MAGAZINE OF THE MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLK ART *SPRIN
25274
29,0, 1* MOO
RICCO/MARESCA GALLERY 529 West 20th Street Third Floor New York New York 10011 Tel 212.627.4819 Fax 212.627.5117 E-Mail info@riccomaresca.com Web www.riccomaresca.corn African-American Quilt, ca. 1910-20, mixed fabrics, 51" x 44"
STEVE KIER • AMERICAN FOLK ART •
WANTED American Folk Art Sculpture and WPA Sculpture and Paintings of This Quality
SHOESHINE BOY by Thos. G. Lo Medico (1904 — 1985); NYC; signed rear: LoMedico 1937, tag: Federal Art Project; cedar; 13 1/2 x 7 x 6". Exhibited 1938 — 1939. WPA member.
17 East 96th Street, New York, New York 10128 Telephone:(212)348-5219, Fax:(212)427-4278, E-mail: sharksm@earthlink.net Gallery hours are from 1:00 pm until 6:00 pm,Tuesday through Saturday. Other hours are available by appointment.
AMERICAN PRIMITIVE GALLERY 594 BROADWAY # 205 NEW YORK, NY 10012 SOHO Between Houston and Prince St.
TUES — SAT Aarne Anton
11-6 212-966-1530
Remarkable Folk Art, Outsider and Visionary Art
Carved wood elk head with applied antlers. Probably from an Elks Lodge. Ohio, early 1900's 37 in. wide, ht 55 in.
Leaping deer folk sculpture from an Indiana yard environment. 20th C. length 56 in., ht. 43 in.
We also provide custom mounting services for sculpture. Bases of wood, metal or lucite made for art and antique objects.
JAMES CASTLE 1900-1977
Untitled (bedroom interior), n.d. 8 3/8"X 1.0 7/8"
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速jcrist.com
J. Crist is the agent for the work of James Castle(A.C. Wade Castle Collection, L.P.)
MARBLE PORTRAIT SET IN LIMESTONE, DATED 1815, NEW ENGLAND,13 X 9 X 3.5 INCHES
FOLK ART VOLUME 26, NUMBER 1 / SPRING 2031
FEATURES
Cover: Detail ofSIGN FOR ARAH PHELPS'INN,NORTH COLEBROOK, CONNECTICUT/ William Rice/ Hartford/c. 1826/paint on pine board and moldings, iron hardware/ 3044 x440"/The Connecticut Historical Society, gift ofNancy Phelps (Mrs. John A.)Blum, Jonathan Phelps Blum, and Timothy Alexander Blum
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 2001 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.
ABCD: A COLLECTION OF ART BRUT Jenifer P. Borum
26
WILLIAM RICE: AT THE SIGN OF THE LION Susan P. Schoelwer
34
NATIVE QUILTING: A LONG AND ENDURING TRADITION Marsha L. MacDowell
42
DEP
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MEN
TS
EDITOR'S COLUMN
6
DIRECTOR'S LETTER
11
NEW BUILDING UPDATE
20
MINIATURES
22
TRUSTEES/DONORS
49
MUSEUM REPRODUCTIONS PROGRAM
58
MUSEUM NEWS
62
OBITUARY
67
TRAVELING EXHIBITIONS
68
SPRING PROGRAMS
70
INDEX TO ADVERTISERS
72
SPRING 2001 FOLK ART 5
EDITOR'S
COLUMN
ROSEMARY GABRIEL
he exciting exhibition "ABCD: A Collection of Art Brut," now on view at the Museum, was organized by Brooke Davis Anderson, the director and curator of the Museum's Contemporary Center, and art historian Jenifer P. Borum. In her essay, starting on page 26, Borum tells us that "Art brut is a uniquely fascinating and often misunderstood category of twentieth-century art," then goes on to discuss Jean Dubuffet's definition of art brut and the criteria he used to include works in this category. She also provides a brief profile of some of the artists represented in the exhibition. In a climate often vague and sticky, Borum's understanding of the material and clear prose are satisfying and refreshing. The exhibition will travel to Wisconsin, Georgia, and Florida (for more information, see "Traveling Exhibitions," page 68). Susan P. Schoelwer, director of museum collections at The Connecticut Historical Society, has also organized a stunning traveling exhibition. On view at the Society in Hartford, through April 29,"Lions & Eagles & Bulls: Early American Tavern & Inn Signs from The Connecticut Historical Society" will also be presented in New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, and Virginia; see page 39 for details. For her related essay, which starts on page 34, Schoelwer has chosen to focus on William Rice, one of the most prominent of the early sign painters. Rice 1 was born in Worcester, Mass.,in 1777 and I worked in Hartford for three decades. Schoelwer follows his career, discusses his construction and painting techniques, and gives us a glimpse into his life. The essay is '0, beautifully illustrated and expertly written. As prevalent as tavern and inn signs were in early America, so were pieced and patchwork quilts. Introduced by the first European settlers, quilting techniques and patterns were A readily adopted and adapted by the indiger , L3 nous peoples. As Marsha MacDowell writes CHEROKEE NATION SEAL QUILT / quiltmaker in "Native Quilting: A Long and Enduring unknown / Sepu!pa, Oklahoma / early 1990s / 87 x 75"!cotton/polyester fabric / collection Tradition," starting on page 42,quilts of Michigan State University Museum, 7605.1 continue to be a popular art expression among American Indians and Native HawaiAs tribal communities have taken steps to ians to this day. In this fine essay, punctuated strengthen their sovereign status, many have designed seals for use on tribal documents. with images of quilts from the Collection The seal of the Cherokee Nation in the center of this quilt also carries words in the Cherokee of Michigan State University Museum, language. MacDowell discusses the history and evolution of quilting among Native Americans. Also in this issue are recent photos showing the progress of our new home (pages 20-21); try to imagine yourself on what promises to be a glorious staircase. And for an unusual treat, read four poems("Museum News," page 64) written by New York City high school students as part of their participation in the Museum's Day With(out) Art program, which honors artists living with the HIV virus. In our next issue,(summer 2001)Director Gerard C. Wertkin marks the Museum's fortieth anniversary. Within all the ballyhoo and hubbub of looking forward to our new building, Wertkin stops to take the time to look back. Do not miss "The Museum at 40." Have a beautiful spring.
T
czy S SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
FOLK ART Rosemary Gabriel Editor and Publisher Tanya Heinrich Associate Editor Sarah J. Munt Production Editor Benjamin J. Boyington Copy Editor Alissa L. Boater Editorial Assistant Jeffrey Kibler, The Magazine Group,Inc. Design John Hood Advertising Sales Mel Novatt Advertising Sales Patrick H. Callcins Advertising Graphics Craftsmen Litho Printers MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLK ART Administration Gerard C. Wertkin Director Susan Conlon Assistant to the Director Riccardo Sahnona Deputy Director Jane A. McIntosh Assistant Director ofCapital Campaign Stephen N. Roache ChiefFinancial Officer Irene Kreny Accountant Madhukar Balsara Assistant Controller 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 J. Scott Ogden Virginia Cave Intern Ann-Marie Reilly Registrar Judith Gluck Steinberg Assistant Registrar/ Coordinator ofTraveling Exhibitions Sue Maguire Assistant Registrar Dale Gregory Gallery Manager Kenneth R.Bing Security Gina Bianco Consulting Conservator Elizabeth V. Warren Consulting Curator Howard Lanser Consulting Exhibition Designer Education Diana Schlesinger Director ofEducation Lee Kogan Director, Folk Art Institute/Curator ofSpecial Projects for The Contemporary Center 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 Departments
Cheryl Aldridge Director ofDevelopment Diana DeJesus-Medina Director ofCorporate Development Beth Bergin Membership Director Suzannah Schatt Membership Associate Danelsi De La Cruz Membership Assistant Wendy Barreto Membership Clerk Susan Flamm Public Relations Director Monique A. Brizz-Walker Director ofSpecial Events Katie Hush Special Events Coordinator Alice J. Hoffman Director ofLicensing Marie S. DiManno Director ofMuseum Shops Janey Fire Director ofPhotographic Services Eugene P. Sheehy Volunteer Librarian Rita Keckeissen Volunteer Librarian ICatya Ullmann Library Assistant Edith C. Wise Consulting Librarian 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.folkartmuseum.org info@folkartmuseurn.org
ROBERT YOUNG ANTIQUES
ENGLISH BULLS HEAD TRADE SIGN HORN, CARVED PINE, ORIGINAL POLYCHROME, C1870 21" HIGH X 28" WIDE PROVENANCE: EXECUTORS OF LADY D E BOWLBY, OZLEWORTH, GLOUCESTER
68 BATTERSEA BRIDGE ROAD, LONDON SW11 3AG, ENGLAND +44 20 7228 7847 FAX +44 20 7585 0489 OFFICE@ROBERTYOUNGANTIQUES.COM
The Art of William
Edmondson June 7 - August 26, 2001 The Mennello Museum is the last stop and your final chance to view this exquisite exhibition.
The Mennello Museum of American Folk Art 900 East Princeton Street Orlando Florida 407-246-4278 Fax: 407-246-4329
Museum Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 11 am-5pm Sunday noon-5pm www.mennellomuseum.com email-cityoforlandoart@mindspring.com
Owned & operated by the City of Orlando
11111W
M_AACKI1T41C0
THE
AMES GALLERY
ri1133 Dealers in exceptional self-Ianght. visionar. mai e. and oulsider
Ronnie f;
a It. 1 i rector
2061 Cedar Street.. Berkeley. California 94708 \N
Telephone 5111/845-4949 Fax 510/845-6219
8 SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
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The Charlestown Jail, Charlestown, Massachusetts signed C.H. Golder January 1878 / Oil on canvas / 26"x 37" / Published in Masterpieces of American Folk Art
DAVID WHEATCROFT 220 East Main Street, Westborough, Massachusetts 01581 (508) 366-1723
EXHIBITING
Chester County Historical Society Antiques Show March 9-11, 2001 OVC Studio West Chester. PA Brandywine River Museum Antiques Show May 26-28. 2001 Preview: May 25, 2001 6-9 pm Brandywine River Museum Chadds Ford, PA
Pair of Bulls' Head Carvings Life size folk carvings of bulls with real horns. Made of poplar wood with laminated construction. Extraordinarily fine carved detail, glass eyes and old weathered paint surface. Carved by Noah Weiss(1842-1907) Northampton County, Pennsylvania. Circa 1870. Dimensions: (left) Height 42, Depth 36", Width 39"; (right) Height 40", Depth 36", Width 37". Reference: "Noah Weiss: Pennsylvania Folk Whittler," published in The Clarion Magazine, pp. 53-59(Ames & Fiske). Just for Nice: Carving and Whittling Magic of Southeastern Pennsylvania by Richard & Rosemary Machmer, pp. 38-39 & pp. 64-65 (The Historical Society of Berks County).
ocdThurston Nichols american
antiques
522 Twin Ponds Road, Breinigsville, PA 18031 phone: 610.395.5154 fax: 610.395.3679 www.antiques101.com email: thurston@fast.net
h Fasanella's America April 1-December 31, 2001 See more than 40 paintings by Ralph Fasanella in this first major retrospective of his work. A fully-illustrated book accompanies the exhibition. Curated by Paul D'Ambrosio
Fenimore Art Museum New York State Historical Association
May Day, 1948, by Ralph Fasanella
P.O. Box 800, Cooperstown, NY 13326 1 - 888 - 54 7 - 1 450 www.fenimoreartmuseum.org
Ralph Fasanella's America is supported in part by generous grants from The Judith Rothschild Foundation and the New York State Council on the Arts
10 SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
DIRECTOR'S
LETTER
GERARD C. WERTIUN
job-readiness training and cultural events in the Detroit metropolitan everal years ago, the Museum of American Folk Art the area. Richie has also been a member of the Board of Directors of the been has adopted an inclusive global mission. The result Urban League; Secretary/Treasurer of the League of Women Detroit the on drawing exhibitions Museum several of presentation Voters of the United States; and a member of the Birmingham, Michifolk art traditions of other countries and regions of the gan, Board of Zoning Appeals. Before moving to Michigan, she was world and the recent reception into the Museum's collecpresident of the League of Women Voters in Plainfield, New Jersey, be To art. of tion of some wonderful non-American works and served as a trustee of The Studio Museum in Harlem. With her sure, an emphasis on America will continue to drive the husband, Leroy Richie, she is an avid collector of African and African Museum's programming. This is a precious part of the Museum's herAmerican art. itage, and it deserves to be nurtured. However, it is clear that America In my last letter to you, I announced the establishment of the Julie itself cannot be fully understood or appreciated except in the context of Sandy Palley Fund for Staff Advancement, a fund established in and country. our outside the world This dual mission—a global perspective with an American emphasis—is demonstrated by the Museum's most recent exhibitions."An Engagement with Folk Art: Cyril I. Nelson's Gifts to the Museum", presented from September 12, 2000, through _JY 1— January 7,2001, drew deeply and eloquently from the wellsprings of New England culture. In contrast,"ABCD: A Collection of Art Brut," now on view at the Museum's Eva and Morris Feld Gallery at Lincoln Square, is devoted to the works of an outstanding group of European and American self-taught artists, with the objects selected according to the criteria established by artist-collector Jean Dubuffet when he coined the term art brut in the 1940s. I am writing this column during the installation of the exhibition. In New York, there is already a "buzz" about the show,thanks in part to a New York Times review by Roberta Smith."With more than 100 works by 38 UTILE LONG NOSE memory of two great friends of the Museum and designed to assist the artists," Smith observed,"the show gives Friedrich SchroderMuseum in providing continuing professional education for its staff. ample evidence of the spellbinding formal and Sonnenstern 11892-1982) Germany The following generous donors have thoughtfully remembered the Palemotional force of Dubuffet's original pann.d. leys through contributions to this fund: Barbara and Tracy Cate, David theon." The exhibition, organized by Brooke Colored pencil on board Davies, Jacqueline Fowler, Lisa and Jeffrey Grand, Mr. and Mrs. " 4 / 271 /,, 183 coas Borum, Jenifer and Anderson Davis Museum of American Folk Art, William Hayes, Mary Kay Hitchner, Joan M.Johnson, Isobel and Harcurators, will be at the Museum until midpromised gift of Sam and Kahn, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur G. Kaplan, Carol Kardon,Sean Karvey July; it will then travel to the John Michael Betsey Farber, P10.2000.5 Sandra Moers, Laura Parsons, J. Randall Plummer, Barbara and don, Wisconsin, Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Frank Pollack, Riccardo Salmona, Robert D. Schwarz, Hugo Vogt, and the High Museum of Art, Folk Art and PhoGerard C. Werticin. tography Galleries in Atlanta, and the MenThe current year promises to be the most exciting in the Museum's nello Museum of American Folk Art in Orlando, Florida. ABCD (Art with the projected opening of its new building in December. In history, by created foundation Paris-based a is Brut Connaissance & Diffusion) this fortieth-anniversary year, the Museum will see the fruition of the Bruno Decharme and Barbara Safarova. I offer my thanks to ABCD dreams of many who have stood by the institution through the years for lending works from its collection for this splendid presentation. and helped it reach this day. There will be a series of celebratory sponsors, Deep appreciation is also due to the exhibition's generous to mark this great moment in the our history. The staff and events Farber. Sam and Betsey trustees of the Museum are currently planning for the grand opening of A regular feature of this column has been its reports on the growth the building. The inaugural exhibitions are in development, as are of the Museum's Board of Trustees. I am delighted to welcome Julia numerous publications. A richly gifted and talented team is sparing no Richie's Among Board. T. Richie of Birmingham, Michigan, to the effort to surprise, delight, and enlighten visitors to the new building. I numerous other community services, in 1990 she founded the YES couldn't be more pleased or more proud.* Foundation, whose mission is to expose Detroit inner-city youth to
S
SPRING 2001 FOLK ART 11
C -MENT 1
I
\I Gilley's Gallery takes pleasure in announcing the publication of:
PAINTING BY HEART The Life and Art of Clementine Hunter, Louisiana Folk Artist by Shelby R. Gilley
You may order directly from us via phone, mail or email.
PAINTING BY HEART The Life and Art of Clementine Hunter, Louisiana Folk Artist by Shelby R. Gilley
$50 • Hardcover • 180 Pages • 120 Color Plates • 25 Black & White Vintage Photographs
CUM A
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CALLIPI F
RAMING
8750 Florida Boulevard, Baton Rouge, LA 70815 225.922.9225 • www.eatel.net/—outsider
EARLY TEXAS ARTISTS VELOX WARD (American, 1901-1994) CLARA McDONALD WILLIAMSON (American, 1875-1976) FANNIE LOU SPELCE (American, 1908-1998)
Review our inventory online
www.valleyhouse.com
a
VALLEY HOUSE GALLERY INC. 6616 Spring Valley Road Dallas,Texas 75240
12 SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
&
Sculpture Garden
VELOX WARD Shredding, Shucks, 1972 oil on panel 24 x 30 inches phone: 972/239-2441
ARROW Southern Cheyenne Elk Lodge Member
CAVIN-MORRIS GALLERY 560 Broadway, Suite 405B New York, NY 10012 Tel:(212) 226-3768 Fx:(212) 226-0155 e: Mysteries@aol.com www.Cayiru-norris.com
American Folk Art Sidney Gecker
226 West 21st Street• New York, N.Y. 10011 •(212)929-8769•Appointment Suggested Subject to prior oak.
SCOOTER ORSBURN (American, born c.I937)
Review our inventory online
www.valleyhouse.com
I'll Feed Them Now,They'll Feed Me Later, 2000
VALLEY HOUSE GALLERY INC. f$ 6616 Spring Valley Road. Dallas,Texas 75240
14 SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
&
Sculpture Garden
on panel 18 x 24 inches phone: 972/239-2441
HILL GALLERY
Rare "Astrology" Wall Box Circa 1925(Midwest Origin) 19"H x 15"W x 5"D T 248.540-9288 48009 407 W.Brown Street Birmingham Michigan
Reme-mkance and Ritual Jewish F01k Artists of Our Time curated by Andrew Edlin at Makor Gallery March 22 — May 31,2001 Featuring: Aaron Birnbaum Paul Edlin Albert Hoffman Malcak Zeldis and others
MAKOR NEW YORK'S NEWEST CENTER FOR CULTURE
35W 67 ST NYC 10023 212.601.1000 Aaron Birnbaum, Self-Portrait, 1996, acrylic, wood, on found frame, 20" x 20" a 2.5" courtesy of K.S. Art NYC
VIEW EXHIBIT ONLINE AT WVVVV.MAKOR.ORG THE PARTNERSHIP FOR JEWISH LIFE
TERI FITZPATRICK (British/American, born 1948)
Review our inventory online
www.valleyhouse.com
VALLEY HOUSE GALLERY INC. 6616 Spring Valley Road Dallas,Texas' 75240
16 SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
& Sculpture Garden
Block Party, 2000 watercolor 20 x 28 inches phone: 972/239-2441
Burge #761543
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A silk on silk needlework New York, date 1786 Sold Christie's East, June 14, 2000, for $30,560
Folk Art Christie's is presently accepting property for its next sale of Important American Folk Art to be held at Christie's East, June 2001.
Inquiries 212 606 0561 Catalogues 800 395 6300
Christie's East 219 East 67th Street New York, New York 10021 www.christies.com
FIFTH DI-ANNUAL
CONTEMPORARY FOLK EXPRESSIONS An Exhibition of Self-Taught and Outsider Art Tampa, Florida March 23 - April 21, 2001
Show Location:
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CLAYTON GALLERIES 4105 S. McDill Ave. Tampa, Fl. 33611*(813)831-3753
Curated 13y: Main Street gallery "King of 50th Street"
Wood & Found Objecte., 3.5h
Kenneth Dickerson
51 N. Main Street (P.O. 5ox 641), Clayton, Ga. 30525 706-782-2440 www.mainstreetgallery.net
VA LTON TYLER (American, born 1944)
Review our inventory online
wvvw.valleyhouse.com
Come Lit Down with Me in the Grass, 1990 oil on canvas 40 x 48 inches
;
&VALLEY HOUSE GALLERY INC. 6616 Spring Valley Road Dallas,Texas 75240
1.8 SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
& Sculpture
Garden
phone: 972/239-2441
4.00.4.1aatnairmaggalffINOM*.....
Marcia Weber / Art Objects
Ab the Flagman "New York Liberty"
www.marciaweberartobjects.corn Marcia Weber / Art Objects, Inc.• 1050 Woodley Road • Montgomery, Alabama 36106 weberart@mindspring.com • 334 262 5349 • Fax: 334 567 0060 By appointment
•
sin g espite the cold and snow, construction of the Museum's new building continues on schedule. Now that the sides of the structure have been closed up, the dramatic nature and spatial relationships of the building's interior begin to reveal themselves. The contractors are now concentrating on the various interior finishes: A terrazzo ground finish is being applied to the concrete floors. Bush hammering and sugar blasting on wall surfaces and ceilings will bring out the consistent rich texture inherent to the concrete. Sheet rock is going up in office areas and on the educational levels, and much of the building's electrical and mechanical systems have already been installed. The curtainwall containing the structure for the north and south facades, which will hold the panels of glass and tombasil(a white bronze alloy), is now in place. And a scrim displaying many of our favorite icons and announcing the Museum's opening in December proudly hangs on the west-facing scaffolding for all passersby to see. —Riccardo Salmona, Deputy Director
D
P.S. To the credit of architects Tod Williams and Bille Tsien—and to our delight—four facade studies and a collage perspective of our new building were recently accessioned by the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum as a part of its architectural drawing collection.
MINIATURES
It's more than just another credit card it's a contribution. MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLKART
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Now you can help raise money for the Museum of American Folk Art simply by making a purchase with your No-Annual-Fee Museum of American Folk Art Gold MasterCard! Every time you make a purchase with your No-AnnualFee Museum of American Folk Art Gold MasterCard, MBNA America'Bank, the card's issuer, makes a contribution to support the Museum of American Folk Art. Your No-Annual-Fee Museum of American Folk Art card also benefits you in a big way with credit lines up to $50,000 and up to $500,000 Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance on charged fares?' The Museum of American Folk Art card features.. • No Annual Fee! • Additional cards at no cost for family members or associates. • Worldwide acceptance at millions oflocations. • A bank that is always available, 24 hours a day,365 days a year. Best of all, it's backed by a 24-hour commitment to Customer Satisfaction that has made MBNA one of the leading issuers of bank credit cards. Request your NO-ANNUAL-FEE Museum of American Folk Art Gold MasterCard today!
Call 1-800-847-7378 TTY users, call: 1-800-833-6262 Please mention priority code FDNI when you call. There are costs associated with the use of this card. You may contact the issuer and administrator of this program, MBNA America* Bank, to request specific information about the costs by calling 1-800-847-7378 or writing to P.O. Box 15020, Wilmington, DE 19850. 'Certain restrictions apply to this benefit and others described in the benefits brochures sent soon alter your account is opened. MBNA and MBNA America are federally registered service marks of MBNA America Bank, N.A. MasterCard is a federally registered service mark of MasterCard International Inc., used pursuant to license. © 1997 MBNA America Bank, N.A. ADG-H-5 ADG-8-4-97 ADG-QAAB-8/97
22 SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
COMPILED BY ALISSA L. BOULER
Shaker Furniture "Simple Forms for Modern Life: Shaker Furniture from the Mary Grace Carpenter Collection" will be on view at Hartford's Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art (860/278-2670)through May 6. The Carpenters, who were also interested in contemporary American paintings, began to collect Shaker furniture in the 1950s, visiting several active Shaker communities in the course of their efforts. A sewing desk made by Elder Henry Green in about 1875 will be on display with six rocking chairs, a rocking butter churn, a cupboard, and a washstand and toilet, all constructed from maple, pine, cherry, or butternut between 1875 and 1900. The Carpenters integrated these elements into
their home, and their unique aesthetic sensibility will be recreated for the exhibition.
SEWING DESK Elder Henry Green Alfred, Maine, Shaker Community C. 1875-1900 Maple, pine, butternut, and cherry 401 / 2 31.3/. 251 / 4" Wadsworth Atheneum, bequest of Mary Grace Carpenter
Redwork in San Jose The San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles(415/333-5110)in San Jose, Calif., presents "Redwork: History Revisited," featuring 20 to 25 quilts in an exploration of this simple outline embroidery in red thread on white linen,from March 30 to May 20. The process arose after a type of red dye, manufactured in Turkey, was found to be more
colorfast and durable than the natural dyes available in 19thcentury America. European immigrants brought the "Turkey Red" thread with them in the mid-1800s, and it immediately became popular. Redwork died out in the early 20th century, after affordable, synthetic dyes became widely available.
Bedcoverings on View in Chicago "An International Collection of Appliquéd, Embroidered, and Pieced Bedcoverings," is on display at the Art Institute of Chicago's Elizabeth F. Cheney and Agnes Allerton Textile Galleries(312/443-3626)from Feb. 28 to May 28. A counterpart to the Institute's recent"The Woven
Coverlet: An Expression of Treasured America," this new exhibition offers a rare opportunity to see European bedcoverings in conjunction with American designs and illustrates the beauty and functionality of these pieces as well as displaying valances and other textiles for the bed.
SEE THE MODERN ART OF ANTIQUE QUILTS AT
LAURA FISHER ANTIQUE QUILTS & AMERICANA Tel: 212-838-2596 • Gallery #84 • Mon-Sat 11AM-6PM New York City's largest, most exciting selection of Antique Quilts, Hooked Rugs, Coverlets, Paisley Shawls, Beacon Blankets, Vintage Accessories and American Folk Art.
"Ralph Fasanella's America" will be on view at the New York State Historical Association's Fenimore Art Museum (607/547-1400)in Cooperstown, N.Y.,from April 1 through Dec. 31. In his vivid paintings of crowds and celebrations, Fasanella drew on the Italian heritage of his parents and on his own experiences of workingclass life in New York City. His packed subway cars, busy street festivals, and colorful baseball
FESTA / Ralph Fasanella / Ossining, N.Y./ 1957 / oil on canvas / 36 40" / collection of Gina Fasanella Mostrando
III 1 lad 1 III 1 I sis
stadiums illustrate the vibrancy of urban life in the 20th century, but the work often had a political message as well, with many of his pieces depicting union struggles or life in the tenements. A full-color catalog will be available. For mail order information, please call the Museum of American Folk Art at 212/595-9533.
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Alice's Adventures In New Mexico "Curiouser and Curiouser: A Walk Through the Looking Glass," an eclectic exhibition featuring folk art from around the world, will open at the Museum of International Folk Art (505/476-5105) in Santa Fe, N. Mex.,on June 4. Curator Tamara Tjardes has assembled a dizzying array of objects to create a journey analogous to Alice's trip through the looking glass. Defying a logical sense of order, the collection inspires viewers to use their senses to explore a new world. The show, which closes Dec. 31, includes works by American, Cambodian, African, and Latin American artists. YORUBA CARVED DOOR Nigeria 20th century Wood 2" / 80 281 Neutrogena Collection
OWN
.11111$111
Amish "CHINESE COINS", 67" x 82",c. 1930.
Ralph Fasanella
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LOCATED AT
MANHATTAN ART & ANTIQUES CENTER 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(55TH ST.) NYC 10022 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
SPRING 2001 FOLK ART 23
MINIA TURES
Blown Glass at the DAR Museum
Traditional African American Quilts
The Daughters of the American Revolution Museum (202/8793238)in Washington, D.C., is hosting a permanent exhibition of rare 18th-century American blown glass. These pieces were gathered over the course of 15 years, many of them from his native Maryland, by glass scholar Lawrence Jessen. Some of the most important and exquisite of these objects
The Mennello Museum of American Folk Art(407/246-4278)in Orlando, Ha., presents "Crossroads Quilters," a collection of
were made in John Amelung's New Bremen Glassmanufactory and are considered among the finest examples of 18th-century American glasswork.
unique quilts made by a group of African American women living in Mississippi who use quilting methods handed down from generation to generation. On view from March 15 through May 27, this exhibition offers a chance to see fine examples of traditional quilting. Corrections The copyright credit for the Henry Darger images was inadvertently omitted from the captions on pages 5 and 35 of the last issue of Folk Art(Winter 2000/2001, vol. 25, no. 4). The 3 copyright on these images is I retained by Kiyoko Lerner.
SCHNAPSHUNDE IA drinking vessel used to consume schnapps) Possibly Wistarburgh Glassworks Salem County, NJ. 1740-1800 Blown, non-lead green glass Lawrence lessen Collection
FREDDIE BRICE works'by: AIKEN BIRNBAUM BRICE BUTLER COINS DOYLE FINSTER GODIE HAMILTON HAWKINS S.L. JONES LERMAN MURRAY PIERCE TRAVERS WARFEL
K.S. Art www.KSArtonline.com
24 SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
Freddie Brice (b. 1920)FISH, 1993, acrylic on canvas,30 X 40 inches
73 LEONARD STREET NY NY 10013 212 219 9918
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JACKIE RADWIN American painted furniture, quilts and folk art WIIIMIIMMOMMINNIMMENIBMINIEM
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Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Two-Piece Corner Cupboard with salmon, mustard and white paint. Blocked cornice and pilasters. c. 1820 91" tall. 38" deep. 5405 Broadway •San Antonio, Texas 78209•(210) 824-7711
ABCD By Jenifer P. Borum
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rt brut is a uniquely fascinating and often misunderstood category of twentiethcentury art. Coined by the French artist Jean Dubuffet during the mid-forties, the term means "raw art"—art that has not been influenced or "cooked" by high cultural aesthetic standards or current art trends. In a polemical essay written in 1949 and intended as an attack against `Tart culturer' (art officially sanctioned by academies, museums, and galleries), Dubuffet clearly and passionately defined this new category: "What we mean is anything produced by people unsmirched by artistic culture, works in which mimicry, contrary to what occurs with intellectuals, has little or no part. So that the makers (in regard to subjects, choice of materials, means of transposition, rhythms, kinds of handwriting, etc.) draw entirely on their own resources rather than on the stereotypes of classical or fashionable art."
UNTITLED Auguste Forestier (1887-1958) Saint Alban, France 1935-1949 Mixed media 10/ 1 4 22'/8" ABCD Collection
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26 SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
UNTITLED Madge Gill (1882-1961) London, England n.d. Ink on cardboard 251 / 4 • 20/ 1 4" ABCD Collection
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LIT DU TRAIN VEINE A COUCHE !Verso of two-sided work) Aloise Corbaz 11886-1964) Gimel-sur-Morges, Switzerland After 1936 Colored pencil on paper 1 2" 26/ 3 4 x 20/ ABCD Collection
Dubuffet sought to shock and challenge the contemporary European art establishment with his own work, which during the 1940s consisted of roughly painted canvases marked by a scratchy, self-consciously childlike mode of figuration and depicting scenes that often lampooned the haute bourgeoisie. Yet he delivered a far more profound and lasting challenge to the hegemony of l'art culturel by collecting and championing the work of artists operating completely outside its purview. His search for "people unsmirched by artistic culture" led him away from the sophisticated artworld of which he was admittedly a part to the unlikeliest of places: the psychiatric hospital, the medium's parlor, the hidden world of the isolate, and the quotidian, workaday world in which artistic talent is often undervalued or ignored. In all these places he discovered art brut, which art historian John MacGregor has effectively characterized as "the spontaneous creative activity of artistically untrained men and women working alone outside of
fet formed the Compagnie de l'Art canons or trends, an art marked by Brut for the purpose of building, expressive authenticity not to be maintaining, and exhibiting the Col- found in l'art culturel. Adolf WOlfli (1864-1939) was lection. The legacy of the Compagnie includes a series of books begun in one of the first artists whose work 1964, a major exhibition of art brut at Dubuffet collected on his 1945 tour the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in of Swiss asylums.4 Won had already Paris in 1967, and the establishment received recognition for his talent in a in 1976 of a permanent museum for study entitled A Mental Patient as the Collection at the Ch창teau de Artist (1921), written by his psychiatrist, Walter Morganthaler of the Beaulieu in Lausanne, Switzerland. The exhibition "ABCD: A Waldau Psychiatric Clinic. Orphaned Collection of Art Brut," featuring 107 at an early age and forced to live in a works by 38 international artists, cel- series of abusive foster homes, WOlfli ebrates the activities of a latter-day worked as a farmhand until he was compagnie dedicated to championing imprisoned in 1890 on charges of Dubuffet's vision. This show features child molestation. In 1895 he was selected works from the sizable col- committed to Waldau, where, several lection built by the group Art Brut years later, he began to draw. From Connaissance & Diffusion, or ABCD, 1908 until his death in 1930, he crewhose current mission is to promote ated a vast autobiographical magnum knowledge and awareness of art brut opus made up of original musical as Dubuffet initially envisioned it. compositions, poetry, and more than Through exhibitions, publications, 3,000 illustrations; these works comand documentary films, this group, prised a total of 25,000 pages, led by the French filmmaker Bruno painstakingly hand-bound in 45 volDecharme,is working to introduce art umes. Wolfles tremendous oeuvre brut to a global audience. At a time brilliantly mixes autobiographical when any and all nonmainstream art fact with fantasy, starting with the
The most common and understandable misconception of art brut is that it designates an art of the insane. any artistic movement or cultural influence, motivated by an intense inner need to make images and free of any concern with art."2 Dubuffet was certainly not the only one with an appetite for "uncooked" modes of expression. His interest in art created by the insane had been sparked as early as 1923 by the seminal book Artistry of the Mentally Ill (1922), by the psychiatrist Hans Prinzhom, who dared to defend the inherent aesthetic value of art produced by psychiatric patients. Dubuffet's fascination with the art of psychotics and mediums was also presaged by the advocacy (and appropriation) of such art forms by the Parisian circle of Surrealists led by Andre Breton. Initially intending to publish a series of studies on art brut, Dubuffet made a pilgrimage to a number of Swiss asylums in 1945. During this time, he began to collect the work of psychotic artists such as Adolf Wifilfli and Aldise Corbaz, and the Collection de l'Art Brut was born. With Breton and a number of other sympathetic artists and poets, Dubuf-
forms are uncritically being classified as "outsider" (the original English translation for art brut), this show takes a significant step toward accurately mapping the aesthetic territory of art brut according to the spirit of its original inception. The most common and understandable misconception of art brut is that it designates an art of the insane. Although the majority of artistes brut have indeed been diagnosed as psychotic, art brut is not a category of psychopathological art. Concerning the insane artists in his collection, Dubuffet wrote: "We see no reason whatsoever for putting them in a special department, as some people do . . . . It is our viewpoint that the function of art is the same in all cases and that there is no such thing as art by the insane any more than there is such a thing as art by dyspeptics or by people with bad knees."' He was drawn to the art of psychotics not because he was interested in identifying pathological expression per se, but because he sought a holy grail of art unmediated by high cultural
imaginary adventures of the child Doufi and ending on a sonorous note with an unfinished funeral march of 3,000 songs. Although the drawing Christoph Columbus (1930) is typical of earlier, less ornate work, it offers the key features of his aesthetic: a symmetrical composition centered by a mandala and flanked by mythical animals along the borders. The artist often depicted historical figures like Columbus, and here he included a cameo of himself at both top and bottom borders. The massive scale of Won's legacy, the unique quality of his style, and the vast scope of his imagination are all typical qualities of art brut. Another Swiss native to be recognized early on by Dubuffet was Aloise Corbaz (1886-1964), who worked as a governess for the chaplain of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany before World War IL Forced to return home to Switzerland at the onset of the war, she was institutionalized in 1918 and began producing artwork as early as 1920. We know very little of
SPRING 2001 FOLK ART 29
ABCD A Collection of Art 3rut
On view at the Museum of American Folk Art January through July 2001 he ConMackintosh, Martin temporary Ramirez) as well as Center artists who are relaof the tively unknown to Museum American audiences of American Folk Art (Jaime Fernandes, is proud to present Auguste Forestier, "ABCD: A Collection Edmund Monsiel). of Art Brut." This The show is at once extraordinary exhibiexciting, mesmeriztion was organized for ing, disturbing, and the Museum of Amerglorious. It is accomican Folk Art from the panied by a full-color ABCD Collection by catalog in French Brooke Davis Ander(with an English son, curator and direc- translation insert). To tor of the Museum's order the catalog by Contemporary Center, mail, send $74 and Jenifer P. Borum, ($66.60 for members), art historian and plus $10 for shipping writer. ABCD (Art and handling, to the Brut Connaissance & Museum of American Diffusion) is a ParisFolk Art,2 Lincoln based not-for-profit Square, New York, organization whose NY 10023. Free pubexceptional collection lic programming focuses on the work of includes a Thursday artists who fit the crievening lecture series, teria of French artist Thursday lunchtime Jean Dubuffet's defin- curatorial talks, and ition of art brut(or Sunday family proraw art). grams. See "Spring Anderson and Programs" on page 70 Borum selected 107 for details. paintings, drawings, "ABCD: A and sculptures for a Collection of Art stunning exhibition Brut" will travel to the that opened at the John Michael Kohler Museum's Eva and Arts Center in SheMorris Feld Gallery boygan, Wis.(Nov. on Saturday, Jan. 20. 11,2001—Feb 3, The exhibit includes 2002); the High numerous strange and Museum of Art Folk beautiful works by Art and Photography well-known artists Galleries in Atlanta from Europe (Alofse (April 27—Aug. 3, Corbaz, Friedrich 2002); and the MenSchroder-Sonnennello Museum of stern, Adolf Wolfli) American Folk Art in and America(Henry Orlando, Fla.(Nov. 8, Darger, Dwight 2002—Jan. 26,2003).
T
30 SPRING 200) FOLK ART
very little of her work before 1936, at which time the psychiatrists of La Rosiere asylum began to collect her drawings and paintings. Utterly inventive in both form and content, her colorful drawings are augmented by such nontraditional collage elements as packaging paper, toothpaste, the juice from flower petals, and yarn. With these decidedly humble materials she created a world replete with kings, queens, dukes, and duchesses surrounded by courtly opulence. Her favorite motif is that of courtly love, expressed in romantic (and often erotic) scenes such as depicted in Lit du Train Veine a Couche(after 1936), which was inspired by her own unrequited love for the kaiser. As with Won,Corbaz's autodidactic ingenuity and penchant for unbounded fantasy qualify her as an artiste brut. Standing in marked contrast to the richly detailed work of Wolfli and Corbaz are the overworked drawings of Jaime Fernandes, which represent a linear approach to image making shared by many creators of art brat. A farmer by trade, Fernandes was hospitalized at age 37 for schizophrenia and began drawing when he was 60. Although most of his work was posthumously destroyed along with his medical records, a number of his drawings depicting humans, animals, and curious hybrids of the two have survived. One untitled drawing in particular evidences Fernandes' signature claustrophobic, weblike composition. In it, a figure of a man in semi-profile appears within a tight matrix of lines that paradoxically trap and form it. No distance exists between the subject and the surrounding space. This complete breakdown of boundaries between self and world is a recurring theme in the spectrum of art brut. Another recurring theme is candid sexuality. Friedrich Schroder-Sonnenstern (1892-1982), who was institutionalized throughout his youth for juvenile delinquency, and hospitalized repeatedly for mental illness as an adult, was a self-proclaimed clairvoyant; he began drawing erotically charged images at the age of 57. His fantastical figures, often distorted by sexually suggestive anatomical inventions, are marked by a strange formal lyricism. Dualizissimus der Lebensspazierritt (c. 1948), for instance, combines humor with the grotesque in its depiction of a leering figure riding a jackass with a quasihuman head topped by a jester's cap. Schr6derSonnenstern's work was known and admired by the Surrealists in Paris, who included examples in their 1959 exhibition,"EROS."
UNTITLED Jaime Fernandes (1899-1968) Lisbon, Portugal 1960-1968 Ballpoint pen on paper 123 / 4 x 7/ 1 2" ABCD Collection
DUALIZISSIMUS DER LEBENSSPAZIERRITT Friedrich SchroderSonnenstern (1892-1982) Lithuania c. 1948 Colored pencil on paper 2 12%" / 91 ABCD Collection
The show's featured sculptor is Auguste Forestier (1887-1958), a Frenchman hospitalized in SaintAlban in Paris at age 27. Although he occasionally sketched portraits as a younger man, he did not begin to construct the whimsical mixed-media assemblages for which he has become known until he was much older. Forestier began by building little wooden toys for the children of his hospital's staff, then progressed to more complex inventions—boats, soldiers, and strange monsters— meant as gifts for adults. Using a shoemaker's knife to carve his fig-
considers art discovered in asylums confirms Dubuffet's passionate rejection of a unified category of psychopathological art. What he valued in the work of psychotic artists was not their illness, but their apparent freedom from the dictates of the culture from which he himself felt utterly alienated. It is important to note that although this otherwise isolated population was neither influenced nor indoctrinated by academic canons of Western art, in many cases the influence of vernacular or folk culture is apparent in the work. One significant example of vernacular
culture—that is, the academic tradition of aesthetics spanning the ages from classical antiquity through high modernism, not the plurality of grassroots cultures— that formed the anticultural backbone of his criteria for art brut. The work of artists associated with the phenomenon of Spiritualism, a proletarian response to organized religion that formed during the late nineteenth century in the industrialized centers of Europe, constitutes another subcategory of art brut. Guided by an eclectic theological system that synthesizes the tenets of different world religions, Spiritualists believe in and practice communication with the spirit world through mediums, individuals believed to possess special powers of clairvoyance. In addition to conducting such activities as Ouija board and tarot card readings and seances, mediums also practice "automatic writing" and "automatic drawing," events during which they channel spirit guides, either writing or drawing communiqués from the spirit world during a self-induced trance. Art critic and historian Roger Cardinal, an authority on art brut° and mediumistic art, has identified two distinct visual styles that recur in examples of two-dimensional automatic expression: "an austere geometric structure and a fertile swirl of
The work of artists associated with the phenomenon of Spiritualism constitutes another subcategory of art brut. ures in wood, Forestier added found objects and materials such as feathers and animals' teeth, to adorn and bring them to life. This artist's do-ityourself approach to materials and form, and his singular devotion to a compellingly private iconography, are the two central attributes that Dubuffet so admired in art brut. The wide variety of artistic expression to be found when one
forms appearing as inspiration for a singularly inspired vision can be found in the stunning drawings of the Mexican-born artist Martin Ramirez. Hospitalized in a California asylum for most of his adult life, Ramirez drew upon Mexican indigenous and colonial imagery to beautifully map out a record of his own very difficult, spiritually rich life.5 It was Dubuffet's adamant rejection of Western
One would liberated arabesques be hard-pressed to find a better description of the pen-and-ink drawings of Madge Gill (1882-1961). Like most artistes brut, Gill led a difficult life. Orphaned at age nine, she was forced to work as a farm servant; she later gave birth to a stillborn child, and in a subsequent illness, suffered the loss of an eye. She claimed to be led by her spirit guide, Myrninnerest, who
SPRING 2001 FOLK ART 31
compelled Gill to draw when she was 37 years old. For the rest of her life, she produced a vast number of drawings ranging from the small to the monumental, executed on paper and rolls of calico. Gill's drawings all feature a repeated female visage surrounded by swirling robes and enmeshed with interlocking patterns that create an otherworldly sense of space. Here one finds the two contrasting styles recognized by Cardinal, which, he has noted, often appear simultaneously in "a lively combination of both symmetry and chaos, the cool and the impassioned, the fixed and the fluid. We may even suppose that they reflect what we know of the mediumistic posture as being both paralyzing and rapturous."8 Gill's work, along with the work of other mediums, has been included in the category of art brut not for its depiction of Spiritualist themes but rather because its intensely insular creative process and the resulting expression are radically impervious to highcultural influence of any kind. As is true of the spectrum of work created by the mentally ill, one finds a wide range of mediumistic expression, although Cardinal's stylistic dialectic remains a useful navigational tool in this territory. The majority of paintings by both FleuryJoseph Crepin and Augustin Lesage are rigidly symmetrical and feature wonderfully cryptic Spiritualist iconography. By contrast, the works of Jean Tripier and Anna Zemankova are primarily abstract. Tripier's most impressive works are colorful, spidery, embroidered abstractions, and Zemankova's legacy is a trove of gemlike, often embroidered drawings on paper that suggest otherworldly plantlife. Rounding out this category are the fluid, painterly compositions of the African American religious visionary artist J.B. Murry, whose paintings are the visual equivalent of the southern American evangelical tradition of "speaking in tongues" or channeling the Holy Spirit. Murry's presence in this exhibition is an important reminder that untrained artists often share a common creative process despite superficial cultural differences or circumstances. A third population of artistes brut is made up of individuals who,
32 SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
for different reasons, withdrew from society at large, and produced artwork in varying degrees of isolation. This grouping of artists draws attention to one of the central aspects of art brutâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the phenomenon of artistic creation pursued without an intended audience. Roger Cardinal has asked: "But is communication always a sine qua non? Dubuffet seems inclined to
has nothing to transmit to us his fellowmen. He ignores us."1° The complete opposite of the artiste culture!, who creates work for an art-educated public, the isolate artist represents creation brut par excellence. Edmund Monsiel(1897-1962), for instance, created a sizable graphic oeuvre in utter isolation. After the German army seized his store in UNTITLED Edmund Monsiel 11897-19621 INozuczyn, Poland n.d. Graphite on paper 9/ 1 2 S'/." ABCD Collection
accept the total validity of the 'imaginary public', which the self-absorbed artist invents for himself. Indeed, Dubuffet comes close to saying that the artist is all the more admirable if he hides his work from others ... ."9 Along these same lines, Bruno Decharme has proposed that creativity for its own sake is what identifies the artiste brut: "He creates, that is all. For him, the act of creation is sufficient in itself. The art brut creator
1942, this Polish shopkeeper went into self-imposed hiding in his brother's attic, where he remained for the next twenty years, until he died of influenza. His legacy consists of 500 intricately realized pencil drawings marked by repeated portraits often featuring the same face, though he also drew a variety of physiognomic types culled from popular and religious sources. He covered every inch of space with an endless proliferation
of faces ranging from large to extremely minute. These fascinating works display a formal characteristic that is common in art brut: horror vacui, or fear of empty space. The isolate Henry Darger (1892-1973) is the best-known American artist to be included in the
saga illustrated with 87 exquisitely collaged watercolors and 67 smaller pencil drawings. Darger is best known for the watercolor collages that illustrate his mythical narrative, The Story of the Vivian Girls in what is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-
offers both critical clarity and historical perspective by celebrating the original conception of art brut. This outstanding presentation of works by artists both familiar and unfamiliar to American audiences reflects the Museum's Contemporary Center's new global mission of interfacing with international orga-
True art crops up wherever you don't expect it. Wherever no one has been thinking about it or uttering its name.
CHRISTOPH COLUMBUS Adolf WORD (1864-1930) Bern, Switzerland 1930 Graphite and colored pencil on paper 2" 1 12% 8/ ABCD Collection
category of art brut. Although not a complete recluse—he worked as a custodian at a Catholic hospital and attended Mass daily—Darger created a vast body of writing and painting that was discovered by his landlord, the photographer Nathan Lerner in 1973, only after the ailing artist had moved to a Catholic home for the elderly. Darger's oeuvre includes a 5,000-page autobiography and a twelve-volume, 15,000-page epic
Angelinnean War Storm, Caused by the Child-Slave Rebellion, an art brut masterpiece that is unrivaled in its scope and singularity of vision. Dubuffet did not limit his search for representative work to the socially marginal realms of the asylum, the séance table, or the locked attic. He found inspired, nonacademically trained artists in all walks of fife—greengrocers, shop clerks, housekeepers—and these artists' seemingly ordinary lives supported an often guarded flowering of artistic talent and expression. Scottie Wilson was one such autodidact. A native of Scotland who emigrated to Canada after World War I, Wilson owned and operated a modest secondhand shop where he spent thirty-seven years "doodling" on paper in the back room with the gold-nibbed pens he sold there. The result was an impressive body of drawings that offers an imaginary bestiary filled with monsters he called "evils" and "greedies." Wilson's work and the work of other artists working without formal training or the support and encouragement of an artworld confirms Dubuffet's credo for art brut: "True art crops up wherever you don't expect it. Wherever no one has been thinking about it or uttering its name.... As for the real Mister Art ... nobody recognizes him. He walks about everywhere; we've all run into him, we jostle him twenty times a day at every street corner. But it never occurs to anybody that this could be Mister Art himself."" At a time marked by an often confusing proliferation of nonmainstream categories and terminology, "ABCD: A Collection of Art Brut"
nizations and institutions, and takes a long-overdue step toward examining the relationship between the European and American components of this field. Most importantly, it invites fruitful debate concerning what will arguably prove to be the most significant cultural terrain of the twenty-first century.* Jenifer P. Borum is a Ph.D. candidate in art history at the City University ofNew York's Graduate Center. She is a lecturer at the Museum ofAmerican Folk Art's Folk Art Institute and has writtenfor Artforum,The New Art Examiner, Raw Vision, and this publication. NOTES 1 Jean Dubuffet,"Art Brut Preferred to the Cultural Arts," exhibition catalog (Paris: Rene Drouin Gallery, 1949), translated in Mildred Glimcher, Jean Dubuffet: Toward an Alternative Reality (New York: Pace Publications, Inc. in association with Abbeville Press Publishers, 1987) 101-104. 2 John MacGregor, The Discovery ofthe Art ofthe Insane(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1989), 301. 3 Dubuffet, op. cit., 104. 4 For artists' biographical information I have relied on three central texts: John MacGregor, The Discovery ofthe Art of the Insane; Carol Eliel and Maurice Tuchman,Parallel Visions: Modern Artists and Contemporary Art(Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1992); and ABCD:A Collection ofArt Brut (Arles, France: Actes Sud,2000),translated by Jennifer Pinto-Safim. 5 Randall Morris,"Martin Ramirez," Folk Art vol. 20, no.4(Winter 1995/96), 39. 6 In his book Outsider Art(London: Praeger, 1972), Cardinal translated Dubuffet's term as "Outsider Art." 7 Roger Cardinal,'The Art of Entrancement," Raw Vision #2,(Winter 1989/90),31. 8 Ibid. 9 Cardinal, Outsider Art, 32. 10 Dechanne, et al., in ABCD:A Collection ofArt Brut, 299. 11 Dubuffet,op. cit., 10
SPRING 2001 FOLK ART 33
By Susan P. Schoelwer
SIGN FOR ARAH PHELPS' INN, NORTH COLEBROOK, CONNECTICUT lone side) Hartford c.1826 Paint on pine board and moldings, iron hardware 1 4" 303 / 4 44/ The Connecticut Historical Society, gift of Nancy Phelps (Mrs. John A.) Blum, Jonathan Phelps Blum, and Timothy Alexander Blum This is the only known eagle by Rice that does not follow the model of the Great Seal of the United States.
34 SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
A.PHELPS' ININ At the Sign of the Lion SIGN FOR ARAH PHELPS' INN, NORTH COLEBROOK, CONNECTICUT (other side) Hartford c. 1826 Paint on pine board and moldings, iron hardware 4" 1 4 44/ / 303 The Connecticut Historical Society, gift of Nancy Phelps (Mrs. John A.) Blum, Jonathan Phelps Blum, and Timothy Alexander Blum The Phelps sign descended in the family of the original owner until its recent donation to The Connecticut Historical Society.
Long before there were neon lights or golden arches, travelers on America's roads found their journeys marked by the bold and colorful images on tavern and inn signs.' In Connecticut alone, at least 10,000 licensed establishments offered food and lodging to the public between 1750 and 1850. Each and every one of these establishments was required by law to erect an identifying sign. Similar laws existed in other areas. By even the most conservative reckoning, the number of tavern, inn, and hotel signs produced by American painters between 1750 and 1850 cannot have been fewer than 50,000, and may have numbered many more. The remarkable collection of early American tavern, inn, and hotel signs preserved at The Connecticut Historical Societyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;currently sixty-six examplesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;is by far the largest assemblage of this once common art form.
SPRING 2001 FOLK ART 35
SIGN FOR DANIEL LOOMIS' INN, COVENTRY, CONNECTICUT Hartford C. 1820 Paint on pine board and moldings, smalt, gold leaf, iron hardware 43/ 1 2 57N" The Connecticut Historical Society, Collection of Morgan B. Brainard, gift of Mrs. Morgan B. Brainard
When new, this large, gilded eagle must have been dazzling. Exposure to the weather has worn away the edges of individual squares of gold leaf, creating the dappled pattern on the wings. The other side displays a similar eagle holding the arms of the state of Connecticut.
According to late-eighteenth- and early nineteenthcentury newspaper advertisements, the men who painted signs (no female sign painters have yet been identified) typically produced a wide range of other ornamental painted goods, including carriages, stages, wagons and other vehicles, fire buckets, window shutters, flags and banners, drums, knapsacks, uniform caps, grained and marbled furniture, woodwork, floors, and even houses. Unfortunately, few ornamental painters signed their work, so it is rarely possible to match surviving tavern signs with the many names of painters recorded in documentary sources. A conspicuous exception to this anonymity is William Rice (1777-1847), who worked in Hartford, Connecticut, for three decades beginning in the mid-1810s. Seventeen signs bearing Rice's signature are currently known, and an additional three can be attributed to him based on close resemblances to the signed examples. Because tavern signs typically hung at right angles to buildings or roadways, each sign displays two painted surfaces, bringing the total number of Rice compositions to forty. These examples, combined with Rice's advertisements, provide an unparalleled body of evidence for exploring the art and enterprise of sign painting in early nineteenth-century America.' Rice had established himself as a sign and ornamental painter in his native Worcester, Massachusetts, beginning about 1800. Nothing is presently known of his artistic training, however, there is evidence linking him to two better-known early American artists, Winthrop
31 SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
Chandler (1747-1790) and Ralph Earl (1751-1801). Chandler was a house and ornamental painter as well as a portraitist; according to the eminent folk art scholar Nina Fletcher Little, he ranks as one of the most important provincial American artists of the Revolutionary era. Chandler had strong family connections in Worcester and produced work there at various times, including the last five years of his life, 1785 to l790. Ralph Earl, prolific portraitist of the early republic, was born and raised near Worcester, and probably received his early training there. When he left Worcester in 1773 to establish himself in New Haven, Connecticut, Earl described himself as having already had experience in painting portraits, landscapes, and coats of arms. Intriguingly, Earl was related to Rice by both blood and marriage. The two men shared a common ancestor in Ralph Earl (d. 1757), who was the great-grandfather of Ralph Earl, the painter, and William Rice's mother, Prudence Gates Rice. Furthermore, Prudence's sister, Sarah Gates, was Ralph Earl's first wife, making the painter's oldest two children first cousins to William Rice. Although Earl abandoned Sarah and their children when he departed for England in 1777, he returned to Worcester at the end of his life and painted his final works there in
SIGN FOR DANIEL LOOMIS' INN, COVENTRY, CONNECTICUT: detail of upper corner, showing Rice's characteristic coped molding and original iron hardware, which runs down the full side of the molding and around the corner onto the bottom molding.
1800 and 1801,just as Rice was establishing himself as an ornamental painter.' No direct contacts between Chandler, Earl, and Rice have been documented, but it is difficult to believe that the three could have crossed paths so closely without being aware of each other's work. Indeed, one of Chandler's early Worcester commissions, a carved and painted coat of arms, contains a figure of a lion strikingly similar to those that would later appear on Rice's tavern signs.5
SIGN FOR WARNER'S HOTEL (location undetermined) Hartford 1836 Paint on pine board and moldings, smalt, iron oxide, gold leaf, iron hardware 2" 1 36 60/ The Connecticut Historical Society
This sign appeared at the Feldman sale at Sotheby's in October 1998. Rice's signature is on the back side, which displays the same text without the sunburst cartouche.
An Unsuspected Signature During his years in Worcester, William Rice also worked as an itinerant painter. The only surviving example of his work from this period is a sign originally made in 1807 for Thomas Tarbox's inn in East Windsor, Connecticut. The Tarbox sign exemplifies Federal-era inn signs in both structure (the piece consists of a vertically oriented, shield-shaped signboard suspended from a joined frame with turned posts) and ornamentation (the basic design is an eagle based on the Great Seal of the United States). No other signs of this type had previously been attributed to Rice, making the discovery of his signature one of the most dramatic findings that resulted from recent conservation work on The Connecticut Historical Society's sign collection. Like many signs, the Tarbox sign had been painted over at least twice. The first repainting, a minor one, consisted of painting over Tarbox's name and licensing dates with those of the second owner, Ephraim Ely, in 1824. The second, more extensive repainting probably occurred around 1831, when a layer of thick black paint was
*Z..1 43 1 /
*J,
applied, with gold lettering announcing the "VILLAGE HOTEL." The earlier names and dates were also painted over. Through the black paint, slightly raised lines testified to the presence of a hidden image. At some time in the past, an unknown restorer had begun removing the Village Hotel paint from one side. The removal was carefully completed in 1999 by conservators at the Williamstown Art Conservation Center, in Massachusetts. In the process, they revealed not only the full eagle but also a completely unsuspected Rice signature. Fortunately, the thick, black overpaint that had hidden the eagle for over a century and a half had also protected its vivid colors.
"An Entire New Plan" Rice moved to Hartford by 1816 and soon began advertising signs "on an entire new plan."6 Boasts of "the newest style" are hardly uncommon in advertisements of any era, but Rice's signs of the late 1810s did incorporate notable innovations in shape and size, in wood construction and iron hardware, and in the painted decoration. The new shape was a rectangle, oriented horizontally. The generally larger size of these rectangular signs required changes in construction techniques. The single signboard was abandoned in favor of multiple boards. The old post-and-rail framing was replaced by deep, heavy moldings, which were grooved along their inner edges to hold the ends of the boards. The moldings on Rice's signs were generally coped, or contoured, rather than mitered: The ends of the top and bottom moldings were cut to the inside profile of the side moldings, allowing the side moldings to slide over the ends as the boards expanded and contracted across the grain with changes in humidity. As the signs themselves were large and heavy, so was the iron hardware needed to suspend them. Rice signs typically incorporated a flat iron strap measuring about 2 inches to 2-5/8 inches wide, which wrapped around the edge of the moldings and extended from the top, down the full side, and around the corner again to support the sign from the bottom.7 The new horizontal format also required rearrangement of pictorial and graphic elements. Rice developed two distinctive patterns for covering the surfaces of his signs. The first, and more innovative, pattern took contemporary easel paintings and print illustrations as a model, using the entire signboard as a picture field. The rectangular picture field allowed the central image to be relatively large in relation to the overall sign. This format also favored the creation of illusionistic scenes, incorporating background details, instead of the more formal, emblematic style traditionally used in inn signs. Innkeepers' names and dates, which had appeared on the rails of earlier, framed signs, were incorporated into the design or spelled in gold lettering against a black name band that ran along the bottom edge of the rectangular picture field. Rice's second basic pattern used an oval or elliptical picture field, set off in the middle of the signboard by a decorative outline. The central motifs were generally smaller than they were in the rectangular picture fields, and the corners of the sign were painted in a color designed to contrast with the main picture field. Lettering typically followed the inside contour of the oval outline. This pattern corresponded more closely to the traditional, emblematic manner of painting tavern signs, with stylized central motifs set off against backgrounds that are decorative rather than illusionistic. Rice's selection of the oval or elliptical outline likely represented a competitive response to the horizontal oval that became popular as a signboard shape in the 1820s and 1830s. Presumably, it was less expensive to incorporate the new shape as a part of the painted decoration than as the overall sign shape, which would have necessitated extensive changes in woodworking procedures. Rice offered his customers a selection of images to ornament their signsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;eagles, lions, beehives, plows, sun-
SPRING 2001 FOLK ART 37
SIGN FOR SIDNEY WADSWORTH'S INN, HARTFORD Hartford c. 1818-1844 Paint on pine board and moldings, lead glass flakes, gold leaf, iron hardware 35/ 1 2 60/ 1 2" The Connecticut Historical Society, Collection of Morgan B. Brainard, gift of Mrs. Morgan B. Brainard
The lion on Wadsworth's sign is based closely on an illustration by British wood engraver Thomas Bewick that was popularized by American wood engraver Alexander Anderson. The other side of the sign displays an eagle inside an oval outline, with Rice's signature and the date 1844. This date seems too late for the lion side, raising the possibility that the two sides were painted at different times.
bursts, keys, stars, and flowers. Although nearly all of these motifs were drawn from the traditional repertoire of inn sign imagery, Rice updated and adapted each according to his own particular style of painting. The traditional sunburst, for example, reappeared as an abstracted cartouche surrounding the 1836 date of Warner's Hotel. Occasionally, an image seems to have been what we would today call site-specific, as in the two crossed keys that Rice painted on the sign for Luke Viets' inn, located near the Newgate prison in Granby, Connecticut.8 Some images seem to have been rather clearly aimed at particular market segments. Zenas Dyer's inn sign, which hung along the well-traveled Albany road through the rural town of Canton, Connecticut, displayed distinct motifs on each side. For local farmers, who frequented the agricultural fair held biennially at Dyer's, Rice painted a beehive and plow, a standard emblem of agriculture, accompanied by the phrase "Hold or Drive," a reference to a maxim popularized by Ben Franldin's Poor Richard's Almanack,"He that by the Plow would thrive, himself must either hold or drive." For city-dwelling travelers, he painted the phrase, "Stranger's Home" with an elliptical wreath of leaves framing a delicate eight-petaled floret, similar to the ornamentation seen in contemporary design books or on parlor furniture. The eagle was the most frequently featured of all Rice's images, appearing in seventeen of forty compositions. Like the Tarbox example, all but one of Rice's eagles is based generally upon the highly symbolic design of the Great Seal of the United States, with a frontally posed, symmetrical bird holding a shield, the arrows of war, and an olive branch of peace. (The only known exception to this pattern is on one side of the sign for Arah Phelps' inn, circa 1826, which depicts a naturally posed eagle, in profile, against a landscape background.) During
38 SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
the course of his long career, Rice experimented with numerous variations on the Great Seal model. These included changing the position of the wings, depicting the shield as covering the eagle's chest or grasped tightly in its talons, and replacing the federal shield's red, white, and blue bars with the three grapevines of the Connecticut state seal. Other elements of Rice's eagles remain remarkably constant and thus readily recognizable as his work. These include the characteristically elongated head, curving neck, and open beak, as well as the distinctive thunderbolt arrows. Whatever the image, a sign rarely left Rice's studio without some special surface treatments intended to enliven the spectacle and thus attract added attention to the associated business. The most extraordinary display of Rice's mastery of special effects is his 1834 sign for the Manchester Hotel, which was subsequently moved to the nearby town of Vernon. Probably among the largest signs of its time, this immense sign was decorated with gilded eagles and the three grapevines of the state seal. Gilded stars shine in a dark blue field whose surface displays a subtle, irregular patterning created by a technique that Rice called "flocking" (similar to that used to create textured wallpaper). Embedded in the paint in other areas of the sign are glittering flakes of lead glass, as well as a ground-glass additive known as "smalt"; in 1818 Rice advertised the use of this treatment promising that it "will never tarnish but grow brighter with age." At the Sign of the Lion For modern collectors of folk art and Americana, Rice's most distinctive and appealing signs, like the other side of the Arah Phelps's Inn sign, are those featuring a lithe young lion, lushly maned, soft-pawed, and bright-eyed. Although the body is shown in profile, the head faces
SIGN FOR THOMAS TARBOX'S INN, EAST WINDSOR, CONNECTICUT Worcester, Massachusetts, or East Windsor, Connecticut 1807 Paint on pine board and frame, sand, smalt, gold leaf, iron hardware 2 25" 1 50/ The Connecticut Historical Society, Collection of Morgan B. Brainard, gift of Mrs. Morgan B. Brainard
The Rice signature on this sign was discovered during recent lab work at the Williamstown Art Conservation Center in Massachusetts.
forward with the eyes staring intently at the viewer. A total of six lions of this type are presently known, ornamenting five signs— one sign features two lions, whereas the others display eagles on their second sides.'° An additional seventh lion departs from the pattern of the rest. Its head appears in three-quarter perspective, rather than frontally. The eyes gaze fixedly into the distance rather than directly at the viewer. The body is heavier, the legs thicker, and the mane fuller, covering the lion's entire forequarters. A thick fringe of dark hair outlines the lion's chin, chest, and stomach; the tail curves down behind, coming to rest on the ground; the feet are planted firmly on the ground. The result is a lion that seems older and more mature, slower-moving, and less likely to spring into action at a moment's notice.(See Wadsworth's sign, left.) The absence of other lions following this model suggests that Rice rejected it in favor of the more youthful version." Variations in size, brushwork, and the articulation of details suggest that Rice painted his lions freehand, rather than from a fixed pattern or template. Even after adopting his standard model, he continued to experiment, giving each of his lions a slightly different personality. The tails, in particular, add a note of playfulness, or even whimsy, with no two alike. For each tail, Rice adopted a slightly different position—curving sinuously over the lion's back, wrapping around the hindquarters, or perhaps most artistically satisfying, gracefully forming an S-curve behind the lion to balance the visual mass of head and mane. Rice typically paired his lions with eagles; this has often been interpreted as overt political symbolism, a celebration of the emergence of the new American nation from British rule. The first appearance of this interpretation may be in the 1950 edition of The Index of American Design. The section on trade and tavern signs featured a watercolor rendering of the Arah Phelps' Inn sign and the comment that "two loyalties are combined on [this] sign, which has the American eagle on one side and the British lion on the other."12 In subsequent years, this reading has gained widespread currency as a "traditional explanation" for the lion-eagle combination.'3 No period documentation has been found to support this reading, however, nor does it appear in early antiquarian lore on taverns and tavern signs. References have been found to a few inns named The Lion and Eagle, scattered around the country, but the only surviving signs that display these two motifs together are those by William Rice.I4 Far from being a common phenomenon, the lion-andeagle motif appears to have been a distinctive element of this particular artist's work. One design feature that has been used to support a political reading is the inclusion of chains restraining some of Rice's lions. It is equally plausible that the chains are intended to suggest a menagerie setting, the only context in which the artist is likely to have seen a lion firsthand. They might also be simply an artistic device, through which the artist hoped to make his rather tame-looking beasts seem more ferocious. Lions were traditionally popular insignia on British inn signs, perhaps because their association with the crown conveyed connotations of kingly service. According to documentary references to
Lions & Eagles & Bulls Early American Tavern & Inn Signs from The Connecticut Historical Society wo dozen important early American tavern and inn signs—including five by William Rice—are featured in the traveling exhibition "Lions & Eagles & Bulls: Early American Tavern & Inn Signs from The Connecticut Historical Society." This exhibition is on view at The Connecticut Historical Society until April 30, 2001, after which it will travel to the following venues: The Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H., June 30 through Sept. 16, 2001; the Long Island Museum of American Art, History and Carriages, Stony Brook, N.Y., Sept. 29,2001 through Jan. 13, 2002; The Museum of Our National Heritage, Lexington, Mass., April 13 through Oct. 14, 2002; and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center, Colonial Williamsburg, Williamsburg, Va., November 2003 through April 2004. The catalog accompanying the exhibition presents exciting new research and commentary on the much-loved folk art genre of tavern and inn signs. Essays by curators, conservators, art historians, and cultural historians provide a rich and provocative mix of interpretive perspectives. Topics include the forms and images of the signs, the distinctive materials and techniques used in sign painting, the iconography and sources used by sign painters, and the function and meaning of the signs in early American art and culture. Each sign in the CHS collection is illustrated with a full-page plate; together, the images comprise a visual timeline of the development of early American tavern and inn signs. Lions & Eagles & Bulls: Early American Tavern & Inn Signsfrom The Connecticut Historical Society is available in hardcover (Princeton University Press, $49.50)and paperback (The Connecticut Historical Society, $29.50). The catalog and exhibition were underwritten with grants from The Henry Luce Foundation, Inc.; Aetna, Inc. and Aetna Foundation; the Connecticut Humanities Council; the Kohn-Joselof Foundation; the National Endowment for the Arts; the Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation; James B. Lyon; Furthermore, the publication program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund; and the American Folk Art Society. Conservation of the signs was funded in part by The Getty Grant Program and the National Endowment for the Arts.
T
SPRING 2001 FOLK ART 39
inn names, early American innkeepers continued this tradition, though at a rate far lower than appears in Englandâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;or in Rice's work.'5 Rice's production of lions represents nearly one-fifth of his surviving imagery. Even more strikingly, his six lion signs account for nearly half of all the currently known American inn signs bearing lions. These figures suggest that Rice's lion production was motivated less by market demand than by the artist's personal enthusiasm. In other words, Rice painted lions because he liked (and had developed a facility for) painting lionsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;just as his contemporary, the Pennsylvania Quaker preacher and fellow sign painter, Edward Hicks, made a personal specialty of Peaceable Kingdom paintings.I6 Rice's customers, in turn, bought lions because that was what the artist promoted, not because the innkeepers themselves had a particular interest in lions. Rice's introduction of the lion motif likely corresponded with his advertisement of May 1818, which contained the first notice that his shop was to be found "At the sign of the Lion."7 His use of the lion as his own insignia suggests that he may have deliberately intended to make this his signature image. If so, his success extended far beyond his own lifetime. Even if no other works survived, his lion signs would be sufficient to place him among the front rank of sign and ornamental painters in nineteenthcentury America. In addition to his considerable artistic talents, Rice's undoubtedly owed much of his success to his entrepreneurial skills and business acumen. Like his more famous contemporary, P.T. Barnum, Rice was an avid self-promoter, a relentless innovator, and an enthusiastic showman. To grab the attention of potential customers, he offered large signs, bold imagery, vivid colors, and a dazzling repertoire of special effects. Produced to serve the primary function of outdoor advertising, his inn and hotel signs effectively made an everyman's gallery of the roads leading to and from early nineteenth-century Hartford. His characteristic style remains recognizable, valued, and as enjoyed today as it was by his contemporaries.* Susan P. Schoelwer is Director ofMuseum Collections at The Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford. She edited Lions & Eagles & Bulls: Early American Tavern & Inn Signs from The Connecticut Historical Society, recently published to accompany a traveling exhibition ofthe same name. She holds a Ph.D. in American Studiesfrom Yale University and is a graduate ofthe Winterthur Program in Early American Culture.
NOTES 1 This essay is based on research, laboratory findings, and observations assembled in preparation of Lions & Eagles & Bulls: Early American Tavern & Inn Signsfrom The Connecticut Historical Society, edited by Susan P. Schoelwer (Hartford, Conn. and Princeton, N.J.: The Connecticut Historical Society in association with Princeton University Press, 2000). I am grateful for the contributions of my collaborators on this project: Philip D.Zimmerman, Margaret C. Vincent, Kenneth L. Ames, Alexander M. Carlisle, Nancy Finlay, Catherine Gudis, Sandra L. Webber, Bryan J. Wolf, Kate Steinway, and Richard C. Malley. 2 Biographical information on Rice is based on research conducted by Margaret C. Vincent and summarized in her appendix
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"Sign Painters in Connecticut, 1760-1850," Lions & Eagles & Bulls, 251-252. For full catalog entries and illustrations on the Rice signs owned by The Connecticut Historical Society, see Lions & Eagles & Bulls, catalog nos. 19, 28,31,34,37,46,50, 55, and 63. For listings of Rice signs located elsewhere, see Philip D.Zimmerman and Margaret C. Vincent,"Checklist of Connecticut Tavern and Inn Signs by Current Location," Lions & Eagles & Bulls, 256-260. Rice's son Frederick F.(1814-1877)joined his father's sign and ornamental painting firm by 1840. A second son, George W.Rice, is also listed as a painter in Hartford city directories in the 1830s and 1840s. At present, it is not possible to distinguish the son's work from the father's late work. 3 Nina Fletcher Little, Paintings by New England Provincial Artists, 1775-1800(Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1976), 74. 4 Elizabeth Mankin Kornhauser, Ralph Earl: The Face ofthe Young Republic(New Haven, Conn., and London: Yale University Press and Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, 1991),5-10; Andrew Henshaw Ward,A Genealogical History ofthe Rice Family(Boston, 1858), 126-127, 173. 5 Nina Fletcher Little, Little by Little: Six Decades of Collecting American Decorative Arts(Boston: Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, 1998), 182, 184. 6 American Mercury [Hartford], 12 May 1818,reprinted in "Recent Museum Acquisitions," Connecticut Historical Society Bulletin 21:4(October 1956), 123. 7 This description of construction features is based on analyses of Rice's signs carried out by Philip D.Zimmerman. 8 The sign was destroyed in a fire prior to 1958; illustrated, The Connecticut Historical Society, Morgan B. Brainard's Tavern Signs (Hartford: The Connecticut Historical Society, 1958), 83. 9 American Mercury [Hartford], 12 May 1818, reprinted in "Recent Museum Acquisitions," Connecticut Historical Society Bulletin 21:4(October 1956), 123. 10 Two of these lion signs are in the collection of The Connecticut Historical Society. Another is at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center in Williamsburg, Va. The double-lion sign is at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford. The fifth sign depicting only the lion's forequarters, is owned by the Westmoreland Museum of Art in Greensburg, Pa.; although unsigned,its close resemblance to Rice's lions warrants its attribution to his shop. 11 In "Lions and Eagles and Other Images on Early Inn Signs," Lions & Eagles & Bulls,62-64, Nancy Finlay identified the model for this lion as a wood engraving made by the English artist Thomas Bewick and subsequently copied by the American wood engraver Alexander Anderson. 12 Erwin 0.Christensen, The Index ofAmerican Design(New York and Washington, D.C.: Macmillan and The National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1950),65. 13 The Great River: Art & Society ofthe Connecticut Valley, 1635-1820(Hartford: Wadsworth Atheneum, 1985), 173-174. 14 For references to Lion and Eagle inns, see Helene Smith, Tavern Signs ofAmerica: History(Greensburg, Pa.: McDonald/Sward, 1989), 19-20. 15 For a survey of inn names, see Margaret C. Vincent,"Connecticut Inns and Hotels and Their Signboards, 1750-1850," (unpublished research report, The Connecticut Historical Society, 1999), 12-16. 16 Carolyn J. Weekley, The Kingdoms ofEdward Hicks (Williamsburg, Va. and New York: Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center,in association with Harry N. Abrams, 1999); in particular, see pp. 65-89,on Hicks' work as a sign and ornamental painter. Also see Scott W.Nolley and Carolyn J. Weekley, "The Nature of Edward Hicks's Painting," The Magazine Antiques, February 1999, 281-290. 17 American Mercury [Hartford], 12 May 1818, reprinted in "Recent Museum Acquisitions," Connecticut Historical Society Bulletin 21:4(October 1956), 123.
SIGN FOR THE VERNON HOTEL, VERNON, CONNECTICUT Hartford 1834 Paint on pine board and moldings, smalt, lead glass flakes, iron oxide, gold leaf, iron hardware 75/ 1 4 63%" The Connecticut Historical Society, gift of the Sabra Trumbull Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution
The reverse displays a similar composition with a different arrangement of colors.
SPRING 2031 FOLK ART 41
Native uilting QA
By Marsha L MacDowen
â&#x20AC;˘
Long and Enduring Tradition
42 SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
DAYBREAK/DAWN QUILT Charlie Grinnell (Hidatsa), designer and piecer Julia Grinnell Illidatsal, quilter Parshall, North Dakota 1995 Cotton-polyester blend 89 81" Collection of Michigan State University Museum, #7787.1 Charlie Grinnell designs and pieces tops that mimic the patterns he uses in his beadwork; Julia then quilts the tops. Their work was included in the 1988 landmark exhibit "Native Needlework: Contemporary Indian Textiles from North Dakota," presented by the North Dakota Council on the Arts.
An unidentified Lakota quilter works outside her tent on a patchwork quilt with Star blocks, c. 1930. Photographer unknown, photo courtesy of Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum, St. Francis, South Dakota.
efore 1997, most students of quilting or Native American culture had little awareness of the long history, the great diversity, and the widespread practice of quilting among Native peoples in North America. The landmark exhibition, "To Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions," which opened in October of that year at the George Gustav Heye Center in New York City and was accompanied by a publication of the same name,' provided an opportunity to bring this rich and vital heritage to a wide audience. Organized by the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian and the Michigan State University Museum and circulated by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES),2 the exhibition showcases nearly fifty quilts dating from the beginning to the end of the twentieth century and made by Native Hawaiian and North American Indian artists. In addition, through photographs, documents, contextual settings, and oral history excerpts, the exhibition explores the multiple ways in which quiltmakers and owners have used textiles to honor and comfort those around them. The exhibition clearly presents quiltmaking as a strong Native artistic and cultural tradition that remains vital today. It is generally accepted that Native Americans learned quiltmaking primarily through contact with EuroAmerican culture. Given the extensive presence of quilts within settlers' domestic households beginning in the late eighteenth century, it is likely that wherever non-Native women settled in trading outposts or military forts, quilts were probably part of their household inventory. In those contexts, at least some Native peoples would have seen quilts in use or perhaps have been taught the rudiments of quilting. Some evidence now exists that contact with African Americans and peoples of Hispanic background also influenced particular patterns, construction techniques, and uses, but the overwhelming influence was Euro-American. The initial conveyance of quilting skills to Native peoples occurred in the nineteenth century with the establishment of mission schools and churches in Native corn-
Unidentified Arapaho men. The Arapaho man wrapped in a quilt holds a photo that may have been of a family member. In most historical formal portraits of Indians, there is little evidence of non-Native material culture; photographers attempted to create the most "traditional Indian" look and often removed any item not considered "Indian" enough. It is thus surprising that many images exist of Indians wearing or sitting on quilts. Photographer unknown; undated image courtesy of Wyoming Division of Cultural Resources, Cheyenne.
munities. Numerous references in missionary diaries and letters, mission records and newsletters, and oral histories point to the substantial influence that Christian churches and mission schools had in introducing quiltmaking to Native peoples. Through both formal instruction and in the context of affiliated women's social groups, missions promoted Euro-American domestic arts, including quiltmaking and other forms of needlework. Whether Mennonite missions on Hopi land, Mormon missions in Utah and Nevada, Quaker mission schools in Pennsylvania, or Catholic missions in frontier outposts, these Christian evangelical and educational efforts were instrumental in introducing and sustaining interest in these crafts. Some of the earliest accounts of Native quilting activity record the geographical range of the mission work within Native communities. On April 4, 1820 female members of the ali'i, or chiefly family,joined the missionary wives on board the brig Thaddeus, moored off the Hawaiian island of Oahu, for a sewing party documented by Lucy Thurston in her journal: "ICalakua brought a web of white cambric to have a dress made for herself in the fashion of our ladies .... The four native women of rank were furnished with calico patch-work to sewâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a new employment for them."3 Later, a number of sewing classes were established by missionary wives in the islands and quailting was usually part of the curriculum. William Hol-
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land, who worked at the Candy's Creek Mission school established for Cherokees in Tennessee in 1820, ordered "domestic gingham, checkered blue and white factory cotton, cotton shirting, dark blue calico, buff calico, pink calico, narrow striped dimity, and assorted remnants for use at the school....In 1831, Holland sold some of this cloth for a quilt; and in 1832 he sold a quilt for $3.50 to help raise funds for the mission."4 Boxes of fabric as well as whole quilts were regularly sent to mission posts by home churches. A page from a 1902 record book of the Devil's Lake Sioux Reservation in North Dakota recorded donations of quilts (owinja, literally "to spread upon the ground") and dresses.5 Many similar stories are told by Indians of receiving barrels and crates of fabric, clothing, and quilts on the reservationsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; especially at Christmas, as these examples testify: [My grandmother] used to go to the Guild Hall at the Catholic Church at Ponsford and get the heaviest fabrics she could find in the mission barrels. She pieced them into block quilts tied with yarn. I remember sleeping under some of them when we would visit my grandmother on the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota in the summer, when the nights were cold enough that a quilt felt very good.6 I remember at home in Oklahoma we used to walk through the woods to church where sometimes we would have services for a couple of days and would have to stay overnight. There would always be a quilt box where you could borrow quilts and blankets to use as bedrolls.7 Though missions were undoubtedly one of the primary agents responsible for bringing quiltmaking into Native communities, knowledge of quiltmaking was, of course, spread whenever there was interaction between Native peoples and traders, other settlers, and family members who already made or used quilts. In California, as a result of contact with local ranching and hopfarming families, Porno Indians were commonly making quilts by the 1870s: "It was also established by this time that a good basketweaver made a good quiltmaker."8 A letter in the collections of the Cherokee National Museum illustrates another type of cross-cultural contact. In April 1864, Amanda Seal and Louisa Gibbs of Philadelphia wrote to John Ross, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation (c. 1827-1866) requesting him to autograph and return an enclosed square of white silk. The block was to be used in a red, white, and blue autograph quilt they were making as part of a fundraiser for the Sanitary Fair in
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Philadelphia.(In Ross' reply, it is difficult to discern if he actually sent a signed cloth back.)9 What is perhaps more important than establishing exact dates and locales and mechanisms of the introduction of quilting into Native communities is reviewing the overwhelming evidence that, throughout nearly the entire post-contact period, Native quilters in the Hawaiian Islands and on the North American continent have used colors and designs distinctly their own to make quilts that function as they do in other cultural groups and in ways that possess specific tribal or pan-Indian meanings. Native peoples of the Hawaiian Islands and North America have long traditions of textile production and use. The requisite materials and skills of quiltmaking had many precedents in these communities. When manufactured cloth and steel needles became available to Native peoples, it was not surprising that artists adept at other crafts quickly picked up quiltmaking. Native needleworkers continually combine or replace old materials and technologies with new. Finger-woven animal pelt-blankets have been replaced by wool blankets and quilts, hides by cotton fabrics, and awls and needles by sewing machines and rotary cutters. Quilts are used as bedcovers, fundraisers, gifts for special occasions, and sold as a means of providing or supplementing income. Quilts have been used by Potawatomi to create swing hammock cradles for babies, by Hopi as bedrolls to sleep on pueblo roofs, by Assiniboine to pictorially depict their history, and by Chippewa at tribal senior centers for fundraising raffles. Quilts also have taken on meanings and functions that are unique to members of the Native communities. For instance, the Odawa give quilts as gifts in naming
HORSE CHIEF'S BLANKET QUILT Conrad House (Navajo/Oneida) St. Michael, Arizona 1995 Cotton and canvas 56 71" Collection of Michigan State University Museum, #1996:72.1 House's Horse Chief's Blanket Quilt situates an appliquĂŠd horse, representing his Oneida heritage, in the center of a pieced Navajo rug design. His work is influenced by the colors used by Amish quilters and by his childhood memories of the patchwork quilts made by his family. House is an accomplished artist in other media as well, and his work has been shown in numerous exhibitions and is included in many museum collections.
BASKETBALL STAR QUILT Sybil Lambert (Sioux) Brockton, Montana 1996 Satin 2" 1 2x 71/ 1 85/ Collection of Michigan State University Museum, #1996:71.1
EffithgrStudio
Satin fabric is often favored by the many Fort Peck Reservation community members who make Star quilts for the annual boys' and girls' high school Basketball Tournament Star Quilt Ceremonies.
ceremonies, the Arrowhead design; Odawa quilter Agnes Shawanessi Ojibwa use quilts renamed an Umbrella pattern Turtle Has an Umbrella. as a ground cover- And Cherokee quilter Mary O'Brien published two ing to protect a designs, Chiefs Daughter in Diamond and Double Chief's drum from contact Daughter, that are her interpretations of early quilt patwith the earth, and terns influenced by Cherokee basket patterns.'° Also poputhe Sioux drape lar among many North American Indian quiltmakers are Star quilts over patchwork patterns with names created by Eurotheir sweat lodges. Americans that refer directly to American Indian culAt contemporary ture—such as Arrowhead, Indian Head, Indian Hatchet, powwows, quilts and Indian Trail—or to the natural world, such as Star, are carried flat Bear's Paw,Thunderbird, and Maple Leaf. For the quilting patterns used to stitch together the within the dance circle so that spec- three layers of cloth—top, batting, and backing—many tators can toss contemporary North American Indian textile artists favor money in to pay stars, tipis, thunderbirds, pipes, war bonnets, and arrowthe dancers' or heads, in addition to the clamshell, fan, or outline quilting drummers' ex- used by non-Native quilters. The medicine wheel, an penses. In addi- ancient religious symbol, is often used as a quilting pattion, quilts have tern. The wheel, broken into four quarters, represents the become more pop- four stages of life, the four directions, the elements, and ular as a medium the four seasons. When it is pieced or appliquéd on to a for contemporary quilt, its four colors—red, yellow, white, and black—also textile artists who represent the four human races. Alice Olsen Williams, an wish to express Anishnabe quilter from Ontario, always incorporates a individual creativ- small pimaatisiwin (Anishnabek for "medicine wheel") into her quilt designs, making sure that the white quarter ity linked clearly to ethnic and racial identity. Production techniques (patchwork, appliqué, quilt- of the wheel is never dominant or on top, thus communiing, tied work), material preparation (batting, recycling cating her strong feelings about the history of Natives and cloth), patchwork patterns, quilting designs, and quilt non-Natives." In certain communities, commonly used quilt names were shared among Native and non-Native quiltmakers. Yet choices of patterns, construction techniques, designs reflected designs or symbols important to that parmaterials, and names are often tied to native or tribal iden- ticular community. For instance, in Odawa/Ottawa and tity. Native artists adapt the beadwork, rug-weaving, and Ojibwa cultures, the strawberry, one of the first fruits to be basket-weaving patterns of their cultural heritage or of gathered in the spring, figures prominently in harvest celetheir own experience into their quilts. Color choices often brations, feasts, burial rituals, dances, and legends. It is no reflect the Native quilter's close spiritual ties to the natural surprise that Woodland Indian quiltmakers often make world. Many times Native quilters, irrespective of their quilts with a strawberry design. Woodland Indian quilters tribal background, will select printed fabrics that incorpo- also favor including a Thunderbird design in their work; rate southwestern or pan-Indian imagery such as eagles, the Thunderbird (Animike) is one of the most important running horses, or motifs from or resembling those of beings in their cosmology. Within the Mohawk community in St. Regis, New York, quilts often possess symbols Navajo rugs. Sometimes Euro-American patterns are refigured of the Turtle Clan. Among the Sioux and other Plains Indians, the Star and renamed. For instance, Warm Springs quilter Kate Jackson worked a traditional Log Cabin pattern into an and its variations have been by far the most popular quilt patterns used in the mid-to-late twentieth century and have become an integral part of many Native community-based CRAZY STAR QUILT Nellie Star Boy Menard (Sioux) traditions. Further, the popularity of the pattern increased Rosebud, South Dakota among quilters of other tribes as they witnessed the impor1994-1995 Cotton-polyester blend, cotton tance of the Star pattern in Plains Indian life. Although 79 96" well-known among quilters of other cultural backgrounds, Collection of Michigan State image of the star has special meaning for Native peothe University Museum, #7579.2 ples, and numerous stories are told of its origin and popuNellie Star Boy Menard was larity. For instance, quiltmaker Anna Firethunder, a Sioux recognized with a National Heritage Manderson, South Dakota, tells this story: from Fellowship in 1995 for her role in teaching and perpetuating Sioux quiltmaking and other craft traditions. A prolific and creative artist, she combined a different design for every other point of this Star quilt made in honor of her grandson upon his return from military service.
The Indians used the North Star as a guide. They also used the Big and Little Dippers as guides. When material came, there were three phases which had passed: the first phase incorporated the North Star, the sec-
SPRING 2001 FOLK ART 45
ond phase used the Bethlehem star, and the final phase employed the Big Dipper and little stars on a quilt. The star quilt was fashioned according to this legend: An Indian lady wanted some water and told her grandson to run to the creek. When he brought the water back to her, she couldn't fmish it all so she splashed water out and the dipper went into the sky, while the star remained behind.'2 Giving quilts in recognition of special achievements, occasions, or activities is a common practice in Native circles,just as it is in many other cultures. At naming ceremonies, quilts are given to friends and family in honor of the loved one being named. Students graduating from high school or college are given quilts as a sign of recognition for their academic accomplishments. Athletes who win competitive events are given quilts commemorating their physical achievements. Veterans returning from military service are honored with quilts to thank them for their bravery and personal sacrifice. Anyone who has contributed significantly to the family's or the community's well-being is honored either by being given a quilt or having quilts given away on their behalf. Dispersing quilts in ceremonies called "giveaways" takes on very significant meaning within Native culture. Generally conducted under the supervision of a female member of a clan or family, a giveaway represents the sharing of material wealth with others in honor of a loved family member. Giveaways, particularly in the Plains region, are often held by families for baby-naming ceremonies, weddings, graduation parties, and memorial feasts for the dead. The latter, held approximately one year after a loved one's death, may, when the sponsor can afford it, involve as many as three hundred guests and the giving away of up to a hundred quilts. Marley Brackett, the son of Danyelle Means and Geoff Brackett, was given his name, Walks With the Wind, in a naming ceremony at the Lake Andes Pow Wow in South Dakota in 1996. Among the gifts that Danyelle's family gave honored guests were many quilts. James Clairmont, the naming-ceremony announcer that day, had this to say about the role of quilts in honoring individuals: When you give a Star quilt away, you are putting a star before the Creator on behalf of the people who are honored. A prayer is always said sO the child will have a long life. Children are recognized by the Creator. They will take their given Lakota name to the grave and others will pass their name on to their grandchildren." For over thirty years, the boys' and girls' basketball teams of Brockton High School at the Fort Peck Reservation in Brockton, Montana, have been hosting Star Quilt Giveaway Ceremonies at their annual district-wide tournaments. Flanked by their parents or elders, each team member gives a quilt to someone they want to honor for
46 SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
their service, support, athleticism, good sportsmanship, or team spirit. All present then join in a round dance. As the only Native high school team in the district conference, the ceremony is unique and serves to share Native values with the larger community. As Norman Hollow, former emcee for the event, explains: The intent of a particular ceremony—for a buffalo warrior, [for example]—is an honoring ceremony. The ceremonies are illustrations of how families used to honor their son's experience of his first kill—either of deer or buffalo. It is in the same manner, and with the same spirit, that ballplayers at tournaments are recognized. It is a ceremony that Indian people cherish and regard highly, especially for sportsmanship, excellent playing, and championship. It is a great honor not only for those who give the quilts but also to the players receiving the quilts.'4 Quilts have also been integrated into some of the beautiful Hopi ceremonies, most notably the baby-naming ceremony. After the grandmother's blessing, family and friends are invited to offer a blessing and give a name to the baby. A gift of a quilt accompanies the offered name, and sometimes—if there are a lot of family and friends participating in the celebration—the baby almost disappears under a mountain of quilts. In earlier times, the child's father or godfather wove a special blanket for the child and the child received only one wrapping. Older women recall that as quilting became more prevalent in the Hopi villages a quilt was substituted for the blanket; by the early 1900s, a gift of a quilt had replaced the hand-woven blanket. By the 1930s, multiple gifts of quilts had become common practice. Today, with the great popularity of quilting, it is not uncommon for a baby to be given eight or ten clan names and quilts, depending on how many relatives and friends choose to participate in the naming ritual." "To Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions" is certainly not the first exhibition of Native quilts; American Indians were known to have held quilt exhibitions as early as the mid-nineteenth century. In 1913, a Choctaw woman, Sarah Ann Harlan, reminisced to Muriel Wright about a quilting party she attended in 1857, shortly after she moved to Skullyville, the Choctaw Indian Agency west of Fort Smith, Arkansas: Quilting was the order of the day then, and they always had a big powwow. The men furnished the meat and barbecued it, and wild game as well. The Indians kept coming until I verily believe there must have been six or seven hundred people at this quilting. They had arbors all over the ground, and the quilts were hung in them. They were beautifully pieced. Here I prided myself that my mother had taught me to quilt beautifully; I knew my quilting would not be criticized. Prizes were given to the best quilters. I received a strand of white and red beads."
and honor these artists and their work but also as a clarion call to others to investigate, document, analyze, and respect the vast body of work from this long and enduring tradition.* Author's note: The Exhibition "To Honor and Comfort:
Native Quilting Traditions" is on view at The Heard Museum in Phoenix (602/252-8840) until April 15. For booking information, contact the Michigan State University Museum at 517/432-3355. Marsha L MacDowell is curator 01101k arts at the Michigan State University Museum;professor, department ofart and art history, Michigan State University; and coordinator ofthe Michigan Traditional Arts Program—a partnership program with Michigan Councilfor Arts and Cultural Affairs.
NOTES 1 Marsha L. MacDowell and C. Kurt Dewhurst, To Honor and
BANDOLIER BAG VARIATION QUILT J. Carole "Jimmie" Stewart (Creek) Washington, Oklahoma 19% Cotton, cotton-polyester blend, satin ribbon 4" 1 2 88/ / 821 Collection of Michigan State University Museum, #1996:106 Stewart drew on both Creek and Delaware designs in this interpretation of a bandolier bag.
Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions,(Santa Fe, N. Mex.: Museum of New Mexico Press in collaboration with Michigan State University Museum, 1997). 2 The exhibition has been to the following venues: Michigan State University Museum (East Lansing), Fuller Museum of Art (Brockton, Mass.), Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Bishop Museum(Honolulu), Washington State Historical Society (Tacoma), Museum of the Rockies(Bozeman, Mont.), Museum of International Folk Art(Santa Fe, N. Mex.), and The Heard Quilts shows have been mounted in reservation Museum (Phoenix). A smaller version of the exhibit,funded by buildings, in local agricultural fairs, and at powwows. the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund and organized by MichiToday quilts are often exhibited in tribal museums and gan State University Museum,is circulating to small, primarily cultural centers. Outside Native communities, very few tribal, museums,and cultural centers. exhibitions of Native quilts have been mounted; those that 3 Lee S. Wild "Introduction," in Reiko Mochinaga have, including two at the Museum of American Folk Brandon,The Hawaiian Quilt(Tokyo:ICokusai Art, 1989), 13. Quilts (Tulsa: The Mary Art—"Hawaiian Quilts: Treasures of an Island Folk Art," 4 Mary O'Brien, Cherokee O'Brien Bookshop, 1996), n.p. July—Sept. 1979 and "Morning Star Quilts," presented at 5 Christopher Martin, Native Needlework: Contemporary Indian The Great American Quilt Festival 4, May 12-16, 1993— Textilesfrom North Dakota (Fargo, N. Dak.: North Dakota Counhave focused primarily on Native Hawaiian appliqué or cil on the Arts, 1988), 12. Plains Indian Star quilts. 6 Clara Sue. Kidwell, e-mail to author, July 10, 1996. Whether or not quilting is done by an individual or 7 Carol Stewart, conversation with author, Nov. 25, 1996, East a group has depended on traditions specific to a tribe or Lansing, Mich. community. Contemporary quilt groups meet in senior 8 Sandra J. Metzler-Sinith,"Quilts in Pomo Culture," in Uncovcenters, churches, schools, and community halls in Native erings 1980, Research Papers of the American Quilt Study communities across the country. Quilting together pro- Group, 1980,45. Gibbs, of Philadelphia, letter to John vides an opportunity for individuals to share knowledge, 9 Amanda Seal and Louisa Ross, April 2, 1864. Papers of John Ross, Collection of the build friendships, and maintain other cultural traditions Cherokee National Museum. such as language, stories, manner of preparing food, and 10 Mary O'Brien,op. cit. ritual activities. 11 Alice Olsen Williams, letter to author, November 1996. There are a number of reasons why Native quilters 12 Anna Firethunder, interview with Laurie Anderson and Kathy were so little known to those outside their families or VanDeCar, Manderson,S. Dak.,Dec. 4, 1994. communities, but perhaps the chief reasons were that it is 13 James Clairmont, interview with Laurie Anderson, Lakes an art form that has appeared so extensively in everyday Andes,S. Dak., Aug. 2, 1996. life and that it was primarily the result of indigenous cul- 14 Norman Hollow,interview with Laurie Anderson and Kathy tural contact with outsiders. Considered commonplace and VanDeCar, Poplar, Mont., Nov. 16, 1994. of Hopi quilting history and traditions, seen as firmly tied to a European rather than a Native 15 For an extended study see Carolyn O'Bagy Davis, Hopi Quilting: Stitched Traditions hiswere arts, artistic tradition, quilts, unlike other Native from an Ancient Community (Tucson, Az.: Sanpete Publications, torically not collected or studied as items of ethnographic, 1997). aesthetic, or marketplace value. To Honor and Comfort 16 Muriel H. Wright,"Sarah Ann Harlan: From Her Memoirs of presents but a sampling of quilting within Native commu- Life in the Indian Territory," The Chronicles ofOklahoma, Vol. nities in North America. It serves not only to recognize XXXIX,No. 2,304-305.
SPRING 2001 FOLK ART 47
NEW HAMPSHIRE WEEKEND AUCTION THE ARMORY AT THE CENTER OF NEW HAMPSHIRE,HOLIDAY INN,MANCHESTER
SATURDAY MARCH31w
FEATURING AMERICAN COUNTRY AND PAINTED FURNITURE,FOLK ART INCLUDING WEATHERVANES,DECOYS AND OTHER SCULPTURAL FORMS,FOLK PAINTINGS,AND DECORATIVE ACCESSORIES SELECTIONS FROM THE FOLK ART COLLECTION OF LAWRENCE AND SUSAN POLANS,BIDDEFORD POOL,MAINE
NORTHEAST AUCTIONS RONALD BOURGEAULT, Auctioneer
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TRUSTEES/DONORS
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BOARD OF TRUSTEES Executive Committee Ralph 0. Esmerian Chairman of the 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
Julia T. Richie Margaret Z. Robson Selig D. Sacks Esq. Nathaniel J. Sutton Thaddeus S. Woods
Members Barbara Cate Joseph F. Cullman 3rd
David L. Davies Jonathan Green Susan Gutfreund Kristina Johnson Esq. David Krashes Nancy Mead George H. Meyer Esq. Lauren S. Morgan Cyril I. Nelson Laura Parsons
Joe & Joan Cullman Susan R. Cullman Kendra & Allan Daniel David & Sheena Danziger Lucy & Mike Danziger Peggy & Richard M.Danziger David L. Davies Darwin/Carolirm Pocher & William Woody Colette & Jim Donovan Deborah & Arnold Dunn Ray & Susan Egan Joyce Eppler Ralph 0. Esmerian Sam & Betsey Farber Bequest of Eva & Morris Feld M. Finkel & Daughter Fireman's Fund Insurance Company Laura Fisher/Antique Quilts & Americana Jacqueline Fowler Gretchen Freeman & Alan Silverman Furthermore, the publication program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund Gallery of Graphic Arts, Ltd. Rebecca & Michael Gamzon Sidney & Sandra Gecker James & Nancy Glazer Mr.& Mrs. Merle H. Glick Russ & Karen Goldberger Tracy Goodnow Art & Antiques Howard Graff Jonathan Green Greene & Mays American Antiques Peg & Judd Gregory Bonnie Grossman/The Ames Gallery Pat Guthman Cordelia Hamilton Deborah Harding Audrey Heckler Nina Hellman Jeffrey Henkel Mr.& Mrs. George Henry Mr.& Mrs. Samuel Herrup The High Five Foundation Pamela & Timothy Hill The Hirschhorn Foundation, Robert & Marjorie Hirschhom, Carolyn Hirshhom Schenker Ellen E. Howe Peter D. Hynson Antiques
Paul Ingersoll Thomas Isenberg In Memory of Laura N. Israel Johnson and Johnson Joan & Victor Johnson Kristina Johnson Esq. Louise & George Karninow Julie & Sandy Palley and Samuel & Rebecca Kardon Foundation Allan & Penny Katz Richard Kemble & George Korn, Forager House Collection Leigh Keno Susan & Robert Klein Nancy Kollisch & Jeffrey Pressman Joel & Kate Kopp Greg K. Kramer David Krashes Wendy & Mel Lavin The Edith and Herbert Lehman Foundation,Inc. John A. Levin & Co., Inc. Levy Charitable Trust The Lipman Family Foundation In Memory of Zeke Liverant Jolie Kelter & Michael Malce Paul Martinson, Frances Martinson & Howard Graff in memory of Burt Martinson Mr. & Mrs. Christopher Mayer Milly McGehee Mr.& Mrs. Dana G. Mead Robert & Meryl Meltzer George H. Meyer J. Randall Plummer & Harvey S. Shipley Miller Judith & James Milne Sandra Moers Keith & Lauren Morgan Cyril Irwin Nelson New York City Department of Cultural Affairs New York State Thurston Nichols Northeast Auctions, Ronald Bourgeault Bequest of Mattie Lou O'Kelley Olde Hope Antiques The Overbrook Foundation The Parsons Family Foundation Wayne Pratt, Inc.
Jackie Radwin Ricco/Maresca Gallery Marguerite Riordan John & Margaret Robson Foundation Mary Sams-Ballyhack Antiques Peter L. Schaffer Shirley K. Schlafer Shirley K. Schlafer Memorial Fund The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation In Honor of George Shaskan The George and Myra Shaskan Foundation, Inc. Elle Shushan Arthur & Suzanne Shawe Sanford L. Smith & Patricia Lynch Smith Elliott & Grace Snyder Mr.& Mrs. Peter J. Solomon Sotheby's The Splendid Peasant/Martin & Kitty Jacobs Rachel & Donald Strauber Bonnie & Tom Strauss The R. David Sudarsky Charitable Foundation Nathaniel J. Sutton Talcashimaya Co., Ltd. Richard & Maureen Taylor Jeffrey Tillou Antiques Peter Tillou Jean I. & Raymond S. Troubh Fund Tucker Station Antiques David & Jane Walentas Clifford A. Wallach Don Walters & Mary Benisek Warburg Pincus Mr. Alan N. Weeden Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP Frederick S. Weiser Jay & Meryl Weiss Ed Weissman Ben Werticin David Wheatcroft John & Barbara Wilkerson John Wilmerding Robert & Anne Wilson Dr. Joseph M.& Janet H. Winston Susan Yecies Shelly Zegart Antique Quilts Jon & Rebecca Zoler Seven anonymous donors
Bonnie Strauss Vice President Barry D. Briskin Treasurer Jacqueline Fowler Secretary Anne Hill Blanchard Joyce B. Cowin Samuel Farber
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 January 2, 2001, the following donors have contributed $25,814,811: James M.& Gail K. Addiss Alconda-Owsley Foundation George R. Allen/Gordon L. WyckoffRaccoon Creek Antiques The American Folk Art Society Mama Anderson Aame Anton Barbara Ardizone R.R. Atkins Foundation Marcia Bain Bankers Trust Company Barn Star Productions, Inc. Judy & Barry Beil in honor of Alice & Ron Hoffman Mrs. Arthur M. Berger Big Apple Wrecking & Construction Corporation Diana H. Bittel Edward V. Blanchard & M. Anne Hill Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund Mr.& Mrs. James A. Block Bloomberg L.P. Edith S. & Barry D. Briskin Florence Brody Edward J. & Margaret M.Brown Jim Burk Antique Shows Marcy L. Bums/American Indian Arts Lewis P. Cabot Bliss & Brigitte Camochan Caterpillar Foundation John W.Castello, in Memory of Adele Earnest Edward Lee Cave Virginia G. Cave Christie's Richard & Teresa Ciccotelli Alexis & George Contos Mrs. Daniel Cowin Mr. & Mrs. Edgar M. Cullman Elissa F. & Edgar M.Cullman Jr.
(continued on page 56)
SPRING 2001 FOLK ART 49
Bourassa Prints
On the Wharf
Juliette & Harvey at Camp Will & Jack
www.annebourassa.com
e-mail: abourassa@erols.com (215)842-2168
Slotin Folk A rt Auction Presents
The Jeff Louis Tramp Art Estate and The Flo & Jules Laffal Collection May 5, 2001 • Buford, GA CATALOG: $25 - Fully-Illustrated, Hundreds of Color Photos Send Checks to: 5967 Blackberry Ln. Buford, GA 30518 -1.... I 4
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May 5, 2001 - Buford, GA Historic Buford Hall
Ellis Ruley,"Moose In Stream; 19 x 23,Featured on page 70 of Discove
Ellis Ruley Edgar Tolson josephus iFarmer Howard Finster Sam Do*. Clementine Hutiter. Lanier Meaders J.B. Murry Mary T. Smith Harry Lieberman ellie Mae Rowe immy Lee Sudduth - Mose Tolliver • Leie Godie Dawson 'Pete Drgac 'A drea Badami Justin McCarthy Eddie Arning Felipe Archuleta Puchio Odio Morgan Gertrude ister „
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DOYLE' NEW YORK AMERICAN FURNITURE and DECORATIONS AT AUCTION APRIL 25, 2001 To discuss consigning property to future auctions, please call Jeni Sandberg at 212-427-2730. Illustration: American Carved and Painted Wood Shoeshine Figure, Southern, circa 1930, marked SHINE 5¢, height 61 inches, width 21 inches, depth 27 inches. Estimate: $3,000-5,000. To be offered April 25, 2001. For information, catalogue orders or to receive a free schedule of upcoming auctions and events, please call our Client Services Department at 212427-4141, ext 239 or email client.services@DoyleNewYork.com. Browse our free, fully illustrated Internet catalogues and leave bids online at
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54 SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
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50 International Dealers Exhibiting PARTIAL LIST Achdjian Gallery, France Steven G. Alpert, TX Ante lentil, CA Ante Y Ritual, Spain Joan Barist Primitive Art, NY Berber and Islamic Art, Morocco James Blackmon Gallery, CA Chinalai Tribal Antiques, NY Georgia Chrischilles, Belgium C.M.G. Books and Art, Canada Sam toad, NY John J. Collins, MA Conlon Siegal Galleries, NM Conru Primitive Art, UK Joel Conner Gallery, TX Dennis George Crow, CA Taylor Dale, NM Dalton.Somari, Italy Jo De Buck, Belgium Dimondstein Tribal Arts, CA Bruce Frank, NY Galerie Valluegerrandin, France Gallery DeRoche, CA John Gihsoff, Spain H. Malcolm Grimmer, NM Philippe Guimiot, Belgium Michael Hamson Oceanic Art, CA Jewels, NM Kalabandar, MN Leonard Kalina Fine Arts, CA Oumar Keinde African Art, Senegal David M. Lantz, NY Alberto Levi Gallery, Italy Lewis/Wara Gallery, WA Lost Nation, IL Davide Manfredi, Italy Hagop Manoyan, NY Andres Moraga, CA Mirabilia MundilWayne Heathcote, UK Thomas Murray, CA Judith Small Nash, NY Aaron Nejad, UK Richard Purdon Antique Carpets, UK Marc Richards, CA Robertson African Arts, NY Clive Rogers, UK David F. Rosenthal, CA Merton D. Simpson Gallery, Inc., NY Singkiang, NY Stendahl Galleries, CA Tambaran Gallery, NY Throckmorton Fine Art Inc., NY James Willis Tribal Art, CA William Wright, NJ Purchase with confidence. All objects vetted for quality & authenticity.
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Continuedfrom page 49
Mill ON Mit— 1-1ouse viedgerow
AA
Collection
RECENT DONORS FOR EXHIBITIONS AND OPERATIONS—as of Jan.1,2001 The Museum of American Folk Art greatly appreciates the generous support of the following friends: $100,000 and above Fireman's Fund I IILL ranee Company Two anonymous donors $99,999—$50,000 Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Ralph 0.Esmerian Samuel & Betsey Farber John & Margaret Robson Two anonymous donors
New full-color catalog featuring over 200 fine quality reproductions of quilts, samplers, portraits,landscapes and still fifes. Decorative works from prestigious museums and galleries. Send $8.00 for 32-page catalog and free 5" x 7" mini print. Aaron Ashley Inc., 230 MTh %venue, Suite 400, New York, New York, 10001, 01. call 212-532-9227.
America's Premier Show of Original American Furniture to 1840 & Appropriate Accessories
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56 SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
849,999—$20,000 Edward V. Blanchard & M. Anne Hill Edith S. & Barry D. Brislcin Burnett Group Country Living magazine Mrs. Daniel Cowin David L. Davies & Jack Weeden Barbara & David 'Crashes Lipman Family Foundation, Inc. Joseph Martinson Memorial Fund Mr.& Mrs. Dana G. Mead George H. Meyer Esq. New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Pfizer, Inc. The Ridgefield Foundation Elizabeth & Geoffrey A. Stern John & Barbara Wilkerson Two anonymous donors $19,999410,000 Bear, Stearns & Co.Inc. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company The John R. and Dorothy D. Caples Fund Lucy C.& Frederick M.Danziger William Doyle Galleries Mr.& Mrs. John H. Gutfreund Furthermore, the publication program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund Joan M.& Victor L. Johnson Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies Employee Matching Gifts Program Leir Charitable Trusts Mr.& Mrs. Keith Morgan J.P. Morgan & Co., Inc. Julie K.& Samuel Palley The Parsons Family Foundation The Pinkerton Foundation Selig D. Sacks The Shirley Schlafer Foundation Schlumberger Foundation, Inc. Barbara & Thomas W.Strauss Fund Tenneco One anonymous donor 89,999-84,000 ABC,Inc. Amiens Foundation, Inc.
The Bay Fund Con Edison Jacqueline Fowler Eric J. & Anne Gleacher Goldman,Sachs & Co. Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies Jerry & Susan Lauren The Magazine Group Marstrand Foundation Marvin Kagan,Inc. Mr.& Mrs. Gerald M. Lodge The Mattie Lou O'Kelley Memorial Trust MBNA America, N.A. Neuberger Berman,LLC Mr.& Mrs. Richard D.Parsons Anthony J. Petullo Foundation, Inc. Pheasant Hill Foundation Philip Morris Companies Inc. Dorothea & Leo Rabkin Ricco/Maresca Gallery Selig D. Sacks Mr.& Mrs. Marvin Schwartz The William P.& Gertrude Schweitzer Foundation, Inc. Frederic A.& Jean S. Sharf Bennett & Judie Weinstock Robert N. Wilson Two anonymous donors 83,999-82,000 Dr. Charles L. Abney Jr. Jeremy L. Banta Elizabeth C. Bogner Robert & Kathy Booth Richard & Marian Bott Edward J. & Margaret Brown Marjorie Chester Mr.& Mrs. Edgar M. Cullman Charles E. Culpeper Fund Peggy & Richard M. Danziger Duane, Morris & Heckscher T.J. Dermot Dunphy Mr.& Mrs. Alfred C. Eckert LII Fastsigns Burton & Helaine Fendelman in memory of Ellin Ente Vira Hladun-Goldmann Su-Ellyn Goldstein Jeffrey & Lisa Grand Kristina Johnson Esq. The Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies Employee Matching Gifts Program JoCarole &.Ronald S. Lauder Taryn & Mark Leavitt Dan W.Lufkin & Silvia Kramer Manoogian Simone Foundation The Mayer-Phillips Foundation Joan & Martin Messinger Gladys Nilsson & Jim Nutt J. Randall Plummer Mr.& Mrs. Mortimer Propp William D. Rondina Peter L. Schaffer Jean S. & Frederic A. Sharf
Inn-spit** ing Art Carol P. Schatt R. Scudder & Helen Smith Raymond & Linda Simon Richard & Stephanie Solar Mr.& Mrs. David Stein Donald & Rachel Strauber Don Walters & Mary Benisek Donald & Pat Weeden The Zankel Fund One anonymous donor $1,999â&#x20AC;&#x201D;$1,000 Deborah & James Ash Didi & David Barrett Daniel Berman Mrs. Peter Bing Mr.& Mrs. James A. Block Thomas Block & Marilyn Friedman Marvin & Lois P. Broder Brenda Brody Paul & Dana Caan Citicorp Foundation Matching Gifts Program Liz Claibome Foundation The Coach Dairy Goat Farm Allan & Kendra Daniel Aaron & Judy Daniels Michael Del Castello Susan R. Cullman William Cyr David & Sheena Danziger Gary Davenport Derrel B. DePasse Maureen D. Donovan Kathleen M.Doyle Nancy Druckman The Echo Foundation Gloria G. Einbender Douglas G. Ente in memory of Ellin Ente Janey Fire & John Kalymnios Laura Fisher/Antique Quilts & Americana Florian Papp,Inc. Maxine & Stuart Frankel Foundation Jill Gallagher Daniel M.Gantt David A. Gardner Mr.& Mrs. James R. Gardner Roger L. Garrett Mr.& Mrs. Bruce Geismar Barry & Merle Ginsburg Dr. Kurt A. Gitter & Ms. Alice Yelen Baron J. & Ellen Gordon Jonathan Green Studios, Inc. Nancy & Ben Greenberg Fund Gayle Greenhill Cordelia Hamilton Mr.& Mrs. James Harithas Terry B. Heled Mr.& Mrs. Richard Herbst Stephen Hessler & Mary Ellen Vehlow Thomas Isenberg Mr.& Mrs. Thomas C. Israel Louise & George Kaminow Robert & Luise Kleinberg Joel & Kate Kopp Robert A. Landau
Mr.& Mrs. Lawrence J. Lasser Naomi Leff Glorya & Fred Leighton Barbara S. Levinson Mr.& Mrs. Carl M.Lindberg Carl D. Lobe11 & Kate Stettner Nancy B. Maddrey Jane Marcher Charitable Foundation C. Mattsson The Helen R.& Harold C. Mayer Foundation Mrs. Myron L. Mayer Judith & James Milne Judith & Bernard Newman David O'Connor Philip V. Oppenheimer & Close Mr.& Mrs. Francis C. Parson Jr. Dr. Burton W.Pearl Mr.& Mrs. Daniel Pollack Polo Ralph Lauren Jack & Roberta E. Rabin Irene Reichert Mr.& Mrs. Keith Reinhard Paige Rense Betty Ring Mr.& Mrs. Daniel Rose Mr.& Mrs. Jeff T. Rose Stella Rubin Antiques Howard J. Rubenstein Riccardo Salmona The San Diego Foundation Chartnaine & Maurice Kaplan Fund Mr.& Mrs. Henry B. Schacht Kerry Schuss Semlitz Glaser Foundation Harvey S. Shipley Miller Myron B.& Cecile B. Shure Hardwicke Simmons Steven Simons & Cheryl Rivers Nell Singer Donna & Elliott Slade Mr.& Mrs. Richard Solomon Patricia & Robert Stempel Doris & Stanley Tananbaum Mr.& Mrs. Jeff Tarr David Teiger Dennis Thomas Mr.& Mrs. James S. Tisch Mr.& Mrs. Laurence Tisch Peter & Lynn Tishman Barbara Trueman Mr.& Mrs. Barry Tucker Ms. Karel F. Wahrsager Mr.& Mrs. David C. Walentas Clinton Walker Foundation Mr.& Mrs. Charles G. Ward Ill Irwin H.& Elizabeth V. Warren Alan N.& Barbara Weeden Mr.& Mrs. John L. Weinberg Gerard C. Wertkin Janis & William Wetsman G. Marc Whitehead Michael Willoughby & Associates. Ltd. Dr. & Mrs. Joseph M. Winston
Lions & Eagles & Bulls Early American Tavern & Inn Signs from The Connecticut Historical Society
Exhibition open through April 29,2001
www.chs.org/signs 192-page full-color exhibition catalogue, published in association with Princeton University Press. (S29.50 paperback!$49.50 hardcover)
GIs The Connecticut Historical Society One Elizabeth Street Hartford (860)236-5621
AMERICAN STONEWARE COLLECTORS "AUCTION AND APPRAISAL SERVICES"
Richard C. Hume P.O. Box 281
Carl Wissler 2015 Lilitz Pike
Bay Head, N.J. 08742 732-899-8707
Lancaster, PA. 17601 717-569-2309
(continued on page 60)
SPRING 2001 FOLK ART 57
MUSEUM
REPRODUCTIONS
PROGRAM
ALICE J. HOFFMAN
44fnetrd 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 enjoyed for generations to come. -tNew Directions The Museum welcomes its newest licensees: *Timeframed Every object tells a story.... Timeframed, a leading publisher of limited-edition themed collections, has chosen to feature the Bird ofParadise Quilt Top and selected works from the Kane-Greenberg Collection of the Art of the Cigar Label in the first of an American folk art series to be created for the Museum. Timeframed celebrates the mystery of the Quilt Top in a beautifully framed collection, complete with reproductions of the templates that served as patterns for the quiltmaker and a portrait of the woman presumed to be the creator of this enchanting and enduring masterpiece. In "The Decorative Art of the Cigar Box," Timeframed has reproduced the advertising and marketing art related to the tobacco industry in America and assembled this collection in a specially designed boxed edition. An informational booklet and a certificate of authenticity accompany each of these unique editions. News front Museum Licensees Share our legacy; look for new products from our family of licensees, featuring unique designs inspired by objects from the Museum's collection. *Galison Two Masterpieces .... Girl in Red Dress with Cat and Dog by Ammi Phillips, and The Peaceable Kingdom, by Edward
GI SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
Hicks, are now available from Galison in its Portfolio Note series. Twelve notecards—six of each painting—make a perfect gift or a great way to say "hello" or "thank you." *On the Wall Productions Magic Cubes.... Three new puzzle cubes—Pieties Quilt, African American Quilts, and Patriotic Quilts and Coverlets—featuring traditional and contemporary textiles from the Museum's permanent collection are now available. The Pieties Quilt cube unfolds to reveal inspirational sayings that 79-year-old quiltmaker Maria Cadman Hubbard pieced into the white squares and rectangles of the geometric pattern of the quilt she created in 1848. The African American Quilts and Patriotic Quilts and Coverlets cubes each feature details of nine themerelated textiles. A brochure with text and full-color illustrations of the quilts and coverlets provides educational material appropriate for all ages. 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 Col1ection,n4 please contact us at 212/9777170.
Cigar Proof Label
AMERICAN FOLK ART musttst Galison Portfolio Notecards
vir Family of Licensees American Pacific Enterprises(415/7821250) quilts, shams, and pillows. Carvin Folk Art Designs,Inc.(212/755-6474) gold-plated and enameled jewelry. Fotofolio (212/2260923)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. LiquidArt, Ltd.(312/644-0251) digital art reproduction screensavers. Manticore Inc. (800/782-2645) mouse pads, screen savers, coasters, and note cubes. Mary Myers Studio (800/829-9603) wooden nutcrackers, nodders, and tree ornaments. On The Wall Productions, Inc.(800/788-4044) Magic Cubes. Organic Lands(315/858-3810) organic deli items. Takashhnaya Company,Ltd. (212/350-0550) home furnishings and decorative accessories(available only in Japan). Timeframed (313/885-1399)limited editions of unique collectibles. Tyndale,Inc. (773/384-0800)lighting and lamp shades. Wild Apple Graphics, Ltd.(800/756-8359) fine art reproduction prints and posters.
MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLK ART COLLECTION 11
I ',I 5) ? 4iiii, (
Inspired by nineteenth century designsfrom the Museum ofAmerican Folk Art's collection ofover 400 quilts. 222 COLUMBUS AVE., SAN FRANCISCO CA 9413 i
AMERICAN PACIFIC
PHONE 415.782.1250 FAX 415.782.1260
DONORS an art studio & gallery creating opportunities for adults with disabifities through creativity
Sophie
MUSEUM
John & Phyllis Wishnick Laurie Wolfe & Ann C.S. Benton Anonymous in honor of Gerard C. Werticin Yale R. Burge Antiques Three anonymous donors
109 Rea Avenue El Cajon na Woodruff 02000
CA 92020
619
Angel in the Arbo
593 2205
fiddlesticks Kristina Woodruff Autistic Savant march 1 through may 31, 2001
Greeting Cards . Prints . Original Art Brochure Available . www.stmsc.org
ANTON HAARDT GALLERY MONTGOMERY, AL (334) 263.5494 II NEW ORLEANS ANNEX (504) 897.1172
www.antonart.com
SO SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
OF
AMERICAN
Continuedfrom page 57
$999â&#x20AC;&#x201D;$500 The Acorn Foundation A. Marshall Acuff, Jr. Joan H. Adler Alexander Gallery Ms. Mary Lou Alpert Richard C.& Ingrid Anderson Anton Haardt Foundation Mr.& Mrs. Al Bachman Frank 8t June Barsalona Mr. & Mrs. Barry Beil Charles Benenson Leonard Block Jeffrey & Tina Bolton Marilyn & Orren Bradley Marc & Laurie ICrasny Brown Deborah Bush Laurie Carmody Mr. & Mrs. Dick Cashin The Chase Manhattan Foundation Matching Gift Program Mr.& Mrs. Robert Cochran Maggie Cohen Mrs. Phyllis Collins Stephen H. Cooper & Prof. Karen Gross Country Floors,Inc. Judy Cowen Michael F. Coyne & Monica Longworth Karen L. Cramer Simon Critchell Mary G. Cullen Mr.& Mrs. Lewis Cullman Kathryn M. Curran Debevoise & Plimpton Don & Marion DeWitt Mr.& Mrs. Gerald T. DiManno Cynthia Drasner Arnold & Debbie Dunn Edward Clifford Durrell III Shirley Durst Raymond C. Egan Mr.& Mrs. Alvin Einbender Epstein Philanthropies Ross & Gladys Faires Robert & Bobbie Falk 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 Margaret A. Gilliam Elizabeth Gilmore Mrs. Bruce Gimbel 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 Mr.& Mrs. William P. Hayes Audrey B. Heckler Mr.& Mrs. Tom Hess Leonard & Arlene Hochman Mr. & Mrs. Robert Hodes John & Laima Hood Mr.& Mrs. Fred Imberman Michael T. lncantalupo Mr.& Mrs. Ken Iscol Pepi & Vera Jelinek Betty Wold Johnson & Douglas F. Bushnell Brenda L. Johnson Guy Johnson Richard T. Kanter 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 John J. Kirby Jr. Barbara S. Klinger Sherry Kronenfeld Mr.& Mrs. Theodore A. Kurz Elizabeth Larson Luara Lauder Mr.& Mrs. Leonard A. Lauder Wendy & Mel Lavitt Stanley A. Lewis Lewis Mittman, Inc. Sherwin & Shirley Lindenbaum Gloria & Patrick Lonergan 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. 011man Paul L.& Nancy Oppenheimer David Passerman Bob Patton & Busser Howell Janet S. Petry Mr.& Mrs. Laurence B. Pike
FOLK
EUROPEAN SELF-TAUGHT NAIVE ART
ART
B. BAHUNEK Dr.& Mrs. Roger Rose Abbey Rosenwald Robert A. Roth Jotmes Ruta Merilyn Sandin-Zarlengo Mr.& Mrs. Robert T. Schaffner Margaret Schmidt Mr.& Mrs. Carl J. Schmitt Mr.& Mrs. Jospeh D. Shein Robert & Minda Shein Mr.& Mrs. Ronald Shelp Bruce B. Shelton Joel & Susan Simon Philanthropic Fund Michael Simon Rita A. Sklar John & Stephanie Smither Theresa Snyder Karen Sobotka Peter J. Solomon Kathryn Staley
Randall Gallery 1980 Premrou Gallery 1982 Randall Gallery 1983 Brewster Gallery 1984
4 18" oil on camas / "LadyWith The Dog" 211
THE JEAN UPPAAN FELLOWS 2000 Fellows Jeremy L. Banta Mr. Ronald Bourgeault Mary Benisek & Don Walters Edith S. Briskin Edward & Margaret Brown Virginia G. Cave Marjorie Chester Nancy Druckman Andrew Ellin Gloria Einbender Su-Ellyn Goldstein Peter & Barbara Goodman Howard M. Graff Mr. Richard W. Herbst Harvey Kahn Susan Kleckner Susan & Jerry Lauren Mr. & Mrs. Gerald M. Lodge
B. Bahunek has exhibited in major cities around the world including in Italy, Austria, Germany,Holland, Korea,and in New York
Mr.& Mrs. Victor Studer Maryann Sudo Barbara & Donald Tober Foundation Mr.Frank Tosto Dorothy C. Treisman Mr.& Mrs. Raymond S. Troubh United Way of Dutchess County Angela Usrey Mr.& Mrs. Hugh B. Vanderbilt Mr.& Mrs. Joseph Viener Robert & Ruth Vogele Jennifer Walker Herbert Well In honor of Bennett Weinstock from his Friends Margaret Wenstrup Susi Wuennenberg Tim & Nina Zagat Diana Zanganas Jon & Rebecca Zoler One anonymous donor
Eric J. Maffei Anne & Jeff Miller Keith Morgan Wendy Nadler J. Randall Plummer Cheryl Rivers Luise Ross Carol Peden Schatt Donna & Marvin Schwartz Jean S. & Frederic A. Sharf Harvey S. Shipley Miller Linda & Ray Simon Mr.& Mrs. R. L. Solar Mr. William W.Stahl Jr. Donald & Rachel Strauber Tracy Goodnow Art & Antique Dr. Sini von Reis Elizabeth V. Warren
Bahunek paints beautiful female figures in interiors,their voluptuousness and fragility, with subtle and harmonious use of color. His female figures are filled with life. Bahunek is distinct and unique.
MODERN ART COLLECTORS Ltd Sandra B. Premrou By Appointment. 165 W.66 Street,#3V, New York, NY 10023. 212.873.0162 e-mail: natasab@earthlink.net www.modernartcollectors.com — please visit our website —
Mary Michael Shelley Painted low relief woodcarvings since 1973
RECENT DONORS TO THE COLLECTIONS Gifts Judith Alexander Barbara Blank & Barry Shapiro Peter P. Cecere Anna K. Conti David L. Davies Mike & Lucy Danziger Ralph 0. Esmerian Virginia Esmerian Zipporah Fleisher Jacqueline Fowler Kurt Gitter & Alice Rae Yelen Ruth P. Horwich
Thomas Isenberg Kristina Johnson Arthur & Sybil Kern Lee & Ed Kogan Stephanie Fowler Levin George H. Meyer Mr. 8c Mrs. A. Richard Moore Cyril Irwin Nelson Sanford L. Smith Bonnie & Tom Strauss Gregory Warmack as Mr. Imagination
www.maryshelleyfolkart.com 607-272-5700 109 Park Place, Ithaca, N.Y. 14850 summer saturdays - demonstration carving at the Ithaca Farmers' Market (www.ithacamarket.com)
SPRING 2001 FOLK ART 6.1
Fall Antiques Show 2000 he 22nd annual Fall Antiques Show,held at the Park Avenue Armory and organized by Sanford L. Smith and Associates, kicked off on Wednesday, Nov. 15 with the Museum's Fall Antiques Show Benefit Preview. This year's Preview theme was "Construction," celebrating the "topping off" (adding of the roof)of the Museum's new building on West 53rd Street. The Armory was suitably decorated with special displays at the show floor's entrance and on the buffet stations. Near the entrance was a construction fence, complete with the stenciled notice "POST NO BILLS." Cutout peepholes invited guests to take a look at the building's progress, which was artfully represented by large, backlit transparent photos of the actual construction site. The wait staff dressed in hard hats, T-shirts, jeans, and boots, carried hors d'oeuvres, and circulated cocktails and champagne. The sumptuous fare was catered by Great Performances Catered Events. The 1,200 guests entered to lively fiddle music from Sam Duffy and enjoyed Zane Massey's saxophoneplaying in the café area. The Museum would like to thank the event's Principal Sponsor, Fireman's Fund Insurance Company;Leading Sponsors, Country Living magazine and JP Morgan & Co.; and Sponsors Bennett& Judie Weinstock Interiors, Inc. and Pentagram; as well as Benefit Chairs Harry and Kristina Davidson and Judie and Bennett Weinstock ... Benefit Co-Chairs Molly Ashby and Gerry Lodge... Educational Chair Vera Jelinek ... and Special Events Committee Chair Lauren Sara Morgan. The evening was a smashing success. Thanks to the generosity of the Museum's trustees, Folk Art
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62 SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
magazine hosted a celebratory supper for the dealers and their staff on Tuesday evening. The party was held in the Jolie Kelter and Michael Make with Trustee Lucy Armory's C. Danziger Tiffany Room. Vegetarian chili and chili con came were served—a welcome hot meal after a day of intense work setting up the booths—along Trustee Nathaniel Sutton with drinks, hors d'oeuvres, and dessert. On Wednesday afternoon, Trustee Lucy C. Danziger and her husband, Mike, graciously hosted a tea (with champagne)for members of The American Folk Art Society, the Preview's honorees. On the Friday evening following the Preview, the Museum sponsored a Young Collectors' Evening for Museum staff, members, and friends 35 years old or younger. Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres were served in the café area,followed by a special tour and dealer talks in their booths. The participating dealers were Laura Fisher, Rufus Foshee, Ken Kohn, Jackie Radwin, and Stephen Score. The cost of this special evening was only $30; it was free for those who held Americus tickets to the Preview. The Museum's annual walking tours of the show,"In the Company of Experts," were held on Thursday, Nov. 16, and Saturday, Nov. 18. They were led by Paul D'Ambrosio, director of exhibitions and folk art, New York State Historical Association; Nancy
Trustee Barry Briskin and dealer Frank Maresca
Trustee Joyce Cowin, Director Gerard C. Wertkin, and Dana Mead
Benefit Chairs Judie and Bennett Weinstock
Druckman,senior vice president, director of American folk art, Sothebey's; John Hays,senior vice president, director of American decorative arts, Christie's; Susan Kleckner, vice president, director of folk art and decorative arts, Christie's; Virginia Cave, collector and former dealer; Stacy C. Hollander, senior curator and director of exhibitions, Museum of American Folk Art; and Lee Kogan,director of the Folk Art Institute, Museum of American Folk Art. Each tour started with a continental breakfast and took place before the exhibition floor opened to the public—the very best way to see the show!
Philadelphia F1, Antiques Show
April 6, 2001 (Bow. 6/016c
April 7-11, 2001 103rd Engineers Armory 33rd Street North of Market Philadelphia, PA
AZIC /../a/y Department of Medicine University of Pennsylvania Medical Center â&#x20AC;˘ For information call (215) 387-3500 www.PhilaAntiques.com ,1 6
f r: eYtireealf,etvo4 gitaistuf Celebrating the Collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art Presenting Sponsor
GLENMEDE
MUSEUM
NEWS
Artist Frederick Weston in the Museum's Eva and Morris Feld Gallery.
Day With(out) Art or the past 12 years, December 1 has been set aside as the international Day With(out) Art to increase AIDS awareness in the visual arts. To mark this special day, Frederick Weston, an artist living with the HIV virus and a participant in the Visual AIDS program, spoke at the Museum to the students of a creative writing class from New York's La Guardia High School of the Arts. Weston brought with him Blue Bathroom Blues, a traveling art installation of 40 medicine and hygienic
F
product containers. He talked about this work, his other collages, his experiences living with HIV, and his poetry, which he read aloud. His presentation was followed by a lively questionand-answer period. After returning to La Guardia, teacher Karyn Kay charged her students to draw on this experience to create their own poetry; she then sent the results to the Museum. William Louis-Dreyfus, co-president of the Poetry Society of America, read the poems and chose four of them to be presented
by their authors at a follow-up breakfast for all of the participating students on Friday, Feb. 9; the poems are published below. The Museum's participation in the Day With(out) Art was organized by Diana Schlesinger, the Museum's director of education, and Christopher Hogan, executive director of Visual AIDS. Special thanks go out to Nelson Santos, assistant director, Visual AIDS; Jeff Levitsky, coordinator of school activities for La Guardia School of the Arts;
Karyn Kay,La Guardia creative writing teacher; William LouisDreyfus; the Museum's Special Events Coordinator Katie Hush and Sue Conlon of the Director's office; and especially artist Frederick Weston and the students of La Guardia for making this important event possible. Visual AIDS is an organization devoted to the promotion of AIDS awareness and education and to raising money to provide services for artists living with HIV/AIDS.
Trash
Open Eyes
Untitled
By Alexandra Conway
By Kathleen McGuire
By Caroline Lagnado
You never know where your trash is going to lead you You never know quite where you'll end up. Blue Bathroom blues, Black bedroom Ballads or something else entirely Bottles, cans, bits of old paper Discarded by one saved by another Neatly lined up in a row A piece of art. But where does this stop being you and start being me.
Climbing along I noticed a pair glowing thin slit eyes of a cat following me with every move. They watched me swimming, utilizing all I know. They observed me uplifting, ripples through my spine. They viewed me dripping, a leaky faucet broke. They looked at me flying, taken by movement. Inseparable yellow piercing, seeing me pale. With no prescription needed, not one blankness of stare. No falter nor blink never a judgement. Following chasms deep, placing me simple but there. Seeing what others may never see. Knowing what no one had ever known. Slowly teaching, the beauty beheld, and wisdom obtained. Ending me complete.
Your world is that of blue and glitter and glow in the dark fun You are the one with the 'gay cancer'
Untitled By Phindi Kekana It's not so bad at all. It's not the worst thing that ever happened to me. I mean sometimes it hurts, but not like a knife to the heart. It kind of hurt when my brother didn't look my way. When my sister turned me away, but it was okay. It was pain when my daddy didn't know my name. I know it's not the same as a bullet to the brain. So it's not the worst. I could be in a hearse or on my deathbed. With so much unsaid, undone. Now,one by one,I see them go. They float on to that better place (If they make it there). And I don't know where there is, but maybe it's better than here. Still I know I'm not ready to see it. I just don't want to know it because I'm not ready to leave this. So while I'm here ... I guess it's not so bad at all.
84 SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
Mine is the world of being 'scrubbed' and 'good' faced with such trivialities that I am ashamed to worry about them You look to your dreams for answers. I look to my mother.
The most exciting summer show in the country...more fine antiques than can be found anywhere, shown by America'sfinest dealers.
WILTON OUTDOOR ANTIQUES MARKETPLACE To benefit Wilton Kiwanis Club and Wilton Y
June 23 & 24, Sat. & Sun. 10-5 Admission $7 - with card/ad $6 Early Buying Sat. 8-10 A.M. Adm. $20
"The Meadows" North of Wilton High School
Route 7- Wilton, Conn. A unique assemblage of 200 exhibitors offering AUTHENTIC ANTIQUES, in room settings, under tents, in a meadow in WILTON — renowned for quality shows. • Country and period formal American & European furniture • Folk art • American Indian arts • Ceramics • American Arts and Crafts • 20th century design • Silver, Jewelry • Decorative arts • Garden and architecturals • Vintage toys WILTON redefines "outdoor show"... It is the "indoor show" held outdoors.
AMERICAN CRAFTSMANSHIP at its best... Traditional crafts, folk art and fine furniture ****
The Historical Society of Delaware American Masters Show It will not take place in 2000(venue not available) but will return in May 2001 to the U.S.A. Riverfront Arts Center in Wilmington, DE ****
Americana Artisans at Hancock Shaker Village July 7 & 8 Junction of Routes 20 & 41,Pittsfield, Mass. ****
Wilton Historical Society Celebration of American Craftsmanship November 10 & 11 Wilton High School Field House Route 7,Wilton, Conn. **** These premier events showcase the finest in collector quality traditional and contemporary folk arts featuring the work of many of the nations most talented artisans exhibiting in gallery or room settings. Produced by Marilyn Gould
Produced by Marilyn Gould Only 50 miles from New York City • Merritt Parkway: Exit 39B from the west. Exit 41 from the east • 1-95: Exit 15, north 8 miles • 1-84: Rt. 7, south 12 miles • Metro North railroad to Cannondale Station
MCG Antiques Promotions 10 Chicken St., Wilton, Conn.06897
(203) 762-3525
MCG Antiques Promotions 10 Chicken St., Wilton, Conn.06897 (203)762-3525
Artist Albino Carreira at his home "Woodcakes"
BILLY RAY HUSSEY "DEVIL"
if.
Billy Ray Hussey•Charlie Lisk v Lanier Meaders Burlon Craig• Edwin Meaders v Kim Ellington Stacy Lambert v The Crockers•Steven Abee Joe Reinhardt•Walter Fleming v Roger Hicks
Select Southern Pottery
‘2.
LYNN MELTON 901 Greenwood Drive Greensboro,NC 27410 (336) 632-1413 - e-mail: LMelton222@aol.com www.selectpottery.corn ,,vit:o.:4K4f,D0,-.../.,-,4K.K.K.K4IDT.NDic4E4K4iDigort:41K.K.K4K4K4K41.x.:41t14K4iD
Explorers in Toronto ast autumn, thirty-five Museum members enjoyed perfect autumn weather on a tour of Toronto and the surrounding area. The trip, which took place Oct. 17 to 22, began with a visit to the Joseph Schneider Haus in the Mennonite town of Kitchener, Ontario. Michael Bird, noted author and Canadian folk art scholar, spoke to the group and showed them some of the folk art from the museum's collection storage area. Also included were visits to artists Victor and Judith Tinld, Lynne McEvride Evans, Sheila Ruth Maloney,James Patterson, Menno Krant, and Albino Carreira. Collectors Paul and Lyn Maduale and Patricia and Ralph Price welcomed the Explorers into their homes. A number of galleries were also visited, includ-
L
ing the Nancy Poole Studio, From Halifax to Hogtown, and the Creative Spirit Art Center, a lively venue featuring a program for disabled artists. A stop at Niagara Falls and a visit to the Shaw Festival to see a performance of George Bernard Shaw's The Doctor's Dilemma were also part of the very busy schedule. The membership department would like to thank Museum member Lorna Prowse of Toronto for her help in organizing the tour and for graciously entertaining the group at her home one evening. For information on future Folk Art Explorers tours, please call Beth Bergin or Suzannah Schatt in the membership office at 212/9777170 or e-mail folkartexplorers @folkartmuseum.org.
Member Boots Fehr with "Ague crested by sculptor Victor field
Conversations 2001 he Contemporary Center's Conversations 2001 celebrates a second year of programming devoted to issues and ideas in the work of contemporary self-taught artists. This year's series brings together artists, art historians, critics, and curators in dynamic dialogues with the public on the challenging topics of classification, inclusion, and quality. On Feb.7 Dan Cameron, senior curator of the New Museum of Contemporary Art, participated
T Mary T. Smith
CONIIMPORARY AMIRICAN FOLK ART & 5111-1AU6NI ARI Mike Smith A At Home Gallery 2802 Shady Lawn Drive Greensboro, North Carolina 27408 AtHome98@aoLcom (336)540-0080
www.athomegallery.com
66 SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
in the discussion "Language, Labels, and the Artist," an examination of the implications of language used to group artists together. On March 7 New York City artist Kulculi Velarde presented "Field of View." Two more events in the series are schedule for April and May. All programs will take place at the Manhattan branch of the Pratt Institute, located in The Puck Building, 295 Lafayette Street. See "Spring Programs" on page 70 for more information.
Christopher Gurshin cAldpaildeng /966 dare'
Winter's Eve n Dec. 4, the Museum participated in a celebration with its neighbors at the first annual Winter's Eve at Lincoln Square—a one-night holiday festival featuring free performances, discounted shopping, and a tasting tour of the neighborhood's top restaurants. The festivities immediately following Lincoln Center's annual tree lighting were presented by the Lincoln
O
Center Business Improvement District and hosted by more than five dozen area shops, restaurants, and cultural organizations. The Museum of American Folk Art presented Prairie Home Companion favorites Jay Unger and Molly Mason,composers of the score for Ken Burns' Civil War miniseries, along with daughter Ruth Unger on banjo, and fiddler Peter Ostroushko in a rare ensemble performance. More than 400 visitors enjoyed singing and dancing in the charming atmosphere of the exhibition "An Left to right: Peter Engagement with Ostroushko, Jay Folk Art: Cyril 'Unger, Ruth Nelson's Gifts to Unger, and .Molly Mason the Museum."
"Catch of the Day" This flat oil painting measures 11 x 14 on stretched canvas and has a hand painted frame. Paintings available in the exhibition sales shop of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts "American Folk" exhibit April 8th till August 5th, 2001 WWW.christophergurshin.com Box 634 Newburyport, Massachusetts 01950 978 - 462 - 7761
Betty Shamblen
OBITUARY
Folk Art Watercolor Simon Sparrow 1914-2000 Simon Sparrow, an artist known for his sparkling assemblages of colorful beads, shells, buttons, glitter, and costume jewelry on plywood, and his pastels on paper and poster board, died Sept. 26,in Madison, Wis. Born on Oct.16, 1914, Sparrow briefly attended school in North Carolina, where his parents were sharecroppers. He moved to Philadelphia as a young man and in 1943, after serving a little more than two years in the army, he moved to New York City, where he worked as a housepainter. Here he began to preach and to draw. In 1969,Sparrow moved to Madison, Wis., where he continued to paint houses,to preach informally in his community, and began to create his extraordinary assemblages. Sparrow's works—faces, human figures, and animals
informed by a spiritual and religious vocabulary—were featured in the exhibition "Muffled Voices: Folk Artists in Contemporary America"(1986), PaineWebber Art Gallery, organized by the Museum of American Folk Art, and "Religious Visionaries"(1991), John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wis. He is included in Museum ofAmerican Folk Art Encyclopedia of TwentiethCentury American Folk Art and Artists(1990), by Chuck and Jan Rosenak, and Self-Taught, Outsider, and Folk Art(2000), by Betty-Carol Sellen with Cynthia J. Johanson. His work is in the permanent collection of the Milwaukee Art Museum. —Lee Kogan
"Hand Cut Weathervanes" 2000 Original, 17" x 20"
31' x 10'
Reproductions
,4 1 The Country Gardner 17" x 25'
Spring in the Country 17" e20"
Spring Quilt Sale 17" 20'
www.mygalleryandme.com Tele:(716) 223-3404
Fax: (716) 223-1769
SPRING 2001 FOLK ART 67
Members of the Smithtown Quitters, George and Virginia Siciliano
JOHN C. HILL
NTIQUE INDIAN ART
6962 E. 1st Ave.
(480)-946-2910
Scottsdale, Arizona 85251
antqindart@aol.com
Quilt Day he Museum held its annual Quilt Day on Saturday, Oct. 21,2000. Every year, the Museum invites members of the area's quilt guilds to come to the Museum to discuss their organization's goals and the art and history of quiltmalcing, and to demonstrate quilting techniques. This year's participants included the Empire Quilters' Guild, the Long Island Quilters' Society, the Quilters of Color Network of New York, Inc., the Quilters' Guild of Brooklyn, the Smithtown Quilters [of Long Island], and the Women of Color Quilters' Network, New York chapter. The day started with a tour of the exhibition "An Engagement with Folk Art: Cyril I. Nelson's Gifts to the Museum," led by Quilt Day organizer Lee Kogan, director of the Museum's Folk Art Institute; demonstrations started at noon. The Museum was filled with happy, enthusiastic
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Hopi Palhik Mana Katsina, 12" high, circa 1900
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participants and overflowed with a myriad of gorgeous patterns and colors.
EXHIBITIONS
Mark your calendars for the following Museum of American Folk Art exhibition when it travels to your area during the coming months: Nov. 11, 2001—Feb. 3, 2002 ABCD: A Collection of Art Brut John Michael Kohler Arts Center Sheboygan, Wisconsin April 27—Aug. 3, 2002 ABCD: A Collection of Art Brut High Museum of Art, Folk Art and Photography Galleries Atlanta
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P LEASE VISIT OUR NEWLY D ESIGNED WEB SITE AT
www.YARDDOG.com 1510 S. Congress Austin, TX 78704 512.912.1613
68 SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
Members of the Women of Color Quitters' Network, Myrah Brown Green, Dindga McCannon, Echohnetta Miller, Peggie Hartwell
Nov. 8, 2002—Jan. 26, 2003 ABCD: A Collection of Art Brut Mennello Museum of American Folk Art Orlando, Florida 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.
WILLIAM L. HAWKINS DRAWINGS
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also: Elijah Pierce Popeye Reed Mary Merrill T.E. Hay Levent Isik and Leanne Paeltz the "Wolf Lady"
ONIMOSSAUP
Torwrgirmirnivo-viirgo
LINDSAY GALLERY 1991 GUILFORD RD. COLUMBUS, OHIO 43221 614-486-1973
IND1610 ARTS
lindsaygallery.homestead.com
Haiti: Vodou Visionaries March 9-May 26, 2001
Hairdresser's Sign (Togo)
Popular and Folk Art from Asia, Africa and the Americas Haitian Paintings • Metal Sculpture • Vodou Flags West African Barber Shop Signs • Huichol Paintings Mexican th.• Latin American Folk Carvings & Paintings Ethnographic Sculpture, Furniture 6-Textiles 151 N. 3rd 5treet, Philadelphia, PA 19106 215-922-4041 fax: 215-922-0.395 www.indigoarts.com
Intuit
Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art
756 N. Milwaukee Ave. Chicago, IL 60622 Ph 312.243.9088 Fx 312.243.9089 http://outsider.art.org Wednesday-Saturday noon-5 p.m, and by appointment
SPRING 2001 FOLK ART 69
SPRING
AMERICNS OLDEST MAKERS OF COLONIAL AND EARLY AMERICAN LIGHTING FIXTURES
CylDJ AUTHENTIC DESIGNS 17 The Mill Road West Rupert, Vermont 05776 (802) 394-7713 Catalogue $3.00
Classic Rug Collection, Inc. QUILT PATTERNED RUGS & RUNNERS made of laser-cut hand-pieced carpet Each rug is a unique work of art. Custom sizes, colors and patterns. We can make a rug to match your favorite quilt. call for a free catalog 718 369 9011 or 1 888 334 0063 (toll free)
www.classicrug.com
70 SPRING 2001 FOLK 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 2001 A series ofevening dialogues inviting afresh look at the following topics. 6 P.M. The Puck Building, Room 21, 295 Lafayette Street, N.Y.C. Wednesday, April 11 Questioning Quality Susan H. Edwards, executive director, Katonah Museum of Art, New York Moderator: Cheryl Rivers Wednesday, May 2 Aspects of Henry Darger Mac Wellman, author; director, The Ridge Theater, Brooklyn Monroe Denton, instructor, School of Visual Arts, N.Y.C. Moderator: John Gordon, provost, Pratt Institute, N.Y.C. TUNES AND TALKS: CONTEXTUALIZING ART BRUT Presented in conjunction with "ABCD:A Collection ofArt Brut" 6:00 P.M. Thursday, March 22 In Pursuit of l'Art Brut Phyllis Kind, Phyllis Kind Gallery Thursday, April 5 Mediumistic Art Patrice Keane, executive director, The American Societyfor Psychical Research Thursday, April 19 The Art of Adolf Wolfli Elka Spoerri, Dr.h.c.,former curator, Adolf Wolin Foundation at the Museum ofFine Arts, Bern, Switzerland Thursday, May 3 Schumann: Music, Mood Swings,and Madness Richard Kogan,psychiatrist and pianist
Thursday, May 17 Discovering the Lost Chord: Celebrating Outsider Music Irwin Chusid, author, Songs in the Key of Z: The Curious Universe of Outsider Music ON THURSDAYS: TAKE A BREAK FOR ART BRUT Informal and informative lunchtime curatorial talks presented in conjunction with "ABCD:A Collection ofArt Brut" 12:00-1:00 P.M. Thursday, April 5 Lee Kogan, director, Folk Art Institute, Museum ofAmerican Folk Art Thursday, May 3 Jenifer P. Borum, exhibition co-curator Thursday,June 7 Brooke Davis Anderson, exhibition co-curator; director, The Contemporary Center, Museum ofAmerican Folk Art SUNDAY FAMILY PROGRAMS 2:00-4:00 P.M. For children age 5 and up. Materials fee: $3 Reservations are required. Please call the Museum at 212/595-9533 or sign up at the reception desk. Programs will explore the connections between music, movement, and visual art. March 25 Exquisite Corpse April 8 Hidden Pictures April 22 Leaping Lines May 6 Wind Watching May 20 Little Quilt Cards June 10 & 24 Book Blast
Star Productions
OVER40 FOLK SIRTISTS
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LONNIE HOLLEO "Sandman"
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CHARLIE LUCTIS • •• "Tin Man"
me
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*TRADITIONAL Cli.11FTS Rive-rfest Weekend's FoLlilife ViUie Sirt show &tie April 27, 28, 29, 2001 Columbus Convention & Trade Center • Columbus, Georgia This event is made possible in part, by the City of Columbus, through a grant to the Cultural Arts Alliance of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce
Contact
ILAIDELp _ 4IfA s 4/011,„,411w
Maned,706424-7417 or 706-323-1439
New York's Largest Antiques Show!
TRIPLE PIER EXPO Over 600 Different Exhibits Each Weekend
March 17-18 & 24-25 PIER 88
PIER 90
PIER 92
Sat. 11-6, Sun. 11-7
Sat. 9-6, Sun. 11-5
Sat 10-6. Sun. 11-6
Includes 18th Century to 1970's Art & Artifacts. Furniture, Folk Art. Silver, Porcelains, Paintings, Prints. Pottery. Textiles, Collectibles. Toys, Deco, Moderns, Kitchen, Kitsch, Vintage Fashions, Statuary, Art Glass, Asian, Americana, Jewelry, Garden & Architectural Artifacts, Rustic & More. PASSENGER SHIP TERMINAL PIERS
Nav Pier Antiques Show Presented by Philadelphia Magazine
Featuring 68 nationally recognized American & European antiques specialists. * Period Furniture * Folk Art * Textiles * Ceramics * Fine Art * Metalwares * Garden * jewelry * Period Accessories * No Preview * No Early Buyers Special Show Exhibit, Free Appraisal Clinic Free Parking and more!
FRIDAY, APRIL 6 thru SUNDAY, APRIL 8, 2001 Friday: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., $15 Saturday: 10 a.m. - 7 p.m., $10 Sunday: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., $10 at the Center, Bldg. #3 Business Naval S. Broad St., off 1-95 at Exit 14(North or South) Philadelphia, PA
88, 90 & 92 48TH TO 55TH STREET AND 12TH AVENUE, NEW YORK CITY ADMISSION S12
STELLA SHOW MGMT. CO. 212-255-0020
www.steilashows.com
BARN STAR PRODUCTIONS
Frank Gaglio, manager 56 E. Market St., Suite B Rhinebeck, New York 12572
For Brochure and Further Information call (215) 462-4400
SPRING 2001 FOLK ART 71
EPSTEIN/POWELL 66 Grand St., New York, N.Y. 10013 By Appointment(212)226-7316 e-mail: artfolksemindspring.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 Stringfield Mose Tolliver and other American outsiders
INDEX
TO
ADVERTISERS
Aaron Ashley,Inc. 56 American Pacific Enterprises, Inc. 59 American Primitive Gallery 2 American Stoneware Collectors 57 The Ames Gallery 8 Anne Bourassa 50,51 Anton Haardt Gallery 60 At Home Gallery 66 Authentic Designs 70 Barn Star Productions, Inc. 71 Betty W.Shamblen 67 Caskey-Lees 55 Cavin-Morris, Inc. 13 Christie's 17 Christopher Gurshin 67 Classic Rug Collection Inc. 70 The Connecticut Historical Society 57 David Wheatcroft 9 Epstein/Powell 72 Fleisher/Oilman Gallery Back Cover
72 SPRING 2001 FOLK ART
Forbes & Turner Gilley's Gallery Hill Gallery Indigo Arts Intuit J. Crist Gallery Jackie Radwin John C. Hill K.S. Art Laura Fisher Antiques Lindsay Gallery Main Street Gallery Makor Gallery Marcia Weber/Art Objects, Inc. Mary Michael Shelley MBNA America MCG Productions/Wilton Historical Society Mennello Museum Modern Art Collectors Ltd.
56 12 15 69 69 3 25 68 24 23 69 18 16 19 61 22 65 8 61
New York State Historical Association 10 Northeast Auctions 48 Philadelphia Antiques Show 63 Ricco/Maresca Gallery Inside Front Cover Riverfest 71 Robert Young Antiques 7 Select Southern Pottery 66 Sidney Gecker 14 Sotheby's Inside Back Cover St. Madeleine Sophie's Center 60 Stella Show Management 71 Steve Miller 1 Steve Slotin 52,53 Susan Slyman 54 Thurston Nichols American Antiques 10 Valley House Gallery Inc. 12,14,16,18 Walters/Benisek 4 William Doyle Galleries 54 Yard Dog Folk Art 68
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Chippendale Figured Walnut Slant-Front Desk, Pennsylvania Circa 1800 Height: 44 in. (1.2 m.) Width: 42 in. (1.7 m.) Opening bid: $3,500
Leslie Payne Wooden Fish Painted wood and sheet metal 45 1/2 by 13 in. (115.5 by 33 cm.) Opening bid: $1,000.
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the finest works of American Self-Taught Artists
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