flourished under her discerning eye and direction. She has organized many memorable exhibitions, including "Every Picture Tells A Story: Word and Image in American Folk Art"(1994-1995)and "A Place for Us: Vernacular Architecture in American Folk Art" (1996-1997), among others. More recently, Stacy has had a major role in planning for the Museum's new building, especially the installation of the permanent collection.

Lee Kogan, director of the Museum's Folk Art Institute and curator of the exhibition "The Art of Nellie Mae Rowe: Ninety-Nine and a Half Won't Do," now on view at The National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., takes on additional responsibilities in the newly created position of curator of special projects for The Contemporary Center. Well known as an inspiring teacher and an expert on the work of twentieth-century self-taught artists, Lee is also an adjunct assistant professor of art and art education at New York University.

The appointment of Brooke Anderson and the expanded roles of Stacy Hollander and Lee Kogan point to the exceptional growth of the Museum's permanent collection and the diversity of its programs. At the most recent meeting of the Museum's Collections Committee, works of art were accepted for the collection that demonstrate how effective the Museum's outreach in collection development has been,

I

across the wide range of objects that the Museum collects, conserves, interprets, and presents. Some splendid nineteenth-century watercolors—a fine Cape Ann, Massachusetts,family record,for example, and the first painting by Joseph H. Davis to enter the collection—were added, as were some vigorous twentieth-century works,like Drossos Skyllas' self-portrait. My warm appreciation goes to all the very generous donors to the permanent collection, including Ralph 0.Esmerian, president of the Museum's Board of Trustees, and Joshua Feldstein.

This letter is being written the day after the move of the Museum's administrative offices to 555 West 57th Street in New York City. During the last several weeks at our prior offices, the members of the staff spent many hours preparing for the move, packing boxes and organizing the transfer of archives covering almost four decades of operation. I fully expect this to be the last move of these offices until they are installed finally at our new home on West 53rd Street about two years from now.In the meantime we have secured space on terms that are far more favorable than previously, permitting us to conserve resources while providing the staff with a better working environment.

Gerard C. Wertkin and Brooke Davis Anderson The hero of this undertaking was Jeffrey S. Grand, the Museum's director of finance and operations.

The staging of a move is complicated under any set of circumstances, but the need to transfer a 10,000-volume library and archival collection and to have systems up and running with as little interruption as possible posed a major challenge. Jeff not only supervised the move but also was in the trenches himself every day until the offices were fully functioning in their new location.

As this issue of Folk Art reaches you,"Beyond the Square: Color and Design in Amish Quilts" is now on view at the Museum's Eva and Morris Feld Gallery at Lincoln Square. Generously sponsored by Philip Morris Companies Inc., the exhibition highlights another distinguished element of the Museum's collection. Expertly organized by the Museum's widely respected consulting curator, Elizabeth V. Warren, the exhibition is ajoy to behold. Please visit soon and enjoy this outstanding visual treat. *

SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART LI

"Exuberant Spirit" 1998, Oil on canvas, 71 x 76 5 inches.

Matt Lamb ArtSpace VIRGINIA MILLER GALLERIES Coral Gables (Miami), Florida • Summer Exhibit 1999 May 28 - June 19, 1999

Meet Matt Lamb conversation, work shop and exhibition G. A. S. GALLERY Hamtramck, Michigan • Director: Michael Hall

Various catalogues available. For further information contact:

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CAVIN-MORRIS GALLERY 560 Broadway, Suite 405B New York, NY 10012 tel: (212) 226-3768 fax:(212) 226-0155 Mvsteries@aol.com www.artnet.comkavinmorris.html

MINIATURES

CHELSEA SAW MILL, Jacob Kass, Vershire, Vermont, 1980, oil and acrylic on half-circular steel saw, 23/ 1 2 x 42/ 1 2 , collection of Ray Kass, Christiansburg, Virginia

COMPILED BY TANYA HEINRICH

Justin McCarthy as Cultural Filter The Noyes Museum (609/6528848)in Oceanville, N.J., will present "The Cinematic 'I': Justin McCarthy, Maverick American Painter," an exhibition of approximately 60 works by the Pennsylvania artist, from June 20 to Oct. 3. Randall Morris and Shari Cavin will serve as curators. Justin McCarthy (1892-1977)retreated into a life of relative seclusion in Weatherly following five years of hospitalization for mental instability after an unsuccessful period at law school. The exhibition will explore the artist's filmic visual response to his

intake of popular media and the surrounding landscape.

McCarthy's paintings and drawings evoke a distinct American drama populated by sports heroes, show business personalities, and historical figures, and are vividly rendered with strong lines, bold colors, and an acute sense of motion. The exhibition will also feature a landscape and still-life component, demonstrating the artist's ability to edit images as if through a lens.

Painted Saws "Painted Saws of Jacob Kass" will be on view at The Mennello Museum of American Folk Art (407/246-4278)in Orlando, Fla., from June 17 to Sept. 30. Kass, who joined his family's carriageand wagon-(and later truck-) painting business in Brooklyn, N.Y.,retained his skills as a mas-

ter letterer and illustrator when he took up painting precisely rendered farm scenes on steel hand saws and saw blades upon his retirement in Vermont in 1997.

Inspired by his choice of medium,the artist created vivid landscapes subtly determined by the shape and surface of the saws.

Important Exhibition of Illinois Jacquard Coverlets

WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE, Justin McCarthy, Weatherly, Pennsylvania, c. 1960, oil on board, 24 x 36", collection of lay Tobler, New York

African American Art in Milwaukee "African American Art: A Decade of Collecting" will be on view at the Milwaukee Art Museum (414/224-3200)from June 18 to Aug. 29. The exhibition focuses on the growth in the representation of works by African American artists in the museum's collection during the past 10 years. Works by self-

taught artists William "Prophet" Blackmon, Ulysses Davis, Josephus Farmer,James Hampton, Daniel Pressley, Nellie Mae Rowe,Simon Sparrow, Bill Traylor, and Purvis Young will be exhibited alongside mainstream artists Romare Beardon, Willie Cole, Glenn Ligon,Lorna Simpson, and James van der Zee.

The Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences(309/686-7000)in Peoria, Ill., is presenting the exhibition "Illinois Jacquard Coverlets and Weavers: End of a Legacy"—the culmination of a 20-year research and collecting project—through Aug. 15. With the invention of the mechanical Jacquard loom attachment in 1806 and its introduction in the United States in'the early 1820s, coverlet weavers were able to incorporate multiple variations of motifs such as flowers, birds, stars, and simple buildings into their patterns without the help of an assistant.

The handwoven textiles industry, comprised largely of German and English immigrant males, moved westward from the East Coast and flourished in Ohio and Indiana, but ultimately faded in Illinois because of increasing competition

from factory-made blankets and changing fashion. The majority of Illinois coverlets date from the 1850s; production was largely suspended during the Civil War and was resumed with a small revival in the late 1860s through 187L The exhibition of 47 coverlets is accompanied by a comprehensive, fully illustrated catalog, which documents more than 100 extant coverlets and 18 weavers.

COVERLET (detail), August Braten and Christian Wagner, Pekin, Tazewell County, Illinois, 1849, cotton and wool, 83/ 1 4 x 73", Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences, 98.13.2 24 SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART

MANHATTAN ART & ANTIQUES CENTER Wisconsin Concrete Park Celebration The Friends of Fred Smith (715/339-6371) will be hosting the annual Concrete Park Celebration, a day of music, theater, tours, and food, on Saturday, Aug. 14,from 12:00 to 4:00 P.M. in Phillips, Wis. Friends of Fred Smith is a nonprofit organization devoted to the maintenance and preservation of the artist's sculptural environment. The event is free and open to the public.

Smith, a former logger, began to animate his spread of 120 acres with oversize concrete figures of animals and people in 1950, when he was 65 years old. Each piece consists of a wood frame covered in concrete and embellished with colored glass, metal, and minor.

The resulting parklike atmosphere with more than 200 sculptures has become a popular roadside attraction.

Superlative Traylors in Vermont "Bill Traylor 1854-1949: Deep Blues," an exhibition organized by the Kunstmuseum in Bern, Switzerland, will be on view from June 17 to Aug. 22 at the Robert Hull Fleming Museum

(802/656-0750) at The University of Vermont in Burlington, the only United States venue on the tour. A daylong seminar on June 19 will feature a keynote lecture

by Roger Cardinal.

Lavern Kelley 1928-1998 Lavern Kelley, a nationally renowned woodcarver, died suddenly at age 70 on December 11, 1998, of bacterial pneumonia in Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, N.Y. Born on a farm just outside Oneonta, N.Y., Kelley's lifelong occupations were dairy farming and logging; his lifelong pleasure was woodcarving.

As a boy, Kelley had no toys and was inspired to make his own,and he continued to carve throughout his life, using the same penknife for many years.

His large body of brightly polychromed carvings includes farmyard environments, trucks, tractors, farm equipment, and figures that were mostly inspired by people he knew. The works were realistic, close to scale, and exact in detail. He exhibited a strong passion for John Deere equipment,completing nearly 500 vehicles alone. He also displayed with orderly pride two dozen

working John Deere machines on the grounds around his farm.

Kelley began showing his carvings at Gallery 53, a nonprofit exhibition space in Cooperstown,in 1985. His works are included in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, N.M., and the New York Historical Association in Cooperstown. A one-person show at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y.,in 1989 was accompanied by a catalog. A New York State Council on the Arts "Folk Artist in Residence" grant in 1986 marked the first of many opportunities for him to carve in public, where he was very popular with collectors and fellow carvers alike.

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American Folk Art Sidney Gecker WOOD CARVED SCULPTURE OF JACK JOHNSON 2INCHES 1 WOOD AND WOOL(FOR HAIR)• HEIGHT:18/

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1111 SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART

he Amish quilt collection of the Museum of American Folk Art is important not only because it comprises a significant percentage of the total collection (approximately onequarter of more than 400 quilts), but also because it includes examples from most of the major Amish quiltmaking centers: Lancaster and Mifflin Counties in Pennsylvania; Ohio; and Indiana. This varied assemblage provides an opportunity to compare and contrast the quilting traditions of the different areas and, in the process, consider the ways of life in these communities that led to the creation of a distinctive style of American quilt. As guest curator, I have chosen twenty of these for the exhibition "Beyond the Square: Color and Design in Amish Quilts," on view at the Museum through November 7.

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DIAMOND IN THE SQUARE QUILT Quiltmaker unidentified Lancaster County, Pennsylvania 1910-1925 Wool 78 78" Gift of Freyda Rothstein, 1998.8.2

FOUR PATCH IN TRIANGLES QUILT 110.

Barbara Zook Peachey 11848-19301 Yellow Topper Amish, Byler Group Mifflin County, Pennsylvania 1910-1920 Cotton 85/ 1 2x 783/4" Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William B. Wigton, 1984.25.12

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The exhibition "Beyond the Square: Color and Design In Amish Quilts" is sponsored by

PHILIP MORRIS COMPANIES

INC.

SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART 110

The history, sociology, and religion of the Amish have all been fully discussed in many books. It is, however, beneficial to bear some of this background in mind when looking at the quilts in the Museum's collection and considering why they are distinct from other forms of American quilts.

these religions, including elaborate dress and ornate churches, and instead chose the simplicity of the early Christians as their model.

The Amish were followers of Jacob Amman (c. 1644—c. 1730), a Swiss Mennonite bishop who was so conservative that he severed his ties with the Mennonite Church in the

Harshly persecuted in Europe for their beliefs, the Amish began to migrate to America at the invitation of William Penn. The first group probably arrived with other "Pennsylvania Germans" in 1727 or 1737. During the colonial period they settled on the rich farmland of Berks, Chester, and Lancaster Counties in Pennsylvania,

CENTER STAR WITH CORNER STARS QUILT Unidentified member of the Glick family Probably Arthur, Illinois 1890-1900 Wool with cotton backing 76/ 3 4 82/ 1 2" Gift of Phyllis Haders, 1985.3.1

The Amish in America today are the descendants of the Swiss Brethren, part of the strong Anabaptist movement that followed the Reformation in the sixteenth century. The Amish rejected what they saw as the decadence of the Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches of their day.

Along with other Anabaptist sects, the Amish repudiated the iconography of

20 SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART

1690s partly because he believed it was not strict enough in its practice of Meidung, or shunning those who deviate from the Ordnung, or rules of conduct of the Church. Amman's followers formed the group, later called Amish after him, that migrated to the Palatinate region along the Rhine and to the Netherlands.

where they could continue the way of life they had led in Europe, which they essentially lead today. The Amish attempt to keep themselves separate from the outside world, and they generally reject those modern conveniences such as electricity, cars, telephones, and televisions that they feel would bring them into contact with that world. Their style of dress, a

fashion closer to eighteenth-century Europe than twentieth-century America, is also meant to distinguish them as a group apart.

The Amish, like other Germanic groups, did not bring a tradition of quiltmaking to America with them.

Blankets, featherbeds, and woven coverlets were the more typical styles of

known examples exist that can be dated before 1870. The quiltmalcing tradition seems to have taken hold among the Amish in the 1870s and 1880s, and the majority of Amish quilts extant today were made between the 1880s and the 1960s) As befits the conservative lifestyle of the Amish and their religious prohibition against naturalistic images, the earliest Amish quilts were made of large pieces of a single-colored fabric (either cotton or wool), much like the whole-cloth wool quilts made in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries by "English" quiltmakers. By the end of the nineteenth century, these were followed by quilts with more colors and more design elements, although large, geometric pieces of solid-colored fabric were still the norm. The classic Lancaster County designs—Center Square, Diamond in the Square, and Bars—are examples of patterns that originated in the nineteenth century and continued to be made through the twentieth century, partly due to the conservatism of all aspects of Amish life.

LANCASTER COUNTY QUILTS

he Diamond in the Square pattern, unique to Lancaster County, is probably an Amish adaptation of the center medallion style of quilt that was popular among "English" quiltmakers in the first half of the nineteenth century. The Amish woman's selection of this outmoded style of quilt was not happenstance. According to Amish quilt historian Eve Wheatcroft Granick, the choice of the old-fashioned medallion style "seems to have been a deliberate attempt to make their quilts in accordance with Amish standards of nonconformity to 'English' fashion."2 The Diamond in the Square Quilt in this exhibition is composed of many typical Lancaster County features: The fabrics are fine-quality solid-colored wools, since patterned

T

DOUBLE NINE PATCH QUILT Mrs. Dan Troyer Holmes County, Ohio 1915-1925 Cotton 1 4" 75/ 3 4 43/ Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William B. Wigton, 1984.25.19

bedding. At some point in the nineteenth century, the Amish learned to make quilts from their "English" neighbors, which is what they call all people outside their sect. There are very few documents (mostly estate inventories) that mention quilts among the Amish between the 1830s and the 1870s, but such quilts had to have been exceedingly rare, and only two

material, although sometimes found on the back, was considered too "worldly" for quilt tops; the dimensions are square; and the center motif is surrounded by a narrow inner border and a particularly wide outer border, which is finished with proportionately large corner blocks.

This quilt, like a great many other Amish examples, is also characterized by stitching of exquisite quality. Although most Amish quilts were pieced together with a foot-powered treadle sewing machine (acceptable because it does not use electricity), they were typically quilted by hand.

This bedcover includes favorite Lancaster County motifs such as a wreathstar center and a grapevine in the inner border. Quite possibly the realistic quilting motifs, such as the grapevine and the stars, were the maker's way of circumventing her society's prohibition against naturalistic designs.

Fruits, flowers, baskets, and other nongeometric forms were often appliquéd onto the quilts of her "gay Dutch" (non-Amish Pennsylvania Germans) and "English" (any other Americans) neighbors. While the Amish generally rejected appliqués because they served no practical purpose, they may have felt it was acceptable to stitch many of the same designs into their quilts, satisfying themselves with the knowledge that their tiny, precise stitches were necessary to hold the backing, filling, and top together.

The Lancaster County Double Nine Patch Quilt in the exhibition is an example of a pattern that was probably developed after the classic Center Square, Diamond in the Square, and Bars designs, most likely in the later nineteenth or early twentieth century.

Double Nine Patch is a block-work pattern, popular in the outside world by the middle of the nineteenth century but not seen among the Amish until much later.

It is in the beautiful, bold wool examples of Lancaster County that one is made particularly aware of the striking colors chosen by the Amish women for their quilts. While much of the color choice for a quilt was determined by the fabrics and dyes available at any particular time, community values and informal rules regarding the appropriateness of a specific color choice also

SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART

21

influenced the maker's selections. It is sometimes confusing, therefore, to compare the bright colors of the quilts against the "plain" face that the Amish present to the outside world. However, since the Amish Ordnung does not specifically refer to quilts, the women were not prevented from combining the deep jewel tones and vivid pastels they favored with more expected—and somber—earth shades and other dark colors. And while the brightly colored fabrics were often purchased specially for quiltmaking, some Amish still use pinks, blues, greens, and other bright colors for their clothing, particularly for children, although the vivid hues are frequently hidden beneath a black cape or jacket.

MIFFLIN COUNTY QUILTS

ifflin County, Pennsylvania— specifically the Kishacoquillas Valley ("Kish Valley" or "Big Valley," as it is commonly called)—has been home to the Amish since the 1790s, when several families moved there from Lancaster and Chester Counties. Currently, five separate and distinct Amish groups, all stemming from an original church that existed until the 1850s, occupy the Big Valley, and each maintains its own distinguishing rules, including those that encompass clothing colors and styles, buggy styles, housing styles and decoration, and quiltmalcing.3 The Museum's collection includes quilts made by members of three of these Amish groups. In general, the simplest examples tend to be those made by the Nebraska Amish, the most conservative group, not only in the Big Valley but in all of North America. Fourand nine-patch variations were the only kinds of patterns permitted among the Nebraska Amish, and the

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22 SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART

color choices allowed the quiltmakers were also extremely limited.

Two of the bedcovers included in the exhibition, Four in Block-Work Quilt and Four Patch in Triangles Quilt, were made by members of the Byler Group, also called the "Yellow Topper" Amish because of the color of their buggy tops. The Byler church is slightly less conservative than the Nebraska Amish, as is evidenced by

the use of some bright colors in their quilts. However, as is clear from the patterns chosen by the makers of these and other quilts from Mifflin County in the Museum's collection, four- and nine-patch patterns would appear to be the most popular designs among all the groups in the Big Valley.

Unlike Lancaster County, where wool was the fabric of choice for quilts, Mifflin County Amish quilts

HUMMINGBIRDS QUILT Quiltmaker unidentified Shipshewana, Indiana 1920-1930 Cotton 87/ 3 4 x 68/ 1 4" Gift of David Pottinger, 1980.37.69

DOUBLE NINE PATCH QUILT Quiltmaker unidentified Lancaster County, Pennsylvania 1930-1940 Wool and wool-rayon blend 79% x 75/ 3 4" Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William B. Wigton, 1984.25.5

are commonly found in a variety of fabrics, and often the fabrics were mixed in a single quilt. The Four in Block-Work Quilt (illustrated on page 6) was probably made between 1925 and 1935 by Annie M. Peachey Swarey, who used a number of different fabrics in her quilt, including pieces of the newly available cotton/rayon. The American Viscose Corporation opened a factory in Lewiston, Pennsylvania, in 1921, making rayon -readily available to the Amish through a local outlet shop.

Amish quilts from Mifflin County, therefore, will often show a characteristic use of this fabric much earlier than those made in other communities.4 The oldest Mifflin County quilts in the Museum's collection were made by members of a third Amish

church in the Big Valley, the Peachey or "Black Topper" Amish.

This group has been described as slightly more liberal than the other two groups discussed here,5 and both of these quilts are examples of patterns that were common in the outside world, although their peak popularity among the "English" probably occurred at least a generation before they were adopted by the Amish. Wool and cotton Log Cabin quilts such as the Barn Raising example in this exhibition became popular among most quiltmakers in the outside world in the 1860s. By the end of the nineteenth century, when this quilt was made by Lydia A. Kanagy Peachey, Log Cabins were more likely to be show quilts made of luxurious and impractical fabrics such as silk.

The Log Cabin Quilt in this exhibition was made of both wool and cotton in rich, saturated colors that were particularly popular among the Peachey quiltmakers. Of special interest is the fact that there has been some minor use of patterned fabrics— checks and inconspicuous prints—on this quilt. As mentioned above, patterned fabrics are generally considered too worldly for use by the Amish.

Occasionally, however, rather than wasting material, the maker will use a small check or print that has been acquired in a bundle of fabrics in a subdued way, such as for the tiny chimney of a Log Cabin block.

The second Peachey Amish quilt in the exhibition, the Crazy Patch Quilt, is also an Amish adaptation of a pattern common in the outside world at an earlier time. According to family history, the quilt was made by Leah Zook Hartzler for her sister, Lydia, on the occasion of Lydia's marriage to Daniel J. Yoder in 1903. In the outside world, Crazy Quilts reached their peak of popularity in the 1880s. This remarkable example can be considered both an Amish woman's interpretation of a design that was already waning among quiltmakers outside her community and a quilt that is totally in keeping with the relatively narrow aesthetic parameters set by that community.

While obviously influenced by the fanciful silk and velvet Crazy Quilts popular in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the Amish maker of this quilt has imposed order and regularity on what is by definition a disordered and asymmetrical design.

The "crazy" patches are neatly set off by pumpkin-colored squares at the corners, and on close examination it can be seen that even the irregular patches themselves are ordered by a traditional Mifflin County four-patch pattern.

MIDWESTERN QUILTS y far the largest number of Amish quilts in the Museum's collection were made in the Midwest, particularly Indiana and

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SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART 23

Ohio. This reflects both the large settlements of Amish in these two states and the popularity of quiltmaking in these communities, as well as the fact that the Museum was the beneficiary of a generous gift of Indiana quilts in 1980.6 What may be the oldest midwestern quilt in the Museum's collection, however, was probably made in one of the comparatively smaller communities. Although there is no genealogical information to prove exactly where the Center Star with Corner Stars Quilt was made, it resembles a group of quilts made in the Arthur, Illinois, community in the late nineteenth century.7 This stable and prosperous community is known for the use of fine materials, a strong color sense, and unusual borders and piecing arrangements,8 all of which can be seen on this uncommon quilt.

Another unusual quilt in the exhibition is the Double Nine Patch Quilt from Holmes County, Ohio, which is neither a crib nor a full-size quilt but rather a long and narrow / 4 x 431 shape (753 / 4"). This elongated textile was probably used as a lounge quilt and was made for the small, usually narrow daybeds that were once used in Amish parlors in place of upholstered sofas.9 Perhaps the greatest difference between Amish quilts made in the Midwest and those made in Pennsylvania is the increased number of patterns found in the Midwest, both those borrowed from the outside world and those that originated in the Amish communities. The greater variety of patterns may be a by-product of the fact that the Amish in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and elsewhere in the Midwest generally do not live in such concentrated communities as their counterparts in Pennsylvania and consequently have more opportunities to be exposed to the outside world and its influences. Because of the slightly less restrictive nature of life in some midwestern Amish communities,10 there may have been greater freedom to experiment with quilt patterns.

This great range of patterns can be seen in the large grouping of midwestern Amish quilts that are part of the Museum's collection. Typically, the quilts are block designs surrounded, like most Amish quilts, by a

24 SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART

narrow inner border and a wide outer border. Cotton is the preferred fabric, although a variety of different cotton weaves are used (sometimes in a single quilt), and pieces of other fabrics such as wool may be found along with the cotton on some quilts.

The Indiana quilts in the exhibition demonstrate color combinations that were particularly preferred by the Amish in the Midwest from the 1920s through the 1940s, when most of the quilts in the Museum's collection were made. In the early twentieth century, black became a favorite color for quilts, especially as a background. Sometimes, a dark blue was chosen instead. Both colors provided a strong contrast to the bold reds, yellows, blues, greens, and other hues that the quiltmakers frequently selected for their patterns.

Such a dark and bright color combination often made even the simplest pattern appear especially exciting.

The Hummingbirds Quilt, for example, an exceptionally graphic quilt, derives its visual appeal from rows of inexpertly stitched four-pointed stars in vivid colors set against a black field.

By the middle of the twentieth century, Amish quiltmaking in all of the communities had undergone tremendous changes. A lighter color palette gained acceptance among many of the quilters, and synthetic fabrics— often in harsh hues—began to be widely used. Amish women became aware that there are rules in the outside world about what colors go with others, and so their wonderful, uninhibited juxtapositions of colors were replaced by more common combinations. Many quilters also began using synthetic batting, which tends to be thicker than cotton. This results in fewer stitches per inch and the selection of less intricate quilting patterns. Finally, as the quilts became valuable collectibles, some Amish started copying the old patterns for the new market, creating quilts that, while often still very effective, lack the inspiration of the originals.

Amish quiltmaking today, although very different from fifty years ago, still retains its conservative aspect. While contemporary quilters in the outside world experiment with hand-dyed fabrics, threedimensional constructions, and other

avant-garde techniques, Amish quiltmakers tend to specialize in the traditional patterns that have been popular for the past 150 years. Frequently, these quilts are made for sale to tourists, since Amish women have found that quiltmaking is an acceptable way to supplement their income.

But while the restrictions of just a few generations ago have disappeared—for example, patterned fabrics and appliqués are now acceptable—they appear to have been replaced by a resistance to experimenting with the contemporary fashion for creating fabric "art." This is consistent with the tradition of Amish quiltmaking, as one of the reasons Amish women may have been allowed to create such masterpieces originally was that the quilts were intrinsically functional and never intended as works of art.* 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.

Elizabeth V. Warren is the consulting curator ofthe Museum ofAmerican Folk Art.

NOTES 1 Eve Wheatcroft Granick, The Amish Quilt(Intercourse, Pa.: Good Books, 1989), p. 29.

2 Ibid., p. 76.

3 See ibid., p. 91,for a chart on the evolution of Amish and Mennonite groups in Mifflin County.

4 Ibid., p. 94.

5 Ibid., p. 91.

6 In 1980,David Pottinger gave the Museum of American Folk Art ninety-two midwestern Amish quilts. Most were from Indiana, but the gift also included quilts made in Ohio and from the Amish community of Haven, Kansas, which had close ties to the settlements in Indiana.

7 Eve Wheatcroft Granick, interview with the author, 1993.

8 Granick, The Amish Quilt, p. 141.

9 Stanley A. Kaufman with Leroy Beachy,Amish in Eastern Ohio(Walnut Creek, Ohio: German Culture Museum, 1990), p.48.

10 The Schwartzentruber Amish in Ohio and the Old Order Amish in Indiana are among the most conservative of all Amish groups.

CRAZY PATCH QUILT Leah Zook Hartzler Black Topper Amish, Peachey Group Mifflin County, Pennsylvania 1903 Wool and cotton with cotton embroidery 88 < 75" Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William B. Wigton, 1984.25.15

SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART 25

Was J.A. Davis Jane Anthony Davis?

New Suoporting Evidence

By Arthur and Sybil Kern

\/\/ho was the folk painter previously known only as J.A. Davis? In two previous published essays by the authors,' on the basis of extensive and lengthy study of the portraits

by J.A. Davis and of the life of Jane Anthony Davis, it was concluded that the latter was indeed the painter of the large number of delightful early-nineteenth-century watercolors previously attributed to J.A. Davis. This conclusion was reached for several reasons: There was no evidence whatsoever to support the consideration of any other individual; Jane Anthony Davis lived and was of an appropriate age at the time of the artist's active period; she resided in Warwick and Providence, Rhode Island, and Norwich, Connecticut, the areas where most of the sitters of the artist lived and where the majority of the paintings have been found; she died very shortly after the last known dated portrait; and, most importantly, she was a friend, neighbor, or relative of most of the subjects of J.A. Davis.

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JOSEPH WARREN GARDNER 1841 Watercolor, pencil, and ink on paper 4" 3 2 5/ / 71 Private collection Inscribed: Joseph Wanton Gardner/Born May 31 1836/Taken Feb. 5 1841/ Aged 4 yrs. 9 mo./By LA. Davis

Despite the fact that all this evidence pointed to the fact that J.A. Davis and Jane Anthony Davis were one and the same, there was one thing that bothered us: the portrait of Samuel Demeritt painted in 1838, the two of Stephen N. Tingley dated 1839, and the double portrait of Mary and Jacob Withington painted in 1840 are all inscribed "By J.A. Davis," when Jane Anthony was not yet married and therefore did not carry the Davis name. However, close examination of these inscriptions, as well as of later ones, shows no consistency in style of execution, leading the authors and a handwriting expert to conclude that different people had been responsible for the inscriptions. It is likely, therefore, that the four inscriptions in question were added sometime after the artist's marriage, thus explaining use of the Davis name. Two observations support this hypothesis. Many J.A. Davis portraits have an empty space or box below the painting, suggesting that this was left by the artist in the event that someone might desire to add an inscription later.

Significantly, on the two portraits of Stephen Tingley, his name is centered within the inscription box with the date of execution barely squeezed in, while the words "By J.A. Davis," in a different hand, are in the painted border below the box; the signature would appear to have been added sometime after completion of the portrait.

Nevertheless, at least one other person, the very knowledgeable researcher and writer Colleen C. Heslip, did not wholly accept our thesis. In a letter to the editor of The Clarion2 she raised the same question concerning the portraits from 1838 through 1840, endiS like;y ing her letter the tour that with the following: inscriptions in The Kerns have done an impressive question were amount of research added sometime and have posed a after the artist's likely candidate for marriage, thus the identity of the use of explaining them artist. I wish the Davis name. luck on their con-

SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART 27

tinuing research, and hope that they will answer these four years nine months indicated by the painting's inscripproblems as they uncover further evidence." tion. Supporting evidence concerning the age of Joseph Although certain that our conclusion was the cor- Wanton Gardner is found both in Washington County, rect one, we too hoped that, in time, additional supporting Rhode Island Births 1770 to 1850,5 which records the evidence would be uncovered. Ideally, we might find Jane birth of Joseph Wanton, son of Gould and Mary Gardner, Anthony's diary in which she would describe her activity on September 27, 1799, and in a publication on Washingas a painter of portraits. Unfortu- ton County, Rhode Island, births and marriages from nately, we have not yet been this gravestone inscriptions that lists the marriage of Mary W. fortunate. However, what we have Hendrick to Joseph Wanton Gardiner, born on September discovered is a typical portrait by 26, 1799.6 In addition, a publication on Exeter, Rhode J.A. Davis, and a genealogical Island, cemeteries' lists his birth as September 26, 1799, investigation of it has demon- his death as October 6, 1881, and his burial as being in the strated that the inscription must Exeter Historical Cemetery. There is no question, then, have been added at a later date by that there was a Joseph Wanton Gardner, but it is obvious someone other than the artist. This that he could not have been the subject. A search of all validates our conclusion that the pertinent sources failed to disclose any evidence of inscriptions on the portraits from another Joseph Wanton Gardner born in 1836.

1838 through 1840 were likewise If the subject was not Joseph Wanton Gardner, who added later. was he? The family genealogy records that Joseph Wanton A charming watercolor of a Gardner's fourth child was Joseph Warren, born in March full-length standing boy is in- 1836,8 the year of the subject's birth according to the scribed "Joseph Wanton Gard- painting's inscription. This suggested that the son, rather Owe ner/Born May 31 1836/Taken than the father, was the subject. Turning to the InternaFeb. 5 1841/Aged 4 yrs. 9 mo./By tional Genealogical Index, we found that a Joseph Warren again, confusion J.A. Davis."3 An investigation Gardiner was born in Exeter, Rhode Island, in March between the started with a search for a pub- 1836. We were again surprised to discover that the Index similarlished genealogy of the Gardner reports that his father was Joseph Warren Gardiner (not sounding names, (Gardiner) family. The one Joseph Wanton). A visit was then made to the office of the Wanton and found,4 published in 1907, yielded Exeter town clerk. There, in town records,9 we found the a real surprise: Joseph Wanton following: "North Kingston February 19th 1829/I Hereby Warren, resulted Gardner, the subject of the por- Certify that Joseph W. Gardner, son of Gould and Sally in the giving of trait, is reported to have been born [Mary] Gardner of Exeter, and Mary W. Hendrick of wrong information on September 26, 1799. In 1841, North Kingston, daughter of James and Hannah Hendrick, by those when the painting was executed, were Lawfully Joined together in marriage by me/Wm. descendants who he would have been almost forty- Northrup Elder." This was followed by a listing of their supplied it. two years of age, rather than the children: "Harrison Gardner, Eldest Son to Joseph W.

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STEPHEN N. TINGLEY 1839 Watercolor, pencil, and ink on paper 73 / 4 53 / 4" Private collection Inscribed: Mr. Stephen N. Tingley/1839/By LA. Davis

Gardner by Mary his Wife was Born May Eighteenth day AD 1830 on the third day of the week./Green Gardner was born Nov 24 AD 1831./Mary Field Gardner was born Sept 10 AD 1834,/J. Warren Gardner was born March ara 1836/Owen G. Gardner was born June 8 1845/Massina T. Gardner was born Nov 9 1846/Ansel B. Gardner was born Jany 29 1849/Calvin P. Gardner was born April 24 1851."

The International Genealogical Index was then searched for the children of J. Wanton Gardner (Gardiner), and in each instance the name of the father is given as Joseph Warren. It is clear that this is erroneous, since we know from the original Exeter town records that Joseph Warren was their brother and not their father. Once again, confusion between the similarsounding names, Wanton and Warren, resulted in the giving of wrong information by those descendants who supplied it.'째 On the basis of all of the above, it is obvious that the inscription on the portrait is incorrect. The subject could not have been Joseph Wanton Gardner and must have been Joseph Warren, his son." This is significant in that it leads to the fact that if the inscription had been placed by J.A. Davis at the time the painting was executed, she would undoubtedly have known the name of her subject. The fact that the name of the father is erroneously recorded indicates that it must have been inscribed at a later date, probably by a descendant.

The demonstration of the fact that an inscription was placed on the painting at a later date supports our conclusion that the same occurred in the case of the portraits from 1838, 1839, and 1840.

This new information concerning the J.A. Davis portrait of Joseph Warren Gardner is the additional evidence sought by the authors and by Colleen Heslip. It should put to rest any doubt that J.A. Davis and Jane Anthony Davis were one and the same.*

SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART 29

Authors' note: This report is dedicated to the memory of Colleen C. Heslip.

Editor's note: For a free photocopy of the previous articles on this topic that have appeared in The Clarion and referred to in this essay, please send a SASE(#10 business envelope) to: J.A. Davis, Publications Department, Museum of American Folk Art,555 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019-2925.

Arthur and Sybil Kern are researchers, writers, and lecturers on early Americanfolk art. This is their twentieth published magazine article; their work has appeared in Antiques World,The Clarion, Folk Art, and The Magazine Antiques. It is their third article dealing with the art and identity ofJ.A. Davis. The Kerns served as guest curatorsfor the exhibition "Painters ofRecord: William Murray and His School," presented at the Museum ofAmerican Folk Art and the Albany Institute ofHistory and Art(1990/91).

NOTES 1 Sybil B. Kern and Arthur B. Kern,"The Surprising Identity of J.A. Davis," The Clarion (winter 1981/82): pp. 44-47;"J.A. Davis: Identity Reviewed," The Clarion(summer 1991): pp. 41-47.

2 Museum News, Reader's Comment, The Clarion (spring 1982): p. 59.

3 It is of interest that the wedding of Jane Anthony to Edward N. Davis took place in Warwick,R.I., about ten miles from Exeter,just four days before the execution of the portrait of Joseph Warren Gardner.

4 Lillian May and Charles Morris Gardner, Gardner History and Genealogy (n.p.: self-published, 1907), p. 137.

5 Alden G. Beaman,comp., Washington County, Rhode Island Births 1770 to 1850(Princeton, Mass.: published by the compiler, 1976), p. 69.

6 Alden Gamaliel Beaman, comp., Washington County, Rhode Island Births and Marriagesfrom Gravestone Inscriptions 1688-1850,Rhode Island Vital Records, New Series, vol. 3(Princeton, Mass.: published by the compiler, 1977), p. 114.

7 John E. Sterling and James E. Good,Exeter, Rhode Island Historical Cemeteries(Baltimore: Gateway Press, n.d.), see Hurling Gardiner Lot, Exeter Historical Cemetery #147.

8 May and Gardner,op. cit., p. 141.

9 Office of Town Clerk, Exeter, R.I., Births, Marriages, Deaths, Town ofExeter, Vol. 2 1744-1833, p. 297.

10 The confusion relative to Wanton and Warren is reflected in another published genealogy for the Gardner(Gardiner)family: Caroline E. Robinson, The Gardiners ofNarragansett(Providence, R.I.: Daniel Goodwin, 1959), pp. 151, 194, 195. This completely omits the generation of Joseph Wanton Gardner and records Joseph Warren as born in 1799 to Gould and Sarah [Mary](his father's parents and date of birth), married to Mary Hendrick (actually his mother), and died in 1881 (the date of his father's death). As in the International Genealogical Index records, his siblings are shown as his children.

11 Alfred Schipporeit of Brewster, Nebr., who is writing a history of that town, has kindly called our attention to Joseph Warren Gardiner's 1893 advertisement in the Brewster News, which announced that he was an attorney and a dealer in meats, produce, candy, and cigars, and that he operated a livery and a feed barn.

Obituaries for Gardiner(Gardner), for his wife, and for his son J. Ray Gardiner that also appeared in the Brewster News confirmed his dates of birth and death, that he was county attorney of Blaine County at the time of his death, and that he had lived in Providence, R.I.; Crescent City, Fla.; and Jefferson, NC., before finally locating at Brewster in 1890.

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MR. AND MRS. JACOB WITHIN GTON 1840 Watercolor, pencil, and ink on paper 4" 3 5 â&#x20AC;˘ 7/ Private collection Inscribed: Painted by LA. Davis Sept 18th 1840/Mrs. Mary Withington. Mr. Jacob Withington

SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART 31

Eddie Kendrick, Higgins, Arkansas, 1988

A Spiritualjourney Architectur anc _ Visiona7 Tx3cricnce H the Art of Ecc le Leo Konc rick

By Alice Rae Yelen

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ddie Kendrick's paintings might never have come to light but for a chance encounter. In 1976 Kendrick went to work as a custodian at Parham Elementary School in Little Rock, Arkansas. One day in early 1977 Ruth Kaplan, an arts and education administrator, happened to open the door to the custodian's supply closet. It was, she recalls, "like walking into another world." Kendrick had covered the walls from floor to ceiling with his pictures, painted on ordinary cardboard. Overwhelmed and impressed by his work, Kaplan immediately began supplying Kendrick with art materials and requested that he demonstrate his painting where students could watch. Kendrick's earliest documented works come from this period, when he was nearly fifty years old, although family members recall that he had drawn since early childhood, often on discarded grocery bags.

After Parham Elementary was razed in 1979, Kendrick was reabsorbed into the ordinary rhythms of his life: going to work again at Brown Packing Company, participating in church activities, and creating his artwork. A decade would pass before he again gained notice through another avid supporter, Susan Turner Purvis, an elementary art teacher at Gibbs Magnet School, also in Little Rock. In 1988, she asked Kendrick to exhibit three paintings at her school in recognition of Black History Month, and three years later she invited him to be an artistin-residence. It was from this time forward that his imagery drew wider acclaim, most prominently through its inclusion in the exhibition "Passionate Visions of the American South: Self-

A BED IN THE SUN c. 1992 Colored pencil, oil, and ballpoint pen on paper mounted on posterboard 12 x 9" Private collection The prostrate figure enveloped by the artist's signature and inscription may be a self-portrait symbolizing the artist's contemplation of the next world as described in the gospel song "Rest for the Weary": "There is rest for the weary.... There is rest for you on the other side of Jordan."

I

Taught Artists from 1940 to the Present." The majority of Kendrick's documented artworks are gleaned from collections of students, teachers, and art enthusiasts who knew the artist through his involvement in the Little Rock school system.

Eddie Lee Kendrick was born on September 20, 1928, near Stephens, Arkansas. He and his twelve siblings worked on the family farm with their parents and grandfather.

Eddie's formal schooling, which had been interrupted over the years by the necessity of helping out on the family's land, ended with the seventh grade. In 1944 or 1945, the family moved to Longley Settlement, a small community with a rural ambiance in Pulaski County, on the outskirts of Little Rock. As a young adult, Kendrick worked for Hines Packing in Little Rock, and in his early thirties he moved to Brown Packing Company, a hog processor. He began on the kill floor, slaughtering hogs, and worked his way up to the meat cutting section of the plant. Kendrick remained at Brown for twenty-nine years, with intermittent breaks. Neither his employer nor many of his coworkers knew of his artwork.

Religion played a central role in the culture in which Kendrick lived.

As a child, his family attended the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church near Stephens. During the time he created the body of artwork that survives, from the late 1970s until his death in 1992, Kendrick participated as a congregant, choir soloist, and deacon in the Woods Temple Church of God in Christ, in Higgins, on the outskirts of Little Rock.

A highly spiritual man, Kendrick held scripture and prayer close to his heart. While the artist painted in private, he sang gospel in public. For him, both were a form of prayer. His imagery documents his spiritual journey. According to Kendrick, he found inspiration for his paintings in "biblical scripture, gospel song, prayer, and dreams." All of Kendrick's paintings are replete with references to scripture and gospel songs, in both imagery and text. His dreams were linked to the otherworldliness of his spirituality, and he followed their lead. He kept a pencil and paper near his bedside to sketch his

34 SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART

dreams and sometimes turned these sketches into paintings.

Kendrick's earliest documented works, from 1977 and 1978, focus on heaven and attaining salvation. Some paintings show Christ in heaven amid magnificent skies. In other works, Christ reigns with outstretched arms over the earth below and is holding a Bible or walking in the clouds. Worshipers on earth are engaged in activities typical of Kendrick's African American churchgoing community: baptismal ceremonies, churchgoing, singing in the choir, raising hands to praise the Lord, or reaching toward heaven. By painting such culturally understood religious motifs, Kendrick expressed his personal spirituality within the teachings of the church.

Baptism in Front of Buildings with Christ Above exemplifies the imagery of this era. Set amid a mass of painterly clouds, Christ raises his hands in blessing over his communicants who observe a baptism. The ritual of baptism as a symbol of rebirth in the Holy Spirit is an integral part of the road to salvation in Christian churches. For members of the Church of God in Christ like Kendrick, it is one of the most significant religious acts in Christian life.

Typical of his habit of portraying autobiographical details in his imagery, Kendrick depicted a baptism here just as he had seen them: the candidates wear white, hooded robes, and one of them holds the hands of the church pastor

and the deacon as they enter the baptismal pool.

In 1985 Kendrick began to use forms of transportationâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;trains, airplanes, and boatsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;as metaphors for the journey of the departed soul to heaven and to symbolize a new union between heaven and earth. Kendrick often inscribed such paintings to identify the vehicle and its purpose: "This plain is heaven bond" [sic] or "This is the holy train." Sometimes Christ pilots the plane or conducts the train that collects his righteous passengers; other times he is symbolized by the celestial vehicle. Earthly individuals with upthrust hands reach not only for the Lord but for the vehicle they hope will deliver them to heaven. In these transportation images, Kendrick found a new philosophical stance as he suggested the merger of heaven and earth in the transition to eternal life. His trains and planes give form to the promise of heaven and diagram how an individual might transcend worldly ways to attain salvation at the end of mortal life. Coinciding with his own aging, Kendrick's outlook progressed from a traditional perspective of church and God, bound by the outward manifestations of Christian life, to a more individualized spirituality.

Although still defined by the precepts of his church, this spirituality embraced both fundamentalist beliefs and inventive personal metaphors.

These works also represent a pictorial transition. In them Kendrick introduced a deep, diagonal line cutting from the painting's top to the cenFANTASY BUILDING-AIR C. 1992 Colored pencil, pencil, and ballpoint pen on paper 19,24" Private collection

CHURCH WITH ROOF AND CHRIST ABOVE c. 1991 Oil, colored pencil, and ballpoint pen on paper 12 18" Collection of Patrick Cowan

ter, a compositional element seen earlier, but infrequently and in shallower form. In such works, the downward diagonal thrust of the vehicle toward earth replaces the more dogmatic separation Kendrick created in earlier works by using a strict horizontal to mark the physical and psychological line between heaven and earth.

Kendrick had a literal as well as a spiritual familiarity with planes and trains. In rural Arkansas near his childhood home,a train track runs one block from the main street. From a nearby bridge, one can see the Union Pacific take a bend in the track as it emerges from the pines, just the way the celestial railcars curve through the skies in This Is the Holy Train. In adult life, Kendrick lived two blocks from tracks he crossed every time he went from his home to his church.

The gospel song "The Holy Ghost Special" alludes to spiritual train rides such as those Kendrick depicts: "We are on our way to

heaven, and don't you want to go? 0 yes, I want to go! This is the Holy Ghost special, and don't you want to go? 0 yes, I want to go!" Of music, the artist said, "When you get some good music, you can draw about anything."2 Lyrics from gospel songs such as "Jesus Is My Airplane" might also have propelled Kendrick to render his airplane images.

In his later works, Kendrick no longer portrayed Christ in the heavens. Many paintings from 1991 and 1992 are set on earth and focus on seemingly secular themes such as fantastic architecture and rural daily life.

Subtly placed spiritual symbols (recurring angels, eyes of God, storm clouds, light emanating from buildings, candles, and halos)take the place of actual representations of Christ; many can be linked to scripture and gospel songs, reminding the careful viewer of Kendrick's continued religiosity. In these works heaven and earth appear unified and are no longer

separated, as in earlier images.

Although unobtrusively integrated into the later compositions, these symbols provide a significant philosophical backdrop to the artist's richly colored works. For example, Kendrick often portrayed the eye of God amid dark storm clouds juxtaposed with an emerging sun (A Bed in the Sun) to symbolize the Lord's witness of both good and evil, as expressed in Proverbs 15:3: "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good."

Kendrick believed in guardian angels. Angels in varied colors, shapes, and sizes jet in diagonally or stand looking over the scene below, just as Christ did in the earlier paintings. In one work Kendrick identified an entire host of angels in the sky as a group who "watches over us day and night out through time," linking the presence of angels to Psalm 91:11:"For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways."

SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART 35

Courtesy New Orleans Museum of Alt

In his later works Kendrick also While he never worked in developed a series of structures with a three dimensions, from the beginning rich and varied fenestration that suf- Kendrick's imagery reflected his fused his paintings with light. In 1992, interest in creating the appearance of doors and windows—which earlier depth through his overall composihad remained fairly closed—took on tional devices. At first he used fairly the jewel tones of a new luminosity. simple, horizontal bands of figures, This focus on light shining from buildings, and landscapes that within coincided with Kendrick's receded slightly back into the picture development of light sources as sym- plane, as seen in Baptism in Front of bols of the omniscient Lord. The Buildings with Christ Above. In later abundance of light radiating from var- paintings shallow pathways and stairs ied sources—windows, doors, can- deepened, directing the viewer's dles, lampposts, chandeliers, and attention along several planes through spotlights on exteriors (A Bed in the space and subject matter via angular Sun)—reflects the sentiments of scrip- stairways (Fantasy Building-Air), tural passages such as "Thy word is a rounded roads and serpentine paths lamp unto my feet, and a light unto (Heavenly City with Delivery Trucks), my path" (Psalm 119:105) and and curvilinear buildings (This Is the Kendrick's favorite, "The Lord is my Holy Train). light and my salvation"(Psalm 27:1).

Like many of Kendrick's pictoIn this sense, his artistic development rial devices, the pathway came from paralleled and was nurtured by his his daily environment. The path or spiritual growth. unpaved road in Kendrick's paintings

311 SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART

is a literal reflection of the artist's experiences in rural Arkansas, where children walked a lot, often on unmarked paths. But the concept of "the path" also has a firm basis in scripture, most notably in Psalm 23:3: "He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake." Kendrick confirmed the metaphoric significance of the "path" or the "way" by inscribing cautionary warnings in artworks, such as "Turn and go the right way."

Architecture was an important tool that Kendrick used to achieve depth in paintings It took a dramatic, central position in Kendrick's latest work, in 1991 and 1992, from combinations of elements taken from actual buildings that Kendrick saw to wholly imagined structures. Once presented only amid other subject matter, buildings often became the primary compositional focus in his artwork. While his

THIS IS THE HOLY TRAIN c. 1992 Oil, colored pencil, ballpoint pen, and marker on posterboard 19 24" Collection of Dorothy and David Hannan

THIS PLAIN IS HEAVEN BOND c. 1992 Colored pencil, oil, marker, ballpoint pen, and paint on posterboard 19 24" Collection of Susan C. Yelen

he exhibition

T

"A Spiritual Journey:

The Art of Eddie Lee Kendrick" is organized by curator Alice Rae Yelen for the New Orleans Museum of Art with the cooperation and support of The Arkansas Arts Center. It will travel to the African American Museum, Dallas (5/7-7/4/99), Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, Chicago (9/17-11/27/99), and the Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, N.Y. (10/1-12/31/00).

The exhibition is accompanied by full-color, 96-page catalog of the same name(New Orleans Museum of Art/ University Press of Mississippi, 1998).

The catalog is available at the Museum of American Folk Art Book and Gift Shop. To order, please call 212/496-2966.

ability to render architecture was superb, Kendrick rarely tried to draw buildings precisely as they appeared.

He projected elements of one building onto another and then added his own imaginative twist of color, shape, or design.

Curvilinear, angular, multiplanar, and convoluted, his structures create an interesting sense of depth and irregularity of space, based on both symmetrical and asymmetrical edifices. He took a special interest in showing front elevations, cornices, side views, and facades punctuated by unusual windows and doors. At first, such buildings seem to have little connection to Kendrick's immediate surroundings. But an informed eye will see that they are influenced by the varied architectural styles he saw in the countryside and around Little Rock: rural cotFirst Baptist adorned exteriors to highly tages, flat-roofed windowless Camden Church, Camden, decorated facades. Kenbuildings, square or rectangu- Arkansas, 1951 drick's own interpretations, lar flat commercial storeThis typical smalltoo, developed from the simfronts, rounded and intricate town church is ple and recognizable to the asymmetrical Victorian one version of the abstract and imaginary. homes, contemporary high- model for many of Kendrick's buildings.

Fantasy Building-Air splitand rises, skywalks, evolved into a solely angular level suburban homes.

Kendrick's interest in architec- interpretation of a building type simiture and his increasing ability to tech- lar to the churches Kendrick saw in nically render it can be traced from his his environment, with many devices earliest documented works. In Bap- creating perspective. For example, tism in Front of Buildings with Christ each of the three red doors is accentuAbove, he portrayed a red twin- ated by separate ascending steps that towered, gable-roofed structure influ- approach from different directions. enced by churches commonly seen in The once gabled roof center of the Little Rock and small Arkansas structure stands virtually alone, contowns. Kendrick no doubt encoun- nected to the original rectangular twin tered the Camden First Baptist towers at the bottom only. Portrayed Church, and others as part of the building, the towers are like it, en route from at the same time essentially separate rural Stephens to rectangular skyscrapers. This image Little Rock. Such suggests the urban environment of Litchurches, which tle Rock, which the artist often articucatered to both lated as a series of tall, interconnected white and African structures.

Kendrick took the typical eleAmerican populations, were con- ments of a buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;staircases, structed locally in a windows, doors, courtyards, and variety of materials archesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and fully exploited their perand designs ranging spectival value. This practice culmifrom plain un- nated in works like This Is the Holy

BAPTISM IN FRONT OF BUILDINGS WITH CHRIST ABOVE c. 1978 Acrylic and ballpoint pen on paperboard with faux wood grain on reverse 4" / 2 293 1 15/ Private collection

Woods Temple Church of God in Christ, Higgins, Arkansas

Train, in which he aligned the building facades themselves into a grassy The contrast between that courtyard the simplicity of Kendrick's church draws the viewer and the elaborate into the picture buildings he depicted plane. What was reinforces the point that his architectural once a path leading renderings represent the eye to a buildthe New Jerusalem, ing exterior or door paradise on earth, as described in the Book is now an interior of Revelation. Only courtyard of the one documented image looks like the building itself. artist's actual Compositionally, church. the circular grassy area provides depth by visually distancing the picture plane. Such rounded shapes emulate the small bodies of water, streams, and ponds that interlace the pine-treed landscape of southwestern Arkansas. There, pools of water can be seen immediately off the roads and highways in

SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART 37

just the same spatial relationship to surrounding pastures and buildings as are found in Kendrick's works as simple ponds, baptismal pools, or fishing holes.

Kendrick may have struggled with occasional frustration at not achieving architectural precision in his use of perspective, but he clearly matured in his ability, as seen in the many points of conflicting perspective in a work such as Baptism in Front of Buildings with Christ Above compared with the one-point perspective of This Is the Holy Train. Yet even in works where his perspective is not technically accurate, the visual effect of the image is powerful.

Kendrick created areas of depth with fairly flat surfaces by taking full advantage of the architectural features of a group of small but magnificent buildings. He also developed an interest in dissecting buildings or sectioning a facade to reveal interior rooms, as in A Bed in the Sun. The architectural cutaway of a portion of this building's exterior reveals the visually 4 interesting, intricate interior of four stories of rooms highlighted by minuscule but accurately drawn stairways, 2 doors, windows, and chandeliers. The technique of removing an exterior 1, wall to show a building's interior is often used in the drawings of both children and architects, a comparison that simultaneously suggests the artist's intuitive and sophisticated artistic characteristics.

While architecture fulfilled Kendrick's natural inclination to create depth and small passageways for the eye to visit, philosophically it had e, a deeper meaning that may reflect bib- Brown Packing Company truck lical sources. Central to understanding Kendrick's spiritual views and his artwork is the New Testament Book of inscription—"city coming down"— Revelation. This apocalyptic docu- Kendrick tells us that this subject ment is filled with visions, symbols, represents the heavenly city of and allegories relating to the end of Jerusalem coming down to earth. Perthe world and the Last Judgment, haps a link also exists between the when all the dead will rise and Chris- Book of Revelation's description of tians will live in their new paradise on the New Jerusalem's foundation wall earth, the New Jerusalem. Revelation as "garnished with all means of pre21:2 describes "the holy city, new cious stones" and Kendrick's color Jerusalem, coming down from God choices. The stones jasper, sapphire, out of heaven." In the artwork City emerald, topaz, and jacinth, for examComing Down with Bird Descending ple, are paralleled in the colors (not illustrated), a bird, symbol of the red, blue, green, pink, and violet— Holy Spirit, flies toward the earth, a all of which figure frequently in colorful city in the background. In an Kendrick's palette.

38 SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART

HEAVENLY CITY WITH DELIVERY TRUCKS c. 1992 Colored pencil and ballpoint pen on paper mounted on posterboard 12 - 9" Private collection Kendrick often visualized reminiscences of his past with depictions of his present by conflating natural and man-made elements from rural and urban Arkansas.

In this drawing, a granary and pine trees from the countryside are positioned near a truck marked "Brown Meat," the Little Rock company where the artist worked for the majority of his adult life. Underneath these words, Kendrick first wrote "Holly Brand," one of the names under which Brown Packing Company packaged meat.

How many of Kendrick's later works might portray the New Jerusalem, a heaven on earth, is unknown. But many of them are complete, even serene works that express unity in a physical and spiritual sense (Heavenly City with Delivery Trucks).

In this regard, Kendrick's last works are testimony to the harmony he ultimately achieved in both his artwork and his inner self.* Alice Rae Yelen is the assistant to the directorfor special projects and the associate curator ofcontemporary American self-taught art at the New Orleans Museum ofArt. In 1993, she served as curator ofthe exhibition "Passionate Visions ofthe American South: SelfTaught Artistsfrom 1940 to the Present."

NOTES

Eddie Lee Kendrick, interview by Susan Turner Purvis, February 1991.

2 Ibid.

1

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MUSEUM

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ALICE J. HOFFMAN

MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLK ART COLLECTION

Representing more than 300 years ofAmerican design,from the late 1600s to the present, the Museum ofAmerican Folk Art Collection brings within reach ofthe public the very best ofthe past to be enjoyed for generations to come.

New Directions

The Museum welcomes its newest licensee: *Salamander Graphix,Inc. Let it pour... umbrellas galore!

Salamander, a leader in the gift and accessories market, is introducing a line of umbrellas featuring dazzling quilts, magnificent marquetry, soaring weathervanes, and romantic and scenic paintings from the Museum's permanent collection.

Newsfrom Museum Licensees Share our legacy; look for new products from our family of licensees, featuring unique designs inspired by objects from the Museum's collection. *American Pacific Enterprises Blanketing everything from department stores to catalogs to cable TV! The Museum of American Folk Art Collectionn, of bedcovers, shams, and pillowcases by American Pacific continues to grow with the introduction of seven new designs this summer. Look for us in Domestications or on QVC in July when Elizabeth Warren, the Museum's quilt expert and consulting curator, will once again be the guest host for a Museum of American Folk Art Hour. In addition, don't miss the QVC July special, Today's Value, in which a selection from the collection will be highlighted. For show dates and times call QVC at 800/345-1515.

44 SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART

* AMCAL,Inc. Herald the year 2000 with a tribute to America's past! A perfect way to schedule events for the new millennium, the Museum's Glorious American Quilts 2000 Calendar features one spectacular quilt image for each month,complete with historical information.

You may even decide to frame all 12 months.

Now available at the Museum's Book and Gift Shop. * Museum Masterpieces Currently on view! String Quilt, featured throughout the year in the Museum's Daniel M.Cowin Permanent Collection Gallery, was chosen by Museum Masterpieces for the Museum's second series ofjigsaw puzzles,journals, gift bags, and note cards. This masterpiece quilt is believed to have been made in Kentucky between 1920 and 1940 by an African American woman who used remnants of fabrics obtained from her job in a textile factory.

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 Collection, please contact us at 212/977-7170.

Family of Licensees Abbeville Press(212/888-1969)gift wrap book with gift tags and quilt note cube.* AMCAL,Inc.(800/824-5879) year 2000 calendar.* American Pacific Enterprises (415/782-1250)quilts, shams, and pillows.

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SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART 51

MUSEUM

NEWS

(Left to right): Mark Leavitt and Benefit CoChair Taryn Leavitt; Richard I). Parsons, president of Time Warner; Benefit Co-Chair Elizabeth Stern and Geoffrey Stern; Laura Parsons; and Monty Blanchard and Museum Trustee Anne Blanchard

COMPILED BY TANYA HEINRICH

1999 Contemporary Center Benefit Party he Museum's 1999 Contemporary Center Benefit Party following the Preview of the Outsider Art Fair was our most successful yet!

Two hundred and fifty guests, Museum members,and friends joined Co-Chairs Taryn Leavitt and Elizabeth Stern and Junior Chairs Deborah Bush and Alexis Contos on Thursday, Jan. 21, at the Puck Building. This important annual fund-raiser was made possible with the generous support of Corporate Benefactor Time Warner and Corporate Supporters Burnett Group and Guinness Import Company.

The Skylight Ballroom, overlooking the city skyline, was awash in candlelight as guests made their way upstairs from the Outsider Art Fair on the ground floor. Surrounded by the bright and colorful auction items generously donated by Outsider Art Fair dealers and local merchants, guests enjoyed a delicious menu created by Susan Holland & Company, while Georgie Bond and the Blues Keepers filled the room with acoustic blues music.

The highlight of the evening was a spirited and competitive auction, including 31 items in the silent auction and three pieces in the live auction, for which Museum Deputy Director Riccardo Salmona served as auctioneer. The centerpiece of the live auction was a Nellie Mae Rowe drawing,I Will Go and See the Dennest, which was beautifully featured on the Benefit Party invitation, designed by Laurie Churchman of Burnett Group. I Will Go and See the Dennest was generously donated by Judith Alexander and was sold to Myron Shure of Chicago.

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52 SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART

The Museum wishes to thank all of those who helped make the 1999 Contemporary Center Benefit Party a success: Judith Alexander, American Primitive Gallery, Angela Usrey Gallery, Didi Barrett, Bel Decor, Anne Blanchard, Margaret Bode11, Burnett Group, Deborah Bush, Chris Butler, Carl Hammer Gallery, Cavin-Morris Gallery, Coach, Alexis Contos, Dean Jensen Gallery, Galerie Bonheur, Galerie St. Etienne, Myron and Cecille Shure and Deputy Director Riccardo Salmona with the auctioned Nellie Mae Rowe drawing

Blues guitarist Georgie Bond

Phy

Mad and Dudes Sam Farber

Goods, Gramercy Tavern, Guinness Import Company,Deborah Harding, Harriet Fay Music, Hermes, Joy Moos Gallery, Caroline Kerrigan, K.S. Art, La Pop

Galerie, Taryn Leavitt, Leeper Kids, L'Oreal, Modern Primitive Gallery, Pardee Collection, Peter Kump's Cooking School, the Puck Building, Ricco/Maresca Gallery, Rising Fawn Folk Art Gallery, San Domenico, Sanford Smith & Associates, Judy Saslow, Stephen Knoll Salon, Elizabeth Stern, Susan Holland & Company Inc., Time Warner, TSE, Union Square Cafe, and Yves Saint Laurent. Proceeds from the Museum's Contemporary Center Benefit Party help to support ongoing exhibitions, educational programming, and publications.

Save the Date! ork your calendars and save the date for the Museum's Fall Antiques Show Benefit Preview, which will be held on Thursday, Nov. 18. This year's Benefit Preview will be made possible with the generous support of Fireman's Fund Insurance Company and Country Living magazine. For more information, please call Jennifer Scott, special events coordinator, at 212/977-7170.

M

Photography by Matt Flynn

Bill Traylor 1854-1949

Deep Blues June 17 through August 22, 1999 In its only U.S. venue, a traveling exhibition organized by the Kunstmuseum Bern

Special Program, Saturday, June 19 Guest Speaker: Roger Cardinal, University of Kent, Canterbury, England, and leading expert on outsider art

Robert Hull Fleming Museum The University of Vermont• Burlington, Vermont www.uvm.edu/-fleming 802 656 0750 Kneeling Man with Cane on Construction, 1940/42, poster paint and pencil on cardboard.

Collection William Louis-Dreyfus

EPSTEIN/POWELL 66(;rand St., New York, N.Y. 10013 13y Appointment(212)226-7316

.Jesse Aaron

HYPOINT AMERICAN ANTIQUES & FOLK ART •

Rex Clawson Antonio Esteves Victor Joseph (lath (Estate) S.14..Jones ,Justin McCarthy Old Ironsides Pry Popeye Reed Max Romain Bill Roseman (Estate) Jack Savitsky Clarence Stringfield Mose Tolliver and other classic American outsiders

Amish Crib Quilt — "Streaks of Lightning" JANE S. CIEPLY 847-540-0615 •BARRINGTON,IL 60010

SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART 53

MUSEUM

NEW

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Seventh Annual Outsider Art Fair and Related Programming nce again, the promise of an interesting array of phenomenal works by self-taught artists brought crowds of people to the seventh annual Outsider Art Fair, held each year in January at the Puck Building in New York's Solo neighborhood.

Produced by Sanford L. Smith and Associates and directed by Caroline Kerrigan and Cohn Lynch Smith, the three-day fair opened with a bustling preview on Thursday, Jan. 21. The exhibition floor featured the same lineup of dealers as last year, with the exception of Galerie Susanne Zander, which replaced Vienna's Galerie Heike Curtze and returned after a four-year absence.

To coincide with the Outsider Art Fair weekend,the Museum sponsored a day trip, a symposium, and a panel discussion. On Thursday,"Inside Outsider Art," the annual Folk Art Explorers' Club daytrip, consisted of a trip to Westchester County, N.Y., to tour the exhibition "Private Worlds: Classic Outsider Art from Europe" at the Katonah Musem of Art and to visit two private folk art collections. Saturday's "Uncommon Artists VII: A Series of Cameo Talks," an afternoon symposium held at New

0

York University, featured slide presentations by Alice Rae Yelen (Eddie Kendrick), Julia Ardery (Edgar Tolson), and Chuck Rosenak (Nicholas Herrera). And fmally, in conjunction with the Katonah Museum of Art, the Museum presented a lively panel discussion and guided tour of "Private Worlds" on Sunday,in Katonah. Panel participants included Roger Cardinal, Johann Feilacher, Robert Greenberg, Phyllis Kind, and Lee Kogan,and the program was moderated by John Beardsley.

Jane Kallir (left) and Hildegard Bachert in the Galerie St. Etienne booth

Resounding Response to "Nellie Mae Rowe" he members' reception for "The Art of Nellie Mae Rowe: Ninety-Nine and a Half Won't Do," on Wednesday, Jan. 20, heralded the beginning of the Museum's busy winter exhibition season. Timed to coincide with the Outsider Art Fair festivities, the crowded reception included a curatorial lecture by Lee Kogan and a book signing for the exhibition catalog, which was published by the Museum. The exhibition received exceptional media coverage, including an unprecedented three reviews in The New York Times and a segment on CBS Sunday Morning.

A wide range of programs accompanied the exhibition. A symposium was held on Feb. 18 and featured presentations by Kinshasha Holman Conwill, Richard A. Long, Maude S. Wahlman, and Kogan; the program was moderated by Gerard C. Wertkin. On Feb. 20, Kogan participated in a slide lecture and book signing at the nearby Barnes & Noble bookstore at Lincoln Square. An evening lecture series in March and April featured scholars Grey Gundaker and

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Robert Farris Thompson, a gospel concert by The Chancel Choir of the Abyssinian Baptist Church, and an interview with legendary culinary artist Edna Lewis and her partner, Scott Peacock, by cookbook author Jessica Harris. Special family programs included a gospel concert by The Singing Conquerors; storytelling by Malika Lee Whitney; and a puppet show

by Dr. Schroeder Cherry.

The exhibition, catalog, and related programming were made possible by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Judith Rothschild Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, and LEF Foundation, with additional support from Marian and Andrew Heiskell.

Nellie Mae Rowe's grandniece Cathi Perry (left) and Judith Alexander

Alice Rae Yelen (left) and Shari Cavin in the Cavin-Morns Gallery booth

David Byrne and Adelle Lutz

Nellie Mae Rowe symposium panelists (left to right): Richard A. Long, Lee Kogan, Kinshasha Holman Conwill, and Maude S. Wahlman

54 SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART

Museum Trustee Barry Briskin and his wife, Edith

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1510 S. Congress Austin, TX 78704 512.912.1613 MUSEUM

DINOSAURS AND WATERMELONS 22"x28"

by Willie \Vhite

NEWS

Works by 46 celebrity artists. The gallery features paintings, carvings, miniatures, photos and sculptures.

Fall Exhibition Shepherds the Millennium liroughout American history, folk artists have given a tangible expression to vision and prophecy, often in relation to the long-awaited millennium. This fall the Museum will present "Millennial Dreams: The Utopian Vision in American Folk Art," an exhibition that will trace this powerful tradition in both its spiritual and secular manifestations. Museum Director Gerard C. Werticin, a scholar with a special focus on the Shakers and other utopian communities, will serve as curator.

The exhibition, which will be on view from Nov. 13, 1999, to May 14, 2000, will shed new light on the centrality of millennial thought in three centuries of American culture through 65 compelling works as diverse as Shaker spirit drawings, illustrated Adventist charts, Pennsylvania German fraktur, Edward Hicks'

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"Peaceable Kingdom" paintings, New Mexican mottos, and 20thcentury visionary paintings by artists such as William Blayney, James Hampton, Morris Hirshfield, Jesse Howard, and Sister Gertrude Morgan.

FATHER TIME, artist unknown, Mohawk Valley, New York, c. 1910, carved and polychromed wood, metal, hair, 52% 2", 1 2. 14/ 1 13/ Museum of American Folk Art, gift of Mrs. John H. Heminway, 1964.2.1

Featuring Todd W. Williams

Canella Geautreaux

Charles Gillam

Geri Haywood

May Kuglar

"Bobs" Barbara Muscutt

Clementine Hunter

"Ruebarb" Barbara Howlett

Willie White

Mis Mardranne

Jacquelyn Hughes Mooney

Alfred Nobles

Andrew Hopkins

Jacob Watts

"Big Al" Taplet

Susan Watts

Marsha Ercegovic

Raymonde Fox

Ronnie Boudreaux

Michael Creese

Adele Elliott

Yumi Hayashi

Rosemary Louis

Claude Dussel

Elizabeth Fox

Daniel Monroe

Mary Fox

Sylvia Barker

*Portion of all proceeds to benefit Louisiana Special Olympic,

St. N.O. LA. 70116 (504) 598-FOLK

636 St. Ann

SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART 55

MUSEUM

NEWS

WORKS AND WORDS OF Naomi Polk, Black Folk Artist(18921984). For sale: 64 pieces visionary paintings, drawings, working sketches.

Also notebooks containing original poems, essays. For information E-mail granni@flash.net or Fax 281-448-1248.

Folk Art Explorer Orren Bradley (left) with James Harold Jennings in Pinnacle, N.C., shortly before the artist's death. His obituary will appear in the fall issue.

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Folk Art Explorers Visit North Carolina hirty Museum members from across the country visited North Carolina on a Folk Art Explorers' Club tour for six days beginning Mar. 23.

The itinerary included visits to private collections,folk artists, galleries, museums,several potters, and the preview gala for the second annual Catawba County Pottery Festival.

Beth Bergin and Chris Cappiello in the membership department would like to thank Thomas

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Gray, Albert Hodge,Barry and Allen Huffman,Billy Ray Hussey, George Jacobs, Clyde Jones, Sam McMillan, Mike Smith, Brent Tharp, and Ginger Young for extending their hospitality to the group. The next Folk Art Explorers' Club tour is "Folk Art Along the Rhine," a ten-day trip to Amsterdam, Cologne,and Heidelberg, scheduled for Sept. 23 to Oct.4, 1999. For more information, please call the membership office at 212/977-7170.

"Anthology" Attendance Ranks with the Masters to a survey by The Art Newspaper, an international monthly ewspaper that covers museums,galleries, and auctions, the Museum's major traveling exhibition "Self-Taught Artists of the 20th Century: An American Anthology" was ranked 17th in daily attendance worldwide during its run at the Philadelphia

Museum of Art in the spring of 1998. The average daily attendance figure of 2,709 visitors places the exhibition among such venerated company as Vincent Van Gogh and Alexander Calder at the National Gallery of Art, Pierre Bonnard at London's Tate Gallery, and Claude Monet at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Americus Group Events Tie e Americus Group is the T Museum's newly formed a for folk art enthusiasts in their 20s and 30s.

With a mission to open the doors of the world of folk art to a new generation, the Americus Group organizes social and educational events and publishes a bimonthly newsletter, Americus News!

Still in its inaugural year, the Americus Group has dramatically increased the number of younger faces seen at the Museum's two annual benefits, the Fall Antiques Show and the Outsider Art Fair.

In addition, the Americus Group has already successfully produced

a tour of two private collections, a guided walking tour of the Fall Antiques Show,a cocktail reception at Ricco/Maresca Gallery, and a tour of the Museum's exhibition "The Art of Nellie Mae Rowe: Ninety-Nine and a Half Won't Do" with curator Lee Kogan.

The Americus Group has many more exciting events planned. If you are interested in being on the mailing list to receive Americus News!and notification of special Americus Group events, please contact Jennifer Scott, special events coordinator, at 212/977-7170.

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U SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART

SUMMER

PROGRAMS

Unless otherwise specified, all programs are held at the Museum of American Folk Art/Eva and Morris Feld Gallery, 2 Lincoln Square, Columbus Avenue at 66th Street, New York City; programs are open to the public; and admission is free. For more information, please call 212/595-9533.

EXHIBITION PROGRAMS

QUILT WEEKEND

"Beyond the Square: Color and Design in Amish Quilts"

Friday, Sept. 24 10:00 A.M.-4:00 P.M. Workshop:"The Amish Quilt Square" Rachel Pellman, quilt artist Museum classroom, 555 West 57th Street, 13th floor Workshop fee $85; materials fee $15

Thursday, June 3 6:00 P.M. Curatorial Lecture Elizabeth V. Warren, exhibition curator Thursday,June 10 6:00 P.M. Lecture:"Art Quilts and the Amish Aesthetic" Stacy C. Hollander, senior curator and director ofexhibitions Thursday, June 17 6:00 P.M. Lecture: "Quilts of Conscience" Lee Kogan, director ofthe Folk Art Institute and curator ofspecial projectsfor The Contemporary Center

Saturday,Sept. 25 10:00 A.M.-4:00 P.M. Lecture:"The Amish and Their Quilts" Elizabeth V. Warren, exhibition curator 1:00-5:00 P.M. Afternoon Quilt Demonstrations Metropolitan-area quilt guilds Please call the Folk Art Institute at 212/977-7170 for reservations—space is limited.

rosemary pittman SR. PASTIMES

ab the flagman ralph auf der heide leofric baron ree brown roy colinson torn d tim fowler Sylvia fragoso samuel gant alyne harris come see willie jinks us at mc koehler Folk Fest 99 charlie lucas mel carol myers antjuan oden doreen poole stephen powers mary proctor wally shoup buddy snipes jim sudduth wiliam thomas thompson john henry toney annie tolliver mose tolhver von nell vema weatherly lavon williams

garde rail gallery http://vvvvw.garde-rail.com 312 first avenue south #5 - seattle, wa 98104 tel. 206.623.3004 - email: gallery@garde-rail.com self-taught art from the northwest and beyond

"Beyond the Square: Color and Design in Amish Quilts" and related programming are made possible by support from Philip Morris Companies Inc. TRAVELING

EXHIBITIONS

Mark your calendars for the following Museum of American Folk Art exhibitions when they travel to your area during the coming months: May 15—Aug. 15, 1999 Self-Taught Artists of the 20th Century: An American Anthology Wexner Center for the Arts The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio 614/292-0330

Oct. 1, 1999—Feb. 6,2000 An American Treasury: Master Quilts from the Museum of American Folk Art The Toledo Museum of Art Toledo, Ohio 419/255-8000

June 3—Sept. 12, 1999 The Art of Nellie Mae Rowe: Ninety-Nine and a Half Won't Do The National Museum of Women in the Arts Washington, D.C. 202/783-5000

Nov. 20, 1999—Feb. 26, 2000 The Art of Nellie Mae Rowe: Ninety-Nine and a Half Won't Do High Museum of Art Folk Art and Photography Galleries Atlanta, Georgia 404/577-6940

For further information, please contact Judith Gluck Steinberg, coordinator of traveling exhibitions, Museum of American Folk Art, 555 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019-2925, 212/977-7170.

ANTON HAARDT GALLERY MONTGOMERY, AL ( 334) 263.54941 NEW ORLEANS ANNEX (504) 8974172 www.antonart.com

SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART

57

TRUSTEES/DONORS

MUSEUM

OF

AMERICAN

FOLK

ART

BOARD OF TRUSTEES EXOCUUVO Committee Ralph 0. Esmerian President Frances Sirota Martinson, Esq. Executive Vice President and Chairman, Executive Committee Lucy C. Danziger Executive Vice President

Joan M. Johnson Vice President Bonnie Strauss Vice President L. John Wilkerson Treasurer Jacqueline Fowler Secretary Anne Hill Blanchard Samuel Farber Julie K. Palley

Members Barry D. Briskin Joyce B. Cowin Joseph F. Cullman 3rd David L. Davies Susan Gutfreund Kristina Johnson,Esq. Nancy Mead

Lewis P. Cabot Bliss & Brigitte Caniochan Edward Lee Cave Mrs. Daniel Cowin Mr.& Mrs. Edgar M. Cullman Elissa F.& Edgar M.Cullman, Jr. Joe & Joan Cullman Susan R. Cullman David & Sheena Danziger Lucy & Mike Danziger Peggy & Richard M. Danziger David L. Davies Ray & Susan Egan Ralph 0.Esmerian Sam & Betsey Farber Bequest of Eva & Morris Feld

Jacqueline Fowler Rebecca & Michael Garnzon Cordelia Hamilton Johnson & Johnson Joan & Victor Johnson Kristina Johnson, Esq. Julie & Sandy Palley and Samuel & Rebecca Kardon Foundation Susan & Robert Klein The Edith & Herbert Lehman Foundation, Inc. Lipman Family Foundation Paul Martinson, Frances Martinson & Howard Graff in memory of Burt Martinson Mr.& Mrs. Dana G. Mead

George H. Meyer,Esq. Lauren S. Morgan Cyril I. Nelson Margaret Z. Robson Trustees Emeriti Cordelia Hamilton George F. Shaskan, Jr.

CAPITAL CAMPAIGN DONORS The Museum of American Folk Art has announced a $30 million campaign to construct and endow a new home on 53rd Street. As of April 6, 1999, more than $17 million has been raised from the following donors: Big Apple Wrecking & Construction Corporation Edward V. Blanchard & M. Anne Hill Mr. and Mrs. James A. Block Edith S. & Barry D. Briskin Florence Brody

George H. Meyer Keith & Lauren Morgan Cyril Irwin Nelson Bequest of Mattie Lou O'Kelley John & Margaret Robson Foundation The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation The George & Myra Shaskan Foundation, Inc. Bonnie & Tom Strauss Maureen & Richard Taylor David & Jane Walentas Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP John & Barbara Wilkerson Robert & Anne Wilson Five Anonymous Donors

RECENT DONORS FOR EXHIBITIONS AND OPERATIONS—as of April 1, 1999 The Museum of American Folk Art greatly appreciates the generous support of the following friends:

Time Warner The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Two anonymous donors

$100,000 and above Pioneer Valley Art Foundation, Inc. Two anonymous donors

$1.9,999410,000 Bear, Stearns & Co.Inc. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Christie's Mrs. Daniel Cowin Credit Suisse First Boston Lucy C.& Frederick M. Danziger The Dietrich American Foundation & H. Richard Dietrich, Jr. William B. Dietrich & William B. Dietrich Foundation Jacqueline Fowler Joan M.& Victor L. Johnson Mr.& Mrs. Mark Leavitt LEF Foundation Lipman Family Foundation, Inc. Marstrand Foundation George H. Meyer, Esq. Mr.& Mrs. Keith Morgan New York State Council on the Arts The Pinkerton Foundation The Judith Rothschild Foundation Schlumberger Foundation, Inc. Jean S. & Frederic A.Sharf Fund Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. Tenneco Tenneco Matching Gifts Program Anonymous

$99,999450,000 Edward V. Blanchard & M. Anne Hill Ralph 0.Esmerian Samuel & Betsey Farber Vincent & Anne Mai Joan M. McCall Anonymous $49,999—$20,000 Burnett Group Edward Lee Cave Peter M.& Mary Ciccone Country Living Magazine Joseph F. Cullman 3rd David L. Davies & Jack Weeden Fireman's Fund Insurance Company Vira Hladun Goldmann Mr.& Mrs. John H. Gutfreund Joseph Martinson Memorial Fund Mr.& Mrs. Dana G. Mead Philip Morris Companies Inc. Julie K.& Samuel Palley Pfizer Inc Restaurant Associates Industries, Inc. The Smart Family Foundation Inc. Geoffrey & Elizabeth Stern Barbara & Thomas W.Strauss Fund

511 SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART

$9,99944,000 ABC,Inc. Judith Alexander

American Woodworker ARTCORP Beard's Fund Edith S. & Barry D. Briskin Edward J. & Margaret Brown Mr. Mario Buatta Mr.& Mrs. Steve Burnett The John R. and Dorothy D. Caples Fund Galerie St. Etienne Duane, Morris & Hecicscher International Paper Company Foundation Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies Kristina Johnson, Esq. Barbara & Dave Krashes Mr.& Mrs. Ronald S. Lauder Jerry & Susan Lauren Louis Dreyfus Corporation The Joe & Emily Lowe Foundation, Inc. Eric Maffei The Magazine Group Christopher & Linda Mayer MBNA America, N.A. Microsoft Matching Gifts Program Morgan Stanley Foundation Dorothea & Leo Rabkin Marguerite Riordan The William P. & Gertrude Schweitzer Foundation, Inc. Joseph E. Seagrams & Sons,Inc. George F. & Myra Shaskan, Jr. Mr.& Mrs. Joseph D. Shein Myron B.& Cecille B. Shure Peter J. Solomon

David Teiger Unilever United States Foundation, Inc. Two anonymous donors $3,99942,000 Dr. Charles L. Abney,Jr. Bergen Line, Inc. Ellen Blissman Robert & Kathy Booth Mr.& Mrs. Sheldon Bonovitz Mr.& Mrs. Richard H. Bott Richard Braemer & Amy Finkel Marvin & Lois P. Broder Joseph & Barbara Cohen Columbia University Community Concerts Mr.& Mrs. George Contos Mr.& Mrs. Edgar M.Cullman Allan & Kendra Daniel Richard M.& Peggy Danziger Michael & Janice Doniger Nancy Druckman Duane, Morris & Hecicscher T.J. Dermot Dunphy John Farber & Wendy11 Brown Scott & Lauren Fine Fortress Corporation Jay & Gail Furman Eric J. & Anne Gleacher Peter & Barbara Goodman Warren & Sue Ellen Haber Jimmy Hedges Pepi & Vera Jelinek Harry Kahn (continued on page 60)

xrf Atlanta ESTABLISHED 1973

Join Us at

The Folk Art Society Day at Morehead October 9, 1999

Kentucky Folk Art Center 102 West First Street Morehead, Kentucky 40351 Phone: 606/783-2204

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SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART 59

DONORS

MUSEUM

OF

AMERICAN

Continuedfrom page 58

Lake CI Classic Boat Auction Saturday June 26 • Wolfeboro, NH

Winnipesaukee Antiques Festival Sat Cl Sun • July 3(14 • Gilford, NH

46th Wolfeboro Antiques Fair Fri El Sat • July 23 CI 24 • Wolfeboro, NH

Hopkinton NH Antiques CI Collectibles Festival Sat El Sun August 7 LI 8 • Hopkinton, NH

Vermont Antiques Festival Sat (I Sun • October 2 El 3 • Rutland, VT Sponsored By

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Allan & Penny Katz Steven & Helen Kellogg Lee & Ed Kogan Fred Leighton, Ltd. Patrick M.& Gloria M.Lonergan Dan W.Lufkin & Silvia Kramer Maine Community Foundation Millbrook Vineyards The Marsha & Jeffrey H. Miro Foundation The Overbrook Foundation J. Randall Plummer Daniel & Susan Pollack Drs. Jeffrey Pressman & Nancy Kollisch Ricco/Maresca Gallery Selig D. Sacks Raymond & Linda Simon Mr.& Mrs. Elliot K. Slade R. Scudder & Helen Smith Richard & Stephanie Solar Spaulding Jeff Soref Mr.& Mrs. David Stein Donald & Rachel Strauber Jim & Judy Taylor United States Trust Company of New York Mr.& Mrs. George P. Viener Don Walters & Mary Benisek Irwin H.& Elizabeth V. Warren Peter & Leslie Warwick Olive F. Watson Anonymous

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60 SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART

Amiens Foundation, Inc. Deborah & James Ash Didi & David Barrett Robert B. Bennett Patricia H. Berkowitz Thomas Block & Marilyn Friedman Marc Brown Trudy & Julius Brown Gale Meltzer Brudner Carillon Importers Inc. Cavin-Morris Gallery Cirker's Moving & Storage Co., Inc. Liz Claiborne Foundation The Coach Dairy Goat Farm Cullman & Kravis, Inc. Aaron & Judy Daniels Derrel B. De Passe Mr.& Mrs. Gerald T. DiManno Kathleen M. Doyle The Echo Design Group,Inc. Mr.& Mrs. Alfred C. Eckert, III Andrew Edlin The Charles Edlin Family Charitable Foundation Trust Gail M.Engelberg Epstein Philanthropies Richard C.& Susan B. Ernst Foundation Burton & Helaine Fendelman in memory of Ellin Ente Janey Fire & John Kalymnios Erin Flanagan Jill Gallagher David A. Gardner

Dr. Kurt A. Gitter & Ms. Alice Yelen Mr. & Mrs. Ronald Goldstein Ned & Dee Goodnow Barbara L. Gordon Baron J. & Ellin Gordon Robert M.Greenberg Mr.& Mrs. Robert F. Greenhill Bonnie Grossman Guiness Import Company Cordelia Hamilton Carl Hammer Mr.& Mrs. James Harithas Marian & Andrew Heiskell Mr.& Mrs. Richard Herbst Stephen Hessler & Mary Ellen Vehlow Stephen M.Hill John & Laima Hood Harvey & Isobel Kahn Mr. & Mrs. Gerald P. Kaminsky Mr. & Mrs. Robert E. Klein The Hess & Helyn Kline Foundation Robert A. Landau Mr.& Mrs. Stephen Lash Wendy & Mel Levitt Mr.& Mrs. John Levin Barbara S. Levinson Peter & Nadine Levy Jane Marcher Charitable Foundation The Helen R.& Harold C. Mayer Foundation Michael & Gael Mendelsohn Frank J. Miele Gallery Ann & Walter Nathan Judith & Bernard Newman Philip V. Oppenheimer & Mary Close Karen R. Osar Mr.& Mrs. Richard D.Parsons Anthony J. Petullo Pheasant Hill Foundation Mr.& Mrs Daniel Pollack Polo Ralph Lauren Morris & Anna Propp Sons Fund, Inc. Mr.& Mrs. Jack Rabin Irene Reichert Mr.& Mrs. Keith Reinhard Paige Rense Betty Ring John & Margaret Robson William D. Rondina Mr.& Mrs. Jeff T. Rose The San Diego Foundation Charmaine & Maurice Kaplan Fund Mr.& Mrs. Henry B. Schacht Mr.& Mrs. Marvin Schwartz Semlitz Glaser Foundation Mr. & Mrs. Ronald Shelp Mr. Harvey Shipley Miller Hardwicke Simmons Mr.& Mrs. Elliott Slade Patricia & Robert Stempel Doris & Stanley Tananbaum Mr.& Mrs. Jeff Tarr Tiffany & Co. Mr.& Mrs. James S. Tisch Mr.& Mrs. Laurence Tisch

FOLK

ART

Mr.& Mrs. Barrry Tucker Ms. Karel F. Wahrsager Mr.& Mrs. David C. Walentas Mr.& Mrs. Charles G. Ward IR Gerard C. Wertldn Mr. & Mrs. William M. Wetsman G. Marc Whitehead John & Phyllis Wishnick Laurie Wolfe & Ann C.S. Benton Mr. Arthur Zankel Two anonymous donors $999â&#x20AC;&#x201D;$500 Ms. Mary Lou Alpert Richard C.& Ingrid Anderson The Bachmann Foundation, Inc. Joel & Lucy Banker Jeremy L. Banta Frank & June Barsalona Charles Benenson The Bibelot Shops Mrs. Helen Bing Leonard Block Jeffrey & Tina Bolton Marilyn & Orren Bradley Deborah Bush Laurie Carmody Mr.& Mrs. Dick Cashin Barbara & Tracy Cate The Chase Manhattan Foundation Matching Gift Program Mr. & Mrs. Robert Cochran Mrs. Phyllis Collins Stephen H. Cooper & Prof. Karen Gross Judy Cowen Michael F. Coyne & Monica Longworth Mr.& Mrs. Lewis Cullman Kathryn M.Curran Debevoise & Plimpton Don & Marion DeWitt Cynthia Drasner Arnold & Debbie Dunn Mr. & Mrs. Alvin Einbender Gloria G. Einbender Ross & Gladys Faires Burton & Helaine Fendehnan Mr.& Mrs. Scott Fine Annie Fisher Ken & Brenda Fritz Denise Froelich Daniel M. Gantt Mr.& Mrs. Bruce Geismar William L.& Mildred Gladstone Mrs. Terry S. Gottlieb Howard M.Graff Stanley & Marcia Greenberg Susan Rosenberg Gurman Anton Haardt Foundation Audrey B. Heckler Mr. and Mrs. Tom Hess Leonard & Arlene Hochman Mr.& Mrs. Robert Hodes Ellen E. Howe Mr.& Mrs. Ken Iscol Tom Isenberg Mr.& Mrs. Thomas C. Israel

Ann Jocelyn/Bank of New York Betty W.Johnson & Douglas F. Bushnell Guy Johnson Louise & George Kaminow Nancy Karlins-Thoman Sherry Kass & Scott Tracy Ms.Joan E. Kend Mr.& Mrs. Leslie Keno Mary Kettaneh Barbara S. Klinger Sherry Kronenfeld Mr.& Mrs. Theodore A. Kurz Mr.& Mrs. Leonard A. Lauder Wendy & Mel Lavitt Carl M. Lindberg Mr.& Mrs. Gerry Lodge Monica Longworth & Michael F. Coyne Michael T. Martin Mr.& Mrs. Jonathan Marvel Al Marzorini Materials for the Arts Kelley McDowell The McGraw-Hill Companies Employee Volunteer Support Program M.P. McNellis Grete Meilman Mr.& Mrs. Robert Meltzer Robert & Joyce Menschel Evelyn S. Meyer Timothy & Virginia Millhiser Joy Moos Kathy S. Moses Museums New York Cyril I. Nelson Mr.& Mrs. Bruce Newman Rachel B. Newman New York Beverage Company Nancy Ann Oettinger Mr.& Mrs. John E. Oilman Paul L.& Nancy Oppenheimer David Passerman Burton W.Pearl, M.D. The Perrier Group of America Mr.& Mrs. Laurence B.Pike Mr.& Mrs. C. Carl Randolph in memory of Margery G. Kahn Mr.& Mrs. F.F. Randolph, Jr. Ricco/Maresca Gallery Robert A. Roth Johnes Ruta Riccardo Salmona Mr.& Mrs. Robert T. Schaffner Margaret Schmidt Bruce B. Shelton Joel & Susan Simon Nell Singer Rita A.Sklar John & Stephanie Smither Kathryn Staley Mr. & Mrs. Victor Studer Peter & Lynn Tishman Mr. Frank Tosto Dorothy Treisman Mr.& Mrs. Raymond S. Troubh United Way of Dutchess County (continued on page 62)

Christopher Gurshin self - taught atatily

t

C/Irt y9abl&ly Jthee

T

1966

C ISE rir"

"NANTUCKET" Painted copper free standing house and scene 1 2" x 12". cut out that measures 6/ Each cut out is a signed original.

Inquirefor other designs or commission one made expressly for you.

Box 634 Newburyport, Massachusetts 01950 978 - 462 - 7761 Exhibiting at Salt Marsh Antiques, Rte IA,Rowley Massachusetts 978 -948 -7139

www.saltmarsh-antiques.com

AMERICAN STONEWARE COLLECTORS "AUCTION AND APPRAISAL SERVICES"

Richard C. Hume P.O. Box 281 Bay Head, N.J. 08742 732-899-8707

Carl Wissler 2015 Lilitz Pike Lancaster, PA. 17601 717-569-2309

SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART el.

DONORS

RAGGEDY ANN NUTCRACKER HAND CARVED - USA

Continuedfrom page 61

Angela Usrey Mr.& Mrs. Hugh Vanderbilt Mr.& Mrs. Joseph Viener Jennifer Walker

Herbert Wells Susi Wuennenberg Diana Zangaras Jon & Rebecca Zoler

RECENT DONORS TO THE COLLECTIONS Judith Alexander Blanchard-Hill Collection: Gift of M. Anne Hill & Edward V. Blanchard, Jr. Eric Cohler David L. Davies Ralph 0.Esmerian Josh Feldstein Jacqueline Loewe Fowler Ray Kass & Jerrie Pike The Abril Lamarque Collection: Gift of Martha Lamarque Collection Ezra Mack Jennifer Mason Cyril I. Nelson Dorothea & Leo Rabkin Freyda Rothstein Jane Brill Supino Janice Turecld Elizabeth, Irwin & Mark Warren Robert Webb Julia Weisman

MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLK ART COLLECTION

MARY MYERS STUDIO 2105 Dawn Avenue VIRGINIA BEACH,VIRGINIA 23451 (800)829-9603

-

Have you considered a gift to the Museum as part of your estate plan? hroughout the years, many have found that including the Museum of American Folk Art in their will allows them to make a more significant contribution to the Museum than is possible during their lifetime. A bequest to the Museum is not subject to federal or state estate or inheritance taxes, and there is no limit on the amount of this deduction.

Including the Museum in your will, in your estate plans, or as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy is a simple way to help ensure the Museum's continued vitality and growth. For more information about how you can make a gift of lasting importance, please contact Mary Thomas, development associate, at 212/977-7170, or consult your personal financial adviser.

.-

11 ,

BOOKS

WEATHERVANE FOLK ART

T

706-597-0899

VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT www.weathervanefolkarteom Visit Us at Folk Fest!

JAKE MeCORD DONNA WILSON EARNEST LEE LHARIVLSTRONG WILLIE jINKS LEONARD JONES RALPH GRIFFIN WILLIE TARVER S.CJIUDSON MOTHER AND MANY OTHER ARTISTS

MT,

82 SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART

INTEREST

he following new title is available at the Museum of American Folk Art Book and Gift Shop,2 Lincoln Square, Columbus Avenue at 66th Street, New York City. To order, please call 212/496-2966.

Museum members receive a 10% discount.

TOM WELLS 324 MAIN STREET THOMSON GEORGIA 30824 706-595-1998

OF

),

â&#x20AC;˘The American Art Book, Megan McFarland and Jay Tobler, eds., Phaidon Press, 1999,512 pages, hardcover, $39.95 This stunning new title, representing the diversity of American art movements, genres, schools, regions, and traditions with the work of 500 individual artists, is of special interest because of its inclusion of nearly 50 folk artists. The book includes significant works from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, and the alphabetical format lends itself to surprising and stimulating visual juxtapositions.

Each full-page color plate is accompanied by an insightful, analytical caption.

CONTEMPORARY FOLK ART BRUCE

SHELTON

KATHY MOSES,GALLERY DIRECTOR

SHELTON GALLERY STANFORD SQUARE 4239 HARDING ROAD NASHVILLE, TN 37205 (615) 298-9935 (615) 298-9419 FAX E-MAIL: sheltongal@aol.com wvvvv.sheltongallery.com

TIM LEWIS JESSE MITCHELL BRAXTON PONDER DOW PUGH ROYAL ROBERTSON MARIE ROGERS SULTON ROGERS HERBERT SINGLETON

Exhibiting at Folk Fest Aug.20-22 We will have Kathy Moses' new book for Schiffer Publishing, Outsider Art of the South, for sale.

We make house calls

MINNIE ADKINS LINVEL BARKER JERRY BROWN THORNTON DIAL CHRIS DONNELLY ROY FERDINAND HOWARD FINSTER HOMER GREEN HELEN LAFRANCE

JIMMY LEE SUDDUTH

"Angel" by Tim Lewis, Sandstone

MOSE TOLLIVER TROY WEBB BOBBY WILLIFORD AND OTHERS

Forbes & Turner Anti ues Shows Saturday, July 10 Dorset, VT

The Dorset Antiques Festival

Wed. & Thurs., Aug 11 & 12 Manchester, NH

The 6th Annual Riverside Antiques Show

Tues. & Wed., Aug 17 & 18 Bath, ME

The 38th Bath Area Antiques Show Sat., September 25 Manchester Village, VT The Fall Hildene Antiques Show

Ytrancy 'Weaver

Sat. & Sun., October 2 & 3

Fine & yolk Art Conservator

Hartford, CT

The Fall Hartford Antiques Show For further information, contact

Linda Turner 207-767-3967

Contemporary yolk Artpotter andWoodcarver

Cedartown,GA.30125 76 Weaver Road Email restorer@mindspring.com Ph (770)748-7035 http://www.mindspring.com/—restorer/restorer.htm

SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART

63

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

Bottle Cap Lady 39 1/2" x 22" x 9 1/2" by Lou Picek

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

INDEX

TO

ADVERTISERS

The American Folk Art Gallery

10

Garde Rail Gallery

57

New York State Historical Association

40

American Pie

40

Gilley's Gallery

39

Pottery Plus

59

American Primitive Gallery

2

Ginger Young Gallery

8

Raccoon Creek Antiques

8

American Stoneware Collectors

61

Grey Carter Objects of Art

16

Ricco/Maresca Gallery

The Ames Gallery

16

Hypoint

53

Robert Hull Fleming Museum

Antique Arts

41

J. Crist

Anton Haardt Gallery

57

John Denton

Inside Back Cover

43

50

Sanford L. Smith & Associates

45

59

Select Southern Pottery

51

Shelton Gallery

63 17

At Home Gallery

51

Kentucky Folk Art Center

60

Kimball M.Sterling

Cavin-Morris Gallery

13

Knoke Galleries

59

Sidney Gecker

Laura Fisher

15

The Splendid Peasant Ltd.

9

53

Rosehips Gallery

Authentic Designs Christie's

Inside Front Cover

46,47

3

Christopher Gurshin

61

David Leonardis Gallery

56

Main Street Antiques and Art

64

Steve Miller

Dixie Folk Art

43

Mary Myers Studio

62

Tops Gallery

Epstein/Powell

53

MBNA America

51

Walters/Benisek

4

Fassbender

12

MCG Antiques Promotions

49

Wanda's Quilts

48

Museum Charlotte Zander

50

Weathervane Folk Art

62

Yard Dog

55

Fleisher/Oilman Gallery

Back Cover

Luise Ross Gallery

7

The Folk Art Gallery

55

Nancy Weaver

63

Folk Fest, Inc.

42

Naomi Polk Works and Words

56

Forbes & Turner

63

New England Events Mgt.

60

64 SUMMER 1999 FOLK ART

St. Madeleine Sophie's Center

50 39

JAMES CASTLE

1900-1977

Untitled. n.d.

Soot drawing on found paper 5W x 7W

Catalog of work released for 1999 with essay by Noriko Gamblin available for $17 J. Crist is the agent for the estate ofJames Castle (Agnes B. Wade, Castle Collection, L.P.).

465 West Main Street Boise, Idaho 83702 phone 208.336.2671 fax 208.336.5615 web www.jcrist.com e-mail art@jcrist.com

Untitled,(man in sailor shirt) late 19th century ink and colored pencil on paper 1 1 3/4 x 8 5/8 inches

211 S. 17th Street Philadelphia 1 9 1 0 3 (215)545.7562 (Fax)54.5. 6140

FLEISHER OLLMAN GALLERY

Untitled,(woman with pink beaded necklace) late 19th century ink and colored pencil on paper 1 1 3/4 x 8 5/8 inches

Late Nineteenth Century A Group of Eight

Sailor Drawings