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CHARLES A.A. DELLSCHAU (1 830 - 1923)
RICCO/MARESCA GALLERY
529 WEST 20TH ST 3RD FL NYC 10011
T 21 2/627-481 9 F 212/627-5117 E rmgal@aol.com W www.riccomaresca.com Charles A.A. Dellschau. Untitled (4674), 1920, mixed media on paper. 19.5"h x 16"w
STEVE KIER • AMERICAN FOLK ART •
WANTED AMERICAN FOLK ART OF THIS QUALITY DEER WEATHERVANE Signed "Made by J. Howard & Co., W.Bridgewater, Mass." 18 x 18", cast zinc and repousse copper construction. Subject to prior sale.
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.
ANTHONY JOSEPH SALVATORE 1938 - 1994
Daniel 7, a. 11, 1994, Oilstick, acrylic/illustration board, 40" x 32"
CAVIN-MORRIS GALLERY 560 Broadway, Suite 405B New York, NY 10012 tel: (212) 226-3768
fax:(212) 226-0155
e-mail: mysteries@aol.com
www.artnet.com/cavinmorris.html
JAMES CASTLE 1900-1977
Untitled (drawing offive figures), n.d. 9 1/2" x 111 / 2"
J
CRIST GALLERY AND ART SERVICES
The Belgravia Building 465 West Main Street Boise, Idaho 83702 Phone 208 336 2671 Fax 336 5615 Electronic Mail art@jcrist.com
Catalog of work released for 2001 available November,2000($17) J. Crist is the agent for the work of James Castle (A.C. Wade Castle Collection, L.P.)
WALTERS BENISEK ART & ANTIQUES ONE A(VIBER LANE • NORTHAMPTON • MASSACHUSETTS•01060 •• • ( 4 1 3) 586 • 3909 • WALTERS • MARY BENISEK DON
Eagle on Probably Pennsylvania, late 19th c Carved wood with original yellow Height: 19, Wingspan: 14'
FOLK ART VOLUME 25,NUMBER 31FALL 2000
FEATURES
Cover: Detail of RESIDENCE OF MR. GEORGE N. PICKARD /Fritz Vogt/Perth, New York/1897/graphite and colored /a x271/4" pencil on paper/20, private collection
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 2000 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 of folk art and it is a violation of its principles to be involved in or to appear to be involved in the sale of works of art. For this reason, the Museum will not knowingly accept advertisements for Folk Art that illustrate or describe objects that have been exhibited at the Museum within one year of placing an advertisement.
DRAWN HOME:FRITZ VOGT'S RURAL NEW YORK W. Parker Hayes Jr.
30
AN ENGAGEMENT WITH FOLK ART: CYRIL I. NELSON'S GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM Elizabeth V. Warren
40
FLIGHT OR FANCY? THE SECRET LIFE OF CHARLES A.A. DELLSCHAU Tracy Baker-White
46
DEP
AR
T
MEN
T
S
EDITOR'S COLUMN DIRECTOR'S LETTER
12
NEW BUILDING UPDATE
18
MINIATURES
22
MUSEUM WEB SITE
26
FALL ANTIQUES SHOW BENEFIT PREVIEW
29
MUSEUM REPRODUCTIONS PROGRAM
62
OUTSIDER ART FAIR BENEFIT
64
QUILT CONTEST
67
TRUSTEES/DONORS
68
TRAVELING EXHIBITIONS
72
MUSEUM NEWS
73
OBITUARY
77
FALL PROGRAMS
78
BOOKS OF INTEREST
79
INDEX TO ADVERTISERS
so
FALL 2000 FOLK ART 5
EDITOR'S
COLUMN
ROSEMARY GABRIEL
he Museum's fall season opens at the Eva and Morris Feld Gallery with "An Engagement with Folk Art: Cyril I. Nelson's Gifts to the Museum." Cy Nelson has been a trustee of the Museum since 1974, and over the past twenty years he has made many wonderful contributions to the permanent collection. Much of Nelson's collecting interest is in the area of textiles, especially quilts. And it is of little wonder that he knows what to look for in an exceptional quilt; as an editor at E.P. Dutton, now Penguin Putnam Inc.—for more years than perhaps he'd like me to mention—Cy Nelson has complied The Quilt Engagement Calendar annually since 1975. Glorious American Quilts: The Quilt Collection ofthe Museum ofAmerican Folk Art, written by Elizabeth V. Warren and Sharon L. Eisenstat and published by Penguin Studio in association with the Museum in 1996, is dedicated to Nelson, its editor, as is this lovely exhibition. Elizabeth V. Warren, the Museum's consulting curator and curator of"An Engagement with Folk Art," gives us a peek (starting on page 40) at the stunning collection of traditional folk art that will be on view INDIAN PINE QUILT / quittmaker unidentified / until January 2001. initials BB / Maine / 1880-1890 / cotton In 2002, the New York State Histori- embroidered with cotton embroidery /86 > 82"/ Museum of cal Association at Cooperstown will pre- American Folk Art, gift of Cyril Irwin Nelson in memory of his grandparents, Guerdon Stearns and Elinor Irwin sent a major exhibition of the work of IChasel Holden, and in honor of his parents, Cyril German immigrant and architectural Arthur and Elise Macy Nelson, 1982.22.1 portraitist Fritz Vogt. The exhibition is organized by Vogt researcher and guest curator W.Parker Hayes Jr. Hayes has selected eight beautiful drawings to illustrate his riveting and informative essay "Drawn Home: Fritz Vogt's Rural New York," starting on page 30. He and Paul D'Ambrosio,chief curator of the New York State Historical Association and The Farmers' Museum in Cooperstown, eagerly request additional information on this artist and his drawings for their database. The San Antonio Museum of Art is also planning an exhibition of the work of a German-born artist, Charles A.A. Dellschau. It is interesting to note that although Dellschau was born in 1830,twelve years before the "traditional" folk artist Fritz Vogt, he is favored among "contemporary" folk art collectors for his quirky and very beautiful watercolors of fantastic air machines. Tracy BakerWhite, curator of the upcoming exhibition, shares her insights, opinions, and newest research with us in "Flight or Fancy? The Secret Life of Charles A.A. Dellschau," which starts on page 46. Baker-White has chosen some neverbefore-published images to illustrate this compelling essay. I hope you enjoy these essays as much as we enjoyed working with the authors to bring them to you. Also,in addition to Miniatures and Museum News, look for our special building update on pages 18 and 19,important information on this year's Fall Antiques Show Benefit Preview on page 29, and be sure to see page 67 for information on the Museum's new quilt contest. To those who enter, good luck!
T
"tee--/a-17 6 FALL 2000 FOLK ART
FOLK ART Rosemary Gabriel Editor and Publisher Jeffrey Kibler, The Magazine Group,Inc. Design Tanya Heinrich Associate Editor Jocelyn Meinhardt Production Editor Sarah J. Munt Assistant Editor Benjamin J. Boyington 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. Wertkin Director Riccardo Salmona Deputy Director Stephen N. Roache Director ofFinance and Operations Susan Conlon Assistant to the Director Irene Kreny Accountant Daniel Rodriguez Mailroom Beverly McCarthy Mail Order/Reception Collections & 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 of Traveling Exhibitions Sandra Wong Assistant Registrar Dale Gregory Gallery Manager Sara Kay Weekend 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. DilVlaimo Director ofMuseum Shops Susan Flatrun Public Relations Director Alice J. Hoffman Director ofLicensing Janey Fire Director ofPhotographic Services Suzannah Schatt Membership Associate Jennifer Claire Scott Director ofSpecial Events Jane A. McIntosh Capital Campaign Coordinator Ursula Morillo 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 Barbara W.Cate Educational Consultant Dr. Marilynn Karp Director, New York University Master's and Ph.D. Program in Folk Art Studies Dr. Judith Reiter Weissman Coordinator, New York University Program Arlene Hochman Docent Coordinator Linda Simon Associate Docent Coordinator Museum Shop Staff Managers: Dorothy Gargiulo, Caroline Hohenrath, Rita Pollitt, Suzanne Sypulslci; Security: Bienvenido Medina; Volunteers: Marie Anderson, Olive Bates, Angela Clair, Sally Frank, Millie Gladstone, 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 between 65th and 66th Streets) New York, NY 10023-6214 212./496-2966 Administrative Offices 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
PROUD SPONSOR OF THE FALL ANTIQUES SHOW AT THE ARMORY A
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Carved and polychrome Model of a Paddle-wheeler Ship inscribed "James Stone Reese" c. 1860 37" L x 181/4" H Excellent condition
DAVID
WHEATCROFT Antiques
220 East Main Street, Westborough, Massachusetts 01581 (508) 366-1723
CHRISTIE'S
AMM1 PHILLIPS (1788-1865) Portrait ofa Woman Holding Large Holy Bible circa 1815, oil on canvas 32 x 28 in. Property from the Collection of Barbara and Larry Holdridge
important American Furniture, Folk Art and Decorative Arts Auction
Inquiries
October 5
212 636 2230
Viewing
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September 30—October 4
800 395 6300
20 Rockefeller Plaza New York, New York 10020
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HILL GALLERY
121
Indian at Teepee C.1910 Midwest Origin (19x12x6")407W. Brown St. Birmingham MI
T 248.540.9288
9- 1,1, IVS - s]ni 0E91, - 996 - Z1,Z NO1NV 31\12Pood Z1,001, AN `A10), M3N gOZ # AVMOVal8t'69
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DIRECTOR'S
LET TER
GERARD C. WERTKIN
n any museum,the year tends to be defined by the annual calendar of exhibitions. At the Museum of American Folk Art, that implies a wonderful diversity of programs. As I prepare these remarks for publication,"The Art of William Edmondson" is drawing large crowds, rave reviews, and enthusiastic program participants. With a national tour organized by the Cheekwood Museum of Art and its assistant curator, Rusty Freeman, and supported by a generous grant from The Henry Luce Foundation, Inc. and the National Endowment for the Arts, the exhibition highlights the powerful work of a richly gifted artist. Here at the Museum,the exhibition was presented under the aegis of Brooke Davis Anderson, director and curator of the Museum's Contemporary Center, who added a number of splendid sculptures from local collections and supervised the installation. I am deeply grateful to Frank Maresca, who designed the installation as a gift to this institution, and to Time Warner, which provided major support for the presentation in New York, and the following sponsors: The Shirley Schlafer Foundation, Marion E. Greene—The LEF Foundation, Dorothea and Leo Rabkin, and several members of the Museum's Board. Following the closing of"The Art of William Edmondson" on August 27, the Museum will be transformed from one striking environment into another. While Edmondson's work is rooted in the traditions of the African American South, the next exhibition,"An Engagement with Folk Art: Cyril I. Nelson's Gifts to the Museum," speaks mostly to earlier art expressions stemming from the Northeast, especially New England. Cyril I. Nelson is one of the Museum's longestserving Trustees, having been first elected to the Board in 1974. Well-known for his annual The Quilt Engagement Calendar, Cy Nelson has been responsible for the publication of a veritable library of important books on the American folk and decorative arts at E.P. Dutton(now Penguin Putnam Inc.) where he serves as senior editor. Although his many gifts to the Museum have been the subject of prior comment in Folk Art, this is the first time a large number of these objects have been exhibited together at the Museum."An Engagement with Folk Art" is generously supported by a grant from The Lipman Family Foundation, Inc. My gratitude to Cy Nelson and The Lipman Family Foundation is profound. This exhibition represents a return engagement for Elizabeth V. Warren, who recently organized "Glorious American Quilts: The Quilt Collection of the Museum of American Folk Art" in Japan, under the auspices of the Museum's licensing program with Takashimaya, Ltd. In my last Director's Letter, I mentioned the exhibition and its tour briefly, but I do want to report to you how warmly Elizabeth Warren, Alice Hoffman
(director of licensing), Stacy Hollander (senior curator and director of exhibitions), and I were welcomed in Japan by the management of Takashimaya, as well as its associates and customers. Indeed, we were treated royally throughout a whirlwind tour of Japan and a fascinating introduction to its museums,traditions, and culture. Expertly organized by Elizabeth Warren,"Glorious American Quilts" celebrated a business relationship that extends back to the early 1980s. Alice Hoffman and I visited Takashimaya department stores in Tokyo, Yokohama, Kyoto, and Osaka(the cities in which the exhibition was presented), met with top officials of the company, and were able to inspect the shops devoted to the fine merchandise produced by Takashimaya under license from the Museum. It is clear from the many thousands of Japanese quilt fanciers who visited the exhibition in its four venues that quiltmaking as an art form is well-established in Japan. Indeed, many visitors were themselves ardent quiltmakers and, to my delight, committed members of the Museum. Quilts and quilters bring to mind a former member of the Museum's staff, Cathy Rasmussen, who served as director of The Great American Quilt Festival, which she presented on behalf of the Museum in 1989, 1991, and 1993, and established a strong connection between the Museum and the quilt community. As many friends
Elizabeth V. Warren, the Museum's consulting curator, and her interpreter, Mariko Akizuki, at the opening of the exhibition in Tokyo
12 FALL 2000 FOLK ART
In a Kyoto teahouse Heft to right): Geisha Geiko; Gerard C. Wertkin, the Museum's director; Kazuo Kusunoki, general manager of Takashimaya, Ltd., New York representative office; Alice Hoffman, the Museum's director of licensing; and Geisha Maiko
Stacy C. Hollander, the Museum's senior curator and director of exhibitions, and her interpreter, Junko Minamiguchi, in Osaka
know, Cathy battled cancer for many years. I regret to report that she died on June 12. She was a true example of courage, and her passing represents a great loss to the Museum and the quilt world. Following her employment by the Museum,Cathy went on to head the Studio Art Quilt Associates and spearheaded the exhibition "Edge to Edge: Selections from Studio Art Quilt Associates," presented by the Museum in 1998. The Museum lost two other good friends recently. William I. Leffler, a member of the Board of Trustees from 1977 to 1991 and treasurer during much of that period, died on July 16. Bill helped institute needed financial systems during his term of office and was a valued mentor both to my predecessor as director, Robert Bishop, and me. Derrel DePasse, a collector of the work of 20th-century self-taught artists and an enthusiastic Museum supporter, died on July 8,five months prior to the publication of her long-awaited book on the life and art of Joseph Yoakum. All of us at the Museum remember these colleagues with deep affection and esteem. In the Spring 2000 issue of Folk Art, the Museum announced that it had been awarded a challenge grant from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs to restore several important scenic walls in its collection. Given to the Museum in 1988 by Catherine Cahill and William Bernhard, these walls, which date from 1800 to 1825, originally graced a home in Thornton, New Hampshire. Matching funds for this important conservation effort were generously donated by J. Randall Plummer and Harvey S. Shipley Miller; Paul Martinson, Frances Martinson, and Howard Graff in memory of Burt Martinson; and The Bay Foundation. My warm thanks go out to Schuyler Chapin, Commissioner of Cultural Affairs of the City of New York, our good friends at the DCA,and the donors for their thoughtfulness. The conservation will be completed in time to install these beautiful walls in the Museum's new building, which continues to exceed all expectations as it rises from its foundations. As the construction update in this issue of Folk Art demonstrates, the third floor of the building has been reached as we go to press. The
Geishas Geiko and Maiko
Caught in a brief rain shower in Kyoto: Hirofumi Matsumura,Takashimaya's deputy general manager, home furnishing division, merchandising; Alice Hoffman, and Kazuo Kusunoki
Alice Hoffman, Gerard C. Wertkin, and Kazuo Kusunoki at Osaka Castle
construction continues to run ahead of schedule, and excitement at the Museum is palpable from day to day. This is a wonderful time to be part of the Museum of American Folk Art. If you already are a member of the Museum,I thank you warmly for your support. If you haven't yet signaled your commitment to the Museum and its mission by joining, please take a moment to fill out the membership card in this issue. I look forward to welcoming you to the Museum family soon.*
FALL 2000 FOLK ART 13
TRACY GOODNOW ART & ANTIQUES
576 SHEFFIELD PLAIN (ROUTE 7) PO Box 1340 SHEFFIELD MA 01257 / TEL 413.229.6045 Two-drawer Blanket Chest, Maine, ca. 1830-40, pine with polychrome, 3811 h x 39 1/4"w x 17 3/4"d
ALLAN KATZ Americana
Carved and Painted Eagle Wall Plaque, Midwest.42" wide.Signed on Reverse: "The Property of Sergi:. A.M. Reininger. 1886"
Allan & Penny Katz • By Appointment 25 Old Still Road • Woodbridge, CT 06525 • (203) 393-9356
American Folk Art Sidney Gecker
L14
226 West 21st Street• New York, N.Y. 10011 •(212) 929-8769•Appointment Suggested sojeci to prior sale.
FALL 2000 FOLK ART 15
TYSON TRADING CO. R T&ANTIQUES
"The Highwaymen"
lifted Hair
larold No‘ion
OFFERING A LARGE SELECTION OF FLORIDA HIGHWAYMEN PAINTINGS,SELF-TAUGHT ARTISTS, AFRICAN-AMERICAN QUILTS, ANTIQUE AND CONTEMPORARY FOLK ART. 505 CHOLOKKA BLVD.PO BOX 369 MICANOPY FL.32667 352-466-3410 EMAIL: TYSONTRADE(ii AOLCOM
Look for us at the
THE
San Francisco Fall Antiques Show
AMES
October 26 - 29,2000• Preview Wednesday, October 25•Fort Mason Center
GALLERY ALP
AlAZ.zo .E,CAPG131 Tamss R.Pled, , 4.FOKW
Dealers in exceptional contemporary self-taught, naive, visionary, and outsider art. We also ecialize in early handmade Americana including quilts, carved canes, tramp art and whimseys.
c.vkirr,,J1k7 la
UllIEC.1
• Bonnie Grossman, Director 2661 Cedar Street, Berkeley, California 94708 Telephone 510/845-4949 Fax 510/845-6219
'C. r*.
A.G. Rizzoli, S-10 Alfredo Capabianco and Family Symbolically Sketched,1937. colored ink on rag paper, 24 Vie x 38 5/16"
INT ER
CLEMENTINE 1
8
6
8
1
-
9
8
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Collection Includes: Nellie Mae Rowe Herbert Singleton Myrtice West Willie White Willie/Willie And others.
David Butler Minnie Evans Howard Finster Louden J.B. Murry Sarah Rakes
GALLEY
GILLEY8 A
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F
R
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MING EST.1978
We Hod A Bench To Rest On, Co. 1940, 143/4"x 17,
Oil on paper
Fick,by 1" Neff
8750 Florida Boulevard, Baton Rouge, LA 70815 www.eate I. n et/ —ou tsi der 225.922.9225
FALL 2000 FOLK ART 17
ar These photographs of the Museum's new building on West 53rd Street show the progress of the construc tion as of late June. During the second week of July, the mezzanine floor was completed and the second floor was framed and poured. By the time you read this, the entire concrete superstructure will be finished. Construction continues without delay and completion is scheduled for late spring 2001.
18 FALL 2000 FOLK ART
Wrap
wmaras
101111• Mani 11111112111111 111■11111111 MINIUM MP/ NM= MIMS
Ginger Young Gallery
By appointment 919.932.6003 Works by more than four dozen artists, including:
Southern Self-Taught Art
Rudolph Bostic • Raymond Coins Howard Finster Sybil Gibson • Willie Jinks • Leonard Jones • M.C. Jones Mary Klein Joe Light • Woodie Long • Jake McCord
.091.* .001.6 oil.. $lam voiliw 0410%
R. A. Miller • Reginald Mitchell • Sarah Rakes • Nellie Mae Rowe • J. P. Scott • Earl Simmons James "Buddy" Snipes • Jimmy Lee Sudduth
Mose Tolliver • John
Henry Toney Myrtice West • Purvis Young • tramp art
For a free CD catalogue, please contact: Ginger Young Gallery 5802 Brisbane Drive Chapel Hill, NC 27514 Phone/Fax 919.932.6003 gingerart@aol.com www.GingerYoung.com
Please visit our website to view over 300 works.
"Be Careful How You Choose Your Parents" by Kacey Cameal, oil on linen, 20" x 24", 1999.
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OvR C..hiLDREA) pPant Nakm,GuNS,DRoy.5, AMD ALL EVIL- AMA NfAL ThEM. LORD Now 144.yrws SAFE By /When £&F.RfYOC ANSWER SAVE
Gallery Rosehips Gallery
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"Pray Meeting" • North Georgia artist, Mary Greene • 36"w x 48"h
visit our on-Une ga((ery a+ www.rosehipsart.corv•
20 FALL 2000 FOLK ART
SEPTEMBER 7-OCTOBER 22, 2000
PAUL, EDI,IN
Rare Birds Park,2000, 16"x 20", postage stamp fragments on board
TOM DUNCAN
Aunt Meg's Gift for Tommy,1996, 19.5"x 23"x 2", mixed media
ANDREW
EDI,IN
FINE
ARTS
tel 201.795.0292 • fax 201.610.9870 • 1308 Garden Street • Hoboken, NJ 07030 • USA e-mail bzandae©aol.com • web site www.artnet.com/aedlin.html
The -Mennello Museum of American Folk Art
'Permanm Lib
COMPILED BY SARAH J. MUNT
Collection
ngs by Earl Cunningham selections from the City of Orlando Public Art Collection of self-taught artists. Ongoing.
Gas, Food, and Lodging
.ELLIE MAE ROWE Nil
MINIATURES
'
rtant African-American artist of the 20th Century. work portrays fond memories of farm and family life.
29, 2001
"Lions and Eagles and Bulls: A Roadside Gallery of Early American Art" is on display at The Connecticut Historical Society (860/236-5621), Hartford,from Oct. 26,2000, to April 29,2001.In the 18th and early 19th centuries, America's inns, hotels, and taverns advertised their services to travelers using hand-crafted signs, usu-
ally painted on wood. In an effort to attract customers, many sign-makers also made elaborate use of woodcarving and turning, ironwork, or gilded lettering. This traveling exhibition, accompanied by a catalog, displays more than 25 signs from The Connecticut Historical Society's permanent collection.
AMES HAMPTON 4one of the Third Heaven , I the Nations Millennium;
Quilt Shows in Pennsylvania
only work created by this important 20th ury artist. The piece is made from cast-off Iture and used gold and silver foil.
4
rful, fantasy visions of European and American life. lien was born in France and now resides in Orlando.
jilts
media memories of Old Havana.
arch lb
Its created mostly by African-American women g in Mississippi.
In 1937, he was the African-American to have a one-man show at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City.
E. Princeton Street • Orlando, Flor U. 900 tel: 407.246.4278 fax: 407.246.4329 email: cityoforlandoart@mindspring.com www.mennellomuseum.com
Nit
Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. • Thursday 11 a.m. - 8 p. Sunday noon - 5 p.m. Admission: Adults $4, Student/Seniors $1 Under age 12 free, Members free Owned and operated by the City of Orlando
22 FALL 2000 FOLK ART
The Brandywine River Museum (610/388-2700), Chadds Ford, will present "The Fabric of Persuasion: Two Hundred Years of Political Quilts." The quilts, made from 1789 to 1986, reflect the vibrant and occasionally irreverent commentaries on American politics. The 22 quilts, along with various political paraphernalia, will be on display from Sept. 9 to Nov. 19. The People's Place Quilts Museum (717/7687171),Intercourse, presents "Amish Quilts and African American Quilts: Classics from Two Traditions" through Oct. 31. This exhibition displays two seemingly disparate schools of quiltmaking. Comparing 13 African American quilts and 13 Amish quilts, the show recognizes the strong use of color in both traditions and the visual imprint of the quilter's personality. "Lancaster County Quilting Traditions" is on view at The
Heritage Center Museum of Lancaster County (717/299-6440), Lancaster, through Dec. 31. Curator Dr. Patricia T. Herr has incorporated nearly 25 quilts, photographs, and quilting tools to examine the construction and techniques from Quaker, Mennonite, Amish,and Scots-Irish communities. A catalog is available.
JIMMY WHO? Jill Jayne-Read Athens, Georgia c. 1976 Cotton pieced, appliqued and embroidered face, cotton back, polyester fill 93 x 64" Collection of artist
Aimol
gill Shaker Gift Drawings "Seen and Received: The Shakers' Private Art" is on view at Hancock Shaker Village (413/443-0188),Pittsfield, Ma., through April 2,2001. This exhibition features a collection of 25 gift drawings that have not been on display as a whole in over a decade. Gift drawings, usually created by women in the mid-19th century, were vision-
History and Memory The Fenimore Art Museum (607/547-1400), Cooperstown, N.Y., presents "Our Backyard: History and Memory in American Folk Art" from Oct. 21 to Dec. 31. This exhibition will feature artists' depictions of local, regional, and national events, as well as personal experiences and memories, selected from the permanent collection of the New York State Historical Association. Included will be memorial paintings, quilts, ledger drawings, and other artifacts.
ary in nature. Very few examples of the delicate work survive; some may even have been destroyed by the Shakers themselves in the late 19th century. The show places the drawings within a social context by displaying a selection of other Shaker artifacts, including furniture, embroidery, music manuscripts, costume, and maps.
TREE OF LIFE Hannah Cohoon Hancock, Massachusetts 1854 Ink and watercolor on paper 2x 23As" 1 18/ Andrews Collection, Hancock Shaker Village
Corrections The photograph of Howard Finster in "The Rosenak Archives at the Museum of American Folk Art"(Summer 2000, Vol. 25, No. 2, p. 50) was inadvertently attributed to Chuck Rosenak. The picture was taken by Don Pennell, a photographer for The Richmond News Leader, in Virginia.
JACKIE RADWIN
Rare and wonderful mid-19th century sheet metal weathervane, original surface 29 1/2" h x 35" w
painted furniture, quilts and folk art
5405 Broadway San Antonio, Texas 78209 (210) 824-7711
FALL 2000 FOLK ART 23
MINIATURES
Art America Fall Conferences The Historical Society of Early American Decoration will hold its semiannual convention and exhibition at the Woodcliff Hilton Hotel in Woodcliff Lakes, N.J.,from Sept. 22 to 24. On view will be a special exhibition of decorated tinware, reverse glass, and American country painting. There will also be a special emphasis on Victorian flower painting. The public is welcome, and admission is
ROUND TRAY WITH PIERCED EDGE Artist unknown Pontypool, Wales c. 1780-1800 Japanned tin plate 24" diameter,/ 3 4" deep Gift of Historical Society of Early American Decoration, Museum of American Folk Art, 64.10
Rosebee 1991 We provide a showcase for contemporary American Folk Art. The range of offerings includes painting and sculpture.
603 643-8880 www.art-america.com David Russell, Jr. 1 Oak Ridge Road, Suite 8-B West Lebanon, NH 03784
24 FALL 2000 FOLK ART
free on Sept. 22,from 4 to 11 P.M.; Sept. 23,9 A.M. to 11 P.M.; and Sept. 24,from 9 A.M. to noon. For more information please contact chairperson Barbara Sandler at 609/883-3930. Folk Art Society of America (800/527-3655) will present the 13th annual conference on "Latin American and Native American Folk Art" at the San Diego Museum of Man from Oct. 12 to 15. Also included will be behind-the-scenes tours of the Mingei InternationalMuseum of Folk Art, a private collection, and Leonard Knight's Salvation Mountain, as well as a benefit auction.
Native Lattice Cradles "Gifts of Pride and Love: The Cultural Significance of Kiowa and Comanche Lattice Cradles" is on view at the UCLA Fowler Museum (310/825-4288), Los Angeles, through Jan. 14, 2001. This traveling exhibition presents
38 lattice cradles, popular in the southern plains from 1870 to 1910. Brilliantly intricate and practical, the cradles, constructed from hide, canvas, or wool, were heavily beaded, painted, and incised. A catalog is available.
Bay Area Collections On view from Sept. 21, 2000 to Jan. 7, 2001 is "Drawing the Inner Terrain: Self-Taught Artists." Presented by Palo Alto Art Center(650/329-2366)in California, the exhibition features
artwork primarily from San Francisco Bay collections. Artists include Martin Ramirez, A.G. Rizzoli, Bill Traylor, Joseph Yoakum,and ledger drawings by Native Americans.
71 MANHATTAN ART & ANTIQUES CENTER Southern Face Jugs "Making Faces: Southern Face Vessels from 1840 to 1990" will be on view at the University of South Carolina's McKissick Museum (803/777-5400), Columbia, through Dec. 17. An extremely popular art form in the South, face jugs were first pro-
duced in America during the 1840s; in the 1970s, they witnessed a resurgence in popularity. This exhibition features 65 jugs, including work from artists Lanier Meaders, Burton Craig, and Thomas Chandler.
The Nation's Largest and Finest Antiques Center. Over 100 galleries offering Period Furniture, Jewelry, Paintings, Silver, Americana, Orientalia, Africana and other Objets d'Art. 1050 SECOND AVENUE (AT 55TH ST.) NEW YORK, N.Y. 10022 PRESENTS
FACE VESSEL Thomas Chandler Edgefield, South Carolina c. 1840-1852 Alkaline glazed stoneware clay 11/ 1 2x 12/ 1 2 " Collection of James B. Hunter
Unique CRAZY QUILT featuring expertly embroidered soldiers and ladies with their nations' flags. Silk, c. 1880.
Fiber Art "Metamorphosis: The Fiber Art of Judith Scott" will be on view at Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art(312/243-9088), Chicago,from Sept. 8 to Nov. 25. The artworks are large bundles meticulously wrapped in yarn and thread. The show was organized by the Creative Growth Art Center, Oakland, Ca., an association that provides people with disabilities the opportunity to create art. A catalog is available. UNTITLED Judith Scott Oakland, California 1992-1993 Mixed media 29 x 10 x 5" Collection of Creative Growth Art Center
LAURA FISHER ANTIQUE QUILTS& AMERICANA Gallery #84 New York City's largest, most exciting selection of
Antique Quilts, Hooked Rugs, Coverlets, Paisley Shawls, Beacon Blankets, Vintage Accessories and American Folk Art. Laura Fisher: Tel: 212-838-2596 Monday—Saturday 11AM-6PM The Manhattan Art&Antiques Center:
Tel: 212-355-4400 • Fax: 212-355-4403 www.the-maac.com • Email: info@the-maac.com Open Daily 10:30-6, Sun. 12-6
Convenient Parking • Open to the Public
FALL 2000 FOLK ART 25
www.
Peter G Spivak The Private Collection [available exclusiveln rhrounh urban dallIdiej
4,...
opening october 27th
The Museum of American Folk Art presents its Web site with an Online Shop stocked with carefully selected merchandise from our popular Book and Gift Shop.
"The Messiah Complex" oil on wood, 13/ 1 2"x17"
r
207 W 8111 Street Winston-Salem, NC 27101 336.722 2348
In addition to regularly updated exhibition and program information and a photo gallery featuring highlights of the permanent collection, you can become a Museum member, register for Folk Art Institute courses, and purchase unusual gifts from our extensive catalog of books, accessories, toys, and specialty items for holidays and home decor. Credit-card transactions are encrypted for security and privacy, and Museum members receive a 10% discount on all shop items.
Lozated in the Detente/4.m AMA. Diethict.
email: urbanartruare@peoplepc.com Web Catalog: Lututu.peterspivall.com
28 FALL 2000 FOLK ART
Visit us today!
3
3 .org
COUNTRY LIVING
Magazine presents the 22" Annual
FALLANTIQUEbS I OW At the Armory
NOVEMBER 16-19 PREVIEW NOVEMBER 15
MORNING WALKING TOURS
THE PARK AVENUE ARMORY
SANFORD L. SMITH a ASSOCIATES
AMERICANA COUNTRY & FORMAL FURNITURE TEXTILES QUILTS TOYS FOLK ART FINE ART ENGLISH & CONTINENTAL FURNITURE a ACCESSORIES GARDEN DESIGN MARINE ART PAINTINGS POTTERY SAMPLERS
BALLYHACK ANTIQUES
SCHOOL GIRL BOXES A matching pair of slide top boxes with painted histories and decorations. Inscription on box lid The Landing of the Fathers at Plymouth Dec. 22, 1620. Carver, Bradford, Winslow, Brewster and Standish.-American Independence July 4, 1776.-Washington died 1799. Miranda W Sanders, Medfield October 9, 1821
MARY SAMS • P.O. BOX 85
CORNWALL, CT 06753 •(860) 672-6751
*FOLK* ART
cSt
ANTIQUES
DAVID JONES An exhibition of recent work, Oct.6- 31, 2000 October 6th Reception, 5-8 pm Le/ "Yip Bird" box. Sterling, copper, fine silver, 18k, 24k,tin Sob,brush tip, hand fabricated, 11" high. Right:"Everyone likes coffee, same people like fee.'" Sterling copper, fine silver, 18k, 24k, lenticuLar lens, 1946 Pep pins, hand fabricated, Thigh.
Charlton Bradsher • 64 Biltmore Avenue • c°In
28 FALL 2000 FOLK ART
MUSEUM
BENEFIT
PREVIEW
2000 Fall Antiques Show
Museum of American Folk Art Benefit Preview Park Avenue Armory Wednesday, November 15 6:00-9:00 P.M. he 2000 Benefit Preview promises to be an exciting celebration of the first Fall Antiques Show of the century. The 2000 Fall Antiques Show Benefit Preview will honor The American Folk Art Society and is certain to be a highlight on New York City's cultural calendar. The Show will be on view Thursday, November 16, through Sunday, November 19."In the Company of Experts," a series of guided walking tours of the Show, will be held on Thursday and Saturday mornings. Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, a previous supporter of the Benefit Preview and generous friend of the Museum, will again serve as a Corporate Benefactor. All proceeds from the Benefit help to support the Museum's educational programs, exhibitions, and publications. Benefit Preview ticket prices are as follows: Benefactor, $1,000($925 is tax-deductible); Patron, $500($440 tax-deductible); Supporter, $200($140 taxdeductible); and Americus (for members thirty-five years and younger), $100($40 tax-deductible). The Benefactor's Preview, a special benefit for Corporate Benefactors, will be held at 5:30 P.M. on the evening of the preview. For more information or to make reservations for the Benefit Preview, please contact Jennifer Scott at the Museum's administrative offices (212/977-7170 ext. 308) or at specialevents@folkartmuseum.org.
enefit Preview
The Fall Antiques Show is made possible in part by support from
Fireman's Fund'
PAPERCUT FOR BENJAMIN S. FARRET / artist unknown / eastern United States / 1848/ painted, cut, and applied paper / 14% / 12"/ Museum of American Folk Art, promised gift of a Museum friend, P1.1998.12
FALL 2000 FOLK ART 29
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Drawn orne RESIDENCE OF MR. GEORGE N. PICKARD Perth, New York August 18, 1897 Graphite and colored pencil on paper 20/ 1 2 27/ 1 4" Private collection
rt/ Vogt's Rra ow
By W.Parker Hayes Jr. etween 1890 and 1900, itinerant folk artist Fritz G. Vogt roamed the turnpikes and dirt roads of five New York counties west of Albany. By the time of his death on January 1, 1900, Vogt had created an indelible record of more than 200 distinctive architectural portraits featuring farms, homes, and businesses. Executed in a style suggesting a draftsman's training, Vogt's linear drawings capture an extraordinary level of detail while infusing their subjects with a romanticized serenity. The portraits display a skewed perspective in which the laws of physics and artistic convention are routinely disregarded. Many scholars have attributed these peculiarities to a lack of skill.' In fact, this distortion of subject was intentional. To depict his subject in an ideal state, Vogt willingly sacrificed visual reality. The result is a window into the artist's personal perspective and a striking representation of the region's architecture, agriculture, commerce, and social history.
B
FALL 2000 FOLK ART 31
In nineteenth-century America, the growing pains of the Industrial Revolution spawned a reaction against the real and perceived social ills resulting from urbanization. The home—particularly the rural family farm—became a symbol of the idyllic past. This concept found appeal both in the countryside and in the cities. Immigrants, in particular, identified with the notion of a strong family centered around an ancestral home. By 1890, a fixation on the home resonated in the nation's collective psyche. The rural populace readily embraced these virtues. However,the reality of earning a living from the earth was anything but romantic.
32 FALL 2000 FOLK ART
In upstate New York, competition and technological developments forced agricultural specialization on the traditional farm. Responsible for feeding burgeoning urban centers, farmers became an integral part of the broader economy. The rural citizenry struggled to redefine their identity in a changing economy and live up to the myth that they inhabited a pastoral sanctuary. Fritz Vogt was a product of this pervasive cultural mood,and his drawings provided a physical manifestation of this abstract ideal. Vogt's immediate popularity and productive career proved his ability to strike a universal chord.
RESIDENCE OF MR. AND MRS. I. SNELL Minden, New York July 30, 1896 Graphite and colored pencil on paper 28 40" Private collection
Despite his prolific artistic activity, Vogt managed to avoid official attempts to record his existence. Although he signed nearly every drawing he finished, Vogt's name does not appear on a single census, church record, tax document, or almshouse register.2 Vital records from this period concerning the poor are fragmentary, and Vogt's transience allowed him to easily obscure his whereabouts. Although no unequivocal record of Vogt's emigration from Germany exists, ship passenger logs reveal dozens of possible name matches from 1840 to 1890.3 Research has shown that Vogt was born in Germany in 1841,4 but genealogical investiga-
tion via local records has encountered significant obstacles—for example, the artist's first and last names were two of the most common in nineteenth-century Germany.3 After years of effort to unearth details surrounding Vogt's life, he remains a shadowy figure who can be understood only through his art.' The folklore of the region is replete with colorful characterizations of Vogt. Many may be based on reality, while others seem to impose an invented identity on the artist.2Fortunately, Vogt's body of work provides a wealth of information separate from the unverifiable accounts handed down through generations. On an empirical level, each drawing yields fundamental information about its own context. Vogt inscribed each work with the location and date of completion. Through analysis of his drawings as a group, including observations of when and where he worked, the flow of his travels is revealed. Vogt also inscribed each drawing with the name of his patron in elaborate, attenuated lettering. Analysis of his commissions over several years has made it possible to discern a patronage network. The drawings' subject matter and Vogt's treatment thereof is perhaps most revealing. Subject matter and style provide us with clues about his self-image as an artist as well as his outlook on life. To classify Vogt solely as an itinerant artist is problematic. The physical territory he covered was comparatively modest. More than 130 of his drawings were completed in New York's Montgomery County. Twentythree of those were of subjects in Canajoharie, a town on the Mohawk River. The small villages near the river's shores mark the northern boundary of his travels. Another sixty drawings were completed in Schoharie County, slightly to the south. In the town of Sharon and the resort village of Sharon Springs, Vogt executed more than forty drawings. He stayed close to the Great Western Turnpike, reaching the village of Cherry Valley in Otsego County to complete fifteen drawings. He portrayed fewer than five subjects in Herkimer and Fulton counties combined. One of the two drawings completed in Fulton County, the Residence of Mr. George N. Pickard, is illustrative of Vogt's style. The colorful drawing reveals his unique perspective and manipulation of subject matter. In total, the area Vogt traversed is roughly twenty miles north to south and twenty-five miles east to west. It is likely Vogt traveled such a small area primarily on foot. According to area folklore, Vogt often refused to accept rides with local farmers.8 Abundant farm and trade traffic could have supplied Vogt with the opportunity for exponentially more commissions. Railroads presented an even greater degree of mobility and speed. Vogt certainly had the opportunity to travel far and to develop wider patronage, but cultivating familiar patrons to rely upon for ample work, as well as food and shelter, seems to have been a greater priority. Significant annual gaps exist in Vogt's drawing activity. Usually, he set out on his travels early each spring, around mid-March, and continued working until about midDecember, often until the holiday season. During the coldest months, he was inactive and probably stayed in one place. Although he may have relied upon almshouses for emergency shelter, another theory has it that Vogt was especially close to families of similar ethnicity in his core
FALL 2000 FOLK ART 33
wow:AWow patronage, and that these families provided long-term shelter during the holidays and cold winter months. According to the oral history of the area, the families also supported Vogt while he was drawing in nearby villages.9 The duration of these stays lasted anywhere from a few days to six weeks. Through his popular drawings Vogt developed an identity in the community; in turn, he was furnished with a sense of place and purpose. Local residents' desire to secure Vogt's services was not based entirely upon his artistic appeal. The social context of the 1890s supported the rising popularity of Vogt's particular brand of architectural portraiture." The symbolic power of the home stimulated many commercial and artistic ventures that captured the current climate. In the period of America's centennial, publishing firms descended on local communities to sell subscriptions to atlases and historical texts highlighting the area's prosperity." Included in these publications were lithographs of local civic buildings, thriving businesses, and prominent homes. They were peddled to the wealthier farmers and merchants in a particular area targeted by the publisher." The popularity of these books and their evocative images spawned a desire for drawings of a similar nature among the general populace. Farmers and their relatives eagerly commissioned affordable drawings to optimistically portray the health of their farms and businesses. These drawings were executed by folk artists who
34 FALL 2000 FOLK ART
were often trained as draftsmen and usually possessed little or no formal art background. The result helped to sustain the myth of rural romanticism. William Drane, a successful furniture maker, undertaker, and grocer, hired Vogt to create William Drane Montgomery Street, a portrait of his home and business. In it Vogt recorded the wares in the store windows with intricate detail. Because of demand, architectural portraiture became a popular genre and the number of active folk artists completing these works multiplied. These late-nineteenthcentury artists shared a common heritage, lifestyle, and artistic qualities with Vogt. Ability and personal style varied, but the basic formula—depiction of agrarian harmony—remained constant. The artists in question were usually of Germanic decent and recent immigrants to America. Many happened to be itinerant, traveling wherever commissions might take them. They often subsisted in poverty, seeking shelter in local almshouses or in barns on the farms they drew. Perhaps the most notable member of this group is Charles C. Hofmann. Like Vogt, little is known about Hofmann's life before his arrival in America." Hofmann traversed the southeastern Pennsylvania countryside in search of commissions, often checking into area almshouses due to a habit of intemperance. He is grouped in the almshouse school with other Pennsylvania German itinerant artists who both inhabited and artistically
WILLIAM DRANE MONTGOMERY STREET Cherry Valley, New York March 8, 1893 Graphite on paper 193 / 4 x 28./8" New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown, N.Y., N-116.94
RESIDENCE OF MR. AND MRS. AARON KELLER Flat Creek, New York June 9, 1893 Graphite and colored pencil on paper 17 23" Private collection
r EVANG. LUTH. ST. PAUL'S CHURCH Sharonhill, New York September 19, 1890 Graphite on paper 2. 15" / 191 New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown, N.Y., N-37.96
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captured these asylums. In the end, Hofmann and Vogt settled and comfortable life in Wisconsin. He established shared a similar fate. Both died in alinshouses and were himself as a fruit and vegetable farmer and supplemented 'His style buried in unmarked lots on the institution's grounds.'4 Sev- his income with farm portraiture and taxidermy.2 eral other correlations between Vogt and Hofmann are evi- is reminiscent of those of his Pennsylvania counterparts and dent. They would often make copies of the same residence he shares some similarities with Vogt, displaying a proclivfor various family members. Hofmann received around $5 ity for exacting detail and linear organization.22 And like and sometimes a quart of whiskey for his efforts." Vogt, Seifert inscribed his drawings with a date, location, Although two of his smaller drawings are marked "$1.85" and the residence owner's identity. Vogt supplemented his income from drawing with and "$2.00" on the reverse, Vogt probably accepted a simiApparently, he was a skilled organist and activities. other have also may Vogt commissions.I6 lar amount for his singer.23 He signed one of his drawings "Fritz G. Vogt, received alcohol plus room and board as remuneration.17 John Rasmussen, a German immigrant also grouped Germ. Professor"; he may have received income for teachinto the almshouse school, was active during the same ing the German language to local children.24 Due to the period and in the same region as Hofmann. He was admit- agricultural economy in the area, Vogt also did his share of ted into the Berlcs County Almshouse in 1879 and remained farm labor. According to area folldore, Vogt was a skilled a regular charge of the institution until his death in 1895. carpenter and also helped out in the hop-picking season.29 Rasmussen created a drawing of the Berks County Aside from his winter hiatus, Vogt took seasonal breaks Almshouse based upon Hofmann's depiction of the same from drawing between late August and early October. This subject.'8 Another farm portraitist, Ferdinand Brader, coincides with the hop-harvesting season, which comshared Vogt's obsession with content and architectural menced in early September. Other yearly gaps in drawing detail. The folklore surrounding Brader emphasizes his activity take place in April and May, suggesting that Vogt practice of refusing shelter in houses and preferring to sleep also assisted in the planting season. He presumably comin barns.'9 The same claims about Vogt have been passed pleted chores on family farms where he received shelter while drawing in surrounding areas. down through the families of the Mohawk Valley.2째 The parallels to Hoffman, Rasmussen, and Brader However, German immigrant and farm portrait artist Paul A. Seifert was unlike his contemporaries. Seifert led a are striking. The flat compositions, straight lines, and
FALL 2000 FOLK ART 35
1//1///e.9 atypical perspective of the almshouse artists are reflected in Vogt's work.26 Similarly, his itinerant lifestyle and intemperance correlates with the behavior of his artistic cousins in Pennsylvania.' The question arises whether these artists knew each other personally. Scholars have posited that Hofmann and Rasmussen worked side by side.23 According to several oral histories, Vogt was "Pennsylvania Dutch" and came from Germany to New York via Pennsylvania.29 This has not been substantiated. No record of Vogt on the rolls of Pennsylvania almshouses can be located. The only known documentation of Vogt's life is, ironically, his death certificate, which states his age as 58.3° Many questions about his former whereabouts and emergence in upstate New York remain unanswered. Fritz Vogt's earliest documented drawing, Evang. Luth. St. Paul's Church, is dated September 19, 1890. The drawing is relatively uncomplicated compared with the artist's later works. During the fall of 1890, he created his first ten known drawings. Most of these depict subjects near Sharon, New York, and the surrounding villages. It is in this vicinity that Vogt established a patronage in 1890 and 1891. Twenty of his first thirty drawings show subjects near Sharon. By the end of 1892, Vogt had ventured north
36 FALL 2000 FOLK ART
into Montgomery County and made his first forays into neighboring Otsego County's village of Cherry Valley. For the first four years of his artistic career, Vogt relied on the shades of gray provided by his pencil. Of the ninety-five drawings he completed before March 1894, less than ten feature color. After that date, he started using colored pencils. In the hundred or so drawings rendered after March 1894, only ten do not feature color. One of Vogt's earliest color drawings, Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Keller, was completed on June 9, 1893. It is one of a dozen commissions Vogt received while working in the village of Flat Creek during May and June of 1893. Three days earlier, Vogt completed a drawing of the same farm for Christian F. Keller, Aaron's brother. Unlike other folk artists, Vogt did not appear to command higher fees for works with color. It seems he was not attempting to make a profit from color use, but was simply pleased with the results—the use of color adds greatly to the idealized, bucolic setting Vogt was attempting to create. The varying sizes of Vogt's drawings also followed a chronological graduation, and display his artistic progression. As Vogt established himself, he used increasingly larger paper sizes. Before 1895, the drawings were usually
RESIDENCE OF MR. AND MRS. CHARLES E. STERLING Sharon, New York December 12, 1893 Graphite on paper 20 24" Private collection
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18" x 24" or smaller. Afterward, sizes increased with measurements ranging from 20" x 27" to 28" x 40". Vogt's confidence grew as his patrons demanded larger-scale drawings including colorful details, and he was successful enough to be able to afford to purchase larger paper and colored pencils. In his later, larger drawings, Vogt sometimes varied his perspective. Instead of being right in front of his subject, he may have drawn from a distant hillside. Vogt's activity expanded rapidly from 1892 to 1894. He created more than a hundred drawings during this period, undoubtedly the most active of his career. He also successfully developed an extended and complex patronage network by establishing ties within communities and families. Many of Vogt's multiple drawings of the same residence were completed for a generation of siblings who grew up on a family farm. This practice brought him increased notoriety and commissions as he followed the branches of family trees into new villages and towns. Being a German immigrant, Vogt's affinity with the area's inhabitants of German and Dutch descent helped him develop a close rapport with his patrons.31 As occurs with a few Vogt drawings even today, owners prominently displayed them in a central public area of their homes.32 The drawings
became local status sYmbols." During a neighborly visit, conversation probably centered around the drawing, providing impetus for a neighbor to seek out Vogt during his next trip to the area. Vogt primarily drew farms with their surrounding barns and outbuildings, but also depicted single-dwelling properties in area villages. All these drawings seem to capture the centrality and importance of the home. To a lesser degree, he also drew general stores, factories, mills, churches, family burial plots, hotels, and boardinghouses. While some drawings are restrained, many are replete with minute detail and display a teeming vibrancy. Drawings feature various livestock and crops; they depict outdoor potted plants, flowers, and gardens alongside every manner of chickens, turkeys, ducks, horses, cows, cats, and dogs. Every type of venture, from beekeeping to hop-growing, can be identified.34 The Residence of Mr. Ervin Vosburgh shows Vogt at his peak. The house is surrounded by various flowering plants. A small, robust garden stands between the house and cheerful barnyard animals. Although many forms of transportation, from stagecoaches to livestock wagons, are also portrayed, instruments of agricultural toil are mysteriously missing.33 The
FALL 2000 FOLK ART 37
purposeful omission of these implements is closely related to idea of home. Fritz Vogt's skillfully manipulated renditions Vogt's tendency to create a state of abundance and tranquil- of these farms and homesteads allow us to experience the ity. Vogt also ignored seasonal variations to maintain an warmth and radiance of these seemingly inanimate agreeable setting.36 Lush green trees and blooming flowers structures.* populate drawings completed in November and December. In the Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Sterling, com- W. Parker Hayes Jr. is employed in the Collections Division of pleted on December 12, 1893, Vogt sketches ducks on a the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. His exhibition small pond long after they would have headed south and the "Drawn Home: Fritz Vogt's Rural New York" will open at the water would have been frozen over. Although farms are New York State Historical Association's Fenimore Art Museum in April 2002. The exhibitionfulfills part of his requirements toward drawn with flourishing crops and healthy livestock, people a Master ofArts in Museum Studies at the Cooperstown Graduate are depicted in a state of relaxation—relaxing in hammocks, Program. The author would like to acknowledge the assistance on rocking chairs, or on swings, sometimes seen at the helm and support ofFrank Tosto, whose tireless devotion to this proof wagons or displaying a prized horse. Vogt probably took ject and the artist is unequaled. this approach to suit the patrons' desire to be depicted as successful yet idle gentleman farmers, though he may have done so because the well-ordered, bountiful settings he creNOTES ated helped him to escape his own hardships. 1 Karen M. Wells,"Fritz G. Vogt: His Works as Social DocuIn his aim to depict farms as grand and prosperous, ment"(MA.thesis, of the Cooperstown Graduate Program, State Vogt aspired to show every outbuilding and barn on the University College at Oneonta and The New York State Historiproperty, regardless of whether another building blocked cal Association, 1968), 17, 19, 31, 35, 48.; Richard B. Woodthe line of sight. When laying out his drawings' composi- ward, ed., American Folk Painting: Selectionsfrom the tions, Vogt altered the actual physical placement of build- Collection ofMr. and Mrs. William E. Wiltshire III(Richmond, ings so that each could be enjoyed and admired.37 He even Va.: Virginia Museum, 1977), 51. went a step further and flattened his subject matter on the 2 Frank A. Scheuttle,"Fritz G. Vogt: The Broolunan's Corners visual plane so that three sides of a farmhouse,for example, Drawings," New York Folklore Quarterly(summer 1975),58; are visible.38 With this multiple-point perspective, Vogt Wells,5. 3 P. William Filby and Mary K. Meyer, eds., Passenger and allows the viewer to survey the entire farm. To accomplish Immigration Lists Index (Detroit: Gale Research Company, this, depth and scale are sometimes dramatically altered. 1981-1995). Buildings several hundred yards apart appear adjoined. 4 Dr. F.V. Brownell,"Certificate and Record of Death," Roofs plunge and rise at odd angles. Porches jut out into (Mohawk, N.Y.: State of New York, Bureau of Vital Statistics, midair. Scale is often entirely unrealistic. Small outbuild- January 4, 1900), Register No.627. ings appear larger than sprawling farmsteads. Vogt moved 5 Pastor Frederick S. Weiser, correspondence with author, and enlarged additions to houses, hidden from view in real- January 24, 1997. Pastor Weiser is a noted author, researcher, and genealogist focusing on German-American culture and history. ity, giving the chosen structure a monumental scale. The most striking aspect of Vogt's drawings is his 6 The analysis of Fritz G. Vogt's entire body of work throughout this article is based primarily upon a computerized artist database. obsession with meticulous detail, especially in relation to The database contains the following information for more than architectural features.36 Although he most likely derived 200 drawings: date, patron, village, county, medium, size, conthis fascination from training as a draftsman, his motivation text, provenance, and subject matter notes. to include minutiae served his purposes and those of his 7 Wells, 6, 15. patrons.4° It appears that Vogt's attention to detail and 8 Ibid., 9-10,95,97, 103, 107. depictions of plenitude were a reflection of his own desire 9 Ibid., 10-11,95-96, 100, 107, 112. for a stable existence. His distortions of reality were not the 10 Tammis K. Groft, The Folk Spirit ofAlbany: Folk Artfrom the result of a lack of skill. Vogt eschewed artistic concepts Upper Hudson Valley in the Collection ofthe Albany Institute of such as one-point perspective and exact scale because they History and Art(Albany, N.Y.: Albany Institute of History and Art, 1978), 52. did not serve his purpose of composing a rural paradise. 11 Douglas Kendall,"American County Atlas Illustrations as Vogt's momentum began to slow in 1895 and 1896, Historical Sources"(MA.thesis, University of Delaware, but he still completed more than forty drawings in this December 1985),6-14. period. In 1897 he completed fifteen drawings, and in the 12 Ibid., 8-10. final two years of his life he finished only a dozen draw- 13 Beatrix T. Rumford, ed., American Folk Paintings: Paintings ings. The New York State Department of Health's Bureau and Drawings Other Than Portraitsfrom the Abby Aldrich Rockof Vital Statistics lists the official cause of his death as efeller Folk Art Center(Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 'It is one of the few documented facts 1988), 83. chronic rheumatism.4 recorded about the artist. A habit of overindulgence in alco- 14 Jean Lipman and Tom Armstrong, eds., American Folk hol could have caused the condition and influenced Vogt's Painters of Three Centuries(New York: Hudson Hills Press, pace as early as 1895. Certainly, by the end of the decade, 1988), 108. 15 Rumford,85. something was substantially reducing his ability to work. 16 According to Wells, 12, the following drawings are marked More than a century after his death, Vogt's life on the reverse "$1.85" and "$2.00," respectively: Untitled, remains-an enigma. Nonetheless, the artistic record he left graphite on paper, October 31, 1891, private collection, New speaks volumes about his motivation to draw and his gen- York; Residence ofMr. and Mrs. Edgar Handy, Homestead of eral outlook on life. We are left with the great irony of a Freddie E. Handy, graphite on paper, March 12, 1892, private homeless man who expressed an intimate knowledge of the collection, Leesville, N.Y.
38 FALL 2000 FOLK ART
17 Groft, 52; Scheuttle,60. 18 Rumford, 89. 19 Beulah B. Fehr and M.Theodore Mason Jr., Ferdinand A. Broder:Itinerant Folk Artist, His Drawings-1880 to 1895 (Reading, Penn.: The Historical Society of Berks County, 1986), 15, 16. 20 Scheuttle,60; Wells, 10,96. 21 Lipman and Armstrong, 160. 22 Rumford,92. 23 Scheuttle,60; Wells, 14, 105. 24 Groft,52. 25 Wells, 11, 102-103. 26 Scheuttle,62,65. 27 Scheuttle,60,62. 28 Rumford,83. 29 Wells, 7,95, 112. 30 Brownell. 31 Groft, 52. 32 Wells, i, 104, 109, 113. 33 Groft, 52. 34 The following drawings depict apiaries: Residence ofMr. and Mrs. John H. Abel, graphite and colored pencil on paper, June 20, 1894, private collection, New York; 1802-1897 The Old Brown Homestead Myron H. Brown, graphite and colored pencil on paper, June 3, 1897, New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown. 35 Scheuttle,62. 36 Ibid. 37 Groft, 52; Scheuttle, 74. 38 Scheuttle,69, 39 Wells,53. 40 Groft, 52; Wells,98, 102. 41 Brownell.
Vogt --(hi oition Dlannoc for 2002 Call tor \ew Information n 2002, the New York State Historical Association will present
I
the unprecedented exhibition "Drawn Home: Fritz Vogt's Rural New York." This exhibit is the culmination of a five-year research project documenting this relatively unknown artist's attributed works on a computer database that includes images, provenance,and contextual data. The forty authenticated Vogt drawings identified at the project's inception have grown more than fivefold in the past several years. One of the most noteworthy discoveries, William Harper, Way Side Cotage, one of Vogt's most vivid and largest drawings, will be featured in the exhibition. The new information gleaned from these drawings revealed the need for a new scholarly exploration of the artist. Complementing the exhibit will be a catalog devoted to Vogt and his historical context. Articles in the catalog
will focus on nineteenth-century German immigration to America; the background,impact, and importance of county atlases during and after the American centennial; and a conservation assessment of the drawings and mediums. Anyone with information about the artist or one of his drawings is encouraged to contact the Fritz Vogt research project coordinators, Paul D'Ambrosio and W.Parker Hayes Jr. D'Ambrosio,chief curator of the New York State Historical Association and The Farmers' Museum in Cooperstown, New WILLIAM HARPER, York, can be WAY SIDE COTAGE Sharon Springs, New York reached at May 23, 1896 607/547-1400. Graphite and colored pencil on paper Hayes can be 24 > 3P/4" reached at New York State Historical 202/314-0367. Association, Cooperstown, N.Y., N-57.96
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An Engagement with
Folk Art Cyril I.,Nelsons Gifts to the Museum By Elizabeth V. Warren
ver the past twenty years, Trustee Cyril I. Nelson's contributions to the permanent collection of the Museum of the American Folk Art have been both frequent and numerous. Rarely does the collections committee meet without having the pleasure of receiving at least one special something from Cy—a magnificent quilt ceremoniously pulled out of a nondescript shopping bag, for example, or a colorful landscape painting recently removed from his living room wall. And sometimes we are blessed with a number of gifts at once, such as the collection of coverlets and blankets that arrived in 1987 or the panoply of bedcovers that came just in time to
40 FALL 2000 FOLK ART
SAMUEL STEINBERGER LOG CABIN QUILT, COURTHOUSE STEPS VARIATION Samuel Steinberger New York City 1890-1910 Silk, including satin and velvet 69/ 1 2, 58" framed Museum of American Folk Art, gift of Cyril I. Nelson in honor of Robert Bishop, Director (1977-1991), 1990.17.08
FALL 2000 FOLK ART 41
enhance our Glorious American Quilts catalog in 1995. Most recently, in anticipation of the opening of the Museum's new home on West 53rd Street, Cy made a promised gift of a large group of important textiles, painted furniture, and paintings. When added together, Cy's gifts total an impressive 113 objects dating from the late eighteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. Almost all the classical forms of American folk art are represented, and highlights include quilts, coverlets, and blankets; schoolgirl art; portraits and landscape painting; painted and decorated furniture; and sculptural items. In short, the Cyril I. Nelson gifts to the Museum represent a wonderful introduction to the field of traditional American folk art. Accordingly, an exhibition featuring this collection and honoring the donor will open at the Museum's Eva and Morris Feld Gallery at Two Lincoln Square on September 2. Although varying in form, all the objects in the exhibition represent the refined taste of a collector whose eye was trained from a very young age. Cy credits his mother, Elise Macy Nelson, an artist, with awakening and nurturing the family's aesthetic side. Both their house in New Jersey and their summer home in Maine were filled with antiques. Members of Cy's family were also among the founders of the Cleveland Museum of Art, so an awareness and love of art was, he says, "an inescapable thing—something that was part of my blood." The seed of his affection for folk art can also be traced back to a family legacy—a watercolor painting that came from his grandmother's birthplace in Deerfield, New Hampshire, and probably depicts family members. In the mid-1960s, Cy recalls, he became curious about the painting and began research to discover who the artist might be. His inquiries led him to Mary Black, then director of the Museum of American Folk Art, who attributed the portrait to J. Evans, also of Deerfield. In 1998, Cy promised the delightful, still bright painting of a mother and daughter of the Chase Family, c. 1831, to the Museum. Many of the objects that Cy has donated to the Museum have been featured in the wide selection of books on American antiques and folk art that he has worked on in his more than fifty years as an editor at E.P. Dutton (now Penguin Putnam Inc.). According to Cy, it was in 1968, while he was editing American Painted Furniture, by Dean Fales and Robert Bishop, that his love of folk art really blossomed. It was then, he says, that he "started collecting with some intensity," acquiring his "few pieces of painted furniture," many of which will be seen in the exhibition. Work on the book, which was published in 1972, also introduced him to such well-known collectors and researchers as Nina Fletcher Little and Jean Lipman. Both became his authors and close personal friends. Cy's fascination with quilts and coverlets came soon after. His eyes, like many others, were opened to the artistic aspects of these textiles by Abstract Design in American Quilts, the 1971 exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art that presented pieced quilts
42 FALL 2000 FOLK ART
PAINTED DOCUMENT BOX Artist unknown New England 1825-1840 Painted wood 6% < 10./. 7"/16" Museum of American Folk Art, gift of Cyril Irwin Nelson, 1994.07.01
SARAH ELIZABETH HOWARD BLANKET Maker unidentified United States 1844 Wool with wool embroidery 94 76" Museum of American Folk Art, gift of Cyril I. Nelson, 1997.16.03
LINCOLN AND WASHINGTON Stephen L. lwasko Midwestern United States c. 1930 Relief-carved wood 151 / 2 - 13% 11 / 40" Museum of American Folk Art, promised gift of a Museum friend, P1.1998.14
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as works of art for the first time in a major museum show."I had been vaguely aware of quilts before that," he comments, but "it was that exhibition that led to the book and my intense appreciation of the field." The "book" is America's Quilts and Coverlets, by Carleton Safford and Robert Bishop, originally published in 1972 and still considered a seminal book in the field. Of all his publishing ventures, however, Cy is probably best known to the quilt and coverlet world as the originator and yearly compiler of the enormously popular Quilt Engagement Calendar, published annually since 1975. Obviously, years of selecting textiles for publication has had an effect on Cy's own collecting habits. "I'm attracted by color and design," he says. "I'm also attracted by fine needlework; as a result I have a particular fondness for what is known as `whitework' of various kinds, not only the stuffed work, but also candlewicking." While his gifts to the Museum have included quilts dating from the late eighteenth century to the 1940s, it is the early bedcoversâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;including many examples of exquisite whiteworkâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;that are particularly significant to the collection, providing the Museum with important representations of especially rare forms. Cy's affiliation with the Museum began with "a call out of the blue" from Trustee Kristina Johnson. Aware of Cy's interest in publishing books on folk art, Johnson called to invite him to join the Museum's Board of Trustees, specifically to help with Museum publications. The first book to bear the imprint "Published by E.P. Dutton in Association with the Museum of American Folk Art" was A Gallery of American Samplers, the 1978 catalog of the exhibition of the Theodore Kapnek Collection, written by Glee Krueger. In the years since, books on subjects ranging from quilts to weathervanes have come from this association and have been influential in introducing people around the world to both American folk art and the Museum. Fortunately for the Museum, Cy has no second thoughts about donating objects to the permanent collection. "I have been very lucky," he says. "I have lived with the things for some time and I have enjoyed them. And, again, perhaps because of my family background, something in me makes me say 'Now this is the time for other people to enjoy them.' Once they're out of my house, it's as if I never owned them. It's a curious thing, and I thank God for it because I've never had the slightest pang afterward."* Author's Note: For more information on Nelson's gifts to the Museum, see: "Cyril I. Nelson: A Special Museum Friend," by Elizabeth V. Warren, The Clarion, Spring 1988, pages 64-67 and "Building for the Future," by Stacy C. Hollander, Folk Art, Spring 1999, pages 28-37. Elizabeth V. Warren is the consulting curator ofthe Museum ofAmerican Folk Art and exhibition curator of "An Engagement with Folk Art," opening at the Museum on September 2, 2000.
44 FALL 2000 FOLK ART
THE WHITE HOUSE Artist unknown Pennsylvania c. 1855 Oil on canvas 12% x 17%" Museum of American Folk Art, gift of Robert Bishop and Cyril I. Nelson, 1992.10.14
DOVE Artist unknown Kansas Late nineteenth century Painted wood 16% x 24/ 1 2x 2%" Museum of American Folk Art, gift of Cyril Irwin Nelson, 1994.7.3
PEREZ, MABEL, AND REBECKA WHITE MOURNING PIECE Orra White Possibly Maine 1816 Watercolor and pin work on paper 23/ 1 4 >. 27/ 1 2 "(framed) Museum of American Folk Art, gift of Cyril Irwin Nelson in loving memory of his grandmother, Elinor Irwin (Chase) Holden, and of his mother, Elise Hastings Macy Nelson, 1997.16.04
An Engagement with Folk Art Cyril I. Nelson's Gifts to the Museum On view from September 2000 to January 2001 Museum of American Folk Art Eva and Morris Feld Gallery 2 Lincoln Square Columbus Avenue between 65th and 66th Streets New York City POT OF FLOWERS HOOKED RUG Artist unknown Eastern United States 1875-1900 Wool on burlap 411 / 2 x 37/ 1 2" Museum of American Folk Art, promised gift of a Museum friend, P1.1998.01
stunning selection of traditional folk art is on view at the Museum's Eva and Morris Feld Gallery. The exhibition,"An Engagement with Folk Art," organized by Consulting Curator Elizabeth V. Warren, highlights the many wonderful gifts to the Museum from the Nelson collection. Cy Nelson, a trustee since 1974, has donated more than a hundred promised gifts to the permanent collection, dating from the late 18th to the mid-20th century. These gifts include paintings, watercolors, quilts, blankets, coverlets, rugs, sculp-
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ture, and furniture. Warren has selected 60 splendid examples, half of which are quilts and textiles, to open the Museum's fall 2000 season. Whether a dazzling quilt or coverlet, a delicate watercolor portrait, or a lushly painted pine chest, each remarkable object stands as testament to Cy Nelson's discerning eye and his deep knowledge and appreciation for the field. In conjunction with the exhibition, the Museum will present a series of free evening lectures and weekend programs for children and families. The lecture
series will include talks by Exhibition Curator Elizabeth V. Warren, Director Gerard C. Wertkin, Senior Curator and Director of Exhibitions Stacy C. Hollander, Folk Art Institute Director Lee Kogan, and Trustee Cyril I. Nelson. "An Engagement with Folk Art: Cyril I. Nelson's Gifts to the Museum" is made possible in part with the generous support of The Lipman Family Foundation, Inc. The Museum's public programs are funded in part by The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and Con Edison.
FALL 2000 FOLK ART 45
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working in his stepdaughter's saddlery in Houston and started on the project of a lifetime. First, he wrote and illustrated his Reminiscences of 42200 Aero Goosey March 27, 1910 Mixed media on paper 15%x 19" San Antonio Museum of Art, purchased with funds provided by The Annual Gift Appeal, 79.20.134P 13111f) The Aero Goosey was one of two ships that Dellschau claimed actually flew. The double balloon is unusual, and the tent for nighttime storage is strikingly similar to designs for a dirigible tent designed by General Meusnier in 1793. Charles Dellschau, an avid reader, may have seen similar engravings in publications on aeronautics.
Years Past of Time and a Way of Life Written and Illustrated in Idle Hours. Then he created twelve large, illustrated, hand-bound books of airships and newspaper collages called "press blooms." Over the course of twentyone years, he painted more than 5,000 highly detailed pages—an average of one every day and a half—all numbered and dated, sometimes with lengthy inscriptions.
FALL 2000 FOLK ART 47
After the artist's death in 1923 at the age of 93, the notebooks remained in the family home. A fire in the 1960s led local fire department officials to order the house cleared of excess debris. An anonymous garbage collector salvaged the notebooks from a curbside heap and sold them to a second-hand shop where they were found by an employee of art patron Dominique de Meta' Since their discovery, the drawings have been included in numerous exhibitions of self-taught artists and acquired by such museums as the Menil Collection in Houston, the Museum of American Folk Art in New York, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Witte Museum of San Antonio, and the San Antonio Museum of Art. A Childhood In Germany and Emigration to America Charles Dellschau was born in Berlin in 1830. He was the second of twelve children and the first son born to master butcher Heinrich Adolph Dellschau.2 As the child of a lower middle-class family, he probably received an elementary school education, then moved into an apprenticeship in his father's trade.' Times were especially hard—the population was growing too fast for the economy and food riots were common. The social unrest that began in the 1820s culminated in attempted revolution by 1848. Charles Dellschau was eighteen years old when violent demonstrations in Berlin resulted in more than 300 citizens being shot down by government soldiers.4 Disappointed by the failure of attempts at reform, thousands of Germans left their homeland for America. These emigrants were aided by settlement societies that would, for a modest fee, arrange the voyage to America, transportation to a new settlement upon arrival, and the purchase of a small house and sometimes oxen, cows, and a wagon.' It is unknown whether Dellschau left Germany because of economic hardship, because of his political affiliations, or both, but on December 15, 1849, a passenger whose name appeared as Carl Delechaw, with the occupation "butcher," was processed by U.S. officials at the port of Galveston.6
48 FALL 2000 FOLK ART
This record is consistent with two other sources indicating that Charles A.A. Dellschau declared his intent to file for citizenship in Harris County (Houston), Texas, on March 28, 1850.2 (Despite this early Declaration of Intent, he didn't attain his naturalization until 1860.) The California Years Sometime between making his Declaration of Intent in 1850 and being naturalized in 1860, Dellschau traveled to Sonora, California, a gold rush community east of Stockton. He would later describe the antics of his fellow miners in Sonora in his 1899-1902 Reminiscences and in the inscriptions on his aeronautical drawings. In these he recorded the activities of a secret society of men initially called the Plaines Omnibus Compagnies and later referred to as the Sonora Aero Club. Most of the approximately sixty-two members had German surnames, but English and Spanish names are also present. Members of the Sonora Aero Club sought to design an airship capable of transcontinental travel: "The main Object [was]—to be able to cross the plains—and avoid Indian—or White mans stares."9 Individuals presented balloon-driven aircraft designs called "aeros" to the group, then the group discussed the merits of each design. In the Reminiscences, Dellschau states that the club "held its meetings every Friday evening in Madam Glanz's saloon and boarding house. A number of the members lived there and many ideas were formed,judged and talked about with great hilarity."' An inscription on the drawing Aero Guarda describes a presentation by one of the members. This humorous account reveals how the members of the club presented ideas to one another in great detail and conjures up vivid images of the rough-and-ready atmosphere of California gold rush country. It is not surprising that the narration ends with club members taking off for a saloon, for drinking was a large part of the mining culture. The secret yet celebrated drinking club E Clampus Vitus, known for wild antics and practical jokes, was established in the mid-1850s in gold mining communi-
Gustav Freyer a high educated Mechanic in proposing this enormus Inormus Idea was forced by the Rules and Bylaws of the Sosiety to produce something to be talked off his turn had come and jocicinly he stepped to the blackboard took the Chalk, and says Brethers, you all know i am not quite a professor Looking straight to some of the member I give you a nut to crack My Idea is to put a guard Fence all around the mashine to fall—land—easey and allways Safe to keep some of you Smartys from falling out—to drown you falling on Wather let her Somersoult and you will stay perpendicular i mean head up on the floor of the Hold—He draw a sketch on the Board and give a short Explan ation—Well now some of you has.to pay the treat for me. Tell ye the Thruth, i am busted and dry as a fish! And they all went to the Barrrr 1858
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ties of Sierra Nevada." While this group may or may not have had a direct relationship to the Sonora Aero Club, the behavior of its participants certainly provides some parallels to the episode described above. In his Reminiscences Dellschau wrote of his fellow miners: These were mostly single men who amused themselves to retain their sanity. Some gambled, liked fast women, or saloons. Most were burnt-out, and poor as church mice. These strong men who generally had one suit of clothes often carried
guns or knives. To look at a man one could not tell what was on the inside. This was also true of club members who were men of good upbringing and of the same caliber who were drawn together to make life more pleasant. These men drank, sang and gambled, held speeches and lied to the extent where black had to be taken for white.12 Dellschau's name does not appear in official California records such as census reports or tax rosters. But his specific descriptions of geo-
graphic locations and historically documented people lead one to assume that he did, in fact, live there for some time. His Reminiscences refer to authentic locations such as "Shaws Flats," and he mentions working for a Sonora butcher named John Wolfling, who actually lived in the area at the time and ran a shop called the Centre Market.i3 Dellschau claims to have left California on the Golden Gate Steamer in 1858. The other members of the club remain undocumented in Califomia.'4 A German Butcher In Texas, 1860-1887 Although we don't know the exact date of his return to Texas, we do know that Dellschau was back in the
FALL 2000 FOLK ART 49
town of Richmond, in Fort Bend County, by the time he attained his citizenship in 1860. He married a widow named Antonia Helt on February 21, 1861.'5 She brought with her a child from her previous marriage named Elizabeth, and the couple had their first child, Mary,the next year.'6 When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Charles Dellschau appears to have served on the Confederate side—in an Amnesty Oath dated July 14, 1865, he declared his support of new laws as a paroled prisoner. In that same document, he is described as age 35, of fair complexion, auburn hair, hazel eyes, and five feet three inches tall; his occupation is given as butcher and his residence as Richmond, Fort Bend County, Texas. Two more children were born to the couple after the war: a daughter, Bertha, in 1866, and a son, Edward, in 1872. A few years later, Elizabeth, now old enough to marry, became the bride of a harness maker named Anton Stelzig. In 1877, tragedy struck the Dellschau family: Within two weeks of each other, Charles' wife, Antonia, and their only son, Edward, died.I7 The only record of their deaths is a handwritten note in the artist's personal effects.'8 In 1882, Dellschau's first daughter, Mary, married Gustav Linenberger at the Stelzig home.° According to local newspaper reports, the wedding was attended by the "youth and beauty" of Brenham;2° existing documents seem to indicate that Mary died soon afterward. It also appears from tax records that in 1884 Charles Dellschau moved to Brenham with his remaining child, Bertha, to live with the Stelzigs. Retirement in the Stelzig's Home, 1887-1899 City Directories confirm that in 1887 the Stelzigs, Charles and Bertha Dellschau, and Gustave Linenberger all moved to Houston. Anton Stelzig opened a saddlery on Main Street; Charles Dellschau is listed in the Directories as a salesman for his sonin-law. Dellschau's choice to move from Brenham to Houston with the Stelzigs, and the lack of any references to Mary Dellschau Linenberger after this time, reinforce the theory that Mary died in the mid-1880s. In
50 FALL 2000 FOLK ART
any case, Dellschau lived at 29 Main Street and Bertha, Dellschau's last child and a young woman of marriageable age by this time, lived with the Stelzigs at 10 Robin Street.2 ' Soon after the move to Houston, however, tragedy struck again. Bertha Dellschau was admitted to the State Hospital in Austin with tuberculosis. Poignant letters to her father describe her misery at the hospital and her desire to return home.22 Bertha died at the hospital in 1893; Anton Stelzig passed away at home the same year. A Time of Personal Loss The late 1880s and early 1890s must have been an extremely difficult time for Charles Dellschau. He had survived the untimely deaths of his wife and son in the late 1870s, then the equally tragic deaths of his daughters Mary and Bertha and his son-in-law Anton between 1884 and 1893. In addition to these personal losses, the artist had moved from his home of twenty-five years in Richmond and had retired from the profession into which he had been born. Perhaps Charles Dellschau's sense of loss during this period served as a catalyst for his prolific outpouring of creative work in 1899. John Beardsley describes a similar phenomenon with the self-taught artist A.G. Rizzoli, who, after personal tragedy "grabbed onto his vision of a more perfect world, a world of total elation perhaps as a compensation for his loss."23 And Roger Cardinal has observed, along with Michel Thevoz and Roger Manley, that the "precondition" of old age and personal trauma can also be a catalyst for this type of creative outpouring.24 The Years of Creation, 1899-1921 In 1899 Dellschau retired from his job as a salesman at Stelzig's and, it seems, completely immersed himself in the aeronautical notebooks. The work is at once obsessive and compulsive. These images, created daily over such a long duration of time, fit John MaizeIs' description of outsider art as the product of "a compulsive flow of creative force that satiates some inner need."25 We know that Dellschau had drawn pictures before
this time because he refers in his Reminiscences to a drawing he gave to a newlywed couple.26 But nothing survives before the works of 1899, and it seems likely that his drawing activity was only a hobby before his retirement. During his sustained creative period, Charles Dellschau was finally able to explore what must have fascinated him for many years—flying machines. One drawing, showing a young man flying a kite and labeled "Wind, Muehlberg, 1845," seems to indicate that the interest went back to his childhood in Germany.27 Having been raised in Berlin, it is likely that Dellschau was aware of the revolutionary advances being made in flight in the mid-nineteenth century in Europe—Eugene Godard and Charles Green test-piloted balloons all over Germany in the 1830s and 1840s. And living in America, Dellschau was certainly aware of the Wright brothers, who were developing the first airplane during the very years that the artist started his creative work.28 For the drawings and press blooms, he clipped thousands of articles about flying—from the development of dirigibles to the technologies used during World War I—from Scientific American and the Houston Chronicle, along with other newspapers. Overall, Dellschau drafted designs for more than eighty different aircraft, from all different angles. It is perhaps not coincidental that an artist who spent his life as a butcher should portray his airships from a variety of different perspectives, including "center cutt," "cross cutt," and "flanck" views. Interiors of the airships' workings are sometimes shown as though the skin has been peeled away. Airships are drawn in flight as well as on the ground, and often in comparison views. They are most often shown centered in a circus tentlike frame. Dellschau's aeros were lighterthan-air ships that had retractable landing gear, detailed motors, sleeping quarters and sometimes dining cars. The lift for these fantastical flying machines was provided by a fuel called "soupe." The recipe for the fuel was a secret held by club member Peter Mennis, who would neither
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#2559 Doc Tacken a Ride May 11, 1912 Mixed media on paper 1738 ,19/ 1 2" San Antonio Museum of Art, purchased with funds provided by The Annual Gift Appeal, 79.20.155R Doc Weisbach was deemed "too fat" to fly in another of Dellschau's works, but here he is seen airborne in the Aero Soso.
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sell it nor give it away. The "soupe" was a green liquid that transformed to a pink gas when dripped onto hot coals; this process can be seen in many of the drawings. Dellschau most often inscribed the name of the proposer or designer of each aircraft along with his own signature. He also included statements like "from club debates" or "a free studia from clubworck," or sideline commentaries such as "how did you expect that to fly?" Although Charles Dellschau illustrated more than eighty separate aircraft in his drawings, he stated in the Reminiscences that only two ever flew. These were the Goosey and the Dove."Taldng them from theory to reality," he wrote, "took not only knowledge, but also money. Since only the Goose and Dove really functioned, the others were of no more value than the idle dreams that they were built on."29 Graphically dense and richly ornamented, Dellscliau's works most closely parallel those of outsider artist Adolf Wan.Roger Cardinal's definition of an "outsider aesthetic" includes features such as
52
FALL 2000 FOLK ART
dense ornamentation; compulsively repeated patterns, metamorphic accumulations, an appearance of instinctive though wayward symmetry; configurations which occupy an equivocal ground in between the figurative and decorative; other configurations which hesitate between representation and an enigmatic calligraphy, or which seek the perfect blending of image and word.3° Many of these characteristics could certainly be used to describe Dellschau's works. Others that may apply to Dellschau's style include "serial proliferation" and a repetitive approach that creates a sort of hypnotic effect on the viewer, allowing a "secondary enactment of the artist's originating trance."" Dellschau's drawings of airships betray a sense of time grounded in reality, as the artist notes both the
day the work was created and the date that the "aero" was proposed. His internal numbering system is compulsive, but relatively consistent. Even when Dellschau was over ninety years old, he distinguished between the concept of reality and fantasy in the works, as indicated by the inscription called "a dream" on one late drawing.32 Lengthy and undeciphered code inscriptions on some drawings indicate a secretiveness on the part of the artist that matches the secret nature of the Sonora Aero Club. While some Dellschau enthusiasts have interpreted these code inscriptions to represent a connection to the world of UF0s,33 they are more likely a sign of some general paranoia on the part of the artist. Family recollections reveal a solitary and eccentric man. Current generations give second-hand accounts of Dellschau as "grouchy"34 in his old age, but the drawings reveal a man with a great sense of humor, a fellow who liked jokes and poked fun at his friends. Large sections of the Reminiscences are devoted to practi-
#2028 Aero Jourdan, Long Cross Cutt November 28, 1909 Watercolor and ink on wood pulp paper, mounted on cardboard 151 / 2 27/ 1 4" Witte Museum, San Antonio 79.20P(5812) Dellschau created a small number
of hinged, wide-format drawings like this one of the Aero Jourdan. There appears to be a card game in progress in the right dining car, and the drawing is indicated "Long Cross Cuff" in amazing detail.
cal jokes played on newlyweds. Likewise, the drawings are full of humorous inscriptions—for example when he pokes fun at Dr. Carl Weisbach, a member of the club who was too fat to fly: "[this is] a problem hard to solve. A hard nut to crack, but I will try it—even if it isn't practical—perhaps in humorous form, Dr. Weisbach, now you too shall fly!"38 Below left: #3352 Press Bloom Showing Eight Members of the New British War Cabinet May 27, 1915 Mixed media on paper 1 2 " 16%>< 19/ San Antonio Museum of Art, purchased with funds provided by The Annual Gift Appeal, 79.20.285R This press bloom is probably the most elaborate one that Charles Dellschau ever made. The members of the War Cabinet are pasted into a beautifully colored mandala-like design.
Below right: #2630 Compair August 25, 1912 Mixed media on paper 15 >, 19" Collection of Bruce and Julie Webb The two rocket forms illustrate the process of heating green droplets of "soupe" to create a pink gas, which in turn seems to fuel a propeller. The names of club members Robert Nixon, Peter Mennis, August Schoetler, George Newell and "Moike" appear and Dellschau comments in the inscription "In their graves, but not forgotten."
Charles Dellschau and the Sonora Aero Club
The question remains as to whether Charles Dellschau's drawings of airships were pure fantasy or were based on reality. Were they the product of dementia brought on by old age? Were they the components of an obsessive joke? Or were they an extrapolation of some actual events the artist experienced in his younger years? Was the club, its members, and/or their ideas for flying machines made up or real? In considering these questions, it should be noted that Charles Dellschau's inscriptions vary significantly in their clarity and focus over the years, as do the drawings themselves. The early manuscripts and drawings are crisper and more stylistically tight, but have a manic sense of rambling. As the artist aged, the works became somewhat less controlled and the inscriptions more cryptic in their meanings. The pieces after 1914 show a gradual but distinct change, and those done during World
War I convey a distinctly dark quality. The references Charles Dellschau makes to the Sonora Aero Club are consistent from the early Reminiscences to the latest drawings, but a lack of historical evidence persists with regard to the existence of the club. All in all, Dellschau names over sixty members of the Sonora Aero Club, and not one of these names has been found in historical records in Sonora. Interestingly, however, several club member's names appear in Texas sources. In the Houston City Directories of the 1890s, for example, Eduard Hartung is listed as a painter of signs and Gustave A. Klotz is listed as a harness maker.38 Harness making was, of course, the Stelzigs' business, and they would have known others in the profession. Another club name was Theodore Gisecke; Christiana Gisecke, widow of one Theodore Gisecke, had been a friend of the Stelzigs in Brenham and then later in Houston.37 In addition, Dellschau seems to have appropriated names from his early years in Germany, including some listed in the baptismal records of the church in which he was christened in 1830.38 Overall, the evidence suggests that Dellschau either purposely or in some confusion used the names of acquaintances from various periods of his life for club members. A mixing of time periods would not be surprising, considering the advanced age
at which he created the works, but it is notable that the artist used these names for the club members only and remained perfectly cogent regarding the names of other Sonora residents. Despite the artist's compulsion to create in his later years and the entertaining nature of his narratives, there is no specific evidence to suggest that Charles Dellschau was insane. But his level of mental competency, like his physical control of the pen, may have declined over the twenty years during which he actively produced work. Historical evidence supports the hypothesis that Charles Dellschau went to Sonora, and it is very likely that he worked for John Wolfling as a butcher. Considering his penchant for practical jokes and humor, he may well have been involved with a group of men who drank together and talked about flying machines. Ultimately, however, the existence of the Sonora Aero Club is irrelevant to the beauty of Dellschau's works. The elegant drawings of "aeros" and the press blooms stand on their own as idiosyncratic representations of an amazing artist's waking dream world— whether based on reality or not. Author's Note: This article is an abridged version of a catalog essay written to accompany a forthcoming exhibition organized by the San Antonio Museum of Art. Research for the article was supported in part by grants
Eight 1Viembers of the New British War.Cabinet 4
FALL 2000 FOLK ART 53
from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Joan and Herb Kelleher Foundation.*
Tracy Baker-White has been a museum educatorfor more than twenty years and is currently director ofpublic programs at the Southwest School ofArt and Craft in San Antonio.
NOTES 1 In a conversation with the author in June 1999, Mary Jane Victor recounted the discovery of the drawings at the OK Trading Center—a junk shop in Houston. Victor was an employee of Dominique de Menil's at the time, and took her to see the drawings. De Menil bought four of twelve books in the shop. Graphic artist Pete Navarro bought the remaining eight books; he sold four to the San Antonio Museum of Art in 1979 and the rest to a private collector in the early 1990s. 2 Dellschau's christening records are available through the Mormon Genealogical records. In a conversation with the author on September 10, 1999, William Steen said that the information about Dellschau's father's occupation was obtained through correspondence between the church and the Menil Collection staff. 3 Conversation with Jamie van Hook, professor of German History, Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas, September 3, 1999. 4 An excellent source for information on this period is Wolfram Siemann's The German Revolution of1848-49(New York: Macmillan, 1998). 5 The Emigrant to Texas: A Handbook and Guide, trans. Otto W.Tetzlaff(Burnet, Texas: Eakins Publications, 1979), 79. (Originally published in Bremen, Germany, 1846.) 6 United States Customs Records, Passenger Lists 1846-1871, Port ofGalveston. Microfilm number 0830233, December 15, 1849, Mormon Family History Center. Interestingly, a passenger named Albert Deltschau, age 23, occupation "farmer," emigrated in the steamer Prinz Albert from Hamburg to New York on June 24, 1853. This information appears in Germans to America, Lists of Passengers Arriving at US Ports 1850-1855, Volume 5,167. Were these two different young men with very similar names or did Charles August Albert Dellschau come to America in 1849, return to Germany and then re-emigrate in 1853? 7 In Charles Dellschau's naturalization papers from 1860, held by the Fort Bend County Library in Texas, it is stated that
54 FALL 2000 FOLK ART
he presented a signed, sealed copy of his Declaration of Intent from March 28, 1850,in court. This date is also mentioned in the Index to Naturalization Records for Fort Bend County. The declaration itself has not been found. 8 Dellschau, Charles. Several unpublished manuscripts in German and English—his Reminiscences—are in the Dellschau Archive at the Menil Collection in Houston. These documents are on loan from a private collector. Dellschau refers to the club as the Plaines Omnibus Compagnie in his German Reminiscences, part B,5. Special thanks to William Steen for transcribing and assisting with these documents. 9 Dellschau, Charles. Inscription on drawing 79.20.134P.152V, San Antonio Museum of Art. 10 German Reminiscences, part B,74, Dellschau Archive, Menil Collection, Houston. 11 E Clampus Vitus information is available on numerous web sites, including http://wwwirjr.com/postoffice. 12 Dellschau, Charles. German Reminiscences, part B,73. 13 Shaw's Flats is referred to in German Reminiscences, part B,74. John Wolfling is referred to in German Reminiscences part A,60. Wolfling's business is also listed in the City and County Directory of San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced and Tuolumne(San Francisco: L.M. McKenney & Co.,Publishers, 1881), 383. 14 Researcher Pete Navarro of Houston has very generously provided this author with a comprehensive list of the sixty-two club members' names. These names have been researched by genealogists at the Tuolumne County Historical Society in Sonora without success. 15 Marriage certificate, Fort Bend County Library. 16 Mary Dellschau's approximate date of birth can be estimated from census records. 17 Bertha's date of birth can be estimated from census records, but Edward was born and died between the 1870 and 1880 censuses. 18 Charles Dellschau's personal effects are in the Dellschau Archive at the Menil Collection, Houston. 19 Washington County Marriage Records for 1882, 382. 20 The Brenham Daily Banner(Texas), on Sunday, May 28, 1882. Thanks to researcher Christina M. Orsak of the NCRM Library in Brenham for finding the article. 21 Houston City Directories of 1887-88, (Texas)State Archives, Austin. 22 Cynthia Greenwood discusses this in her article "Secrets of the Sonora Aero Club," Houstonpress (a weekly), Decem-
ber 10-16, 1998. The letter from Mary Dellschau is among the artist's personal papers at the Menil Collection. Bertha Dellschau's admission and death dates were confirmed by staff at the Austin State Hospital in a conversation with this author on August 11, 1999. 23 John Beardsley,"The Joy Zone," in A.G. Rizzoli, Architect ofMagnificent Visions(New York: Harry N. Abrams,in association with the San Diego Museum of Art, 1997),98. 24 Roger Cardinal,"Toward an Outsider Aesthetic," in The Artist Outsider: Creativity and the Boundaries ofCulture, Michael D. Hall and Eugene W.Metcalf, Jr. with Roger Cardinal, eds.(Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1994), 29. 25 John Maizels, Raw Creation: Outsider Art and Beyond(London, England: Phaidon Press Limited, 1996), 114. 26 German Reminiscences, Part A,Section II, 11. 27 This picture is illustrated in Lauren Redniss' article "Charles Dellschau," in Raw Vision #30(Spring 2000), 47. 28 For a discussion of early flight, see Tom Crouch, The Eagle Aloft(Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1983). 29 German Reminiscences, part B,74. 30 Cardinal, 33-34. 31 Ibid., 36. 32 Charles A. A. Dellschau, 1830-1923 (New York: Ricco Maresca Gallery, 1997), Fig. 41. 33 See Jerome Clark and Loren Coleman's article "Mystery Airships of the 1800's" on Dellschau's work at http:// www.keelynet.com/gravity/aerol.txt(see also aero2.txt and aero3.txt). 34 Leo Stelzig in Greenwood. 35 Drawing 79.20.134P.154R., San Antonio Museum of Art. Translation by Professor Christopher Wickham,Department of German, University of Texas at San Antonio. 36 Hartung and Klotz are listed in the Houston City Directories from 1889 forward. Texas State Archives, Austin. 37 The baptismal record showing Anton Stelzig as the sponsor for Theodore Gisecke's children can be found in Records ofSalem Lutheran Church— Brenham, Texas, 1850-1940,58. 38 Names from the christening records that are possible matches with those of club members include Carl Weisbach, Adolph Goetz, Carl Braun, Carl Neumann, and Carl Schubert. These christening records are available through the Mormon Genealogical Family Search service in the Kirchenbuch ofNikolaikirche, Berlin, 1583-1885, and the book of christening records for Sankt Georgen 1827-1838 and 1838-1846.
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MUSEUM
REPRODUCTIONS
PROGRAM Left to right: Elizabeth Warren, Museum consulting curator, Alice J. Hoffman, director of licensing, and Gerard C. Weitkin, Museum director, wait for Takashimaya's Tokyo store to open. Liz Warren is ready to fill her Museum of American Folk Art tote bag with wonderful merchandise.
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 CollectionTm brings within reach ofthe public the very best ofthe past to be enjoyedfor generations to come. A Special Friendship please contact us at 212/977*Takashimaya In previous columns you learned about the celebration Takashimaya presented this spring in honor of its eighteen-year business relationship with the Museum of American Folk Art. Now, with this column, you are treated to a photographic journey and an inside look at the Museum of American Folk Art Shops created by Takashimaya in its Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, and Kyoto stores. All of us at the Museum express our deep and abiding gratitude to Takashimaya for its dedication to bringing the spirit of American folk art to Japan. Dom째 arigato gozaimasu. 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,TM
7170. Family of Licensees AMCAL,Inc.(800/824-5879) year 2000 calendar.* American Pacific Enterprises (415/782-1250) quilts, shams, and pillows. Carvin Folk Art Designs,Inc.(212/7556474)gold-plated and enameled jewelry.* Fototolio(212/226-0923)art postcard books, wooden postcards, boxed note cards, and magnets.* Galison (212/354-8840) boxed note cards.* Gallery Partners(718/797-2547) scarves and ties.* Hermitage Artists (518/966-8733)tramp art objects.* Limited Addition(800/268-9724) decorative accessories.* LiquidArt,Ltd.(312/644-0251) digital art reproduction screensavers. Mandcore Inc.(800/782-2645) mouse pads, screen savers, coasters, note cubes. Mary Myers Studio(800/829-9603) wooden nutcrackers, nodders, and tree ornaments.* Museum Masterpieces, Ltd.(617/923-1111) note cards, "notelets,"jigsaw puzzles,journals, and gift bags.* On The Wall Productions,Inc. (800/788-4044) Magic Cube.* Salamander Graphix,Inc.(800/451-5311) umbrellas, gifts, and accessories.* Takashimaya Company,Ltd.(212/350-0550)home furnishings and decorative accessories (available only in Japan). Tyndale,Inc.(773/384-0800)lighting and lamp shades. Wild Apple Graphics, Ltd. (800/756-8359)fine art reproduction prints and posters.*
*Available in the Museum of American Folk Art Book and Gift Shop. Visit our Web site and Online Shop at www.folkartmuseum.org. Museum of American Folk Art Shop checkout counter in Osaka. Girl in Red Dress with Cat and Dog poster is based on the painting by Ammi Phillips. Hanging above the counter are straw baskets inspired by the Museum's well-
known Flag Gate.
The Takashimaya Department Store in Tokyo, over 100 years young, continues to feature a Museum of American Folk Art Shop. Today, after 18 years, the Shop is a special destination for Takashimaya's customers. Museum of American Folk Art Shop products are exclusive to Japan.
The Museum's Bird of Paradise Quilt Top inspired the design of this fabric-by-the-yard at the Yokohama store.
62 FALL 2000 FOLK ART
"'"""1 Tea cozy, pillow and chair pads, and floor mat on display at the Tokyo Shop. The designs for the products were inspired by the Museum's Bird of Paradise Quilt Top.
The Osaka Museum of American Folk Art Shop.
N1LSTL \I of ANIERKAN FOLK.ART
A view of the Shop in Yokohama.
A salesperson wears the Bird of Paradise apron in the Yokohama Shop.
A window in the Tokyo subway station displays products from Takashimaya's Museum of American Folk Art Shop. The slippers, tissue holder, coasters, and tote bag were based on the design of the Museum's Baby Crib Quilt.
Teddy bears inspired by the design of the Museum of American Folk Art's "Memories of Childhood" quilt contest on display at the Kyoto store.
1 AIL 2000 I 01K \121 63
MUSEUM
BENEFIT
Save the date 2001 Outsider Art Fair Benefit Preview Thursday,January 25 6:30-9:00 P.M. (early admission for Benefactors, 5:30 P.m.) The Puck Building, SoHo, New York City For more information on the benefit, please contact Jennifer Scott at 212/977-7170 ext. 308, or at specialevents@folkartmuseum.org.
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ART
CONTEST
Quilted Constructions The Spirit of Design An International Quilt Contest sponsored by the Museum of American Folk Art to celebrate the opening of the Museum's new building on West 53rd Street, New York, in late Fall 2001 Contest deadline: May 31, 2001
To receive a copy of the contest rules: YARN REEL Anise unknown Probably Connecticut c. 1825-1850 Carved, imbued, and turned wood 39 7. x 16 x26 7." Museum of American Folk An, New York Eva and Monis Feld Folk An Acquisition Fund 1981.12.10
Write to: Quilt Contest, Museum of American Folk Art 555 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019 E-mail: quiltcontest@folkartmuseum.org Telephone: 212/977-7170
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FALL 2000 FOLK ART 67
TRUSTEES/DONORS
MUSEUM
OF
AMERICAN
FOLK
ART
BOARD OF TRUSTEES Executive Committee Ralph 0. Esmerian Chairman ofthe Board L. John Wilkerson 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
Barry D. Briskin Treasurer Jacqueline Fowler Secretary Anne Hill Blanchard Joyce B. Cowin Samuel Farber Julie K. Palley Members Barbara Cate Joseph F. Cullman 3rd David L. Davies
Jonathan Green Susan Gutfreund ICristina Johnson Esq. Nancy Mead George H. Meyer Esq. Lauren S. Morgan Cyril I. Nelson Laura Parsons
Margaret Z. Robson Selig D. Sacks Esq. Thaddeus S. Woods Trustees Emeriti Cordelia Hamilton George F. Shaskan Jr.
CAPITAL CAMPAIGN DONORS The Museum of American Folk Art has announced a $34.5 million campaign to construct and endow a new home on West 53rd Street. As of June 20, 2000, nearly $25,000,000 has been raised by the following donors: Alconda-Owsley Foundation R.R. Atkins Foundation Marcia Bain Bankers Trust Company Judy & Barry Beil in honor of Alice & Ron Hoffman Mrs. Arthur M. Berger Big Apple Wrecking and Construction Corporation Edward V. Blanchard & M. Anne Hill Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund Mr.& Mrs. James A. Block Edith S. & Barry D. Briskin Florence Brody Lewis P. Cabot Bliss & Brigitte Carnochan Caterpillar Foundation Edward Lee Cave
Christie's Richard & Teresa Ciccotelli Alexis & George Contos Mrs. Daniel Cowin Mr.& Mrs. Edgar M.Cullman Elissa F. & Edgar M. Cullman Jr. Joe & Joan Cullman Susan R. Cullman Kendra & Allan Daniel David & Sheena Danziger Lucy & Mike Danziger Peggy & Richard M. Danziger David L. Davies Deborah & Arnold Dunn Ray & Susan Egan Joyce Eppler Ralph 0. Esmerian Sam & Betsey Farber Bequest of Eva & Morris Feld Jacqueline Fowler Rebecca & Michael Gamzon Mr. & Mrs. Merle H. Glick Cordelia Hamilton Audrey Heckler Mr.& Mrs. George Henry The Hirschhorn Foundation, Robert & Marjorie Hirschhorn, Carolyn Hirshhom Schenker
Thomas Isenberg In Memory of Laura N.Israel Johnson & Johnson Joan & Victor Johnson Kristina Johnson Esq. Susan & Robert Klein Joel & Kate Kopp Wendy & Mel Lavitt The Edith & Herbert Lehman Foundation, Inc. John A. Levin & Co., Inc. The Lipman Family Foundation, Inc. Paul Martinson, Frances Martinson and Howard Graff in memory of Burt Martinson Mr.& Mrs. Christopher Mayer Mr.& Mrs. Dana G. Mead Robert & Meryl Meltzer George H. Meyer Keith & Lauren Morgan Cyril Irwin Nelson New York City Department of Cultural Affairs New York State Bequest of Mattie Lou O'Kelley Olde Hope Antiques The Overbrook Foundation Julie & Sandy Palley and Samuel &
Rebecca Kardon Foundation J. Randall Plummer & Harvey S. Shipley Miller Jeffrey Pressman & Nancy Kollisch Ricco/Maresca Gallery John & Margaret Robson Foundation Shirley Schlafer The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation The George and Myra Shaskan Foundation, Inc. Arthur & Suzanne Shawe Alan Silverman & Gretchen Freeman Mr.& Mrs. Peter J. Solomon Sotheby's Rachel & Donald Strauber Bonnie & Tom Strauss The R. David Sudarsky Charitable Foundation Takashimaya Co., Ltd. Richard & Maureen Taylor Peter Tillou David & Jane Walentas Weil, Gotshal and Manges LLP Ben Wertkin John & Barbara Wilkerson Robert & Anne Wilson Susan Yecies Eight anonymous donors
RECENT DONORS FOR EXHIBITIONS AND OPERATIONSâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;as of July 1,2000 The Museum of American Folk Art greatly appreciates the generous support of the following friends: $100,000 and above Fireman's Fund Insurance Company Two anonymous donors $99,999450,000 Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Ralph 0.Esmerian Two anonymous donors 849,999420,000 Edward V. Blanchard & M. Anne Hill Edith S. & Barry D. Briskin Burnett Group Country Living magazine David L. Davies & Jack Weeden Samuel & Betsey Farber The Lipman Family Foundation, Inc.
88 FALL 2000 FOLK ART
Joseph Martinson Memorial Fund Mr. & Mrs. Dana G. Mead New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Pfizer Inc Geoffrey & Elizabeth Stern Time Warner Two anonymous donors
The Pinkerton Foundation John & Margaret Robson The Shirley Schlafer Foundation Schlumberger Foundation, Inc. Barbara & Thomas W. Strauss Fund Tenneco John & Barbara Wilkerson One anonymous donor
$19,999-$10,000 Bear, Steams & Co.Inc. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Mrs. Daniel Cowin Lucy C. & Frederick M. Danziger William Doyle Galleries Mr.& Mrs. John H. Gutfreund Jacqueline Fowler Joan M.& Victor L. Johnson Barbara & Dave Krashes George H. Meyer Esq. Mr.& Mrs. Keith Morgan Julie K.& Samuel Palley The Parsons Family Foundation
S9,999-44,000 The Bay Fund The John R. and Dorothy D. Caples Fund Barbara & Tracy Cate Con Edison The Goodnow Fund Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies ICristina Johnson Esq. Jerry & Susan Lauren The Magazine Group Marstrand Foundation MBNA America, N.A.
The Mattie Lou O'Kelley Memorial Trust Philip Morris Companies Inc. Dorothea & Leo Rabkin Ricco/Maresca Gallery Selig D. Sacks The William P. & Gertrude Schweitzer Foundation, Inc. Two anonymous donors $3,999-$2,000 Dr. Charles L. Abney Jr. Bell Atlantic Mr.& Mrs. Richard H. Bott Duane, Morris & Heckscher T.J. Dermot Dunphy Mr.& Mrs. Alfred C. Eckert M Fastsigns Burton & Helaine Fendelman in memory of Ellin Ente Eric J. & Anne Gleacher (continued on page 70)
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Mr.& Mrs. Ronald Goldstein Vira Hladun-Goldmann The Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies Employee Matching Gifts Program Mr. and Mrs. Ronald S. Lauder Dan W. Luflcin & Silvia Kramer Gladys Nilsson & Jim Nutt Anthony J. Petullo The Ridgefield Foundation William D. Rondina Peter L. Schaffer R. Scudder & Helen Smith Jean S. & Frederic A. Sharf Mr.& Mrs. David Stein David Teiger The Zankel Fund One anonymous donor $1,999—S1,000 Amicus Foundation, Inc. Didi & David Barrett Daniel Berman Mrs. Peter Bing Thomas Block & Marilyn Friedman Robert & Katharine Booth Marvin & Lois P. Broder Brenda Brody Edward J. & Margaret Brown Citicorp Foundation Matching Gifts Program Liz Claiborne Foundation The Coach Dairy Goat Farm Allan & Kendra Daniel Richard M.& Peggy Danziger Michael Del Castello Derrel B. De Passe The Echo Foundation Gloria G. Einbender Douglas G. Ente In memory of Ellin Ente Janey Fire & John Kalymnios Maxine & Stuart Frankel Foundation Jill Gallagher David A. Gardner Roger L. Garrett Barry & Merle Ginsburg Dr. Kurt A. Gitter & Ms. Alice Yelen Grand Mamier Foundation Nancy & Ben Greenberg Fund Cordelia Hamilton Mr. & Mrs. James Harithas Terry B. Heled Stephen Hessler & Mary Ellen Vehlow Thomas Isenberg Mr. & Mrs. Thomas C. Israel Louise & George Kaminow Mr. & Mrs. Mark Leavitt Barbara S. Levinson Mr. and Mrs. Carl M.Lindberg Jane Marcher Charitable Foundation The Helen R. & Harold C. Mayer Foundation Mrs. Myron L. Mayer Judith & Bernard Newman David O'Connor Philip V. Oppenheimer & Mary Close Mr. & Mrs. Richard D. Parsons
Dr. Burton W.Pearl Mr. & Mrs. Daniel Pollack Polo Ralph Lauren Mr. & Mrs. Mortimer Propp Jack & Roberta E. Rabin Irene Reichert Mr. & Mrs. Keith Reinhard Paige Rense Betty Ring Mr.& Mrs. Daniel Rose Mr.& Mrs. Jeff T. Rose The San Diego Foundation Charmaine & Maurice Kaplan Fund Merilyn Sandin-Zarlengo Mr.& Mrs. Henry B. Schacht Carol P. Schatt Kerry Schuss Mr.& Mrs. Marvin Schwartz Semlitz Glaser Foundation Harvey Shipley Miller Myron B.& Cecile B. Shure Hardwicke Simmons Nell Singer Mr.& Mrs. Elliott Slade Donald & Rachel Strauber Patricia & Robert Stempel Doris & Stanley Tananbaum Mr.& Mrs. Jeff Tarr Dennis Thomas Tiffany & Co. Mr.& Mrs. James S. Tisch Mr.& Mrs. Laurence Tisch Peter & Lynn Tishman Mr.& Mrs. Barry Tucker Ms. Karel F. Wahrsager Mr.& Mrs. David C. Walentas Clinton Walker Foundation Don Walters & Mary Benisek Mr.& Mrs. Charles G. Ward III Irwin H. & Elizabeth V. Warren Gerard C. Wertkin Mr.& Mrs. William M. Wetsman G. Marc Whitehead Robert N. Wilson Dr. & Mrs. Joseph M. Winston John & Phyllis Wishnick Laurie Wolfe & Ann C.S. Benton Two anonymous donors $9994500 The Acorn Foundation Joan H. Adler Ms. Mary Lou Alpert Richard C.& Ingrid Anderson Mr.& Mrs. Al Bachman Joel & Lucy Banker Jeremy L. Banta Frank & June Barsalona Charles Benenson Leonard Block Jeffrey & Tina Bolton Marilyn 8z Orren Bradley Marc & Laurie Krasny Brown Deborah Bush Paul & Dana Cam Laurie Carmody Mr.& Mrs. Dick Cashin The Chase Manhattan Foundation
DONORS
Proudly Representing Matching Gift Program Mr. & Mrs. Robert Cochran Mrs. Phyllis Collins Stephen H. Cooper & Prof. Karen Gross Judy Cowen Michael F. Coyne & Monica Longworth Karen L. Cramer Simon Critchell Mr.& Mrs. Lewis Cullman Kathryn M.Curran Aaron & Judy Daniels Gary Davenport Debevoise & Plimpton Don & Marion DeWitt Mr.& Mrs. Gerald T. DiManno Maureen D. Donovan Cynthia Drasner Nancy Druckman Arnold & Debbie Dunn Edward Clifford Durrell III Shirley Durst Raymond C. Egan Mr.& Mrs. Alvin Einbender Epstein Philanthropies Ross & Gladys Faires Burton & Helaine Fendelman Mr.& Mrs. Scott Fine Pamela J. Hoiles Firszt Annie Fisher Erin Flanagan Evelyn Frank Ken & Brenda Fritz Denise Froelich Dale G. Frost Daniel M.Gantt Mr.& Mrs. Bruce Geismar Margaret A. Gilliam Elizabeth Gilmore William L.& Mildred Gladstone Kelly Gonda Baron J. & Ellin Gordon Mrs. Terry S. Gottlieb Howard M. Graff Robert M. Greenberg Stanley & Marcia Greenberg Nanette & Irvin Greif Ronald & Susan L. Grudziecki Susan Rosenberg Gurman Anton Haardt Foundation Audrey B. Heckler Mr.& Mrs. Richard Herbst Mr. and Mrs. Tom Hess Leonard & Arlene Hochman Mr.& Mrs. Robert Hodes John & Laima Hood Mr.& Mrs. Ken Iscol Pepi & Vera Jelinek Betty Wold Johnson & Douglas F. Bushnell Guy Johnson Maurice & Charmaine Kaplan Nancy Karlins-Thoman Sherry Kass & Scott Tracy Allan & Penny Katz Steven & Helen Kellogg Ms. Joan E. Kend Arthur & Sybil Kern
Mary Kettaneh Robert Kleinberg Barbara S. Klinger Sherry Kronenfeld Mr.& Mrs. Theodore A. Kurz Elizabeth Larson Mr.& Mrs. Leonard A. Lauder Wendy & Mel Lavitt Stanley A. Lewis Sherwin & Shirley Lindenbaum Mr. & Mrs. Gerry Lodge Gloria & Patrick Lonergan Nancy B. Maddrey Michael T. Martin Mr. & Mrs. Jonathan Marvel Al Marzorini Kelley McDowell Emily McMahon M.P. McNellis Grete Meilman Mr.& Mrs. Robert Meltzer Michael & Gael Mendelsohn Robert & Joyce Menschel Evelyn S. Meyer Frank J. Miele Timothy & Virginia Millhiser Joy Moos Kathy S. Moses Museums New York Leslie Muth Gallery Ann & Walter Nathan Cyril I. Nelson Mr. & Mrs. Bruce Newman Rachel B. Newman David Nichols Nancy Ann Oettinger Mr.& Mrs. John E. Oilman Paul L.& Nancy Oppenheimer David Passerman Mr.& Mrs. Laurence B.Pike J. Randall Plummer Dr. & Mrs. Roger Rose Robert A. Roth Johnes Ruta Riccardo Salmona Mr.& Mrs. Robert T. Schaffner Margaret Schmidt Robert & Minda Shein Mr.& Mrs. Ronald Shelp Bruce B. Shelton Joel & Susan Simon Philanthropic Fund Raymond & Linda Simon Steven Simons & Cheryl Rivers Rita A. Sklar John & Stephanie Smither Theresa Snyder Richard & Stephanie Solar Peter J. Solomon Kathryn Staley Mr.& Mrs. Victor Studer Barbara & Donald Tober Foundation Mr. Frank Tosto Dorothy Treisman Mr.& Mrs. Raymond S. Troubh United Way of Dutchess County Angela Usrey
MARY WHITFIELD
"Feeding Chickens" #2, 1997. Watercolor, 8X10
aPeve Totaheutt OnteAnationd go& S4gaught, and Attain-utile/dean(Ai (since 1980)
attitte Ccontody 10046 Conway(Road St. gouts, Jtissowii 63124 Ty appointment: (214) 993-9851 Ty gar.(14) 998-9260 Ty emak gboniteo@aoteom www.gaPettiebonhewi.com Ralph Auf der Heide, Milton Bond,Ree Brown,Cuban Art, Rita H. Davis, Minnie Evans, Bruno del Favero, Amos Ferguson, Reginald K. Gee, Sybil Gibson, Recline Gilbert, Haitian Art, Charles Hutson, Janice Kennedy, Justin McCarthy, Polish Folk Art, Nellie Mae Rowe, Jack Savitsky, Anne Strasberg, Venezualan Folk Art, Voodoo flags, Mary Whitfield, Harriet Wiseman, Malcah Zeldis, 8( others.
(continued on page 72)
FALL 2000 FOLK ART 71
DONORS
Continuedfrom page 71
Mr.& Mrs. Hugh Vanderbilt Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Viener Robert & Ruth Vogele Jennifer Walker Herbert Well In honor of Bennett Weinstock from his friends
Margaret Wenstrup Susi Wuennenberg Diana Zanganas Jon & Rebecca Zoler Anonymous in honor of Gerard C. Werticin One anonymous donor
THE JEAN LIPMAN FELLOWS 1999 Co-Chairs Jerry & Susan Lauren Roger Ricco and Frank Maresca
Large Zia Polychrome Tile 8 1/4"x 81/2", early 20th Century
JOHN C. HILL • ANTIQUE INDIAN ART 6962 E. 1st Ave. Scottsdale, Arizona 85251 (480)-946-2910 • email: antqindart@aol.com
1999 Fellows Patrick Bell & Edwin Hild Mary Benisek & Don Walters Edith Briskin Edward J. & Margaret Brown Nancy Druckman Peter & Barbara Goodman Tracy Goodnow Barbara L. Gordon Howard M. Graff Ann Harithas Pepi & Vera Jelinek Harvey Kahn
Allan Katz Susan Kleckner Barbara 8z David Krashes Eric Maffei Jeff & Anne Miller Keith Morgan John Oilman J. Randall Plummer Paige Rense Selig Sacks Raymond & Linda Simon Richard & Stephanie Solar Arthur Spector Donald & Rachel Strauber Sini von Reis Irwin H.& Elizabeth V. Warren One anonymous donor
RECENT DONORS TO THE COLLECTIONS
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72 FALL 2000 FOLK ART
Gifts Judith Alexander Jill & Sheldon Bonovitz Briskin Family Fund William C. Engvick Ralph 0. Esmerian Samuel & Betsey Farber Jacqueline L. Fowler Millie & Bill Gladstone Ellin & Baron Gordon Lewis B. Greenblatt Sally & Paul Hawkins Vera & Pepi Jelinek Joan & Victor Johnson N.F. Karlins David & Barbara Krashes Jane, Steven, and Eric Lang
TRAVELING
The Lipman Family Foundation, Inc. in honor of Jean & Howard Lipman Ezra Mack Robert L. Marcus Family Edward A. McCabe Cyril Irwin Nelson J. Randall Plummer & Harvey S. Shipley Miller Jan Raber Dorothea & Leo Rabkin John & Margaret Robson Linda & Ray Simon Maurice C.& Patricia L. Thompson Janice Turecki Ruth & Robert Vogele Martha Detert Walbolt Dr. & Mrs. Stuart Zweibel
EXHIBITIONS
Mark your calendars for the following Museum of American Folk Art exhibition when it travels to your area during the coming months: August 10—October 8, 2000 The Art of Nellie Mae Rowe: Ninety-Nine and a Half Won't Do The Mennello Museum of American Folk Art Orlando, Florida 407/246-4278 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.
Visitors watch sculptor Chris Pellettieri work behind Plexiglas
BY SARAH J. MIJNT
Edmondson Reception and Symposium useum members gathered to celebrate "The Art of William Edmondson" on May 22. The show,organized by Cheekwood Museum of Art in Nashville, was designed by Frank Maresca and presented by the Museum's Contemporary Center The show displayed nearly 40 works by Edmondson and 40 photographs by Louise DahlWolfe, Consuelo Kanaga, and Edward Weston. Weston's photograph of the sculptor's backyard was enlarged and hung on the gallery wall, providing visitors with a fantastic view of Edmondson's workspace. Guests admired the impressive works as they enjoyed the music of Curtis Harvey and Harrison Cannon. The following evening, the Museum hosted a symposium on William Edmondson. Brooke Anderson, director and curator of The Contemporary Center, introduced the distinguished panel, all of whom had contributed to the exhibition's catalog. The first
speaker was Bobby Lovett, professor of history and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Tennessee State University in Nashville. Lovett spoke on the impact slavery and plantation life on the artist and his community. The next speaker was Judith McWillie, chair of painting at the University of Georgia, Athens. McWillie discussed the work of photographers Edward Weston and Louise Dahl-Wolfe and their work with Edmondson. Following McWillie was Grey Gundaker, assistant professor of American studies program and anthropology department, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia; Gundaker spoke of the arrangement of Edmondson's yard and studio. The final speaker, Rusty Freeman, exhibition curator and associate curator at Cheekwood, discussed important community icons that Edmondson sculpted. Concluding the symposium was an intriguing question-andanswer session moderated by
Edmondson Programming rogramming for the Edmondson exhibition included a lecture series. Ellen Handy,curator of collections at the International Center for Photography, New York, presented "Through Their Eyes: The Work of Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Edward Weston, and Consuelo Kanaga." Next, a lecture and a tour of The Newark Museum, was led by Joseph Jacobs, curator of American art. The final lecture, titled "Edmondson's Mermaid: Afro-Atlantic Dialogues on Art, Archetype, Memory, Myth, and Ritual" was presented in conjunction with "Conversations 2000"(see page 75).
Families enjoyed the tales spun by storyteller Deidre Caproni on May 20, and by Griots in Concert on June 10. Youngsters participated in fun-filled Sunday afternoon workshops throughout June and July. Activities included creating their own sculptures out of soap. On Saturday afternoons throughout the run of the exhibition, visitors could hear the delicate tap-tap-taps of sculptor Chris Pellettieri as he carved limestone likenesses of William Edmondson's work. Pellettieri's stone-carving demonstrations were a hit among Museum visitors of all ages.
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Gerard C. Wertkin, director of the Museum. "The Art of William Edmondson" is organized and circulated by Cheekwood Museum of Art, Nashville. The traveling exhibition and catalog are made possible in part by grants from The Henry Luce Foundation, Inc. and the National Endowment for the Arts. The New York presentation of the exhibition is made possible by major support from Time Warner with additional support from The Shirley Schlafer Foundation, Marion E. Greene-The LEF Foundation, Joan and Joe Cullman 3rd, Ralph 0. Esmerian, and Dorothea and Leo Rabkin. The Museum's public programs are funded in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and Con Edison.
Pellettieri sculpts a figure of William Edmondson
Left to right: Katherine Smith, stofyteller Deidre Caproni, Museum's Deputy Director Riccardo Salmona, Bill Doyle, and Sally Fleschner
FALL 2000 FOLK ART 73
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Billy Ray Hussey Charlie Lisk ' ' Lanier Meaders ' Burlon Craig Lucien Koonce ' Kim Ellington Marie Rogers ' ' Steven Abee Jim Havner Joe Reinhardt ' Walter Fleming ' Roger Hicks
MUSEUM
n June 5, the Museum's Folk Art Institute presented the Esther Stevens Brazer Memorial Lecture on the occasion of the Folk Art Institute Commencement. Brazer was an author and teacher who fostered a renewed appreciation for the historic traditions of American painted decoration. Brock Jobe, deputy director of interpretation, collection, and conservation at the Winterthur Museum, presented a highly informative lecture titled "Eighteenth-Century Furniture of Boston, Portsmouth, and Newport." This year's graduating fellow was Cheryl Rivers. The commencement exercises were chaired by Lee Kogan, director of the Museum's Folk Art Institute, and the certificate was awarded by Trustee Frances Sirota Martinson Esq. The Museum's dedicated docents were recognized for their
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Left to right: Diane Goldman, Deborah Ash, graduate Cheryl Rivers, Roberta Gaynor, and Edith Rubin
loyal service as well. Gallery Director Dale Gregory and Docent Coordinator Arlene Hochman presented awards to eight-year docents Louise Kaminow and Diane Rigo; fiveyear docents Beate Echols, Yvonne Campbell, and Bella Kranz; and three-year docents Erlinda Brent, Astrith Deyrup, Charlotte Frank, Blanche Hodges, Lilian Lowry, and Merlyn Zarlengo. Special thanks to Joan Bloom and Deborah Ash who volunteered their time and talents to provide the refreshments and decorations. 2000 Esther Stevens Brazer Memorial Lecturer Brock Jobe
Darger's life and art come to life in At Jennie Richee
EUROPEAN SELF-TAUGHT NAIVE ART M•
S KU RJ E N I Skurjeni's first exhibition 1962 was hailed by the Paris surrealists. Andre Breton: "A big welcome to Skurjeni!This is enchanting painting." His work was included in the exhibition entitled "Surrealism" 1970 at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, in Paris Grand Palais 1976. Dr. B. Kelemen: "He is one of the leading artists ofself-taught naive painters. M.Skurjeni is and will be a great painter ofnaive art" A. FEJES M.JONAS J. KNJAZOVIC I. LACKOVIC M.SKURJENI I. RABUZIN LVECENAJ (younger generation) B. BAHUNEK and others.
The Contemporary Center Introduces Conversations 2000 n March the Museum's Contemporary Center launched "Conversations 2000," a series of events that address the issues, ideas, and work of 20thcentury self-taught artists. On March 9, The Ridge Theater brought Henry Darger's life and work to the stage in At Jennie Richee. Directed by Bob McGrath,the play is an exploration of Darger's epic story of the Vivian sisters and the Glandelinians. Following the performance, Brooke Davis Anderson, director and curator of The Contemporary Center, led an engaging question-and-answer session between the audience and members of The Ridge Theater. For information about future performances of At Jennie Richee, contact The Ridge Theater at 212/674-5485. The second event of"Conver-
/
sations 2000" was held at the Museum on Thursday, June 29, in conjunction with "The Art of William Edmondson." Dr. Henry Drewal, Evjue Bascom Professor of Art History, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and New York artist, Eve Sandler led "Edmondson's Mermaid: AfroAtlantic Dialogues on Art, Archetype, Memory, Myth, and Ritual," a lively and informative lecture on the mythological sea creature, her African counterpart Marni Wata, and Edmondson's sculpture. Upcoming "Conversations 2000" topics include forgeries of the work of contemporary selftaught artists and the architecture of the insane and are listed in Fall Programs, page 78. For further information contact the Museum of American Folk Art at 212/9777170.
Day Without Art Poetry Reading tudents from Karyn Kay's of the organization's mission to promote AIDS awareness Honors Creative Writing class at LaGuardia High through A Day Without Art. Then three students, chosen by School returned to the Museum judges William Louis-Dreyfus, on May 31 to read poetry inspired by their visit on A Day co-president of the Poetry Society of America, and Sini von Without Art, in which artist Reis, read their poems aloud. Rubin Gonzalez spoke about his Gonzalez and the audience were battle with the AIDS virus. deeply moved by the students' Christopher J. Hogan, executive expressiveness and talent. director of Visual AIDS,spoke
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"Jan Musician" 1971 16-114 x 10-3/4 oil on canvas
Exhibited In U.S.: Smithsonian Institution - Carnegie Institute Museum of Art Scottsdale Center for the Arts - Milwaukee Museum Art Center - Chicago Public Library C.VV. Post Art Gallery/Long Island University
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and LEANNE PAELTZ the "Wolf Lady"
DUFFLINDSAY lindsaygallery.homestead.com 1991 GUILFORD RD. COLUMBUS,OHIO 43221 614-086-1973
FALL 2000 FOLK ART 75
Participants in Bronxgear stand in front of their scarf display at the Shop
WORKS BY
SUSAN SLYMAN
After-School Programs CAN BE SEEN AT
FRANK J. MIELE CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN FOLK ART 10E16 MADISON AVENUE NEW YORK, N.Y. 10029 212.249.7250
GALLERIE JE REVIENS ONE RIVERSIDE AVENUE WESTPORT CT. 06E580 203.227.7716
n March 23, participants in the after-school art program Bronxgear, which provides youths with an opportunity to be creative as well as gather experience in the business world, visited the Museum for a guided tour. The young entrepreneurs, ages 5 to 19, were responsible for creating batik scarves that were displayed in the Museum Shop. The scarves became popular among buyers, and proceeds benefited the Shop and Bronxgear. The Museum and Shop staff was delighted to host the talented group and sell their wonderful scarves.
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On May 10, the Museum welcomed Peter Griffin, education coordinator of The New-York Historical Society's New York After School program, and a group of young artists from P.S. 84. Stirring up a lively discussion, Museum docent Marilyn Schwartz led the children on a tour of the Museum. Influenced by the Museum's exhibitions, the students then created their own sculptures. Photographs of their work were compiled in a catalog. The Museum anticipates additional opportunities to work with the program.
Exuberant youngsters from the New York After School program visit the Museum
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Docents at The Met n March 29, Museum docents participated in an inspiring training session held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Wing and led by Rika Bernum, the Met's docent trainer and museum educator. The session, organized by Gallery Manager Dale Gregory, was the second in a series planned for Museum
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www.folkartnovascotia.corn
76 FALL 2000 FOLK ART
docents. Bernum's intriguing questions guided docents through an intensive two-hour exploration of the composition, psychology, and historical background of the artworks that were examined. Bernum, delighted with the docents' responsiveness, invited the group for a return series in the fall.
outsiderartauctions.corn
Hand carved & painted sign by Lee Neary
16' v 13
Gallery Fanciful Gifts, Creative Furnishings and Lots of Folks Art .31oc) Civic Center Way Malibu,CA 9W65 310)4563677 333.3083677 bob_dawn@topsgallery.corn www.topsgallery,com
OBITUAR Y
ALEX GERRARD FINE ART
Cathyann Rasmussen 1952-2000 Museum was Cathyann Rasmussen, an imporwhen she orgatant figure in the quilting world, nized the 1998 died in New York on June 12. exhibition The cause of death was ovarian "Edge to Edge: cancer. A 1989 graduate of the Selections Museum's Folk Art Insitute, from the StuRasmussen began working as an dio Art Quilt Associates." A prointern in the registrar's department at the Museum shortly after lific writer on quilts, Rasmussen completing the program. Because was published in many exhibition catalogs and trade publicaof her broad knowledge and tions. Throughout her career, she excellent communication skills, maintained a sense of irony Cathy was soon hired as director regarding her various quiltof special projects. During her related assignments since she tenure, she deftly organized The never wanted to learn how to Great American Quilt Festival 2, sew. 3, and 4, as well as the accompaHer family requests that nying quilt contests, exhibitions, donations be made in her name and programming. After leaving the Museum in 1993, she eventu- to the Ovarian Cancer Research ally became first executive direc- Fund at Memorial SloaneKettering Cancer Center, New tor of the Studio Art Quilt York. Associates(SAQA). Her most â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Ann-Marie Reilly recent involvement with the
PERIFIMOU untitled - gouache on paper - 10" x 14"
WE SPECIALISE IN FINDING IMPORTANT EXAMPLES OF EUROPEAN SELF TAUGHT - NAIVE - PRIMITIVE AND OUTSIDER ART FOR SERIOUS COLLECTORS art@alexgerrard.com www.alexgerrard.com VIEWING BY APPOINTMENT BELL LODGE - VINEHALL - ROBERTSBRIDGE - E.SUSSEX ENGLAND TN32 5JN TEL: 01580 - 880229
FAX: 01580 880559
FALL 2000 FOLK ART 77
FALL
Sophirell
an art gallery & studio space creating opportunities for adults with disabilities through art
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 between 65th and 66th Streets, New York City. Programs are open to the public, and admission is free. For more information, please call 212/595-9533. CONVERSATIONS 2000 A series ofevening events highlighting self-taught artists and the issues surrounding their work. Thursday, Sept. 28 Contemporary Fraud: A Disturbing Trend in the Outsider Art Market 6:30 P.M. Anton Rajer, art conservator NYU Barney Building, Room 105 34 Stuyvesant Street, New York
Sun Shine 0 Donna Collins 1999
Greeting Cards . Prints Original Art . Brochure Available www.stmsc.org
Steven & Kathleen Conrad
Thursday,Oct. 26 The Architecture of Madness 6:00 P.M. John M. MacGregor, Ph.D., art historian Max Protetch Gallery 511 West 22nd Street, New York EXHIBITION PROGRAMS Presented in conjunction with "An Engagement with Folk Art: Cyril I. Nelson's Gifts to the Museum" 6:00 P.M. Thursday,Sept. 14 Exhibition Tour Elizabeth V. Warren, exhibition curator and consulting curator, Museum ofAmerican Folk Art Thursday,Oct. 12 Expressions of Trust Stacy Hollander, senior curator and director of exhibitions, Museum ofAmerican Folk Art Thursday, Nov.9 In Pursuit of Excellence: A Symposium on Collecting Participants: Laura Beach, contributing editor, Antiques and The Arts Weekly Edward V. Blanchard, collector Nancy Druckman, vice president, Sotheby's Laura Fisher, antique quilt dealer M. Anne Hill, Museum trustee, collector Cyril I. Nelson, Museum trustee, collector
55 Kutz Road â&#x20AC;˘ Fleetwood, PA 19522 610-944-9232 â&#x20AC;˘ art@figure8art.com Studio Visits by Appointment
78 FALL 2000 FOLK ART
QUILT DAY Saturday, Oct.21 H:00 A.M.
Exhibition Tour Lee Kogan, director, Folk Art Institute/curator ofspecial projects for The Contemporary Center NO011-4:00 P.M. Afternoon Quilt Demonstration Demonstrations by five metropolitan-area quilt guilds FAMILY PROGRAM Saturday, Nov.4 1:00-2:30 P.M. We All Love to Collect Presented by "Inspector Collector" Harley Spiller, administrator, Franklin Furnace Archive SUNDAY AFTERNOON CHILDREN'S WORKSHOP 2:00-4:00 P.M. For children ages 5 to12 Materials fee: $1 A series of special art workshops for children will be offered using themes seen in "An Engagement with Folk Art." This series of workshops will be held every other Sunday through December. To confirm specific dates or reserve a space, please call Dale Gregory at 212/595-9533. CLASS VISITS The Museum offers docent-led tours of its changing exhibitions and permanent collection gallery. Tours for school groups are scheduled at 11:30 A.M. and 1:00 P.M., Tuesday through Friday. A small, non-refundable fee is required. Reservations must be made in advance; please call 212/595-9533. Once a tour has been booked, an introductory teachers' packet will be sent. The packet includes background information on American folk art and,suggested classroom activities to enhance the Museum visit. A month's advance notice is strongly suggested.
The Museum's public programs are funded in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and 481
BOOKS
OF
INTEREST
HYPO INT AMERICAN he following recent titles are great gift-giving ideas for the holiday season. All titles are available at the Museum of American Folk Art Book and Gift Shop,2 Lincoln Square, Columbus Avenue between 65th and 66th Streets, New York City. To order, please call 212/496-2966. Museum members receive a 10 percent discount.
T
The Art of William Edmondson, Cheekwood Museum of Art/ University Press of Mississippi, 2000, 256 pages, paperback,$30 Bill Traylor(1854-1949), Deep Blues, Josef Helfenstein and Roman Kurzmeyer, eds., Yale University Press, 1999, 192 pages, paperback, $29.95 The Cast-OffRecast: Recycling and the Creative Transformation ofMass-Produced Objects, Timothy Corrigan Correll and Patrick Arthur Polk, eds., UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 1999, 148 pages, paperback,$29 Illinois Jacquard Coverlets and Weavers: End ofa Legacy, Nancy Iona Glick and Katherine H. Molumby,Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences, 1999, 74 pages, paperback, $25 James Castle & the Book, Tom Trusky, Idaho Center for the Book, 1999, 18 pages, paperback, with a set of six hand-sewn facsimiles of Castle books, $19.95 The Kingdoms ofEdward Hicks, Carolyn J. Weekley, Abrams, 1999, 312 pages, hardcover, $39.95 The Ledgerbook of Thomas Blue Eagle, Jewel H. Grutman and Gay Matthaei, Liclde, 1999, 72 pages, hardcover, $18.95
Metamorphosis: The Fiber Art ofJudith Scott, John M. MacGregor, Creative Growth Art Center, 1999, 183 pages, hardcover, $45
ANTIQUES & FOLK ART •
Millennial Dreams: Vision and Prophecy in American Folk Art, Gerard C. Wertkin, Museum of American Folk Art, 1999,40 pages, paperback,$10 Outsider Art: Spontaneous Alternatives, Colin Rhodes, Thames & Hudson, 2000,224 pages, paperback, $14.95 Quilting Traditions: Piecesfrom the Past, Patricia T. Herr, Schiffer Publishing, 2000, 160 pages, paperback, $29.95 Red & White: American Redwork Quilts and Patterns, Deborah Harding, Rizzoli, 2000,two volumes, 144 pages and 64 pages, boxed, $39.95
Carved carnival head 16" h. circa 1900 JANE S. CIEPLY 847-540-0615•BARRINGTON,IL 60010 FAX 847-540-0879•hypoint404@aol.com
Self Taught, Outsider, and Folk Art: A Guide to American Artists, Locations and Resources, Betty-Carol Sellen with Cynthia J. Johanson, McFarland, 1999, 368 pages, paperback, $39.95 Souls Grown Deep: African American Vernacular Art ofthe South, Paul Arnett and William Arnett, eds., Tinwood Books, 2000,568 pages, hardcover, $95 They Taught Themselves, Sidney Janis, Sanford L. Smith & Associates, 1999 (reprint from 1942), 260 pages, paperback, $29.95 Window into Collecting American Folk Art: Edward Duff Balken Collection at Princeton, Charlotte Emans Moore and Colleen Cowles Heslip, Art Museum Princeton University, 1999, 162 pages, paperback,$18
..iranCfrVealleP" Tine and To4 O'r/ t-on,servafor 'oniemporary To14- a'r/ Poiler and Woodcarver 76 Weaver Rd. Cedartown, Ga. 30125 (770)748-7035 www.nancyweaver.com Email nancy@nancyweaver.com
FALL 2000 FOLK ART 79
EPSTEIN/POWELL 66 Grand St., New York, N.Y. 10013 By Appointment(212) 226-7316 e-mail: artfolks@mindspring.com
Jesse Aaron Rex Clawson Donovan Durham Antonio Esteves Victor Joseph Gatto (Estate) Lonnie Holley S.L. Jones Charlie Lucas
Justin McCarthy Old Ironsides Pry Popeye Reed Max Romain Bill Roseman Jack Savitsky Clarence Strin.gfield Mose Tolliver and other American outsiders
INDEX
TO
ADVERTISERS
Aaron Ashley,Inc. Alex Gerrard Allan Katz Americana American Folk American Pacific American Primitive American Stoneware Collectors The Ames Gallery Andrew Edlin Fine Arts Antique Quaint Quilts Anton Haardt Gallery Art America Artisans & Folk Art At Home Gallery Authentic Designs Baker & Co. Ballyhack Antiques Cavin-Morris Gallery Christie's Country Folk Art Festival Country Living David Wheatcroft
80 FALL 2000 FOLK ART
67 77 15 28 60 11 65 17 21 61 70 24 76 74 67 58 28 2 9 58 7 8
Epstein/Powell Figure8art.com Fleisher/Oilman Gallery Forbes & Turner Francis J. Purcell Inc. Galerie Bonheur Garde Rail Gallery Gilley's Gallery Ginger Young Gallery Hill Gallery Hypoint Indigo Arts J. Crist Jackie Radwin John C. Hill Kimball Sterling Auctions Laura Fisher Lindsay Gallery MBNA America The Mennello Museum Modern Art Collectors Ltd. Nancy Weaver
80 78 Back Cover 65 69 71 64 17 20 10 79 70 3 23 72 77 25 75 65 22 75 79
Ricco/Maresca Gallery Inside Front Cover Rosehips Gallery 20 Sanford L. Smith & Associates 27,56 Select Southern Pottery 74 Sidney Gecker 15 Skinner 59 Slotin Folk Art Auction 66 Sotheby's Inside Back Cover St. Madeleine Sophie's Center 78 Stella Show Mgmt. Co. 72 Steve Miller 1 Susan Slyman 76 Tinwood Books 57 Tops Gallery 77 Tracy Goodnow 14 Tyson Trading Co. 16 Urban Artware 26 Walters-Benisek 4 Wanda's Quilts 61 Wilton Historical Society 55 Yard Dog 64
Important Americana AUCTION IN NEW YORK: FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13 AND 14, 2000
EXHIBITION OPENS
Saturday, October 7 INQUIRIES
Nancy Druckman 212 606 7225 fax 212 606 7038 CATALOGUES
800 444 3709 outside the continental U.S. 203 847 0465 fax 203 849 0223
1334 York Avenue New York, NY 10021 www.sothebys.com Bill Traylor Self Portrait pencil and gouache on cardboard 12%x 7 in. Auction estimate: $30,000-50,000
0 SOTHEBY'S, INC. 2000 WILLIAM F.
CHI, PRINCIPAL AUCTIONEER, #0794917
SOTHEBY'S
SOTHEBY'S Founded 1744
Squirrel one, Carved Tennessee Limestone, 17 1/2 x 13 1/2 x 5 inches
Squirrel two, Carved Tennessee Limestone, 18 3/4 x 13 x 4 3/4 inch
William Edmondson
211 S. 17th Street Philadelphia 1 9 1 0 3 (215)545.7562 (Fax)545.6140
OLLMAN GALLERY
The Fleisher/Oilman Gallery is pleased to present a pair of recently discovered squirrels by