Folk Art (Summer 2003)

FOLK ART MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM *SUMMER 2003 *88.00

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gallery 529 west 20th street 3rd floor new york city 10011 212.627.4819

American, found in Pennsylvania, 35.5" x 38.5" x 18", wood with polychrome

riccomaresca.com

—

Dancing Couple ca. 1870-1880

STEVE MILLER • AMERICAN FOLK ART •

DOG WEATHERVANE by Harris & Co., Boston MA,last quarter of the 19th century, 34" in length, green verdigris patina with original directionals. Original condition.

Included is a copy of the actual page from the 1888 Harris & Co. catalog.

17 East 96th Street, New York, NY 10128 Telephone:1-212-348-5219, Fax: 1-212-427-4278, 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.

Cast Iron Weathervane of a Prancing Horse Excellent patina Made at the Rochester Iron Works New Hampshire / c. 1880

DAVID WHEATCROFT Antiques 220 East Main Street, Westborough, MA 01581 • Tel:(508)366-1723

Visit our website at: davidwheatcroft.com

J AMES CASTLE

1900-1977

Untitled (book centerfold), date unknown found paper, soot and string, 4'/4" x 7"

J CRIST GALLERY AND ART SERVICES

The Belgravia Building 465 West Main Street Boise, Idaho 83702 Phone 208 336 2671 Fax 336 5615 Electronic Mail art@jcrist.com

J Crist is the primary representative for the work of James Castle

Trotta Bono Antique Native American Art

NATIVE GROUP WITH ELDER Oil on board in orginal frame: 25"x26" (31"x32") Signed:"Wa Wa Chow" Princess Bonita Wa Wa Chow Nunez Mission Indian- Luiseno, CA (1888-1972) Listed: American Indian Painters, J. Snodgrass Museum of the American Indian, 1968

By Appointment: (914) 528-6604 • P.O. Box 34 • Shrub Oak, New York 10588 • email: tb788183@aol.com We specialize in collection formation and development. We are actively purchasing fine Native American Art.

FURNITURE

ART

Specialists in American Federal Furniture for over 30 years.

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ery fine classical carved mahogany center table with marble top, in the restauration style, having a figured mahogany veneered apron with coved top edge and beaded lower edge, raised on a faceted vasiform column, supported on three legs with inverted carved cups and casters. New York, circa 1825-30.

Original condition, including the marble. Inscribed on frame "D.C. Locke, White Plains."

39" diameter, 29" high

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WALTERS BENISEK ART & ANTIQUES ONE AMBER LANE • NORTHAMPTON • MASSACHUSETTS •01060 • • (4 1 3) 58 6 • 3 90 9 • • BENISEK MARY WALTERS • DON

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FOLK ART VOLUME 28, NUMBER 2/SUMMER 2003

THE GLADSTONE COLLECTION OF BASEBALL ART Elizabeth V. Warren

30

VESTIE DAVIS,BROOKLYN PAINTER:IN HIS OWN WORDS INTERVIEWS FROM 1961-1965 Gloria Bley Miller

Cover: CARNIVAL FIGURE(front and back)/artist unidentified! United States /c. 1930/paint on wood with metal hardware and leather mitt/ 66 x67 x 7"/The Gladstone Collection ofBaseball Art Folk Art is published four times a year by the American Folk Art Museum.

The museum's mailing address is 1414 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019-2514, 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 $8.00. Published and copyright 2003 by the American Folk Art Museum,45 West 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019. 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 American Folk Art Museum. Unsolicited manuscripts or photographs should be accompanied by return postage. Folk Art assumes no responsibility for the loss or damage of such materials. Change ofaddress: Please send both old and new addresses to the museum's mailing address at 1414 Avenue ofthe Americas, New York, NY 10019-2514, and allow five weeks for change. Advertising: Folk Art endeavors to accept advertisements only from advertisers whose reputation is recognized in the trade, but despite the care with which the advertising department screens photographs and texts submitted by its advertisers, it cannot guarantee the unquestionable authenticity of objects or quality of services advertised in its pages or offered for sale by its advertisers, nor can it accept responsibility for misunderstandings that may arise from the purchase or sale of objects or services advertised in its pages.

The museum is dedicated to the exhibition and interpretation offolk art and it is a violation of its principles to be involved in or to appear lobe 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.

40

WILHELM SCHIMMEL: CUMBERLAND COUNTY IMAGE MAKER(1817-1890) Karl H. Pass

52

DEPARTMENTS

EDITOR'S COLUMN

8

DIRECTOR'S LETTER

15

MINIATURES

20

TRAVELING EXHIBITIONS

26

SUMMER PROGRAMS

60

MUSEUM REPRODUCTIONS PROGRAM

62

BOOKS OF INTEREST

68

MUSEUM NEWS

70

TRUSTEES/DONORS

78

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

84

SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART 7

EDITOR'S

COLUMN

ROSEMARY GABRIEL

he Boys of Summer play at the American Folk Art Museum—and we are pretty excited about the lineup. In conjunction with our stunning new exhibition,"The Perfect Game: America Looks at Baseball"(June 17, 2003—February 1, 2004), guest curator Elizabeth V. Warren has written about one of the most important collections of baseball art included in the exhibition for this issue of Folk Art. "The Gladstone Collection of Baseball Art," starting on page 30, introduces us to Millie and Bill Gladstone and their thirty-two year passion. Collectors, baseball team owners, and good friends of the American Folk Art Museum,the Gladstones happily share their love of the sport—and of folk art—with all who will listen.

Those of you who were members in 1999 may remember when the Gladstones made a promised gift to the museum—and to the American public—of Baseball Player Show Figure, a stellar work carved by Samuel Anderson Robb between 1888 and 1903. It was featured then on our fall cover; it is shown here along with many other wonderful works. For much, much more, do come see the exhibition and pick up the catalog.

Summer in New York would not be summer without the Mets,the Yankees, and, of course, Coney Island.

Between 1961 and 1965, Gloria Bley Miller conducted a series of interviews with Brooklyn artist Vestie Davis.

Known for his cityscapes, along with memorable paintings of Brooklyn's famous amusement park, Davis talked freely to Miller about his art, his methodology, his childhood, and about New York, his adopted home,and how he loved it so. "Vestie Davis, Brooklyn Painter: In His Own Words" is a sensitive, beautifully written portrait of a downCAROUSEL DECORATION: FEMALE PITCHER / Herschell-Spillman to-earth self-taught painter. It Co./ North Tonawanda, New York / c. 1915/ paint on wood with artificial jewels /53 x 45 x 1./a" / The Gladstone Collection of begins on page 40.

Baseball Art Wilhelm Schimmel was another self-taught artist who, about a hundred years earlier, adopted not one but several homes in and around the Cumberland Valley region of Pennsylvania, including a local family's "bummer room" and an almshouse. Karl H. Pass, assistant curator of the Cumberland County Historical Society in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, brings us "Wilhelm Schimmel: Cumberland County Image Maker (1817-1890)." In this essay, starting on page 52,Pass reveals the caustic personality of"Old Schimmel," a German immigrant who lived the life of what was then often referred to as a hobo, and who carved amazing figures—mostly spread-winged eagles—to barter for the necessities of life as well as for what seemed to be simply the pleasure of it. Many collectors and museums,including this one, are delighted to include the works of this idiosyncratic artist in their permanent collections.

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SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM PUBLICATIONS/FOLK ART Rosemary Gabriel Director ofPublications/Editor and Publisher Tanya Heinrich Exhibition Catalog and Book Editor Katharine Clark Production Editor Vanessa Davis Assistant Editor Erikka V. Has Copy Editor Jeffrey Kibler, The Magazine Group,Inc. Design Eleanor Garlow Advertising Sales Craftsmen Litho Printers Administration Gerard C. Wertldn Director Susan Conlon Assistant to the Director Linda Dunne ChiefAdministrative Officer Robin A. Schlinger Chief Financial Officer Madhukar Balsara Assistant Controller Angela Lam Accountant Irene Kreny Accounts Payable Associate Robert J. Saracena Director ofFacilities George Y. Wang Director ofInformation Technology Wendy Barbee Manager of Visitor Services Anthony Crawford Assistant Manager of Visitor Services Michele Sabatiele Visitor Services Associate Daniel Rodriguez Office Services Coordinator Beverly McCarthy Mail Order/Reception Katya Ullman Administrative Assistant/Reception Collections & EMdbitions Stacy C. Hollander Senior Curator and Director ofExhibitions Brooke Davis Anderson Director and Curator of The Contemporary Center Celene Ryan Curatorial Assistant Ann-Marie Reilly ChiefRegistrar and Director ofExhibition Production Judith Gluck Steinberg Director of Traveling Exhibitions Elizabeth V. Warren Consulting Curator Education Diana Schlesinger Director ofEducation Rebecca Hayes Manager ofSchool and Docent Programs Lee Kogan Director, Folk Art Institute/Curator ofSpecial Projects for The Contemporary Center Laura Tilden Education Assistant Departments Cheryl Aldridge Director, Foundation, Government, and Annual Giving Diana DeJesus-Medina Director of Corporate Development Suzannah Kellner Membership Manager Lauren Potters 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/Executive Director of The American Antiques Show Marie S. DiManno Director ofMuseum Shops Richard Ho Manager ofInformation Systems, Retail Operations Janey Fire Director ofPhotographic Services James Mitchell Librarian Jane Lattes Director of Volunteer Services Eva and Morris Feld Gallery Staff Dale Gregory Gallery Director Joan Sullivan Assistant Gallery Director Ursula Morillo Weekend Gallery Manager Kenneth R. Bing Security Bienvenido Medina Security Treenia Thompson Security Museum Shops Staff Managers: Dorothy Gargiulo, Louise B. Sheets, Marion Whitley; Book Buyer: Evelyn R. Gurney; Staff: Yan Chen, Michael Koh,Jillian Strobel, Sandy B. Yun; Volunteers: Angela Clair, Millie Gladstone, Elayne Home, Elizabeth Howe,Judy Kenyon, Arlene Luden, Nancy Mayer,Judy Rich, Frances Rojack, Phyllis Selnick, Eugene P. Sheehy American Folk Art Museum Book and Gift Shops 45 West 53rd Street New York, NY 10019 212/265-1040, ext. 124 Two Lincoln Square(Columbus Avenue between 65th and 66th Streets) New York, NY 10023 212/595-9533, ext. 26 Mailing Address American Folk Art Museum 1414 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019-2514 212/977-7170,Fax 212/977-8134, http://www.folkartmuseum.org info@folkartmuseum.org

ALLAN KATZ Americana

A fine paint decorated New England tall-case clock.

Original wooden works.

Ca. 1825

Allan & Penny Katz

By Appointment 25 Old Still Road Woodbridge, CT 06525 Tel.(203) 393-9356

folkkatz@optonline.net

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• Muller Watercolor Watercolor and graphite painting on paper, depicting the daily life of horseshoer William Huff. Painting shows his home and blacksmith shop located at 1 Main Street, Shimerville, Pennsylvania in Lehigh County.

Images of prize livestock including American torn turkey, horse & sulky, mother and child, cats, fox and a hobo walking through the field.

A wonderful portrayal of life in the 19th century. 27 x 21 inches. Signed and dated by W. Muller 1896. Lehigh County, PA. Thurston Nichols American Antiques LLC 522 Twin Ponds Rd, Breinigsville, PA 18031 phone: 610.395.5154 fax: 610.395.3679 www.antiques101.com

EXHIBITING Two Rivers Antiques Show & Garden Tour: May 30-June 1, Rumson, NJ Midweek in Manchester: August 6-7, Bedford, NH York Antiques Show: August 29-31. York, PA

(:111

A Twenty-First Century American Tradition

The American Antiques Show A Benefit for he American Folk Art Museum

Gala Benefit Preview Wednesday, January 14, 2004 AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM

The American Antiques Show [open to public] Thursday, January 15—Sunday, January 18, 2004 For more TAAS 2004 information email taas@folkartmuseum.org or call 212.977.7170

THE AMERICAN ANTIQUES SHOW

A benefit for the American Folk Art Museum at the Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street, NYC Managed by Keeling Wainwright Associates

JOANN GREEN AVERICANA

PRISTINE CONDITION BALEEN BASKET Made by Joshua Sakeagak Approx. 5" wide, 3" high. Very tight weave.

CAYUGA, NY

315.497.9877

Photo: Marcia Ward

Babe Ruth Navajo Weaving c. 1920-1925 59 x 36 inches

Illustrated: Navajo Pictorial Weaving 1880-1950

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David Cook fine American Art 1637 Wazee Street • Denver, Colorado 80202 • Tel 303.623.8181 www.davidcookfineamericanart.com

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CHLICIPE MCP

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ANTIQUES, INC_

Important Americana from the Dittmar Collection

Patrick Bell / Edwin Hild P.O. Box 718, New Hope, PA 18938-0718

By Appointment 215-297-0200 fax: 215-297-0300 e-mail: info@oldehope.com www.oldehope.com

DIRECTOR'S

LETTER

GERARD C. WERTIC1N

onty Blanchard has been closely associated with the American Folk Art Museum for more than a decade. During much of that time he has served in a variety of important official capacities for the institution, helping to shape its direction and achieve its goals. As a member of the museum's Finance and Investment Committees, Monty has become an indispensable part of the leadership team. With his late wife, Anne Hill Blanchard, a trustee of the museum,he also chaired several major benefit events and took on a significant role in the formation of The Contemporary Center as a division of the American Folk ;.7 Art Museum. For all of these reasons,I am especially gratified that Monty has agreed to join the museum's Board of Trustees. He was elected to that position unanimously at the board's meeting on March 12.

Edward Vermont Blanchard Jr. has had a distinguished career in banking and finance.

For many years he was a managing director of Merrill Lynch & Co., serving as the corporation's chief negotiator and internal adviser for Edward Vermont Blanchard Jr. virtually all strategic acquisitions. Previously he was co-head of Merrill Lynch's financial institutions mergers and acquisitions group, and senior banker in its insurance practice group.

Since leaving Merrill Lynch in 1999, Monty has acted as angel investor and adviser to several start-up enterprises, and is a member of the Board of Directors and audit committee of Scientific Learning Corporation, a publicly traded provider of educational software. A graduate of Harvard University and the holder of an M.B.A.from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he brings great strategic skills and business acumen to his service as a trustee.

Passionate collectors, Monty and Anne Hill Blanchard assembled one of the preeminent collections of the work of contemporary self-taught artists in the United States. In 1993, the Sidney Mishkin Gallery of Baruch College, City University of New York, presented "Black History and Artistry," an exhibition drawn entirely from the Blanchard-Hill Collection and accompanied by a catalog by curator Sandra Kraskin, director of the gallery. The Blanchards also shared their collection with the public, through loans to the American Folk Art Museum and other institutions. In 1998, the Blanchards generously donated seventy-five paintings and sculptures to the museum,the single-largest gift of twentieth-century works of art in the institution's

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history. As Monty Blanchard assumes a new role as a member of the Board of Trustees, he has our deepest gratitude for his outstanding record of service. In addition to his agreeing to serve as a trustee, Monty has answered the museum's call to chair the board's Longrange Planning Committee.

I would also like to extend my warm appreciation to a longtime staff member who will be leaving us shortly. For sixteen years, Beth Bergin's name has appeared on Folk Art's masthead as Membership Director. There is no question that the strength of the museum's membership program is in large part the result of Beth's significant initiatives. An immensely popular and respected member of the museum staff, Beth came to know many hundreds of museum members personally. Indeed,in the years that she served the institution, Beth greeted virtually every member who attended the opening reception for an exhibition.

Beth Bergin established the museum's successful Folk Art Explorers travel program, which has taken participants to fascinating places throughout the world, and has opened doors to public and private collections to them.I had the pleasure of traveling with Beth on three or four Explorers trips, and can attest to her wonderful sense of organization, firm but kind leadership, and absolute competence.

Beth always served thoughtfully as an advocate for museum members and their interests, and has worked closely with the staff leadership in shaping programs and in addressing the challenges inherent in the life of a growing institution. Beth and her husband, John, are moving to a lovely country home in upstate New York, where they will pursue active retirements. All of us will miss Beth immensely, and wish her and John well as they enter a new and exciting phase in their life. To Beth goes this expression of my gratitude for her friendship and support, and for her exemplary service to the American Folk Art Museum.

As I prepare this letter for publication, the American Folk Art Museum is anticipating the installation of two truly special exhibitions,"Drawn Home: Fritz Vogt's Rural America," and "The Perfect Game: America Looks at Baseball."

Both exhibitions provide eloquent insights into the American experience and help define the American spirit. Please visit us soon to enjoy these celebrations of American Beth Begin life in its rich and colorful diversity.*

SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART 15

JEFFREY TILLOU ANTIQUES We are proud to announce the opening of our three story building, located at 39 West Street, On the Green,in Litchfield, Connecticut. Offering fine examples of 18th and early 19th century furniture, paintings, folk art, and related decorative accessories.

33-39 West Street Box 1609 Litchfield, Connecticut 06759 Tel.(860)567-9693 Fax:(860)567-8526 jtillouantiques@earthlink.net Open Mon.,Wed.- Sat. 10:30am - 5:00pm Sundays 11:00am - 4:30pm

LAURA FISHER ANTIQUE QUILTS & AMERICANA

1050 SECOND AVENUE, GALLERY 84 NEW YORK, NY 10022 Mon-Sat llam-6pm Tel: (212) 838-2596 Alt: (212) 866-6033 •

e-mail: LFAntiqueQuilts@aol.com

New York City's broadest selection of antique quilts, hooked rugs, rag carpet, coverlets, paisleys, Navajos, Beacons, home furnishings and American folk art.

111 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

SNAKE PATH pieced quilt, African—American, c. 1940's, cotton; a serpentine trail to keep the evil spirits away!

TRACY GOODNOW ART Sk ANTIQUES 576 SHEFFIELD PLAIN (ROUTE 7) PO Box 1340 SHEFFIELD MA 01257 / TEL 413.229.6045

Young Woman with Tortoise Shell Comb

Anonymous, N.E. United States, c.1835, oil on canvas, 24 1/2" x 20 1/4"

JAMES H. WELCH ANTIQUES Main Street•U.S. Route 1•Wiscasset, Maine 04578

Specializing in 19th-century American country furniture in original paint, folk art, rugs, textiles, and appropriate accessories.

OPEN MAY 1st THRU NOV. 1st Shop 207-882-8140 • Home 207-529-5770 • Winter by appointment 207-529-4288

JAN WHITLOCK TEXTILES P.O. Box 583 • Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania 19317 • 302.655.1117 Visit our new website www.janwhitlocktextiles.com

18 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

American Folk Art Sidney Gecker MOUNTAIN BOY AND JOCKEY WEATHERVANE ATTRIBUTED TO J.W.FISKE, NEW YORK• CIRCA 1870 COPPER AND ZINC•SUPERB ORIGINAL CONDITION AND SURFACE LENGTH:32 'A INCHES•HEIGHT:19 INCHES

EXCEPTIONALLY RARE PEACOCK WEATHERVANE ATTRIBUTED TO ALVIN J.JEWELL,WALTHAM,MASSACHUSETTS CIRCA 1860•COPPER AND ZINC WITH ORIGINAL YELLOW PAINT LENGTH:37 IA INCHES•HEIGHT:15 INCHES

226 West 21st Street New York, N.Y. 10011 •(212)929-8769•Appointment Suggested Subject to prior sale.

MINIATURES

THE

AMES GALLERY

COMPILED BY VANESSA DAVIS Rug Hooking: Then and Now The evolution of rug hooking is explored in the exhibition, "Hooking: Folk Art to Fiber Art," at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art(860/278-2670) in Hartford, Conn. The show features 21 rugs, ranging from historic functional pieces to examples of contemporary fiber art. Rug hooking was popularized in 19th-century America as a colorful way to make a cozier hearth; as with many traditional forms of utilitarian folk art, the craft has now become a medium in which to explore fine art concepts. The works being presented include some of the earliest examples from antiquarian Wallace Nutting's collection; mats from the Wilfred Grenfell project in Labrador,intended to bring industry to the impoverished and isolated Canadian community in 1892; WPA rugs; and pieces

Folk Art Cookie The Folk Artist's Foundation, based in Flat Rock, N.C., is an organization that provides financial and other support for working artists in the folk art tradition.

It teamed up with folk art champions the Immaculate Baking Company to bake the world's Pieced Hanging Tapestry, c.I 930s, 18th century fabrics, 43 x 20"

Early handmade Americana including quilts, carved canes,tramp art and whimseys.

Also exceptional contemporary self-taught, naive, visionary, and outsider art.

Bonnie Grossman, Director 2661 Cedar St., Berkeley, CA 94708 Tel 510/845-4949 Fax 510/845-6219 Email info@amesgallery.com www.amesgallery.com THE COOKIE TREE / Carl Dixon / North Carolina / 1999 / paint on carved plywood / approx. 3'6" >. 5'6" / collection of Immaculate Baking Company, promised gift to Folk Artist's Museum 20 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

from nine northeastern contemporary fiber artists. The show continues until October 5. For more information, please call the museum or visit its website at www.wadsworthatheneum.org.

SPRING COMES TO ELM STREET / Emily Robertson / 18 x 26"!Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art

largest cookie to raise money to open the Folk Artist's Museum.

The event took place in Hendersonville, N.C., on May 17, 2003, at the future site of the museum, next to the Immaculate Baking Company's cookie factory. The enormous chocolate-chip cookie, more than 100 feet in diameter and baked for five hours, was cut into pieces and sold to benefit the building of the museum. The Irtunaculate Baking Company's president and CEO,Scott Blackwell, provided the museum's foundation collection of more than 600 works of folk art. For more information on the Folk Artist's Foundation, please visit its website at www.helpfaf.org.

For more information on the Immaculate Baking Company or the cookie-baking event, please visit its website at www.irrunaculatebaldng.com.

CHERRY GALLERY Antiques 8: Art Rustic

Lonnie Holley Uve The Birmingham Museum of Art (205/254-2566)in Birmingham, Ala., is hosting "Perspectives," an ongoing series of exhibitions featuring contemporary working artists. Self-taught artist and Birmingham native Lonnie Holley is the focus of"Perspectives 8," an event and show that will be on view until May 2004. Holley will work with area children attending the Birmingham Community Schools' Camp Birmingham to create an outdoor sculptural environment utilizing found objects and discarded materials. The public is invited to observe this work in progress.

For more information on this

interactive project, please call the museum or visit the website, www.artsbma.org.

Call for Works The New Orleans Museum of Art is organizing the first comprehensive exhibition of the work of James Castle, which is scheduled to travel nationally.

The exhibition will cover the range of Castle's media, includ-

the accompanying color catalog.

Additional images will be selected for catalog documentation only, to illustrate Castle's artistic development and vision.

NOMA is seeking images, preferably in color scan format,

FolL

Nativc American

NOT OLYMPIC RINGS!Lonnie Holley / 1994

UNITTIJED /James Castle/ n.d./ found paper, soot /EPA x 101/4"/ private collection

ing soot drawings, color pulp drawing, constructions, and books with documentation of his varied subject matter and representations of his vast aesthetic exploration. Works selected for exhibition will all be featured in

with provenance documentation as well as any gallery information, to facilitate research. Please forward materials to: Alice Yelen, New Orleans Museum of Art, P.O. Box 19123, New Orleans, LA 70179.

4 Stissins Mt. Lane 518-398-7531

* *

Pine Plains, NY 12567 esoxOtaconic.net

WINTER 1995 FOLK ART 21

G.H. allou Portraits Mystery Painter The reward of some dedicated detective work has arrived in the form of an exhibition of paintings by a long-lost itinerant portrait painter, Giddings Hyde Ballou, at the Brewster Ladies' Library (508/896-8614)in Brewster, Mass. Ellen St. Sure, a writer researching a book about a ship captain involved in a dramatic shipwreck in the 1800s, came across Ballou's name in journals, and was soon intrigued to find out more."With a Passion for Brush and Palette: Giddings Hyde Ballou and his Cape Cod Portraits (circa 1841-1861)" is the result of a cross-country search by Ms. St. Sure, and is on view from

111=111111b.

HULDA CROSBY FREEMAN (Wife of ship captain Solomon Freeman)/ Giddings Hyde Ballou / Brewster, Mass./ c. 1850/ oil on canvas/ 27 22"/ private collection

August 12 through September 6.

The show will offer viewers an opportunity to act as detectives themselves, drawing conclusions as to the attributions of these paintings based on gathered evidence that is also presented. For more information on this exhibition, please call the library.

Nitty Gritty

A rare collection of Cape Cod portraits (c. 1841-1861) by Giddings Hyde Ballou at the Gallery of the Brewster Ladies' Library 2745 Main Street,Brewster,MA

August 12-September 6, 2003 Tuesday-Saturday during Library hours

Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art(312/243-9088) in Chicago presents an exhibition featuring the art of three African American street artists, in "Nitty Gritty: Slim's Bike and the Street Art of Curtis Cuffie and Wesley Willis," which runs from June 13 until August 13. The gigantic bike that Jim "Slim" Thompson rode around the Cass Corridor area of Detroit is a folk art tour de force, embellished with all sorts of materials, including pinwheels,fur, pinups, flashlights, and a radio playing the blues. The eccentric, six-foot nine-inch tall Slim became an urban legend and

a performance artist, telling wild stories to everyone in town. Curtis Cuffie, a New Yorker who was homeless for most of his life, created anthropomorphic sculptures from found and discarded objects, and exhibited them around the Cooper Union area.

Wesley Willis, the only living artist in this show,is a wellknown underground rock star. He creates obsessive, linear drawings of specific Chicago locations with marker and posterboard. For more information on this show, please call Intuit or visit its website, www.art.org.

Bike

Information (508)896-8614 www.gis.net/-brewilib/

A Brewster Bicentennial Event

22 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

AARNE ANTON ART & ANTIQUES Inspired collection of horses from 19th c. folk art to contemporary self taught art

ht 7"

ht 28"

AMERICAN PRIMITIVE GALLERY 594 BROADWAY #205 NEW YORK, NY 10012 (212) 966-1530

CHARLTON M412,S ALIR

Oil on academy board house portrait, signed by Frank A. Bonds, Knoxville, Ohio December 1902.

19.5x15.5" sight.

Specializing in folk art &Material cultutv of the Southern backcountry.

125 Furman Avenue Asheville, North Carolina 28801 (828) 251-1904 www.charltonbradsher.com

Burlon Craig The Mint Museum of Art (704/337-2000)in Charlotte, N.C., pays tribute to a legendary folk potter with "Burlon Craig and His Legacy." Burlon Craig, who died last year at the age of 88, was among the last of the traditional North Carolina potters who descended from German settlers in North Carolina's Catawba Valley. The area has a centuriesold tradition of functional pottery, and is now home to a thriving traditional and studio potterymaking population. This exhibition, which features Craig's utilitarian vessels, his innovations in swirlware and glazes made from local resources, and the work of present-generation Catawba Valley potters influenced by him,is on view until October 19. Burlon Craig was honored with the National Folk Heritage Award by the National

24 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

CRYING EYES FACE JUG!Burlon Craig/ 1978/ anonymous loan in memory of Burlon Craig, 1202.59.4

Endowment for the Arts in 1984, and his work is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution.

His kiln openings were sensational events during which collectors waited on long lines, were given numbers, and were limited as to how many pieces they were permitted to buy. For more information on this show, please call the museum or visit its website, www.mintmuseum.org.

Marine Portraits The Hoboken Historical Museum (201/656-2240)in Hoboken, NJ., presents an exhibition of 15 paintings,"Antonio Jacobsen: Marine Artist of West Hoboken." The show is guest curatetlby Carol Losos and includes paintings and artifacts from the Jacobsen home, never before exhibited, and selections from the collection of John J. McMullen. Noted marine folk art scholar Anthony Peluso will

give a lecture,"The Hoboken School of Marine Painting," on Friday, June 20, at 7:30 Pm. Ticket are $5; reservations are required. For more information, please call the number above or visit the museum's website, www.hobokenmuseum.org. This exhibition continues through August 31.

WILSON UNE SS.BUFFALO/ A. Jacobsen / C. 1886/al on canvas/21 x 35"/ collection of John L McMullen Li WTI

FASANELLA 1616 Walnut Street sulte 100/Philadelphia Pa 19103 215 545 7562/fax 545 6140/fleisher-oUmangallery.com

TRAVELING

EXHIBITIONS

SOWING THE FIELD /Jacob J. Kass / 1988-1991 / Magna acrylic and oil on circular saw / 20" diam./ collection American Folk Art Museum, gift of Ray Kass and Jerrie Pike, 1999.2.1 / from the traveling exhibition "Painted Saws/Jacob Kass"

Mark your calendars for the following American Folk Art Museum exhibitions when they travel to your area during the coming months: April 26—June 29, 2003 ABCD: A Collection of Art Brut Chicago Cultural Center Chicago 312/744-6330

6119 ROUTE 9 RHINEBECK, NY

BY APPOINTMENT $ 845 876-1582 www.goldgoaticom

May 24—Oct. 25, 2003 Fraktur from the Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum Hancock Shaker Village Pittsfield, Massachusetts 413/443-0188 June 17—Aug. 17, 2003 American Anthem Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum Telfair Museum of Art Savannah, Georgia 912/232-1177

July 14—Aug. 23, 2003 Quilted Constructions The Spirit of Design The Nickle Arts Museum University of Calgary Calgary, Alberta, Canada 403/220-7234 July 31—Sept. 28,2003 Painted Saws/Jacob Kass The Arkansas Arts Center Little Rock, Arkansas 501/372-4000 May 1—June 27, 2004 Painted Saws/Jacob Kass William D. Cannon Art Gallery Carlsbad, California 760/602-2021

For further information, please contact Judith Gluck Steinberg, director of traveling exhibitions, American Folk Art Museum, Administrative Offices, 1414 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019-2514, 212/977-7170.

20 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

, Malcah Zeldis ' Have a Dreceht.''

America. Oh, Yes! is pleased to present a one-woman exhibition of Malcah Zeldis art.

In our newly located Washington, D.C. gallery: May 1 -July 31, 2003 1350 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 202 • Washington, DC 20036 • Telephone: 202-721-0043

In our San Francisco gallery: September 1 — November 30, 2003 Pace Design Center • 466 Geary Street, Suite 200 • San Francisco, CA 94120• Telephone: 415-931-6892

AMERICA*011 YES! .americaohyes.com • 1-800-FOLK-ART

986 North High St. Columbus, OH 43201 614-291-1973 email: lindsaygallery@hotmail.com WWW.lindsaygallery.com

Sports

Illustrated

30 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

By Elizabeth V. Warren

f the more than one hundred works of art displayed in the exhibition "The Perfect Game: America Looks at Baseball," and illustrated in the accompanying books,' approximately a third of the objects are identified with the credit line, The Gladstone Collection of Baseball Art. By far the most prominent assemblage of its type, the Gladstone Collection is the result of Millie and Bill Gladstone's lifelong love of baseball, their passion for art (especially folk art), and more than thirty years of very specialized collecting together.

Millie and Bill Gladstone

SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART 31

UNTITLED (African-American baseball game) Artist unidentified United States c. 1930 Oil on canvas 16 23/ 1 2"

As the Gladstones are both natives of Brooklyn, it is not surprising that their first baseball art purchases featured the Dodgers. "We started collecting in 1971," Bill recalls. "Millie saw an article in The New York Times one Sunday about an art gallery on Long Island that was showing cartoons by Willard Mullin, the man who created the 'Dodger Bum' character. So we packed up the kids and drove out there and bought three cartoons."2 A visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York (where Bill now serves as an active member of the Board of Directors), introduced the Gladstones to the work of artist Dick Perez and to Frank Steele, co-owners of the Perez-Steele art gallery, near Philadelphia. Bill and Millie purchased all of the Perez paintings that depicted Dodgers in the Hall of Fame, and went on to form a relationship with Steele that would help shape their buying habits. From Steele they learned that there was more to baseball collecting than memorabilia, and they began to look for older, aesthetically pleasing objects that they could afford. Today,

32 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

their collection is composed of three parts: paintings and sculpture by fine artists, folk art, and important historical baseball memorabilia (particularly material related to Brooklyn teams).

Asking the Gladstones to identify a few favorite works of folk art in their collection engenders some lively discussion. After much give-and-take and compromises on both sides, the eight objects illustrated here were selected for both aesthetic and sentimental reasons.

The Boy with Ball and Bat is a mutual first choice. The painting is not only the oldest work of folk art in the collection (dated 1844), but it is also the oldest known baseball painting. It was found by Millie at the White Plains Antiques Show seventeen years ago. Bill was on a business trip at the time, but Millie had the dealer hold the painting until he could make it back so they could see it l c r; together.

5 The bat and ball may have been painter's props (similar to the -Is more commonly seen whips, hoops, and pull toys that were often used to indicate male gender in American folk portraiture); they do not necessarily indicate that the child was actu-

WOMAN'S HAIR COMB WITH BASEBALL MOTIF Maker unidentified United States c. 1870 Carved horn 1 4 x Y." 7/ 1 2 x 7/

BASEBALL GAME WHIRLIGIG Artist unidentified United States Early twentieth century Carved and painted wood with metal hardware 2" / 45 38'/z 221

ally proficient at baseball, but they do show that the sport was common enough for its symbols to be instantly recognizable in a likeness. The painter probably had some artistic training, but he could not be considered a successful academic artist. By the time this picture was painted in 1844, photography had been introduced in America, and folk portraitists, who served mainly the middle class, were rapidly losing commissions to daguerreotypists. In commissioning this painting, however, the boy's parents were buying what could not be provided by photographs of the time: size, color, and a work of art that would command an important place in their parlor. The painting now hangs in the

entryway to the Gladstones' home and serves as an introduction to the collection inside.

Mandana Ball's Family Register is another mid-nineteenth-century work that depicts children with the accoutrements of baseball. In a witty play on the family name, fourteenyear-old Mandana showed children playing a ball game in front of a sturdy brick structure while surrounded by cartouches containing the names of all the Balls, including a brother who died in infancy. The Gladstones, who found the painting through an advertisement in the Newtown Bee, later tracked down Mandana's family genealogy as well as the building shown in the center of the register. The house still stands as

a private residence in Northboro, Massachusetts.

The Gladstones' acquisition of the iconic Baseball Player Show Figure by Samuel Anderson Robb has already been detailed in this publication.3 Formerly in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, it is now a promised gift to the American Folk Art Museum and was included in the "American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum" exhibition as well as the National Gallery's recent show of objects illustrated in the Index of American Design.

It has not been determined whether the batter represented in this sculpture was meant to be a generic ballplayer or a specific hero. Cer-

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BASEBALL PLAYER Artist unidentified United States c. 1910 Carved wood " 2 1 15 x 6 x 3/

tainly the face of the carving bears a strong resemblance to contemporary photographs of Michael J. "King" Kelly, the most popular player of the 1880s, and among the first to maximize his popularity off the field as well as on. In addition to the then unheard-of salary of $2,000 that he earned in 1887 from the Boston Beaneaters, Kelly's contract also specified that he would receive $3,000 for the use of his picture.4 Samuel Robb (1851-1928) was one of the most well known and accomplished of the many nineteenth-century carvers of what are often called trade or Cigar Store figures. Like many show figure manufacturers of his era, Robb was descended from a family of shipcarvers. As the demand for ships' figureheads and other decorations waned in the middle of the nineteenth century, the artisans turned to creating the herds of show figures that once populated urban streets.

Robb trained with two other wellregarded carvers, Thomas Brooks and William Demuth, before opening his own workshop in 1876. He also received instruction in drawing at Cooper Union in New York City.5 Because this carving had been inscribed with Robb's name and address on the original wheeled base (which permitted the figure to be rolled indoors at night), it can be reliably attributed to the famed carver and dated to between 1888 and 1903, when Robb had a workshop at 114 Centre Street. Unfortunately, no such information can be attached to the small (fifteen inches tall) carving known affectionately by the Gladstones as "smiling" Baseball Player because of the grin of pure happiness that enhances the figure's face. Possibly meant to be used as a countertop display, perhaps for a sporting goods store, the Gladstones found the sculpture through the hard work of collecting—in this case, by contacting dealers who specialize in folk art to ask whether they had any baseball material. They were attracted to the piece partly because its attenuated lines and simple form reminded them of the work of early-twentieth-century sculptor Elie Nadelman, himself a collector of American folk art.

SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART 35

While they have not been able to purchase much art at baseball auctions, where the focus is on collectibles and memorabilia, the Gladstones have occasionally been able to find baseball-related material at Americana and folk art auctions.

The Box Office Sign, for example, was purchased at the auction of a prominent collection of American folk art held at Sotheby's in New York City.

The sign painter, who included his name, Theo I. Josephs, and his location at the "solder's home [sic]," was probably a Prussian immigrant born in 1842.6 He assumed that his audience could read, although the 0 in "Office"—decorated as a baseball with a bat in its center—would most likely be a good clue for any patron who could not. Josephs was obvi-

ously inspired to go beyond the simple words to create an artistic image.

The style of lettering as well as the carefully delineated urns that enhance his work are all typical of mid-nineteenth-century decorative art.

Sometimes, an object that was passed up because of its asking price the first time around finds its way into a collection as the buyers become more experienced and/or as the market evolves. The Gladstones deemed Baseball Game Whirligig, made in the early twentieth century by an unknown artist, too expensive the first time they saw it. The piece continued to interest them, however, and was eventually purchased when it became available again.

The players on the whirligig were made to circle the bases, cour-

311 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

tesy of power provided by a blowing two pitchers and two runners sliding breeze. When the wind turned the into base among the intricately carved wooden blade on the side of the box, motifs. In the early days of organized an internal mechanism made the baseball, women were welcomed as turntable on the box's surface rotate. spectators by club owners who felt This caused the batter to swing and that the presence of ladies would help the players to run around the bases. curb the rowdiness of the crowds.

The untitled painting of an Women dressed for the occasion, and African-American baseball game is this hair comb, probably made someanother work of art that the Glad- time in the 1870s, was no doubt stones had known about for a number meant to enhance a lady's baseballof years before they were able to buy viewing outfit. it. A poignant and important reminder The Gladstones put most of of a time when blacks were specifi- their collection together during Bill's cally excluded from white American working years, when he had little baseball games, the painting is close time for things other than his profesin tone and content to a description in sional responsibilities. As Bill recalls, the Brooklyn Eagle of an 1862 game "This joint collecting gave us a played between the "Unknown" club chance to spend time together doing of Weeksville and the "Monitor" club what we both have a passion of Brooklyn, "both of African for."9After Bill retired as co-chief descent."7 While praising the players executive of Ernst & Young in 1991,

and the spectators for their good play and "genteel" behavior, the author nevertheless used language we would now consider frankly racist: "Quite a large assemblage encircled the contestants, who were ever one as black as the ace of spades."8 Though probably painted after 1920 (the players' uniforms include numbers, an innovation of that decade), the scene depicted here is clearly meant to recall an earlier time.

The women's dresses, for example, are more in the style of the nineteenth century than the twentieth.

The final favorite object included here, the Woman's Hair Comb with Baseball Motif was discovered at an antiques show, unaccompanied by any information about its history. Made of horn, it includes

the couple embarked on a new phase of their collecting life, which included the 1992 acquisition of a Class A Minor League baseball team.

This, according to both Millie and Bill, is "the ultimate baseball collectible."

In the eleven years since they've owned a team—first the Pittsfield Mets, a New York Mets farm team, and currently the Tr -City ValleyCats, a Houston Astros affiliate—neither Gladstone has missed a home game (more than four hundred so far). The ValleyCats play in the New York-Penn "short season" Class A League, and their home is in the brand-new, family-friendly Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in Troy, New York.

The list of players who began their career on one of the Gladstones'

BOY WITH BAT AND BALL Artist unidentified United States 1844 Oil on canvas 231 / 2 19"

BOX OFFICE SIGN Theo I. Josephs lc. 1842—?)

United States c. 1890 Paint on wood 11% 48/ 1 4 it

SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART 37

teams and made it to the big leagues now numbers about thirty, and includes such standouts as Edgardo Alfonzo, Preston Wilson, Vance Wilson, A.J. Burnett, Jason Isringhausen, and Terrence Long.

Today, the Gladstones continue to collect baseball art, although, as in many areas of collecting, the good stuff is still "hard to find." Folk art, especially, is scarce, and there tends to be less of it available. The couple also continues to be intimately involved with the American Folk Art Museum. Millie serves as a museum docent as well as a volunteer at the American Folk Art Museum's Eva and Morris Feld Gallery bookshop, while Bill frequently contributes his time and business expertise to the museum.* Elizabeth V. Warren was the curator ofthe American Folk Art Museumfrom 1984 to 1990, and has been the museum's consulting curator since 1991. She served as curator of"Young America: Folk Art History"(1986), "Expressions ofa New Spirit"(1989), "Five-Star Folk Art: One Hundred American Masterpieces"(1990), and "The Perfect Game:America Looks at Baseball" (on view now at the American Folk Art Museum through February 1, 2004). Warren also served as cocurator of "Glorious American Quilts: The Quilt Collection ofthe Museum ofAmenican Folk Art"(1996, with S.L. Eisenstat). Each exhibition was accompanied by a catalog. Warren received a bachelor's degree from Bryn Mawr College and a masters in American folk art studiesfrom New York University.

Notes 1 Elizabeth V. Warren, The Perfect Game: America Looks at Baseball(New York: American Folk Art Museum in association with Harry N. Abrams,Inc., 2003); Janet Wyman Coleman and Elizabeth V. Warren, Baseballfor Everyone: Storiesfrom the Great Game(New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., in association with the American Folk Art Museum,2003).

2 Ricardo Viera, Baseball Artfrom the Gladstone Collection(Bethlehem, Pa.: Lehigh University Art Galleries in association with Zoellner Arts Center, 2001), p.4.

3 Stacy C. Hollander,"Grand Slam Addition to the Collection," Folk Art, vol. 24, no. 3(fall 1999), p.25.

4 Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Bums,Baseball: An Illustrated History(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994), p. 35.

5 Stacy C. Hollander,"Baseball Player Show Figure," in American Anthem: Masterpiecesfrom the American Folk Art Museum(New York: American Folk Art Museum in association with Harry N. Abrams,Inc., 2001), pp. 353-354.

6 "Family Search," The Church ofJesus Christ ofLatter-Day Saints, 1999-2001, http://familysearch.com (Jan. 9,2002).

7 Dean A. Sullivan, ed., Early Innings: A Documentary History ofBaseball, 1825-1908(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1995), p. 35.

8 Ibid., p. 36.

9 Viera, op. cit., p. 5.

38 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

BASEBALL PLAYER SHOW FIGURE Samuel Anderson Robb (1851-1928) New York 1888-1903 Carved and painted wood with metal wheels and handle 76 x 21/ 3 4 x 24" with wheeled base) American Folk Art Museum, promised gift of Millie and Bill Gladstone, P4.1999.1

The Perfect Game: America Looks at Baseball June 17, 2003-February 1, 2004 resented by the American Folk Art Museum,"The Perfect Game: America Looks at Baseball" is a multifaceted exhibition that illuminates America's favorite pastime,featuring a spirited array of paintings, carvings, carnival figures, quilts, embroideries, gameboards, photographs, early bats, balls, and scorecards. This oneof-a-kind gathering of more than 100 baseball art objects and ephemera celebrates more than 150 years of baseball's—and America's—past.

A wonderful 150page, full-color catalog, written by guest curator Elizabeth V. Warren with Margaret S. Smeal, accompanies the exhibition. It provides a personal and idiosyncratic look at the rich and varied aspects of the game, including teams and ballparks of yesteryear, the "women's game," the "children's game," and baseball as an international sport. New Yorker columnist Roger Angell contributes some of his own cherished reminiscences of the national pastime. The Perfect Game: America Looks at Baseball, with an introduction by the museum's director, Gerard C. Wertkin, and published in

p

association with Harry N. Abrams, is available for $29.95.

A 48-page companion children's book, Baseballfor Everyone: 150 Years of America's Game, is available for $16.95.

Drawn Home: Fritz Vogt's Rural America May 20-September 21, 2003 rganized by the Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, New York,the unprecedented exhibition "Drawn Home: Fritz Vogt's Rural America" will be on view at the American Folk Art Museum until September 21, 2003.

Exhibition curator W.Parker Hayes Jr. documents the artistic career of itinerant folk artist Fritz G. Vogt (1842-1900), illustrating the great irony of a homeless man who expressed an intimate knowledge of the idea of home.

Between 1890 and 1900, Vogt traveled the counties west of

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rr he exhibition "The Perfect Game: America Looks at Baseball" is sponsored in part by Sports Illustrated magazine, a special grant from The Andrew W.Mellon Foundation, Major League Baseball, and the New York Mets."Drawn Home: Fritz Vogt's Rural America" is presented with the generous support of the R. David Sudarsky Charitable Trust, as well as Lucy and Mike Danziger, Moe Frankel, Vera and Pepi Jelinek, Sybil and Arthur Kern, Morton Kinzler, Barbara and David !Crashes, Patricia and Frederick Selch, and Frank Tosto.

Drawn Home: Fritz Vogt's Rural America, The Perfect Game:America Looks at Baseball, and the children's book Baseballfor Everyone: 150 Years ofAmerica's Game can be purchased at the American Folk Art Museum's Book and Gift Shop at 45 West 53rd Street.

Museum members receive a 10 percent discount. For mail order information, please call 212/265-1040, ext. 124.

Albany, often on foot, and produced more than 200 distinctive architectural portraits.

In addition to the 26 drawings in the exhibition, the museum presents a diverse selection of its own architectural portraits, decorative arts with architectural themes, and related material, including the recently received gift from Stephen Mazoh of two drawings by Fritz Vogt, the first works by this artist to enter the museum's collection. A 96-page full-color catalog, published by the Fenimore Art Museum,is available for $19.95.

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SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART 39

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eople respond to New York City in many ways.

For some, it's home territory, seen with familiarity and warmth. For others, it's a vast and baffling labyrinth that must be made simple. For still others, the city is an enormous picture postcard: brightly colored and designed to please the tourist.

To Vestie Davis, New York was all these and more. Davis was a native by adoption, a tourist by temperament, but most of all, he was an artist who saw the city with a freshness and with wonder.

40 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

FREAK SHOW New York City 1969 OR on canvas 18< 24" Collection American Folk Art Museum, gift of Gloria Mey Miller, 2002.28.5

Painter IN HIS OWN WORDS Interviews from 1961 to 1965

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Although Davis had been painting the city for years, he saw it with the eyes of a country boy, continually astonished by the tall buildings, automobiles, lampposts, litter baskets, and bustling crowds. In his paintings, the details of the metropolis are always clearly recognizable, but the people somehow seem more rural than citified. The men with their sedate manner, dark trousers, white shirts, and broadbrimmed hats could be farmers come to town on a Saturday afternoon. The women, down-to-earth, ruddy, and not very stylish, are definitely country women built for hard and heavy work. Even in Wall Street, where a few men in business suits can be seen, the crowds in the background, walking along the sidewalks, busily crossing the streets, and going down into the subways are the solid and solemn farm people that Davis must have known as a child.

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The city is crowded; in a canvas as small as ten by sixteen inches, there can be as many as seventy people.

Yet there is no unkindness, no violence, and no litter in the streets. New York to Davis is a bright and happy place, a perpetual festival of simple pleasures, where people live peaceably and harmoniously. Men, women, and children stroll about amiably, sometimes holding hands, usually minding their own business. They seldom speak yet are never unfriendly. They are always aware of, and somehow related to, one another. Frequently there are dogs—large and strong, of no particular breed or pedigree, like country dogs. Some wander the streets freely yet never dangerously. Others are domesticated, and walk or sit complacently at the end of a leash. In Davis's paintings, it seems always to be summer. But on closer inspec-

CONEY ISLAND BOARDWALK WITH PARACHUTE JUMP New York City 1972 Oil on canvas 17 37" Collection American Folk Art Museum, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Karp, 1984.10.1

tion, we find that the weather exists in another dimension.

There is surely brightness, as though created by the sun, but seldom a shadow. The brightness seems to generate heat, but the men in their long-sleeved shirts and the women in their high-necked dresses are completely undisturbed by it.

Color is everywhere (mixed as often as primary), always bright and beautiful. The tall buildings of midManhattan are pink and blue, their hundreds of windows partially covered with vivid green blinds. Constantly in evidence in his paintings of Coney Island are rich reds and oranges, brilliant yellows, and intense blues. In any part of town, the men are invariably seen in their white shirts and dark trousers, but the women wear muted lavenders, pinks, and yellows.

Vestie Davis did not come to New York City until he was in his twenties. A Southerner by origin, he was born Edward Davis in Maryland in 1903, of Welsh and Irish parentage. His was a rural childhood environment at the turn of the century. This is how he described it: We lived near Chesapeake Bay and even though you think of Maryland as being in the South, the water in the bay froze solid in winter. It got so cold you'd freeze away from the stove. You'd practically need fourteen suits of heavy underwear and a pair of heavy gloves to keep warm.

The nearest town from where we lived was Easton, eighteen miles away. We did our

SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART 43

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dO° • cot shopping there just once a month. We'd keep this list on the wall with a pencil hanging nearby. Every time you thought of something you'd need from town you'd write it down, because if you didn't get it then, you'd have to wait another whole month. We'd buy the things you couldn't produce yourself, like coffee and sugar and pepper. You'd never buy butter or bread or eggs in town.

I had to go nearly eighteen miles to school. Sometimes I'd go by horseback and leave the horse in the livery stable in town.

Other times I'd go with a neighbor. We had this party line system on the phone of two long rings and one short, and sometimes this neighbor who was a farmer would call and say he was taking his kids to school, and he'd take me too. He'd say, "Just tell Vestie to wait by the mailbox and I'll pick him up." So I took my two sandwiches and two apples and went out to the mailbox and waited.

As a child, Vestie Davis showed aptitude for both music and art. His musical aptitude demonstrated itself first.

44 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

It was my first day of school, and I was six years old. The teacher had us sing three songs: "Maryland, My Maryland," "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," and "My Country 'Tis of Thee." When I got home from school that day, I went into the house and there was this old organ that Mother used to practice on.

She was a church organist for many years.

And I sat down at the organ and played all three of those songs. My mother came into the living room to see who was in the house, playing music like that. When she saw that it was me,she nearly fell over.

She put a scarf around her head and went over to my father's shop and brought him home right away and they asked me to play the tunes again, and I did it about fifteen times, while they just sat there surprised.

Then my father went out and got the horse and wagon and drove nine miles to Denton, because he knew of a music teacher there. (She was married to a hotel man in Denton.) My father asked her to come the next day and start giving me lessons.

COLUMBUS CIRCLE New York City 1964 Oil on canvas 20>< 30" Collection American Folk Art Museum, gift of Gloria Bley Miller, 2002.28.3

And she came. I remember it like it was yesterday. She was a big fat woman called Mrs. Reese and she smelled of wood smoke. I started taking lessons from Mrs. Reese and kept on taking lessons until I was nineteen years old. I learned everything from her that she knew. When I was nineteen, she said, "I've taken you as far as I can. You better go to Baltimore now and study at the Peabody Institute."

Davis began to draw early, too, making black-and-white sketches and crayon drawings in both primary and high school. In high school he won prizes for his black-andwhite drawings, but he was to drop art for a number of years while "trying to make a living."

Davis served in the United States Navy from 1921 to 1928, and he saw service in the China Sea. In 1928 he came to New York City, living first in lower Manhattan, then moving to Brooklyn in 1947. He worked as a train conductor, private detective, and embalmer; he got up at five in the morning to manage a subway newsstand. Most frequently, he worked as an organist in churches and in funeral homes.

At one point, Davis was a barker and ticket taker in Coney Island for the freak shows and the joy rides. These subjects and his affection for them were to be expressed again and again in his paintings. He remembers what it was like to be a barker:

I learned how to turn the tip, that is, to get the crowd moving into the tent. I would say, "Who'll come up here and sit on the Fat Lady's lap? Her husband won't be jealous.

And anyway he weighs only ninety pounds."

That would usually get the people moving.

It wasn't until about 1947 when Vestie Davis, then in his mid-forties, returned to art. This is how he recalled it: One day I was walking by an art gallery on Fifty-seventh Street and noticed a painting. It was a barnyard scene with a girl in a gingham dress. I said to myself,"Why,I could make a painting as good as that one." So I went into an art store near there and asked the man what equipment I would need. He sold me the canvas and paint and brushes. He also sold me a set of art books at eighty-five cents each.

Those books gave me the practical instruction that I wanted, and I was soon turning out paintings.

Davis began painting by copying calendar pictures and other paintings. Before long people were asking him to make copies of the calendar pictures they liked, and the orders piled up. He soon tired of making copies, however, and about that time he read a statement by the painter Regi-

THIRD AVENUE EL New York City 1965 Oil on canvas 18 24" Collection American Folk Art Museum, gift of Gloria Bley Miller, 2002.28.1

SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART 45

46 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

nald Marsh, to the effect that one should paint what one is most familiar with. So Davis began to paint the ordinary scenes of ordinary life in Brooklynâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the streets, the docks, Coney Island, and even the family cat.

By 1950, Davis began to show his paintings "on the fence" at the Outdoor Art Show in Greenwich Village. His first big success in the Village was with a show of thirtyone paintings devoted to one subject, his black cat Tommy.

They sold out within a day or two. In 1952 he showed at the Coney Island Community Center, winning first prize for a painting of a deserted Coney Island scene on a cold winter's day.

When Davis's paintings appeared "on the fence," a number of art galleries expressed interest in them and subsequently showed his work. Among them were the Greer Gallery uptown and the Morris Gallery downtown. In addition, Davis exhibited for a number of years at the Annual Art Show at the Memorial Center Hospital. One year, the show was transferred to the galleries of M. Knoedler and Sons on Fifty-seventh Street, where Vestie Davis was exhibited in the company of such artists as Andre Derain and Gustave Courbet. Davis was selling everything he paintedâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;in many cases almost before the paint was dry.

(He was asking very little for his work.) He noted: I just happen to sell strong and always have. I can't understand about these artists who have basements full of their work. I don't have any of my own paintings. People are always calling up or coming to the house, asking for paintings. You can't turn them down.

In describing his working methods, Davis said: In the beginning I tried painting right at the scene, but I always collected crowds of kibitzers and the police chased me. Now I take photographs. When a scene strikes my eye I look it over and plan how I'm going to take the pictures. First I stand in one place and shoot a picture. Then I move over just enough so the camera can pick up the next part of the scene. I always move from left to right. Then I have the film developed at the drugstore and paste the pictures together. That makes a panorama of the whole scene. When I started, I had a cheap Brownie camera and had to use a magnifying glass to pull the details out of the photograph. I had to pull them out, remember them, and sketch them out quickly.

I have a better camera now. The details are much sharper.

Once you've got the photograph, you have to decide if the picture will fit on the canvas in the horizontal or vertical; in other words, which way it will look well. These things come to you. The vision of the picture will come to you or it won't. Sometimes you suddenly get a big picture in your mind. If it doesn't come, you may have to wait patiently for a few hours. Sometimes you sit in front of BETHESDA FOUNTAIN / New York City / 1964 / oil on canvas / 18 < 24" Collection American Folk Art Museum, gift of Gloria Bley Miller, 2002.28.2

SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART 47

a blank canvas, and it's a challenge. It's do or die. I have to "see" a painting finished before I can touch a brush to it. I have to be in the mood to tackle it. I have to have the inspiration to make the people in the painting do and behave like I want them to. The people have to practically tell me what to do. Sometimes I can see only part of the picture. After that, I'm blank. If nothing comes, if you haven't formed a picture, you get up and work on something else.

Sometimes I start working from a photograph and see that I don't have all the details, so I need to run up to the place with the camera to make sure I get it right. With the painting set in Rockefeller Center,I had to go up there five times. I've got enough photographs of that place now to fill a water bucket.

chase Park. It folded two years ago and they're going to make a big apartment house project out of it. It's all going to go and everyone will have to move. If you don't get those places now,it's going to be too late.

Davis described the techniques he had developed: Before I start a painting, I have to cover the canvas with white lead. It's a paint that comes in a tube and takes about three weeks to dry.

It's dangerous to use because it's a deadly poison. If you put it in your mouth with your left hand, you can just stick out your right hand and wave goodbye. If you put your fmgers in your mouth while you're working with white lead, you'll wake up smelling daisies.

Davis described his approach to researching his subject matter: I take lots of photographs and save them. I have a file on famous scenes that I've been collecting for five or six years. At first I kept them in paper bags in an old trunk. Now I've got them sorted out and put in envelopes. All the material on one subject goes in one envelope. For example,I have a Long Island file, a King's Highway file, and a file on South Brooklyn.

I read in a magazine that for three dollars you could get a bunch of New York City postcards, so I sent for them. I figured if the cards were interesting, I could make an envelope for them and then go out and look at the scene and take pictures of it. I call it my selfstarter file.

I keep the envelopes in a shoebox.

Actually I have three boxes. One is for Coney Island. I have over three hundred envelopes of Coney Island and nothing but. Another box is envelopes of historical stuff from all over the city. I have about two hundred of these. The third box has the envelopes of the paintings that have already been done. When I make a painting using a photograph, I mark it on its envelope and put it in that third box.

The way my pictures are born is that I get a box out and read all the titles on the envelopes. Sooner or later, one of them will appeal to me. I won't do a painting until I have a reason for doing it.

I also made a list of thirty-five New York scenes I want to paint before the wreckers get to them. I knocked off all the historic stuff at Coney Island. Somebody told me that in less than ten years, my paintings would be worth a fortune because I'm painting things that are all being torn down. Take Steeple-

411 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

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People think it's relaxing to paint. The hardest part is laying it all out, designing it when you've got nothing to go by but a photograph that's two or three inches big. I could produce a picture every twenty-four hours if all it was was putting in the colors with everything else already set to scale.

The important thing is the drawing and inking of every detail. I do the penciling right on the canvas, then I do it in ink. I used to try to do the drawing on paper first, and then transfer it to the canvas with carbon paper.

But carbon paper has a tendency to slide, and it begins to walk and creep and crawl. The next thing you know,it throws off your drawing. Sometimes you think the drawing is correct, and then it's a half-inch off all the way around. It got to the point where I was so disgusted, I threw all my carbon paper in the garbage can.

EDEN MUSEE New York City 1969 Ink and wash on paper 111 / 2 151 / 2" Collection American Folk Art Museum, gift of Gloria Bley Miller, 2002.28.6

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The hardest part is to get the drawing right. First, I put in the vertical and horizontal lines with pencil in freehand, with no ruler or T-square. When I come to the top of the building, I find myself grabbing the T-square.

If the drawing is out of line, I have to erase it and get a ruler and T-square to fix it up. In Fraunces Tavern, half the painting had to be redone because the building instead of tapering was getting bigger. In Penn Station, I found two buildings out of proportion and had to do a lot of erasing. Buildings are the tough part. They have millions of windows. They give me more trouble than streets, lampposts, and people. Once I get the buildings in, the rest is duck soup.

When I was drawing the big public library on Forty-second Street and I put in the front yard, it gave me a different spot altogether for Fifth Avenue. I had it all done, and then had to rub it out because she wasn't lying right. I wore out two pencils and three erasers. I had to throw away three days' work.

You think you've got a picture licked, and

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then you try to tie it together. You think you're finished and you're not. It's a heartbreaker. Even when the public library was inked in, I had to wash half of it off, and didn't get it right until the thud time.

When the drawing is inked, I put in the ground, or the bottom coat. I usually start with the sky and then do the rest. I go all over from left to right as far as I can go.

Then I let it dry. The first coat needs a whole week to dry. That's why I usually work on a couple of paintings at the same time. After I've painted the upper part, I fill in the people down below in ink.

In the beginning, I used to paint what I call empties, that is, pictures without people, like empty Coney Island boardwalks. Then friends told me to put people in, and I did. I saw new life sparkle in the paintings. And the more people I put in, the faster the painting sold. There are some paintings, like City Hall [painted in 1964], that are classic. They don't need people. But I don't like empty paintings, although some people do. There was this fellow who asked me to paint him some empty paintings. When I handed them to him, I turned my head away like I couldn't stand them. But he stood them up against the wall to look at them and said they were beautiful.

Most of the photographs I take show a lot of people. One time, though, I took a picture of Penn Station when it was early morning. It was so empty; it looked like an air raid hit the place. I had to make up all the people out of my head and all the automobiles out of the newspapers. Cars are more trouble to paint than anything.

When I see an open space in a painting, it makes me uncomfortable. I feel like I'm neglecting something. I want to fill it. I want to give it all my attention. I'll be sitting at the table eating, and all of a sudden I get this feeling that I've got to fill a certain space in a painting I'm working on. So I get up and take a pencil and put in four or five figures, and it isn't until I've done that that I can sit down again and relax.

I painted the Nathan's hot dog stand in Coney Island with three hundred people in it, all of them eating and drinking. And I did a picture of Steeplechase Park with five hundred people. Columbus Circle has 150 people and twenty-four autos. Penn Station is jammed with people and cars. In Foley Square, there was lots to put in: buildings, autos, trucks, people, and lampposts. In the Bethesda Fountain painting, there are two hundred people. That's the way it is up there.

The people are walking around doing nothing, except for a man selling balloons. There's also a lake in it and people rowing canoes. In

SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART 49

the Cooper Union painting, I put a pigeon in the man's hand. The pigeons often did that for me. They flew over to my hand.

Davis had definite ideas about working with color: The photographs I take have no color. Since they're in black and white, I have to make up my own color. In the painting of Cooper Union, instead of the drab gray concrete that's really there, I put in red and yellowish-white blocks, like a mosaic. I had to do every square.

My wife says I don't paint things as they are, but beautiful like I want them to be. One thing I know is you've got to make a song out of a painting. You've got to give it melody.

In the painting of City Hall, the concrete goes into color. I add a little reduced red raw sienna and dark umber to make it look black but not flat. The old masters put richness into the ground coat, making the red alive and to be seen through.

The colors you use can't be repetitious.

You need to vary the tones, to blend the colors together and make them match. Getting them right is a big problem. They can't be solid but must be multicolored. I like the colors warm in the foreground but with a cold background. I don't like the colors they use at the Outdoor Art Show in the Village. They use crazy violets and oranges and screaming reds. You can't let the colors clash.

One painting of Bethesda Fountain speaks of fall because the trees are in pinks, reds, yellows, and russets. When I put all the trees in at first, they were the wrong colors. I set the canvas on my easel, put on my bifocals, and stood back, and the trees leaped at me. The color was too strong. I took the picture and turned it to the wall. Then I had to take a rag with turpentine and start all over again. It set me back two days.

I want things painted as thin as the air itself. I want to paint no more than a fly can walk on. That way you can get any expression.

I use the world's best paints and the world's best oil, not the cheap stuff. I want the best I can find so my paintings will never flake or fade. Some of the paints I use are made with minerals that will last for centuries.

I have this technique for doing trees.

My wife, Edna, had a bunch of saucers she was going to throw out. They were all chipped and broken. In one of those saucers I made a turpentine wash, as loose as soup. I used about ten tablespoons of turpentine, some raw and burnt umber, and mashed it all together with a spatula. I do the trunk of the tree and the limbs with this turpentine wash.

(It dries in about an hour.) Then I go and squeeze paint out of the tube to do the leaves.

50 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

Then I come back three days later and go on top with the color of the leaves as they should be. I have to retouch all the trees. I can't leave them spinach green.

When the detailing is done, I can do little "holidays." That's the term housepainters use. It means checking your painting to see if there's something you left out. It means going around the whole painting, touching it up in spots, doing little knickknacks, retouching a few arms and legs, putting in the shadows under the benches and trees. When the painting is finished, I let it stand until it settles down and the sheen from the oil dries off. Then I varnish it. It dries in an hour and brings back the sheen. It brings the paintings back to life.

Vestie Davis painted what he knew and what he cared about. The reality he perceived and his idea of the painting

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were identicalâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;he did not distinguish between an external reality and his image of it. He sought to give visual expression to his own experience and to his ideas about the world.

He wasn't interested in creating "artistic" effects. He wanted to transcribe the world as he saw it, as accurately and precisely as possible. He wanted only to make himself clearly understood.

Davis's essential challenge was to capture and re-create his vision of reality, despite his fundamental lack of training to accomplish that objective. His challenge was therefore not aesthetic but purely technical. Because he hadn't mastered the rules of perspective or of form, he had no formulas or routine methods to fall back on. It was always a struggle for him and nothing was done glibly.

Everything had to be worked out from scratch. He had to evolve his own techniques, his own compositional means for setting down his mental images as clearly and forcefully as he could.

CITY HALL New York City c. 1975 Oil on canvas 25/ 1 2 371 / 2" Collection American Folk Art Museum, gift of Ken and Asa Miller, 1984.32.1

of the painting—pulling it there with the rich and fascinating density of color and detail. He has done this, not by formula or deliberate design, but with an unconscious and an especially intuitive artistry.

In studying the paintings of Vestie Davis's, one immediately senses his attentive and diligent efforts, his dedicated and enormous patience. One can see how his innate artistry had enabled him to compensate in many ways for his technical limitations. One can see how he had brought to bear on structural problems his own sensitivity and inborn gifts as a designer; how he was able to skillfully organize very complex material, to formulate vivid shapes, forms, colors, and rhythms on his canvas, and to synthesize these with the absolute assurance of a master.

Each of the paintings has its own strong sense of pattern. People stroll over the canvas in seemingly random arrangements, yet they relate to one another almost in the way that written notes of music are related. Pattern is everywhere. Shapes repeat, forms repeat, not mechanically or monotonously but in forceful rhythms. The colors set up other patterns, charming the eye with their contrast, balance, and variety.

Art for Vestie Davis was never a pastime or a secondary activity but a passion. Painting was his real occupation, although he had to earn his livelihood by other means.

He was fully aware of the importance of painting in his own life and in the life of the community. He saw his paintings of New York as a kind of"historical" record, a way of preserving the many scenes and sights that were fast disappearing from the city. He saw them as a permanent and necessary record.

What Davis has accomplished in his paintings is to imitate neither the forms of nature nor of art, but to create a private world whose proportions are not really those of the visible world, although they may seem so at first. He has • created instead a world that is coherent, simple, and 1111111 111111111111111,111111111111 relaxed, that is rich, abundant, and fundamentally good. It is a world in which the small things are wonderful and profoundly important.

New York to Vestie Davis was not a city of chaos, I congestion, disorganization, and air pollution. It was a bright and happy place, with all of the city's activity but none of its turbulence. He painted it as no one had painted spot on every spotted dog. Even on billboards and signs, it before. In communicating this unique vision, Davis, who every word is included as carefully and accurately as the died in his adopted city on November 14, 1978, succeeded in making New York truly his own. Davis was included in allotted space would allow.

The people in this concentrated middle ground of the exhibition "Twentieth-Century American Folk Art and activity are highly detailed, too, often more so than the Artists" at the American Folk Art Museum in 1970, and in larger foreground people. As a rule, however, the people Chuck and Jan Rosenak's Museum of American Folk Art are never as detailed as the architecture is. They appear Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century American Folk Art and always as large, flat, silhouetted shapes, shown either full- Artists (Abbeville Press)in 1990.* face or in profile and always divided into two equal parts (at the waistline), regardless of whether they're standing up or sitting down. They wear no shoelaces, belts, wrist- Gloria Bley Miller, a native New Yorker, is a writer by vocation art collector by avocation. She is the author ofbooks on watches, or ornaments of any kind. Their clothing has no and an both art andfood. Her Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook has pattern—no stripes, plaids, or dots. It never folds or wrinbeen continually in printfor more than thirty years. She recently Ides. Yet despite their very flat two-dimensional quality, co-wrote with Nancy Beal The Art of Teaching Art to Children, a the people are strangely alive, alert, and organic, while the guidefor teachers and parents on introducing children to the world they busily occupy is spacious and three-dimen- wonders ofart. Ms. Miller lives in Greenwich Village with her sional. Davis created this tangible illusion of depth by sculptor-husband, Richard McDermott Miller, whose insights into drawing the eye almost immediately into the middle ground art and artists she credits with helping her prepare this essay.

A standard method for creating a three-dimensional world on a two-dimensional canvas is to combine linear perspective (in which objects diminish in size until they reach the vanishing point) with aerial perspective (in which colors and details become more and more muted the greater the distance they are from the eye).

Because Davis's understanding of both these methods was limited, he was forced to come up with other solutions for creating the illusion of a third dimension, and he did so brilliantly.

Davis evolved a compositional device in which the foreground and the sky are left relatively empty, while all the detail is richly concentrated in a strongly colored horizontal band that runs (with innumerable variations) through the center of each of his paintings. The details in this densely crowded middle ground are mainly architectural: the texture of the buildings, their bricks, slate, shingles, and even tiny American flags complete with stars and stripes.

Every detail is painted meticulously—every window in every skyscraper, every brick in every building, and every

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CfTY HALL New York City c. 1964 Oil on canvas 24 36" Collection American Folk Art Museum, gift of Gloria Bley Miller, 2002.28.4

SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART 51

By Karl H. Pass

Schimmel Cumberland County Image Maker (1817-1890)

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Auction Notice Sale Bill, 1927 [part of a three-page flyed, Private Collection Schimmel Carviap We .1

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plasm of the work of this itinerant carver who traveled through the Cumberland Valley and made them toys for Ow pioneer cMIdren of the Colonies.

Schimmel Carvings.

ilhelm Schimmel, regarded today as one of America's most famous folk carvers, was a colorful itinerant who roamed throughout the Cumberland Valley region of Pennsylvania in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Schimmel probably immigrated to America from the Hesse-Darmstadt region of Germany shortly after the American Civil War.' Newly recovered facts concerning his life reveal an interesting dichotomy between his belligerent nature and his affectionately rendered carvings.

52 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

Little is known about exactly when and why he came to Cumberland County, although he was a nonnaturalized citizen in the county by 1869. It was on Friday, May 7,of that year that the German "image maker," as he was described in the Carlisle American Volunteer, walked into the lumberyard office of Delancey & Shrom in the borough of Carlisle.

Probably intoxicated and entirely covered in mud, he proceeded to dismantle furniture while overturning the office's burning stove.2 Upon being forced to leave the office, he began throwing stones at the owners and at the building until three men with stones of their own subdued him. Soon afterward, an Officer

Salm took Schimmel to Fort Thompson.3 At an August 23 court appearance, Schimmel entered a guilty plea to assault and battery, and a one-year jail sentence followed.4 This incident was not the sole occasion that Wilhelm Schimmel found himself arrested and jailed because of rowdy behavior. An 1883 Carlisle Sentinel report offers details of various such incidents. It reads, "For years he has migrated among the farmers, working occasionally, but more generally selling in towns carvings of dogs and birds, toothpicks and other novelties made by his own hand." The article goes on to outline his somewhat "charmed life," pointing out that he had survived countless

Wilhelm Schimmel (1817-18901/ Cumberland County, Pennsylvania / unknown photographer / c. 1885 / courtesy Cumberland County Historical Society Photo Archives Original from a family in North Middleton Township, Cumberland County, Pa.

LARGE EAGLE C. 1860-1890 Paint on pine 21% . 37s/4 10" Collection American Folk Art Museum, promised gift of Ralph Esmerian, P1.2001.157

John Bigelow Taylor, râ&#x20AC;˘W

SMALL EAGLE c. 1860-1890 Paint on pine 8 14 6" Collection American Folk Art Museum, promised gift of Ralph Esmerian, P1.2001.158

SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART 53

fights, railroad accidents, and encounters with the law.5 Schimmel was a figure of many colorful legends, which passed down through generations along with many of his carvings. We know of him by several reported namesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; Wilhelm, William, Heinrich, Henry, Jacob, and John. One common reference used by many in the period was that of "Old Schimmel." Over the course of at least twenty-one years, from 1869 to 1890, the year he died, Schimmel stayed with families mostly of German descent. He moved from farm to farm, seldom wandering far outside the county seat of Carlisle. He would carve mostly animals, many for the children of his hosts, in exchange for room and board.

He established bonds with various families, visiting them repeatedly. Many of them lived along the winding Conodoguinet Creek.

One such German family was the Hensels of Newburg, Hopewell Township, Cumberland County. They would often house itinerants in a summerkitchen loft, coined the bummer room, in exchange for day labor.' In his History of Cumberland and Adams County, Warner Beers states, "Many poor people of Hopewell have cause to remember their [the Hensels'] many acts of kindness."7 According to Alice Hensel, on several occasions during the 1880s Schimmel stayed in their bummer room for several days to a week at a time.5 Charles Hoffman traveled by buggy practicing medicine in Hopewell Township in the 1870s and 1880s. According to Hoffman's grandson, Schimmel often used the elder Hoffman for transportation to the Hensel farm.'

As described in a letter written

by Melva Hensel in 1971, during a stay at their farm Schimmel carved a spread-wing eagle for her father, John Hensel Jr. One night while teasing young John, then age four or five, Schimmel said to him, "If you kiss the hired girl, I will make you some-

54 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

thing." The young boy proceeded to climb on to the girl's lap and give her a kiss. Schimmel kept his promise by carving the eagle for him. John Hensel Jr. was born in 1879, which establishes the creation date of the eagle as about 1884. The letter goes on to state that Schimmel would make a fire in the summer-kitchen fireplace and sleep in the bummerroom loft on a chaff tick and cornhusk pillow.10 Another family who frequently housed Schimmel was the Greiders of West Pennsborough Township. The Greiders operated a gristmill along what is now Creek Road, north of Plainfield. Schimmel stayed the longest with the Greiders, probably in their washhouse near the mill and

covered bridge that bore the family name."

As boys, Elmer Sipe and his brother Peter spent time at Greiders' bridge watching Schimmel carve. Elmer's son Charles remembers his father, who passed away in 1949, and his uncle Peter, who died in 1960, telling him how they sat by the creek while Schimmel carved under the covered bridge. Peter remembered that Schimmel would mumble to himself in a tongue that neither of the boys could understand. Charles thought that Schimmel often stored his carvings in a support beam under the bridge.'2 It was on Tuesday evening, July 15, 1873, in West Pennsborough Township, perhaps by Greiders' bridge, that Schimmel attacked a local boy, Stuart McCoy, and his mother, Margaret. A warrant issued the following day by the justice of the peace recounts the incident according to Margaret McCoy's oath. The warrant reads, "William Shimel [sic] a German who is in the habit of staying about the premises of David Greider of West Pennsborough Township struck her son [Stuart McCoy] with his fist & raised a stick to strike her &

Cumberland County Almshouse / unknown photographer / Carlisle, Pennsylvania / c. 1890 / courtesy Cumberland County Historical Society Photo Archives

Hensel family summer kitchen / photograph by the author / Hopewell Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania / 2002/ courtesy Cumberland County Historical Society Photo Archives Schimmel stayed in the second floor loft, referred to as the Bummer Room

dent occurred in the early evening of May 22, 1882, aboard the five o'clock Cumberland Valley Rail Road (CVRR) westbound train from Carlisle. He was presumably heading to the Greiders' because he paid his fare to Greason, the nearest stop to his creekside mill haunt. As the whistle sounded for Greason, although still a mile from the station and with the train going full-speed, Schimmel walked out of the train car and fell to the ground. Conductor Levi J. McCormick was alerted as the train pulled up to the station, and he had its course promptly reversed to where Schimmel lay. Train hands noticed a bottle next to him and placed him in the baggage car to be taken to Newville, where they had telegraphed ahead for medical attention. When the 6:30 eastbound train arrived, however, he was taken back to Carlisle, to the Cumberland County Almshouse,just east of town.'6

John Bigelow Taylor, NY

LION c. 1860-1890 Paint on pine 7/ 3 4 7½ 3" Collection American Folk Art Museum, promised gift of Ralph Esmerian, P1.2001.156

abused her." Two commonwealth witnesses in the case were Elizabeth Greider and Peter Bloser.'3 The former was likely a relative of David Greider's; the latter, a relative of Samuel Bloser's, who owned a carpentry shop in nearby Frankford Township. Bloser's shop was a source of Schimmel's pine carving blocks.'4 Schimmel was taken to jail and held in default of $100 bail.

Six years later, on Friday afternoon, March 7, 1879, at a public sale in Frankford Township, Schimmel, who was probably intoxicated, attacked a man by the name of Nickey with an ax. Nickey retaliated by hitting him on the head with a stone. It was initially reported that Schimmel had died from the injury, but soon after it was declared in several papers that he would in fact recover.'5 Three years after this near-fatal attack, Schimmel had another narrow escape from death's door. The inci-

A local newspaper report following the accident stated that "Old Schimmel, who has always been a hanger-on at the jail and the county house, was going up the valley on the train when in the vicinity of Kerrsville, being intoxicated, deliberately walked out of the car and off the steps."7 After being admitted to the almshouse, it was thought that Schimmel would lose his right eye, but that turned out not to be the case.

More than one month of care for "head and eye injuries" was needed, and he was discharged on June 25. It is very likely that the well-known photograph of Schimmel with a disfigured right eye was taken after May 22, 1882, as his appearance in the photograph is probably the result of that train accident. Almshouse register papers recorded his age at the time as sixty-five, thus establishing the year of his birth as 1817.' It is probable that the accident might have resulted in Schimmel's need for the aid of a cane.

On Wednesday, February 14, 1883, Schimmel entered the Mansion House on High Street in the borough of Carlisle.° After settling into a chair and falling asleep, Schimmel was awakened by the proprietor and asked to leave. This apparently provoked a fury in Old Schimmel,for he launched a spirited attack upon those around him. Following the heated skirmish, he walked along North Hanover Street only to be confronted by two officers, who forcefully took him to Fort Eyster to be confined for a period of ten days.2° According to a newspaper account, on Wednesday evening, August 1, 1883, Schimmel became engaged in a fight with another German at the CVRR depot in Carlisle.

As the aggressor, Schimmel reportedly swore in German and "shook his cane" at the man. Eventually the fight came to blows until "old age and whiskey weakened the effect of them." It was reported that neither man could speak English. Both were headed west and getting off at Greason, where Schimmel was no doubt en route to the Greiders'. This is the first account stating that Schimmel could not speak English and that he used a cane.21

SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART 55

By 1883 Old Schimmel was such a notorious local figure that advertisements were made capitalizing on his reputation. W.H.H. McClintock of Carlisle used Schimmel's name in his print ads for Welch's liniment. The merchant implied that Schimmel had beaten a man so badly that the victim needed a bottle of the medicine to relieve the pain of his injuries.'

One of Schimmel's last public appearances, this time a positive one, took place at the thirtieth annual Cumberland County Fair, in 1888.

Exhibiting in "Class No. 42 Bric-a Brac and Antiquities," Schimmel submitted an assortment of carvings and received recognition on the Premium List of awards." The local newspaper reported,"A display of carved wood,

by Mr. Schimmel, showed great skill

56 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

and workmanship." His only reward was public recognition, as the committee had no cash prizes to award.'

Intemperance took a considerable toll on the old German. Early in the summer of 1890, under great duress, he was carted to the county almshouse on the back of a butcher wagon owned by Becky Hoffress's father.25 His death came after a twomonth stay in the poorhouse, on Sunday, August 3, 1890, at the reported age of 73.28 Three days later he was buried in an unmarked grave in the potter's field.27 The cause of death was listed as "cancer of the stomach."28 Shimmel's obituary was published in numerous local papers, giving credence to his notoriety, as it was uncommon to note the passing of a vagrant. One such obituary reads,

"Old Schimmel, the German who for many years tramped through this and adjoining counties, making his headquarters in jails and almshouses, died at the almshouse on Sunday. His only occupation was carving heads of animals out of soft pinewood. These he would sell for a few pennies each. He was apparently a man of very surly disposition."29 Another notice states, "He was of a surly, savage disposition, and was very dangerous when enraged."39 It would be another thirty years before the artworld would give recognition to the carvings that are now Schimmel's legacy. In the 1920s, Schimmel's carvings were sought after by collectors who appreciated their artistic merits. They found their way into the collections of such wellknown folk art enthusiasts as Abby

CIRCUS BAND Attributed to Wilhelm Schimmel c. 1890 Bandstand constructed out of soap crate with individual pine figures 11 12 x 13" Cumberland County Historical Society Possibly made while Schimmel was a patient in the almshouse during the summer of 1890

ROOSTER 1883 Pine, gesso undercoat, polychrome decoration 12 5" diameter at base Private Collection

LION ON BASKET OF FLOWERS Attributed to Wilhelm Schimmel Unknown place of origin c. 1875 Pine, gesso undercoat, polychrome decoration 2 x 3" 1 5/ Cumberland County Historical Society

An event that helped to establish the marketplace for Schimmel carvings occurred on September 26 and 27, 1927—thirty-seven years after Schimmel's death—at the Graeffenburg Inn in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. The two-day sale included ten Schimmel carvings. This is believed to have been the first time that his work was widely advertised and publicly sold, and it generated a great deal of attention. It was in this period that prominent local dealers, such as Mrs. Maude A. Miller, the Penrose sisters, and the Blacksmiths, canvassed the Cumberland Valley in an effort to acquire carvings. The vast majority of the pieces collected at this time came from first- or secondgeneration owners who received their carvings directly from Schimmel.

One of the dealers at that time, Mrs. Miller of Dillsburg, began selling Schimmels to New York City dealer Edith Gregor Halpert, a well-known agent for Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, ' among others.3 The first major exhibition of Schimmel's work, along with that of his protégé Aaron Mountz's, was held at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center in Williamsburg, Virginia, September 4 through October 31, 1965. Showcasing eightythree Schimmel and nine Mountz carvings, the exhibit introduced these carvers to a wider audience.

Schimmel's main body of work was made up of various bird Aldrich Rockefeller, Titus and animal figures, notably his draGeesey, Elie Nadelman, and matic eagles. His other bird and animal forms included roosters, dogs, Maxim ICarolik.

The list of museums with squirrels, and parrots. To a lesser significant Schimmel holdings degree he carved lions and tigers, and today include the Abby Aldrich single examples of a Schimmel horse Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, and a dragon are also known. Several the American Folk Art Museum, carvings of a soldier exist, which are the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, possibly self-representational figures, the Cumberland County Histori- as they do resemble Schimmel's cal Society, the Henry Francis du facial appearance. This is speculation, Pont Winterthur Museum, the however, as it is not known whether New York Historical Society, the he ever served in the military.

Apart from these single forms, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Shelburne Museum. The Schimmel carved several significant American Folk Art Museum dis- composite pieces. There are two played three examples of Schim- known versions of a Garden of Eden, mel carvings, including a rare complete with Adam and Eve, fig lion, in the exhibition "American tree, apple, and snake, all surrounded Radiance," which highlighted the by a picket fence. A third is known to gift of Ralph Esmerian to the col- have been made, but it has not survived.32 According to oral tradition, it lection in 2002.

SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART 57

SPREAD-WING EAGLE 1875 Pine, gesso undercoat, polychrome decoration 51 / 2 â&#x20AC;˘ 10" Cumberland County Historical Society Collection

is also thought that Schimmel carved a miniature Crucifixion scene,33 though no evidence exists to prove the story's validity.

An intriguing carving of a circus band has been attributed to Schimmel. The piece consists of a three-sided box with a platform across the open front. It contains seven figures inside and three standing on the band's stage platform.

Turning a crank located on the side of the box enables each figure to play its instrument. The box appears to be a borax laundry soap crate of the late nineteenth century. Believed to have been made by Schimmel during his final stay in the county almshouse, the circus band was acquired by Mrs. Darr, who was a laundrywoman employed at the almshouse. The woman gave it to her neighbor Guy Rupp of Mechanicsburg in 1895.

Eighty-one years later, in 1976, after never leaving the Rupp family home, it was donated to the Cumberland County Historical Society. This could be Schimmel's last and possibly most unique creation.34 The attribution, however, is questioned because it is stylistically different and compositionally more intricate than Schimmel's typical work. Further research is needed to substantiate this attribution.

An often-repeated form, and one for which Schimmel is most widely known, was that of the eagle.

58 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

Dr. Milton Flower thought Schim- stretching, slightly elongated head mel's eagles displayed a Hapsburgian and neck, only the top comb, legs, influence, reflecting European eagles and the backs of the wings have rather than the American bald eagle. crosshatching patterns. Between the Schimmel's usual sawtooth cross- legs is a small, round drill hole indihatched carving, dovetailed wing cating where a hand drill was used to construction, and overall crude exe- remove excess wood, to create an cution can be compared to toy styles open cavity between the legs and tail. of the same period from Germany.33 Several other large eagles possess the His Adam and Eve carvings evident hand-drill hole between the were likewise European in style, rem- legs. The Hensel eagle has characteriniscent of biblical scenes carved for istically four crosshatched talons on centuries. Some of the other forms each foot along with wings dovetailed were possibly derivative of chalk- into the side of the chest body. Origiware, which was in turn influenced nally painted, it has been stripped to

by English Staffordshire figures.38 In the bare wood. particular, the poses of Schimmel's Schimmel's use of the eagle roosters, poodles, and squirrels are form mirrored local customs along reminiscent of these more refined with the social and political attitudes models. of the postâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Civil War period. The Carved from pine, as were his eagle was a popular decorative motif, other works, Schimmel eagles usually having been regarded as a patriotic possess diamond-shaped crosshatch- symbol since its nomination as the ing on the chest body, wings, and national bird following the American legs. They were first coated with a Revolution. The display of a carved layer of gesso and then polychrome- eagle on a storefront or in a schoolpainted. They are predominately col- yard represented the patriotic fervor ored red, black, yellow, and green. of the time. In the 1875 Plainfield His painting as well as his carving Register, it was reported that a local was done with a quick hand, and man "has added the finishing stroke to spontaneity characterizes his work. his portico by placing a large eagle, The eagles vary widely in size, rang- one of Schimmel's manufacture, on ing from the pocketsize to those with the roof."37 Cloyd Brehm remembers a wingspan of more than three feet. "a Schimmel" on the schoolyard flagThe Hensel spread-wing eagle pole in the 1930s, when he attended mentioned previously has a wingspan the Plainfield school west of of twenty-two inches and a height of Carlisle.38 This was probably an eagle thirteen inches. With a forward by Mike Baer, a Schimmel copyist,

who reportedly had a large eagle mounted on top of a flagpole at the schoolhouse in the early 1900s.39 In all likelihood a real Schimmel eagle stood atop the pole originally and was later replaced by the Baer eagle.

Harry Bricker of Plainfield had a Schimmel eagle with a reported sixfoot wingspan mounted on the inside wall of his blacksmith shop. It was destroyed in a fire.4째 A similar eagle mortality story concerns two young boys in Bloserville, who took their family's Schimmel eagle out for target practice. Unfortunately, they were 4 fine marksmen.'

Presently, a contemporary eagle, by York County woodcarver David Ludwig,is mounted on the side of the former Greiders' mill, the old Schimmel stomping ground. Ludwig carves today in the style of Schimmel, making reproduction-quality pieces.

Another contemporary carver who follows Schimmel's style is Rodney Boyer. His carvings are as skillfully equal and his personality almost as eccentric as the original artist's.

Today, the proliferation of high-quality copies, whether or not intended to deceive, makes attribution difficult. Fakes are often executed in such a fashion that when compared to other attributed examples, they do not possess the proper posture and overall appearance. Many suspicious examples show unnatural age marks. The appearance of just one doubtful quality is generally enough to raise questions.

Nearly a hundred examples of Schimmel eagles survive today, testifying to his fondness for the form. Of his probable output of one thousand to twelve hundred carvings, possibly three hundred to four hundred exist today, with about 150 examples in museum collections.

None of the carvings attributed to Schimmel are signed, and only a small handful of attributed carvings contain complete family histories directing back to Schimmel himself.

Schimmel carved casually to support his drinking and tramp's lifestyle.

His signature meant little to him or to the people who received his carvings.

Given his reputation in the area, most people knew that the polychrome toy figures were by his hand, even though they were never signed.

The artistic context of these carvings has changed over the one hundred years since they were created. What were thought of simple gifts or objects of barter are now regarded as premier examples of American folk art. The carver's purpose, influences, methods, and results have combined to place Schimmel's work in the category of true folk art.

The high visual appeal of his work, filled with a robust spontaneity and character, along with his personal story have placed Wilhelm Schimmel,"The Image Maker," along with Cumberland County, on the map.* Karl H. Pass is a graduate ofSterling College in Craftsbury Common, Vermont, and Warren Wilson College in Asheville, North Carolina. He will receive a master's degree in American studiesfrom Pennsylvania State University in thefall of 2003. For the past three years he has worked at the Cumberland County Historical Society in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he is the assistant curator.

NOTES 1 Milton Flower, Three Cumberland County Wood Carvers(Carlisle, Pa.: Cumberland County Historical Society, 1986), p. 6.

2 Carlisle(Pennsylvania)American Volunteer, May 13, 1869, microfilm,4.

3 Carlisle(Pennsylvania) Herald, May 14, 1869, microfilm, 3.

4 Cumberland County August Quarter Session Docket Papers, 1869. Cumberland County Historical Society.

5 Carlisle(Pennsylvania) Sentinel, Feb. 15, 1883, microfilm,4.

6 Melva Hensel Fyler, letter, 1971. Cumberland County Historical Society.

7 Warner Beers, History ofCumberland County and Adams County(Chicago, 1886), p.487.

8 Alice Hensel, interview by author, Oct. 12,2001.

9 Dave Burd,interview by author, Oct. 22,2001.

10 Melva Hensel Fyler, letter, 1971.

Cumberland County Historical Society.

11 Flower,op. cit., p. 8.

12 Charles Sipe, interview by author, April 6,2002.

13 Cumberland County arrest warrant, July 16, 1873. Cumberland County Historical Society.

14 Flower, op. cit., p. 8.

15 Shippensburg(Pennsylvania)News, March 8, 1879, microfilm.

16 Carlisle(Pennsylvania) Herald, May 25, 1882, microfilm; Carlisle (Pennsylva-

nia)American Volunteer, May 24, 1882, microfilm.

17 Carlisle(Pennsylvania)Sentinel, May 24, 1882, microfilm.

18 Cumberland County Almshouse Register, 1882, pp. 18-19. Cumberland County Historical Society.

19 This establishment was later called the James Wilson Hotel, and following World War I, the Hotel Argonne. Today the structure is known as the James Wilson Safe Harbor.

20 Carlisle(Pennsylvania)Sentinel, Feb. 15, 1883, microfilm.

21 Carlisle(Pennsylvania)Sentinel, Aug. 2, 1883, microfilm, 4.

22 Ibid., Feb. 17, 1883, microfilm.

23 Ibid., Oct. 2, 1888, microfilm.

24 The Cumberland County Fair was established in 1858. Administered by the Cumberland County Agricultural Society, it was held annually during the last week of September. At the time it was a monumental draw, bringing thousands of people to Carlisle.

25 Flower, op. cit., p. 3.

26 Cumberland County Almshouse Register, 1890, p. 26. Cumberland County Historical Society.

27 Today the almshouse is known as the Claremont Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

28 Cumberland County Almshouse Register, 1890, p. 26. Cumberland County Historical Society.

29 Carlisle(Pennsylvania)Sentinel, Aug.7, 1890, microfilm.

30 Carlisle (Pennsylvania) Herald, Aug.7, 1890, microfilm.

31 Pierson Miller, interview by author, July 11,2002.

32 One Schimmel Garden ofEden is at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The other is in the collection of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum.

The AARFAM example is less developed and smaller in size than the one at the PMA. 33 Milton E. Flower,"Schimmel the Woodcarver," Early American Life, February 1977, pp. 281-282.

34 "Schimmel Carving Puts Area on Map," Carlisle(Pennsylvania)Sentinel, Feb.4, 1978, microfilm.

35 Milton Flower,"Schimmel the Woodcarver," The Magazine Antiques, October 1943, p. 165.

36 Flower, op. cit., pp. 5, 10.

37 Newville(Pennsylvania)Star ofthe Valley, July 6, 1875, microfilm,4.

38 Cloyd Brehm,interview by author, Nov.6,2001.

39 Flower,op. cit., p. 10.

40 Charles Sipe, interview by author, April 6,2002.

41 Fred Shriner, interview by author, Oct. 18, 2001.

SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART 511

SUMMER

PUBLIC

PROGRAMS

Unless otherwise specified, all programs are held at the American Folk Art Museum,45 West 53rd Street, New York City. Summer Public Programs are open to all and are free with museum admission. For more information, please call the education department at 212/265-1040, ext. 119, or pick up the museum's Public Programs brochure.

TAKE A BREAK FOR FOLK ART TOURS Thursdays at noon Fritz Vogt: Drawn Home June 26 and July 24 Stacy C. Hollander,senior curator, American Folk Art Museum Going to the Perfect Game July 10 and Aug.7 Elizabeth V. Warren, guest curator,"The Perfect Game: America Looks at Baseball" BASEBALL FILMS Fridays at 1:30 PM In conjunction with the Donnell Library Media Center June 27 Baseball, Volume 1: Our Game,1840s-1900 Ken Bums,63 minutes July 18 Only the Ball Was White Ken Solarz, 29 minutes July 25 Baseball, Volume 2: Our Game,1840s-1900 Ken Burns,50 minutes Aug. 15 Beisbol: For Export E. Natacha Estebanez, 27 minutes

FOR FAMILIES Baseball Family Day Thursday, July 10 A full-day event celebrating America's favorite pastime.

New York Mets pitcher Al Leiter will talk and sign autographs at the 10:30 Am opening.

Activities will follow,featuring games, art workshops, an exhibition treasure hunt, and a raffle.

There will be plenty of hot dogs, peanuts, and Cracker Jacks, and as the song says, you won't care if you ever get back!

CAMP PROGRAMS Summer camp programs at the American Folk Art Museum explore the themes of baseball, people, and places through the exhibition "The Perfect Game: America Looks at Baseball."

Day camp programs are offered in July and August, and are appropriate for K-12 students.

Interactive tours and workshops begin at 10:30 AM,Tuesday through Friday. Reservations are required.

Detail of EN EL 'DUGOUT' ALMENDARISTA DEL ALMENDARES PARK II) DE 1908

60 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

AFTERNOON TALKS 1:30 PM Drawn Home: Fritz Vogt's Rural America Friday, Sept. 5 W.Parker Hayes Jr., guest curator,"Drawn Home: Fritz Vogt's Rural America" W.Parker Hayes Jr. will lead an informal discussion and slide presentation examining the distinctive architectural renderings of 19th-century folk artist Fritz G. Vogt. Vogt was a homeless man who expressed an intimate knowledge of home. An itinerant German immigrant trained as a draftsman, Vogt created strikingly original drawings replete with multiple perspectives, skewed scale, and lively distortion of subject matter.

Hayes will describe how these manipulations are a window into both Vogt's personal perspective and late-19thcentury rural America.

The Great American Game Goes International Thursday, Sept. 18 Elizabeth V. Warren, guest curator,"The Perfect Game: America Looks at Baseball" Baseball is no longer just "America's Game." Baseball was introduced to Japan in the early 1870s, and caught on quickly. Cubans started playing organized baseball in the 1860s, and the Cuban League was founded in 1878. Teams in Mexico, Cuba,and the Dominican Republic attracted American ballplayers, particularly members of the Negro Leagues, as the players were rewarded with the respect and fair treatment that players of color were denied in the United States. In this slide presentation, curator Elizabeth V. Warren will discuss the historic and contemporary international game as revealed through folk art.

The museum's public programs arefunded in part by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Carnegie Corporation ofNew York, Consolidated Edison, Major League Baseball, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the New York Mets.

/ Jorge S. / Havana, Cuba / c. 1990 / gouache on paper /9/ 1 2 12/ 1 2"/ collection of Richard Merkin

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14 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

Lawrence Lebduska 11894- ca.1965), Horses and Lightning, 1934, oil on canvas.

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BOOKS

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ALBERT ZAHN: I'LL FLY AWAY June 1-September 7 SEEN AGAINST THE SKY WEATHERVANES & WHIRLIGIGS June 1-September 7 DR. CHARLES SMITH HISTORY LESSONS April 20-November 2

he following recent titles are great gift-giving ideas. All titles are available at the American Folk Art Museum's Book and Gift Shops at 45 West 53rd Street and Two Lincoln Square (Columbus Avenue between 65th and 66th Streets), New York City.

To order, please call 212/265-1040. Museum members receive a 10 percent discount.

T

American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum, Stacy C. Hollander, Brooke Davis Anderson, and Gerard C. Werticin, American Folk Art Museum in association with Hairy N. Abrams, Inc., 2001,432 pages,$65 American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum, Stacy C. Hollander, American Folk Art Museum in association with Harry N. Abrams,Inc., 2001, 572 pages, $75

moo=

American Wall Stenciling, Am Eckert Brown, University Press of New England,2002,224 pages,$60

C:==>

The Art ofAdolf Wolin: St. Adolf.

Giant-Creation, Daniel Baumann,Elka Spoerri, and Edward Gomez, American Folk Art Museum in association with Princeton University Press, 2003, 112 pages, $29.95

•me:=

The Art ofthe Game:A Collection of Vintage Game Boards, Tim Chambers,Shaver and Chambers,2001,218 pages,$125

C=:)

Baseballfor Everyone: Stories from the Great Game,Janet Wyman Coleman with Elizabeth V. Warren, American Folk Art Museum in association with Harry N. Abrams,Inc., 2003, 48 pages,$16.95 Located just one hour north of Milwaukee on 1-43 608 New York Avenue, Sheboygan, Wisconsin 920-458-6144 • www.jmkac.org M/W/F 10-5, T/Th 10-8, Sa/Su 10-4 Admission: Voluntary Donation

OS SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

Critters A to Z,Barbara Lovenheim,ed. American Folk Art Museum in association with BIL Charitable Trust, 2003,80 pages, $12.95

Darger: The Henry Darger Collection ofthe American Folk Art Museum, Brooke Davis Anderson, American Folk Art Museum in association with Harry N. Abrams,Inc., 128 pages, $29.95 Drawing on America's Past: Folk Art, Modernism, and the Index ofAmerican Design, Virginia Tuttle Clayton, Elizabeth Stillinger, Erika Doss, and Deborah Chotner, University of North Carolina Press, 2002, 256 pages, $45 Drawn Home: Fritz Vogt's Rural America, W.Parker Hayes Jr., Fenimore Art Museum,2002, 96 pages, $19.95 Fraktur Writings and Folk Art Drawings ofthe Schwenkfelder Library Collection, Dennis K. Moyer,Pennsylvania German Society, 1997, 302 pages, $69.95 Henry Darger:In the Realms of the Unreal, John McGregor, Delano Greenidge Editions, 2001,680 pages,$85 Painted Saws/Jacob Kass, Lee Kogan, American Folk Art Museum,2002,56 pages, $14.95 The Perfect Game:America Looks at Baseball, Elizabeth V. Warren, American Folk Art Museum in association with Harry N. Abrams,Inc., 2003, 150 pages,$29.95 Raw Vision Outsider Art Sourcebook, John Maizels,ed. Raw Vision magazine,2002,$29.95

Self Taught, Visionary, Folk Art Fair General Admission $500

Labor Day Weekend August 29-31, 2003

Saturday 10-6 Sunday 10-5

Opening Night Preview Friday, August 29 6 - 9 pm EST

Portion of Admission Donated to the Stenn Fund for Ovarian Cancer

Live Music by PATENT MEDICINE

Food on Site provided by Red Arrow Roadhouse

Admission $10"

JUDITH

Harbor Country's Premier Art Fair

R ACHT GALLERY 13707 Prairie Road Harbert, Michigan 49115

(1 hour 10 minutes from Chicago and 3i4 hours from Detroit) FOR INFORMATION CALL (269) 469-1080

MUSEUM

NEWS

American Folk Art

/w STARS AND STRIPES STARS AND STRIPES STARS AND STRIPES Patriotic Motifs In American Folk Art Deborah Harding HC: 0-8478-2485-3 $75.00

HOME SWEET HOME HOME SWEET HOME The House in American Folk Art Deborah Harding and Laura Fisher HC: 0-8478-2409-8 $50.00

RED & WHITE RED & WHITE American Redwork Quilts and Patterns Deborah Harding HC: 0-8478-2244-3 $39.95

Available at fine bookstores everywhere or call 1 800 52-BOOKS

70 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

COMPILED BY VANESSA DAVIS

Members and Friends nFebruary 24, despite the chilly weather, members, trustees, and friends came out in record numbers to attend the Members' Reception at the museum, celebrating Candace Kintzer Perry and Deborah M. Rebuck two wonderful exhibitions—"Fraktur Treasures from the Schwenkfelder Library and Heritage Center"(February 1—May 11) and "St. Adolf-Giant-Creation: The Art of Adolf Wolfli"(February 25—May 18).

Guest curator Deborah M. Rebuck and Candace Kintzer Perry, curator of collections for the Schwenkfelder Library and Heritage Center,joined the museum's senior curator, Stacy C. Hollander, to greet visitors and Former American Folk Art Museum intern introduce them to the spiritual Virginia B. Michel with Stacy C. Hollander and joyful work on view in "Fraktur Treasures." The director of the Schwenkfelder Library, Pastor David Luz, and his wife, Joanne, were among the honored guests. To provide a broader perspective of the context in which these works were created, Hollander augmented the exhibition with outstanding examples of painted furniture, an Amish quilt, and pottery from the museum's own collection.

Daniel Baumann,guest curaPastor David Luz and his wife, Joanne tor of "St. Adolf-Giant-Creation: Swiss government). Actor Adolf Wolfli," and the The Art of Robin Williams and his wife, several of his Swiss colleagues Marcia—lenders to the exhibijoined the American Folk Art tion—were warmly met at the Museum's director, Gerard C. door by Director Werticin, who Wertkin, and Brooke Davis joined them for a walk through Anderson, director and curator this amazing and, to quote The of the museum's Contemporary New York Times, "stunning" Center, to welcome guests and show. Before returning to representatives of the exhibiSwitzerland, Daniel Baumann led tion's main sponsor, the Swissseveral curatorial tours and conPeaks Festival(an initiative of

O

Photography by Matt Flynn

American Folk Art

ABC Eileen Michaelis Smiles ere is an exciting new alphabet book, which introduces children to the wonderful world of American folk art.

This fun new title features a thoughtful selection of works of art from both museum and private collections throughout the country.

Each colorful spread presents a letter of the alphabet accompanied by a unique work of art and engaging rhyming text.

Readers of all ages will look closely at paintings, weathervanes, toys, sculpture, quilts, hooked rugs, decoys, and scrimshaw, and discover the stories that these objects can tell us.

H Gerard C. Wertkin (center) with Robin and Marcia Williams

64 pages • 32 full-color illustrations • hardcover • 9/ 1 2" x 81/2" $20 includes shipping • $21 for CT residents Send check or money order payable to A LITTLE IMAGINATION to the address below.

Swiss guests Berno Odo Polzer, Matthieu Leimgruber, and Nicole Schweitzer

Brooke Davis Anderson and Daniel Baumann

Artist John Tremblay with Daniel Baumann

Ambassador Jacques Reverdin, former Swiss consul general in New York, Fabienne P. Abrecht, head of corporate fund-raising for SwissPeaks, and Alexandre-Cyril Manz, Esq., board member, SwissPeaks

ducted an exciting slide lecture that included a discussion of Won's art and music.

A party was held in the museum later that week to kick off SwissPeaks, an eight-week New York festival that spotlighted Swiss art, lifestyle, business, and education. The festival, which started with the Won exhibition at the American Folk Art Museum,featured over 100 events at more than 25 venues.

A LITTLE IMAGINATION 244 Main Street South,Woodbury,CT 06798 •(203) 263-3131 • A Little fax:(203) 263-2622• imagineabc@aol.com Imagination

Daniel Baumann leads gallery talk

SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART 71

MAY 24 THROUGH OCTOBER 25 Over forty important examples of colorful and intricate PennsylvaniaGerman folk art illustrating the important role art played in the everyday lives of early Americans.

American Frakturfrom the Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum

Gthneral Warthington, Collection American Folk Art Museum Promised Gift of Ralph Bsmerian Photo t 2000 John Bigelow Taylor, New York

HANCOCK

SHAKER

VILLAGE

PITTSFIELD, MA â&#x20AC;˘(800)8174137â&#x20AC;˘ www.hancockshakervillage.org American Radiance: Frakturfrom the Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum is organized and circulated by the American Folk Art Museum, New York

Springtime in

Atlanta

hirty-five museum members from many parts of the United States joined the museum's Folk Art Explorers Atlanta Tour(March 18-23).

Beautiful spring blossoms, delicious Southern food, and gracious Southern hosts made this trip a special treat and a welcome change at the end of what seemed to be a very, very long winter.

The group gathered on Tuesday and enjoyed a welcoming dinner at their Atlanta hotel.

After an early breakfast on Wednesday,the day began with a tour of the High Museum's Folk Art Galleries, led by the High's curator of folk art, Lynne Spriggs. The group then visited a collection of African-American art, and went on to meet Atlanta folk artist Ab the Flagman. After seeing two more private folk art collections, the day ended with a

T

72 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

reception at the Barbara Archer Gallery. Thursday was spent visiting more private collections as well as the artist Lorenzo Scott, at the home of Jim Farmer, and ended with a reception at Mark Karelson's Modern Primitive Gallery on North Highland Avenue. The group left Atlanta on Friday and headed north, to the charming town of Dahlonega.

There, they visited the Folkway Center and one of the finest collections of Howard Finster's work ever assembled. Later, the group was welcomed at the homes and studios of Linda Anderson, Michael Crocker, Clete Meaders, and R.A. Miller.

The final touring day was filled with a trip to Skot Foreman Fine Art and visits to other private folk art collections.

Tour leaders Suzannah Kellner and Lauren Potters would like

Mist Lorenzo Scott with museum member Pamela Hawidns

to thank Harvie and Chuck Abney,Patsy and Jon Bonafair, Jim and Nancy Braithwaite, Lynne and Jim Browne, Tina Cox, Jim Farmer, Sally and Paul Hawkins, Bert and Janet Hunecke, Carl and Babe Mullis, Virginia Phillip, Thomas Scanlin,

Audrey and Dan Shilt, and Jerry Thomas. Tours are planned throughout the year, and we invite you to join us. For more information, please contact the membership department at 212/ 977-7170, or send an e-mail to membership@folkartmuseum.org.

NEW ENGLAND'S PREMIERE SUMMER SHOW sixTH ANN ON-SITE SHIPPER FOOD SERVICE iro` VISA / MC

AIR CONDITIONED

FREE NHADA SHOW BROCHURE: 603-585-9199

SHOW INFORMATION

603-585-9199

c

New Hampshire NTIQUES SHOW)

THE CENTER OF NEW HAMPSHIRE HOLIDAY INN 700 ELM STREET, MANCHESTER, NH 603-625-1000 (Request NH Antiques Show Rates) 65 OUTSTANDING NHADA SHOW DEALERS Penny & Ron Dionne Jeannine Dobbs Antiques Drummer Boy Antiques - Henry C. Ford Peter H. Eaton Antiques, Inc. Ferguson & D'Arruda Estelle M. Glavey, Inc. Russ & Karen Goldberger Constance Greer Antiques Hawks Nest Antiques & Decoys Loy & Rae Harrell Priscilla Hutchinson Antiques Bob Jessen/Jim Hohnwald Jim & Barbara Jordan Antiques William Lary Antiques William Lewan Antiques Thomas R. Longacre Antiques Mad Anthony Books Carole Chenevert& Linda Roggow John & Deborah Melby Antiques

Acorn Antiques - Elizabeth M. Robinson Kate Alex & Co. American Classics, Inc. - Meryl Weiss Barbara Ardizone Antiques Scott Bassoff - Sandy Jacobs Pam Boynton Martha Boynton Hollis Brodrick Candlewick Antiques - Jessie R. Anderson CARA Antiques Constance & Richard Aranosian M.S. Carter, Inc. Nancy & Craig Cheney Antiques Bea Cohen Laurie & Charlie Clark Suzanne Courcier - Robert W. Wilkins Corey Daniels Paul J. DeCoste Dennis & Dad Antiques

THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

Judith & James Milne, Inc. David C. Morey - American Antiques Newsom & Berdan Antiques Carolyn & Howard T. Oedel Oriental Rugs, Ltd.Ralph & Karen DiSala Gail & Don Platt Richard M. Plusch Antiques Wayne Pratt, Inc. Steven J. Rowe Antiques Rustic Accents, Inc. Ken & Robin Pike Peter Sawyer Antiques Belly & Joel Schatzberg American Folk Art Cheryl & Paul Scott Lewis W. Scranton Seaver & McLellan Antiques, Inc. Nancy Sevatson

AUGUST 7, AUGUST 8, AUGUST 9,

ADMISSION THURS. $10.00

FRI. & SAT. $8.00

Jet & Terri Steingrebe Stephen-Douglas Stephen Corrigan & Douglas Jackman The Tates Antiques Teachers' Antiques Fred & Maureen Fenton Thomas M. Thompson Walters â&#x20AC;˘ Benisek Art & Antiques Ed Weissman Nancy Wells Linda Brennan Whittemore Michael Whittemore Betty Willis Antiques Bob Withington Jane & Phil Workman American Antiques & Art The Yankee Smuggler Ted & Carole Hayward Melinda & Laszlo Zongor

10AM - 8PM 10AM - 8PM 10AM - 4PM INCLUDES RE-ENTRY

DIRECTIONS: FROM BOSTON* Rte. 93 North to Rte. 293 North in Manchester, NH. Bear right off of Exit 5(Granite St.) to THE CENTER OF NH HOLIDAY INN (On left).

FROM MAINE & PORTSMOUTH' Rte. 95 South. Exit Rte. 101 West to Rte. 293 in Manchester. Bear right off Exit 5(Granite St.) to THE CENTER OF NH HOLIDAY INN (On left).

FROM VERMONT & NORTH: Rte. 89 South to Rte. 93 South to Route 293 South to Manchester. Take Amoskeag Bridge Exit and follow over bridge to Elm St. Right on Elm St. to THE CENTER OF NH HOLIDAY INN (corner of Granite & Elm Sts.).

Visit our website at : SPONSORED BY

www.nhada.org

THE NEW HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUES DEALERS ASSOCIATION

7-Th

MUSEUM

NEWS

2003 Outsider Art Fair he American Folk Art Museum hosted the eleventh annual Outsider Art Fair Benefit Preview, which was held on Wednesday,January 22,in Soho's Puck Building. The Outsider Art Fair, a four-day event showcasing a wide range of contemporary self-taught and outsider art, attracted 32 galleries from Canada,England, France, Germany, Haiti, Holland, and all over the United States, and thousands of visitors.

Guests of the Benefit Preview enjoyed delicious hors d'oeuvres provided by Canard, while listening to the eclectic sounds of the Carolina Slim Duo,playing the blues on the banjo and washboard; Sean Grisson's Cajun cello; and Paul and Marc Mueller, brothers who play the hammer dulcimer and found-object percussion instruments.

Sanford L. Smith & Associates organized the show,and Caroline Kerrigan and Colin Lynch Smith directed it. The Benefit Preview was made possible through the invaluable efforts of the museum's director of special events, Monique Brizz-Walker, and Katie Hush,special events coordinator, along with Benefit chairs Dana and Paul Caan,Pei-Ling and Thomas Isenberg, Laura and Richard Parsons, and Angela and Selig Sacks. The contributing vice chairs were Didi and David Barrett, Betsey and Samuel Farber, Audrey Heckler, and Amy and Richard Rubenstein.

Numerous educational and benefit events and programs were held in conjunction with the Outsider Art Fair. The museum's membership department was present at the Outsider Art Fair with the benefit Signature Quilt, selling spaces for participants' names.

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Signature spaces are still available through the membership department. For more information, please call 212/977-7170.

The membership department also hosted a Folk Art Explorers daytrip,Inside Outsider Art in New York,on Friday, January 24, in which two Manhattan artists, Bernard Goodman and Malcah Zeldis, graciously welcomed two busloads of Explorers into their homes to view their private collections.

Conversing with Contemporary Masterworks, a series of guided museum tours that took place throughout the fair, added a breadth of understanding for those wanting to learn more about the work of outsider artists in the museum's collection.

The celebration of outsider artists extended to musicians,in An Evening of Outsider Music, hosted on Friday by Irwin Chusid, author and producer of Songs in the Key ofZ,a collection of works by untrained musicians. The concert took place at Fez,just a few steps from the Puck Building, with fascinating and exciting performances by a number of diverse musicians,including the energetic Bingo Gazing째(accompanied by My Robot Friend); ethereal and haunting Thoth;legendary R. Stevie Moore;and the enthusiastic and lively B.J. Snowden.

Also held on Friday was the museum's Americus Group Cocktail Party, hosted by the Andrew Edlin Gallery in Chelsea.

The Anne Hill Blanchard Symposium: Uncommon Artists XI was presented by the museum's Folk Art Institute and Contemporary Center on Saturday, January 25, at the American Folk Art Museum. Uncommon Artists is an annual series of talks focus-

Good Chides Midas and Gerard C. Wertldn

ing on individual contemporary artists. The museum's director, Gerard C. Wertkin, and Lee Kogan,the director of the Folk Art Institute spoke at this year's symposium,along with Carol Crown, Ph.D., who spoke about religious texts; Beate Echols, who lectured on Arthur Bispo do Rosario; Colin Rhodes,Ph.D., who presented the

work of Wilhelm van Genk; and Bernard Goodman, who talked about his own work.

The museum would like to thank all of the artists, galleries, contributors, coordinators, and, of course, all of the guests who attended the Outsider Art Fair and its related programs this year. It was a spectacular event!

Carolina Slim examining the embroidery of Ray Materson

74 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

Dealer Barbara Archer

Museum supporter Audrey Heckler and dealer Carl Hammer

Brooke Davis Anderson, Angela Sacks, and Trustee Selig Sacks

Daniel Rodriguez, the museum's Office Services Coordinator, and Trustee J. Randall Plummer

Carolina SVm Duo

Trustee L John Wilkerson and Chief Administrative Officer Linda Dunne

Director of Museum Shops Marie DiManno and Sanford L. Smith

Richard and Amy Rubenstein

Trustee Laura Parsons, Richard Parsons, Betsey Farber, and Trustee Samuel Farber

Museum supporters David and Didi Barrett with Trustees Edward V. Blanchard and Selig Sacks

SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART 75

ERSIb t ANTIQUES SHOW August 5,6&7 MANCHESTER, NH A cornerstone of "Antiques Week in New Hampshire," this show is a favorite source of outstanding examples of painted and high country furniture, fine formal furniture and choice decorative accessories.

Free Parking • Cafe • On-Site Shipper For more information visit: www.forbesandturner.corn A FORBES & TURNER ANTIQUES SHOW (207) 767-3967• Email LindaT@mainestcom

Darger on View he American Folk Art Museum continues to explore the themes in the work of self-taught artist Henry Darger, with a display focusing on Darger's depictions of battle scenes. Celene Ryan,curatorial assistant of the museum's Contemporary Center, organind the new display, which is presented on the first floor in the museum's Cullman/Danziger Family Atrium.

The American Civil War was a topic of great interest for Darger, and it influenced the numerous elaborately detailed battles described in his writings and depicted in his paintings. In these images,the Vivian Girls assist the Christian Nations of Abbieannia, Calverinia, and Angelinia,in battles against the rebel state of Glandelinia and its

T

allies. Darger's fictional generals and infantry carry colorful flags and wear unique uniforms and decorations, elements of which recall garments worn in both the American Civil War and the First World War. Also on display are samples from the Henry Darger Study Center, including materials and sketches that the artist used to create his compositions, and books from his personal library.

Materials for the Arts he American Folk Art Museum is pleased to thank Materials for the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs for their generous donations of art materials for our education and family programs.

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Museum Fellow at Winterthur aura Tilden, a Folk Art Institute fellow and museum staff member, was selected for one of the limited—and highly sought after— places in the Winterthur Museum's Winter Institute 2003 Program,Perspectives on the Decorative Arts in Early America. Winterthur, the home of Henry Francis du Pont from 1880 to 1969, is a national historic landmark situated six miles from Wilmington,Delaware. Its museum,gardens, and library are open to the public. The Winterthur programs, held in the spring and fall, take place over a two-week period, and involve intensive course study that centers on the Winterthur Collection.

While attending classes, participants are given access to Winterthur's vast holdings and research facilities.

L

ANTON HAARDT GALLERY 2858 Magazine St. New Orleans, LA 70115 (504)891-9080 t (504)897-2050 f www.antonart.com

76 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

Laura Tilden's concentration during her two-week session focused on a cut-paper silhouette of Henrietta Haupt in the Winterthur Collection, made by an unknown artist. Tilden was able to compare the Haupt silhouette to one of a member of the du Pont family, also in the collection. What is unusual about the Haupt silhouette is that the artist combined hollow-cut and whole-cut techniques(not often done), and embellished the work with watercolors and ink.

BASEBALL SCOREBOARD

1

Visitors Star of David

Fabulous polychrome baseball scoreboard circa 1930's. Used by the barnstorming "Star of David" team.

Believe connected with the "House of David" religious sect or a competing religious based team.

Anti ebu

' .001111g

• or

a• •••

603.569.0000 Wolfeboro. New Hampshire

MUSEUM

NEWS

Rug Day 2002 rom as far north as Canada and as nearby as across town, hundreds of rug enthusiasts gathered to participate in the American Folk Art Museum's first Rug Day. Rug Day was organized by the Folk Art Institute in the tradition of the museum's annual Quilt Day,and was held all day Friday and Saturday, March 14 and 15. Nearly 400 participants, from Connecticut, New Jersey, New York,Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Canada, gathered at the museum on West 53rd Street for workshops, demonstrations, and lectures. Participating rug-hooking guilds included: Alice Beatty Chapter of the Association of Traditional Hooking Artists(ATHA), New Jersey; Dutchess County Rug Hooking Guild, New York; Green Mountain Rug Hooking Guild,

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Vermont; Goodwives Chapter of ATHA,New York; Nutmeg Chapter of ATHA,Connecticut; and Peconic Ruggers, New York.

On Friday, Marilyn Bottjer, a well-known Folk Art Institute mg-hooking teacher, led a daylong workshop on traditional rug hooking. On Saturday, veteran Folk Art Institute instructor Fran Phillips conducted a half-day session on "penny rug" techniques.

In this unique workshop, participants created a penny-rug purse.

Lectures offered at 9:00 AM were repeated at 11:00 AM to accommodate the record number of rug enthusiasts. Each session began with welcoming remarks

by Folk Art Institute director Lee Kogan,followed by nationally recognized collector and American Folk Art Museum trustee Kristina Johnson, who spoke

about her passion for hooked rugs and displayed some examples from her extraordinary collection.

Amy Oxford, Massachusetts author, teacher, and inventor of the Oxford punch needle, spoke about the hooked rug collection at the Shelburne Museum. Tracy Jamar, New York City textile-rug conservator and restorer, discussed the care and conservation of hooked rugs, including "what can and cannot be fixed."

Demonstrations by regional rug-hooking guild members were held from noon until 4:00 Pm in the museum's Cullman/Danziger Family Atrium, bringing together a sharing of ideas and techniques as well as many fine original examples. Three hooked rugs from the American Folk Art Museum's collection, which Folk Art Institute associate Laura Tilden arranged to have on view

HOOKED RUG: SPRAY OF FLOWERS/ artist unidentified; initialed "M.E.H.N." / probably New England / 1868 / wool on burlap /46 2"/ collection American Folk Art Museum, 1 32/ gift of Joel and Kate Kopp / 1979.27.1

during the afternoon, garnered much interest from general museum visitors and Rug Day participants. Networking among guild members and visitors, a goal of the event, was enthusiastically ongoing, and generated plans for Rug Day 2004.

SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART 77

TRUSTEES/DONORS

MUSEUM

OF

AMERICAN

FOLK

ART

BOARD OF TRUSTEES Executive Committee Ralph 0.Esmerian Chairman oldie 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 Barry D. Briskin Treasurer Jacqueline Fowler Secretary

Joyce B. Cowin Samuel Farber Members Edward Vermont Blanchard Jr. Paul W.Caan Barbara Cate David L. Davies Susan Gutfreund Robert L. Hirschhorn

Kristina Johnson,Esq. David Krashes Taryn Gottlieb Leavitt Nancy Mead George H. Meyer, Esq. Cyril I. Nelson Laura Parsons J. Randall Plummer Julia T. Richie Margaret Z. Robson

Selig D. Sacks, Esq. Bonnie Strauss Nathaniel J. Sutton Richard H. Walker, Esq. Trustees Emeriti Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Cordelia Hamilton George F. Shaskan Jr.

CAPITAL CAMPAIGN DONORS The American Folk Art Museum announced a $34.5 million campaign to construct and endow its new home on West 53rd Street. As of January 31, 2003, the following donors have contributed $33,800,000: Marjorie W.Abel James & Gail Addiss Dr. & Mrs. Karl P. Adler Alconda-Owsley Foundation Judith Alexander George R. Allen/Gordon L. Wyckoff-Raccoon Creek Antiques American Capital Access American Folk Art Society Barbara Anderson Ingrid & Richard Anderson Mama Anderson Judy Angelo Cowen Foundation Marie T. Annoual Aame Anton Barbara Ardizone Marion Armstrong R.R. Atkins Foundation Lois S.& Gad Avigad Joan & Darwin Bahm Marcia Bain Lori Ann Baker, Baker & Co. Designs Ltd. Marianne E. Balazs Denny Beach Judy & Barry Beil in honor of Alice & Ron Hoffman Bankers Trust Company Barn Star Productions, Inc. Didi & David Barrett Jimi Barton-Rhinebeck Antiques Fair Joyce & Ron Bassin/Bird In Hand Patricia Beatty Mary F. Beck Ellen Stone-Belic Philip & Leah Bell Laurine Hawkins Ben-Dov Mrs. Arthur M. Berger Julie M. Bemson Big Apple Wrecking & Construction Corporation Mrs. George P. Bissell Jr. Diana H. Bittel Edward V. Blanchard & M. Anne Hill Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund Lenore & Stephen Blank Bloomberg L.P. The Bodman Foundation Booth Ferris Foundation Robert, Katharine & Courtney Booth Catherine & Chris Botta Marilyn W. Bottjer Edith S. & Barry D. Briskin/Shirley K. Schlafer Foundation Susan Brodish Florence Brody Sheila & Auron Brog

MI SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

R.Scott Bromley The Brown Foundation, Inc., Houston Curtis F. Brown, Hayden Goldberg Mr.& Mrs. Edward James Brown Gail Brown Marc Brown & Laurene Krasny Brown J. Bruce Antiques Fred & Theresa Buchanan in memory of Sybil Gibson Charles & Deborah Burgess Jim Burk Antique Shows The Burnett Group Marcy L Bums/American Indian Arts Joyce A. Burns Paul & Dana Caws Lewis P. Cabot Elinor B. Cahn Mr.& Mrs. Donald Campbell Bliss & Brigitte Carnochan Caterpillar Foundation John W. Castello in memory of Adele Earnest Donald N. Cavanaugh & Edward G.Blue Edward Lee Cave Virginia G.Cave Shari Cavin & Randall Morris Peter P. Cecere Sharon S. Cheeseman Christie's Richard & Teresa Ciccotelli Barbara L. Claster Lori Cohen Alexis & George Contos In memory of Daniel Cowin Mrs. Daniel Cowin Jeanne D. Creps Mr.& Mrs. Edgar M.Cullman Elissa F. & Edgar M. Cullman Jr. Joe & Joan Cullman Susan R. Cullman Catherine G. Curran Kendra & Allan Daniel David & Sheena Danziger Lucy & Mike Danziger Peggy & Richard M. Danziger David L. Davies Darwin/Carolinn Pocher & William Woody Vincent & Stephanie DiCicco H. Richard Dietrich Jr. Mr.& Mrs. Charles M.Diker Patricia McFadden Dombal Colette & Jim Donovan Doyle New York/Kathleen M.Doyle Deborah & Arnold Dunn Ray & Susan Egan Gloria Einbender Sharon & Ted Eisenstat Elitzer Family Fund in honor of Anne Hill & Monty Blanchard David & Doris Walton Epner Joyce & Klaus Eppler Ralph 0. Esmerian Susan H. Evans In memory of Heila D. Everard

Sam & Betsey Farber Nancy Farmer & Everette James Mike & Doris Feinsilber Bequest of Eva & Morris Feld Elizabeth C. Feldmann M. Finkel & Daughter Fireman's Fund Insurance Company Deborah Fishbein Alexander & Enid Fisher Laura Fisher/Antique Quilts & Americana Jacqueline Fowler Beverly Frank Gretchen Freeman & Alan Silverman Mrs. Albert D. Freiberg Susan 0. Friedman Alvin E. Friedman-Kien, M.D. Furthermore, the publication program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund Galerie St. Etienne, Inc. Gallery of Graphic Arts, Ltd. Rebecca & Michael Gamzon Judy & Jules Garel Garth's Auctions, Inc. Rich & Pat Garthoeffner Sidney & Sandra Gecker Nancy Gerber Morad Ghadamian Sima Ghadamian Merle & Barry Ginsburg James & Nancy Glazer Mr.& Mrs. Merle H. Glick Carla T. Goers Edith H. Goldberg Russ & Karen Goldberger Mrs. Toni L. Goldfarb Tracy Goodnow Art & Antiques Ellin & Baron Gordon Howard Graff Jonathan Green Nancy M.& Ben S. Greenberg Greene & Mays American Antiques Marion E. Greene Blanche Greenstein & Thomas Woodard William & Shirley E. Greenwald Peg & Judd Gregory Audrey Elkinson Griff Bonnie Grossman/The Ames Gallery Pat Guthman Alan & Elaine Haid Robert & Linda Hall Cordelia Hamilton Ken & Debra Hamlett Nancy B. Hamon Jeanne & Herbert Hansell Deborah Harding Marion Harris & Jerry Rosenfeld Harvey Art & Antiques Audrey Heckler Donald Heller, Heller/Washam Nina Hellman Jeffrey Henkel Mr.& Mrs. George Henry Mr.& Mrs. Samuel Herrup

Ann Hickerson & Martha Hickerson Antonio Hidalgo The High Five Foundation Frederick D. Hill Pamela & Timothy Hill Kit Hinrichs The Hirschhorn Foundation, Robert & Marjorie Hirschhorn, Carolyn Hirshhom Schenker Historical Society of Early American Decoration Arlene & Leonard Hochman Mr.& Mrs. Joseph C. Hoopes Jr. Carter G. Houck Sr. Evelyn Houlroyd Ellen E. Howe Mr.& Mrs. Philip Howlett Allen & Barry Huffman Peter D. Hynson Antiques Paul Ingersoll In the Beginning Fabrics Thomas Isenberg In memory of Laura N. Israel Thomas & Barbara Israel The Jamison Williams Foundation Johnson & Johnson Joan & Victor Johnson Kristina Johnson, Esq. Louise & George Kaminow Julie & Sandy Palley and Samuel & Rebecca Kardon Foundation Allan & Penny Katz Edwin U. Keates, M.D. Steven & Helen Kellogg Jolie Kelter & Michael Malce Richard Kemble & George Korn, Forager House Collection Mrs. David J. Kend Leigh Keno Amy Keys Jacqueline & Jonathan King Phyllis Kind Joe K. Kindig III Susan & Robert E. Klein Nancy Knudsen Nancy Kollisch & Jeffrey Pressman Greg K. Kramer David & Barbara Krashes Dr. Robert & Arlene ICreisler Sherry & Mark ICronenfeld Robert A. Landau Bruno & Lindsey LaRocca Michelle & Lawrence Lasser William & Karen Lauder Jerry & Susan Lauren Wendy & Mel Lavin Mark & Taryn Leavitt The Edith and Herbert Lehman Foundation, Inc. In memory of Henry J. & Erna D. Lair John A. Levin & Co.,Inc. Bertram Levinston, M.D. Levy Charitable Trust

DONORS

Judy Lewis The Liman Foundation Lipman Family Foundation The 2000 Lipman Fellows Bruce Lisman In memory of Zeke Liverant Nancy MacKay Nancy & Erwin Maddrey Anne & Vincent Mai Maine Antique Digest The Jane Marcher Foundation Harriet Marple Plehn Trust Paul Martinson, Frances Martinson & Howard Graff in memory of Burt Martinson Mr.& Mrs. Christopher Mayer In honor of Nancy Mayer Mrs. Myron Mayer Kerry McCarthy Milly McGehee Nancy and Dana Mead Mary 0. Mecagni Robert & Meryl Meltzer Charles W. Merrels Evelyn S. Meyer George H. Meyer Jim & Enid Michelman Mrs. E.J. Milano Mr.& Mrs. Samuel C. Miller Judith & James Milne Jean Mitchell Sandra Moers JP Morgan Chase & Co.,Inc. Keith & Lauren Morgan Moms Levinson Foundation, Inc. Alden & Jane Munson Lucia Cirino Murphy Drew Neisser Cyril Irwin Nelson New York City Department of Cultural Affairs New York State Margaret & David Nichols Thurston Nichols Mr.& Mrs. Frank N. Norris Jr. Northeast Auctions, Ronald Bourgeault Susan Nova Sally W.O'Day Odd Fellows Antiques Bequest of Manic Lou O'Kelley Olde Hope Antiques Cheryl Oppenheim & John Waters The Overbrook Foundation Patsy Palmer & Talbot D'Alemberte Virginia Parks Patemostro Investments Eloise Paula Rolando & Karin Perez Jan Petry Philip Morris Companies Inc. Elizabeth A. Pile Harvey S. Shipley Miller & J. Randall Plummer Frank & Barbara Pollack Lucile & Maurice Pollak Fund Pook & Pook Inc./Ronald & Debra Pook Wayne Pratt, Inc. Fran Puccinelli Jackie Radwin Teresa Ranellone Christopher T. Rebello Antiques Ricco/Maresca Gallery Julia & Leroy Richie Jeanne Riger Marguerite Riordan John & Margaret Robson Foundation Le Rowell Miss Virginia Carolyn Rudd F. Russack Antiques & Books,Inc.

Selig D. Sacks Judith Sagan Mary Sams-Ballyhack Antiques Jack & Mary-Lou Saviff Peter L. Schaffer Carol Peden Schatt Shirley K. Schlafer Memorial Fund In memory of Esther & Sam Schwartz Marilyn & Joseph Schwartz The Schwarz Gallery, Philadelphia Phyllis & Al Selnick The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation Jean S. & Frederic A. Shari In honor of George Shaskan The George and Myra Shaskan Foundation, Inc. Roz & Steve Shaw Arthur & Suzanne Shawe Elle Shushan Jo Sibley John Sideli Eleanor R. Siegal Francisco F. Sierra Elizabeth Silverman Skinner, Inc., Auctioneers and Appraisers of Antiques and Fine Art Sanford L. Smith & Patricia Lynch Smith Sarah Barr Snook Elliott & Grace Snyder Mr.& Mrs. Peter J. Solomon Sotheby's Maxine Spiegel The Splendid Peasant/Martin & Kitty Jacobs Nancy T.& Gary J. Stass Frederick Sleeker Stella Show Mgmt. Co. Su-Ellyn Stern Tamar Stone & Robert Eckstein Rachel & Donald Strauber Bonnie & Tom Strauss The R. David Sudarsky Charitable Foundation Nathaniel J. Sutton Leslie Sweedler John & Catherine Sweeney William Swislow Takashimaya Co.,Ltd. Connie Tavel Richard & Maureen Taylor Nancy Thomas David Teiger Tiffany & Co. Jeffrey Tillou Antiques Peter Tilton Pamela P. Tisza Jean I. & Raymond S. Troubh Fund Tucker Station Antiques Karen Ulfers John & Kathleen Ullmann Joseph Del Valle Lee & Cynthia Vance Jacob & Ray Van Gelder Bob & Ellie Vermillion Joan & Clifford Vernick Joseph & Meryle Viener Robert E. Voelklg David & Jane Walentas Jennifer Walker Clifford A. Wallach Irene N. Walsh Don Walters & Mary Benisek Warburg Pincus The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Elizabeth & Irwin Warren Nani S. Warren Martha Watterson Weeden Brothers: Bill, Alan, Jack & Don Mr.& Mrs. Alan N. Weeden

Vatst

CONTEMPORARY CANADIAN FOLK ARTIST

MENDELSON JOE

represented by

Karen Robinson Gallery GALLERY HOURS 5 Duncan Street East Huntsville, Ontario, Canada PIH I v9 Open Wednesday through Sunday from: 705-787-1664 info@karenrobinsongallery.com June to October — 12 noon to 6 pm November to May — by appointment www.karenrobinsongallery.com

ALEXANDRA HUBER new works on-line and at the gallery BEVERLY KAYE 15 LORRAINE DRIVE WOODBRIDGE, CT

203.387.5700

artbrutcom by appointment

SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART 79

DONORS

AMERICA'S OLDEST MAKERS OF COLONIAL AND EARLY AMERICAN LIGHTING FIXTURES

(

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP Frederick S. Weiser David M. Weiss Jay & Meryl Weiss Julia Weissman Ed Weissman Mr.& Mrs. Peter Wells Ben Wertkin David Wheatcroft Harry Wicks Donald K. Wilkerson, M.D. John & Barbara Wilkerson Nelson M. Williams John Wilmerding

Charles & Phyllis Wilson Robert N. Wilson & Anne Wright Wilson Dr. Joseph M.& Janet H. Winston Susan Yecies J. Evelyn Yoder Valerie Young Shelly Zegart Antique Quilts Malcah Zeldis I. H.& Birgitta X.L. von Zelowitz Bernadette Mary Zemenick Steven J. Zick Jon & Becky Zoler 27 Anonymous Donors

RECENT DONORS FOR EXHIBITIONS AND OPERATIONS— as of April 15, 2003 The American Folk Art Museum appreciates the generous support of the following friends:

AUTHENTIC DESIGNS www.authentic-designs.com

$100,000 and above Carnegie Corporation The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Sports Illustrated $99,999—$50,000 Bloomberg L.P. William Randolph Hearst Foundation Leir Charitable Trusts Major League Baseball Margaret Z. Robson SwissPeaks Festival Corporation John & Barbara Wilkerson Two anonymous donors

West Rupert, Vermont 05776 (802) 394-7713 • 800-844-9416 Catalogue $3.00

BARN STAR PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS a6yssell Carrell's Original

eir qu

Co Saturday, 3"e'

r6 '$20

Early buying, 8am General admission, am - 4pric $6 This September, New England's favorite one-day outdoor market will be held rain or shine. in the beautiful setting of Salisbury, CT with over 100 dealers and vans full of fre exciting antiques,._ Join Barn Star Productions as an earl er or coring admission to relive a tradition started a Ost half-a'century ag-Ci the highly respected Mr. Russell Carrell. American and European objects will fill the field known to many as the site of America's first antiques market.

Located at the original farrell Homestead at 92 Canaan Road (Rte 44)Salisbury, CT,just up the road from the White show benefits the Salisbury Visiting Nurse Association.

For more information call Barn Star Productions at (845)876-0616 or visit our website atyww.barnstar.comAimill

A BENEFIT FOR THE SALISBURY VISMNG NURSE ASSOCIATION

80 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

$49,999—$20,000 Burnett Group Paul & Dana Cams Cahill Gordon & Reindel Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Lucy C. & Frederick M. Danziger David L. Davies & Jack Weeden Deutsche Bank Ralph 0.Estnerian Samuel & Betsey Farber Jacqueline Fowler Robert & Luise Kleinberg Barbara & David Krashes Mr.& Mrs. Lawrence J. Lasser Latham & Watkins Taryn & Mark Leavitt JP Morgan Chase & Co.,Inc. National Endowment for the Arts Dr. & Mr. Richard D. Parsons Selig D. Sacks Sheannan & Sterling Sidley Austin Brown & Wood The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. Fred Wilpon/New York Mets Two anonymous donors 519,999—$10,000 Athena Group LLC The Bachmann Strauss Family Fund,Inc. Bear Stearns Companies,Inc. Dr. & Mrs. Alex Berenstein Edward V. Blanchard & M. Anne Hill Edith S. & Barry D. Briskin Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Brooklyn Digital Foundry Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft Vice President & Mrs. Richard B. Cheney Citigroup, Inc.

Consolidated Edison Mrs. Daniel Cowin Credit Suisse First Boston The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation William Doyle Galleries Douglas E. Ente in memory of Ellin Ente Furthermore, the publication program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund Marion Greene Mr.& Mrs. John H. Gutfreund Joan M.& Victor L. Johnson Johnson & Johnson Companies The Robert and Luise Kleinberg Fund at the Jewish Communal Fund The Lipman Family Foundation, Inc. Mr.& Mrs. Vincent Mai Frances Sirota Martinson, Esq. Nancy and Dana Mead George H. Meyer, Esq. Mr.& Mrs. Keith Morgan New York State Council on the Arts Pfizer, Inc. Philip Morris Companies Inc. J. Randall Plummer Julia T.& Leroy Richie Mr.& Mrs. Daniel Rose The Judith Rothschild Foundation The Shirley K. Schlafer Foundation Sotheby's Nathaniel J. Sutton The Tomorrow Foundation Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP The Jamison Williams Foundation One anonymous donor $9,999-54,000 ABC, Inc AOL Time Warner,Inc. Molly F. Ashby & Gerald M.Lodge Bloomingdale's The John R.& Dorothy D. Caples Fund The Jay Chiat Foundation The Judy Angelo Cowen Foundation Peggy & Richard M.Danziger Debevoise & Plimpton Steven Ente in memory of Ellin Ente Evelyn Frank in honor of Myra & George Shaskan Barry & Merle Ginsburg Audrey B. Heckler Stephen M. Hill The Magazine Group Marstrand Foundation The Mattie Lou O'Kelley Memorial Trust MBNA America, N.A. Christopher Mayer New York City Department of Cultural Affairs

DONORS

SHIPS

JOHN Pat Parsons Paul & Judy Patemostro Ricco/Maresca Gallery Robert and Dale Rosen Charitable Foundation Schulte Roth & Zabel The William P. & Gertrude Schweitzer Foundation, Inc. The George F. and Myra Shaslcan Foundation, Inc. Manoogian Simone Foundation E. Newbold and Margaret du Pont Smith Foundation David Teiger Wilkie Farr Gallagher Robert N. Wilson/ Pheasant Hill Foundation Three anonymous donors $3,999—S2,000 The Acorn Foundation, Massachusetts Deborah & James Ash Aventis Pharmaceuticals Jeremy L. Banta Ms. Denise Benmosche Jessica and Natan Bibliowicz Alvan & Claude Bisnoff Mr. Thomas Block & Ms. Marilyn Friedman Mr.& Mrs. Sheldon Bonovitz Robert & Kathy Booth Brenda Brody Edward J. & Margaret Brown Mr.& Mrs. Edgar M.Cullman Maureen D. Donovan The Charles Edlin Family Charitable Foundation Gloria G. Einbender Fastsigns Eric J. & Anne Gleacher Elise Goldschlag & Kevin Lundeen Terry B. Heled Mr.& Mrs. Richard Herbst Pepi & Vera Jelinek Kristina Johnson, Esq. Allan & Penny Katz Mr.& Mrs. Robert Kleinberg Mr.& Mrs. Lawrence J. Lasser Jerry & Susan Lauren Lehman Brothers Mary & Stephen Meadow Merrill Lynch Joan & Martin Messinger Loree & Richard Meyer Mr.& Mrs. J. Jefferson Miller II Lesile Miller & Richard Whorley Donald & Cynthia Murphy Neuberger Berman,LLC Oshman's Foundation Rolando & Karin Perez Dorothea & Leo Rabkin Mr.& Mrs. Keith Reinhard Paige Rense Marguerite & Arthur Riordan John R. Robinson, Esq. Carol Peden Schatt Richard & Stephanie Solar Su-Ellyn Stern Dorothy C. Treisman Irwin H.& Elizabeth V. Warren Gerard C. Wertkin The Zankel Fund 81,999—$1,000 Mr. & Mrs. A. Marshall Acuff Jr. Mr.& Mrs. Ted Alfond Grace Allen Jamie Davis Anchin James Asselstine & Bette J. Davis Didi & David Barrett Marvin & Jill Baten

Mr.& Mrs. Barry Beil Daniel Berman Mrs. Peter Bing Rhoda & Gerald Blumberg Betsy Bogner Bernard & Judy Briskin in honor of Barry Briskin Marvin & Lois P. Broder/ Lucile & Maurice Pollak Fund Marc & Laurie Krasny Brown Charles & Deborah Burgess Citicorp Foundation Matching Gifts Program Coach Dairy Goat Farm Congregation Beth Israel, Houston Mr.& Mrs. Edgar M.Cullman Kendra & Allan Daniel Aaron & Judy Daniels Michael Del Castello Mr.& Mrs. Richard DeScherer Michael Donovan & Nancye Green Dunphy Family Foundation, Inc. The Echo Foundation Gloria G. Einbender Jill Gallagher Daniel M.and Lianna Gantt Mr.& Mrs. Bruce Geismar Dr. Kurt A. Gitter & Ms. Alice Yelen Barbara Gordon & Steve Cannon Susan Zises Green Corclelia Hamilton Mr.& Mrs. James Harithas Stephen Hessler & Mary Ellen Vehlow Stephen M. Hill The Hirschhorn Foundation Mr. Paul Hurley Thomas Isenberg Theodore J. Israel Mr. & Mrs. Thomas C. Israel J&B Auto Body & Repairs Betty Wold Johnson & Douglas F. Bushnell Richard T. Kanter Nancy Kollisch & Jeffrey Pressman Mr.& Mrs. Abraham Krasnoff Robert A. Landau JoCarole & Richard Lauder Mr.& Mrs. Ronald S. Lauder Glorya & Fred Leighton Barbara S. Levinson Robert A. Lewis Mr.& Mrs. Carl M.Lindberg Ronnie Livia Carl D. Lobell Louis Dreyfus Holding Company Mary's East Michael T. Martin The Helen R.& Harold C. Mayer Foundation Mrs. Myron L. Mayer Michael & Gad Mendelsohn Virginia B. Michel Judith & Bernard Newman New York Yankees Foundation Victor & Susan Niederhoffer David O'Connor Philip V. Oppenheimer & Mary Close Mr. & Mrs. Francis C. Parson Jr. Anthony J. Petullo Foundation Robert & Marianne Polak Mr.& Mrs. Mortimer Propp Jack & Roberta E. Rabin Jean Rather Irene Reichert William D. Rondina Mr.& Mrs. Jeff T. Rose Robert A. Roth Derald & Janet Ruttenberg Paul J. Schatt Paul & Elizabeth Schaffer Peter L. Schaffer

BY

TAYLOR

USS COMET(detail)

GARDE RAIL GALLERY 1* SEATTLE, WA * TEL.206.721.0107

WWW.GARDE-RAIL.COM

Manhattan!

Classic Rug Collection, Inc.

44AA4AA441444444 AAAAAAA 4 VITVIrIFFV1I • 61.1.11.1. 1,116)..b.161. kL.16.1.11A.1 V4 , 111 , 111\NINIIINIVINNI' A44444,4A4A44AA44444.

1014 Lexington Avenue, 2nd Floor (between 72nd -73rd Streets)

New York, NY 10021 212-249-6695 or 888-334-0063 (toll-free)

SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART 81

DONORS

Intuit Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art 756 N. Milwaukee Ave. Chicago, IL 60622 312.243.9088 fax 312.243.9089 intuit@art.org Open Wednesday-Saturday noon to 5 and by appointment

www.art.org

tiorqo ARTS

Abel Perez Mainegra (Cuba), 2000

Popular and Folk Art from Asia, Africa and the Americas Cuban Self-taught Artâ&#x20AC;˘Latin American Folk Art Haitian Paintings &Vodou Flags â&#x20AC;˘African Barber Signs

Ethnographic Sculpture, Furniture &Textiles 151 N. 3rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106 215-922-4041

www.incligoarts.com

82 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

Mr.& Mrs. Marvin Schwartz Philip & Cipora Schwartz Mr.& Mrs. Peter L. Sheldon Harvey S. Shipley Miller Myron B.& Cecile B. Shure Hardwick Simmons Donna & Elliott Slade Patricia & Robert Stempel Elizabeth & Geoffrey A. Stem Donald & Rachel Strauber Maryann Sudo Doris & Stanley Tananbaum Dennis Thomas Ms. Karel F. Wahrsager Jennifer Walker Linda Waterman Pastor Frederick S. Weiser Janis & William Wetsman Mrs. Joseph M. Winston Ms. Teri Wilford Wood & Mr. John Busey Wood Four anonymous donors $999-4500 Kristen Accola & Gary Snyder Robert & Wendy Adler Richard C.& Ingrid Anderson Anthony Annese Joel Banker Frank & June Barsalona Deborah Bergman Mrs. George P. Bissell Jr. Dena Bock Mr.& Mrs. James A. Block Mr.& Mrs. Leonard Block Jeffrey & Tina Bolton Marilyn & Orren Bradley Miriam Calm Marcy Carsey Gabrielle & Frank Casson The Chase Manhattan Foundation Matching Gift Program Marjorie Chester Kathleen Cole Mr. George-Anthony N. Colettis Mrs. Phyllis Collins Stephen H. Cooper & Prof. Karen Gross Simon Critchell Susan R. Cullman Kathryn M. Curran Gary Davenport David & Sheena Danziger Dr. Janet L. Denlinger Richard and Barbara Donsky Foundation Nancy Druckman Arnold & Debbie Dunn Shirley Durst Mr.& Mrs. James A.Edmonds Jr. Sanford B. Ehrenkranz Ross & Gladys Faires Jessie Lee Farber Eva & Morris Feld Fund Burton M.& Helaine Fendelman Thomas K. Figge Lawrence Fink Jane Fonda Charlotte Frank Ms. Evelyn Frank Gail Furman,Ph.D. Judy & Jules Garel Gemini Antiques, Ltd. Margaret A. Gilliam Mrs. Bruce Gimbel William L.& Mildred Gladstone Merle & Barbara Glick Henry Goldstein & Linda Broessel Kelly Gonda Ellin & Baron J. Gordon

Mariko Gordon Howard M.Graff Peter T.& Laura Grauer Robert M. Greenberg Nanette & Irvin Greif Stephen Hessler & Mary Ellen Vehlow Leonard & Arlene Hochman Mr.& Mrs. Robert Hodes John & Laima Hood Pamela J. Hoiles John & Sandra Horvitz Michael T. Incantalupo Mr.& Mrs. Ken Iscol Guy Johnson Todd & Paige Johnson Mr.& Mrs. Austin Kalish Kandell Fund Mr.& Mrs. Martin Katz Steven & Helen Kellogg Ms. Joan E. Kend Mary Kettaneh John J. Kirby Jr. Mr.& Mrs. Michael Klein Barbara S. Klinger Mr.& Mrs. Stuart Krinsly Mr.& Mrs. Theodore A. Kurz Nancy Lasalle Wendy & Mel Lavin Sam & Stephanie Lebowitz Judith Lewis Frances & James Lieu Sherwin & Shirley Lindenbaum Billie & Phil Logan Gloria Lonergan Nancy Maddrey Jane Marcher Foundation Esperanza G. Martinez Chriss Mattsson Mr.& Mrs. John A. Mayer Grete Meilman Evelyn S. Meyer Michael & Pamela Miles Jonathan Miller & Phyllis Winstral Judith & James Milne Museums New York Ann & Walter Nathan Cyril I. Nelson Olde Hope Antiques, Inc. Robert & Stephanie Olmsted David Passerman Bob Patton & Busser Howell Dr. Burton W.Pearl Ms. Betty Pecore Janet S. Petry Mr.& Mrs. Anthony P. Picadio Mr.& Mrs. Terry Pillow Daniel & Susan Pollack Mr.& Mrs. F.F. Randolph Jr. Toby & Nataly Ritter Cheryl Rivers & Steve Simons Dr. & Mrs. Roger Rose Abbey Rosenwald Frank & Nancy Russell Mr.& Mrs. Robert T. Schaffner Jean S.& Frederic A. Sharf Margaret Schmidt Mr.& Mrs. Carl J. Schmitt Mr.& Mrs. Michael P. Schulhof Mr.& Mrs. Joseph D. Shein Mr.& Mrs. Ronald Shelp Raymond & Linda Simon Arun & Barbara Singh Arthur M. Sislcind & Mary Ann Siskind Stephanie Smither Theresa Snyder Karen Sobotka Mr.& Mrs. David Stein Donald & Rachel Strauber

DONORS

Mary Michael Shelley Painted low relief woodcarvings since 1973

ww.mar shelle olkart.co

Richard & Margaret Wenstrup Mr.& Mrs. C.A. Wimpfheimer Cyria & Melvyn Wolff Family Foundation Rosalie Wood J. Evelyn Yoder Tim & Nina Zagat Diana Zanganas Louis & Susan Zinterhofer Jon & Becky Zoler Benjamin & Barbara Zucker Mr.& Mrs. Donald Zuckert

Jane Supino Mr.& Mrs. Peter Tishman Mr. Frank Tosto Mr.& Mrs. David Walentas Donald & Pat Weeden Brenda Weeks-Nerz Mr. & Mrs. John L. Weinberg Bennett & Judie Weinstock Judy & Harold Weissman Herbert C. Wells Mr. & Mrs. Ira Wender

RECENT DONORS TO THE COLLECTIONS David L. Davies Ralph Esmerian Sam and Betsey Farber Etienne Fordl & Dr. Jacqueline Forret Fordl Jacqueline Fowler Daniel M. Friedenberg Sam & Myra Gotoff Alex Palley Grossberg Ray Kass & Dr. Jerrie Pike Wendy Lavitt Michael Lerner

Stephen Mazoh Colette F. McDonald Gloria Bley Miller Cyril Irwin Nelson Kyra Palley Margot B. Palley Jan Petty & Angie Mills Shirley Rubenstein Lynn Tackett Estate of Pauline Unger

607-272-5700

DISTINCTIVE PHOTOGRAPHY OF ARTWORK AND OBJECTS FOR COLLECTIONS, GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS

GALERIE SUSI BRUNNER Spitalgasse 10 • 8001 Zurich Tel 01/251 23 42• Fax 01/ 261 23 49• www.susibrunnerch

Matt Flynn PHOTOGRAPHY 212 /627 2985 mattflynnphoto@aol.com

Roland Roure, France

SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART 83

EPSTEIN/POWELL 66 Grand St., New York, N.Y. 10013

By Appointment(212)226-7316 e-mail: artfolks@mindspring.com

Jesse Aaron Rex Clawson Donovan Durham Antonio Esteves Victor Joseph Gatto (Estate) Lonnie Holley S.L. Jones Charlie Lucas

Justin McCarthy Old Ironsides Pry Popeye Reed Max Romain Bill Roseman Jack Savitsky Clarence Stringfield Mose Tolliver and other American outsiders

INDEX

A Little Imagination Allan Katz

71 9

Forbes and Turner

76

Mary Michael Shelley

Galerie Susi Brunner

83

Matt Flynn Photography

83

83

America, Oh Yes!

27

Garde Rail Gallery

81

MCG Productions

67

American Folk

66

G.H. Ballou Portraits

22

Mennello Museum

64

Aame Anton Art & Antiques

23

Gold Goat

26

New Hampshire Antiques

73

Ames Gallery

20

Goodrich and Co.

65

Northeast Auctions

Antiquebug

77

Hancock Shaker Village

72

Olde Hope

Anton Haardt Gallery

76

Indigo Arts

82

Raccoon Creek Antiques, L.L.C.

Authentic Designs

80

Intuit

82

Ricco/Maresca Gallery

Barbara Ardizone

66

J Crist Gallery

3 Back Cover

Inside Back Cover 14 63

Inside Front Cover

Rizzoli

70

Barn Star Productions, Inc.

80

Jackie Radwin

Beverly Kaye

79

James H. Welch Antiques

Charlton Bradsher

24

Jan Whitlock

Cherry Gallery

21

Jeffrey Tillou Antiques

Classic Rug

81

Joann Green Americana

12

The American Antiques Show

11

David Cook Gallery

13

Judith Racht

69

Thurston Nichols

10 17 4 5

David Wheatcroft Antiques

2

Karen S. Robinson

Sidney Gecker

19

Slotin Folk Fest

61

18

Sports Illustrated

29

16

Steve Miller

18

79

Tracy Goodnow

Denyse Schmidt Quilts Epstein/Powell

64 84

Kohler Art Center Laura Fisher Antiques

68 16

Trotta-Bono Thomas Schwenke

Fleisher-Oilman

25

Lindsay Gallery

28

Walters/Benisek

84 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART

1

6

New Hampshire S Shaker Auction In conjunction with Shaker Weekend Events Call or check our website for details Canterbury Shaker Village Saturday July 12 at 12 noon

Important American Furniture and Folk Art Manchester - Center of New Hampshire Friday August 1 at 1pm Saturday August 2 at lpm Sunday August 3 at 11am

Portsmouth Maritime and China Trade Auction Treadwell House Saturday August 16 at Noon Sunday August 17 at 11am

NORTHEAST AUCTIONS RONALD BOURGEAULT, Auctioneer 93 Pleasant Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801 Tel: (603) 433-8400 Fax:(603) 433-0415 www.northeastauctions.com

JACKIE RADWIN Hooked Rug with Inordinate Charm Wools and early homespun.

Pennsylvania, circa 1870. Mounted for hanging. Height 56" x 30".

Outstanding Hannah Davis Bandbox Label inside lid. irca 1800. Top 12'/2" x 1512. Height 12".

By appointment • San Antonio, Texas •(210) 824-7711 Visit us at our website www.jackieradwin.com