MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM * WINTER 2005/06 *58.00
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BILL TRAYLOR SAM DOYLE WILLIAM EDMONDSON WILLIAM HAWKINS
RICCOMARESCA
.COM
THORNTON DIAL CHARLES A.A. DELLSCHAU 9 ft. wide-360;rotating
JOSEPH GARLOCK
INSTALLATION DESIGN
KEN GRIMES
HENRY DARGER EDDIE ARNING DONALD MITCHELL MORRIS NEWMAN
JUDITH SCOTT LAURA CRAIG MCNELLIS
COLLECTION CURATING
JUSTIN CANHA TIMOTHY WEHRLE
CONTEMPORARY MODERN OPENING OCTOBER
529 WEST 20TH STREET
15 RICCO/MARESCA
NEW YORK CITY 10011 212 627 4819
VINTAGE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY OBJECTS OF DESIGN AND MYSTERY
SALON
Patrick Bell / Edwin HiId
Ak
P.O. Box 718, New Hope, PA 18938-0718 By Appointment 215-297-0200, Fax: 215-297-0300
COLEOE HOPE ANTIQUES, INC_
Email: info@oldehope.com Visit us on line at: www.oldehope.com
The Jonathan Otto Chest of Drawers An extraordinary and important Pennsylvania paint-decorated chest of drawers attributed to William Otto, c.1824,for his son,Jonathan, and inscribed within painted panels on three drawers: Jonathan Otto 1824 Mahantango Taunschip Schuylkill Caunty Den 17 tag Abril 1824 Height 48 / 1 2", Width 41", Depth 20 1/2"
Provenance: The chest was purchased in the 1920's at an auction in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania by Adele and Joel Earnest for $29750 and taken home on the back of their Dussenberg. if el HO
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Illustrated and Discussed: Folk Art in America by Adele Earnest, pages 14 and 21. Decorated Furniture of the Mahantongo Valley by Henry Reed, plate 8, pages 25,37, and 40."Finding the Fabulous Furniture of the Mahantongo Valley", Pennsylvania Heritage, Fall 1995, pages 24,26, and 27.
Exhibiting at the 52nd Annual Winter Antiques Show, New York, New York, January 19-29.
Please contact us to receive a copy of our 2005 catalogue.
HILL GALLERY
"Donkey" Quilt African-American Midwest Origin Circa 1930 80"H x 67"W 407 W. BROWN STREET BIRMINGHAM MI 48009 T. 248.540.9288 hillgallery@yahoo.com
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C. F. LINDIG John Brown's Mill Home • Watercolor on paper • c. 1860-70 • Lewisburg, PA INSCRIBED:"Birth place ofJohn Brown Jr. born July 12, 1809 in Buffalo Township Northumberland County, near Lewisburg Union County Pa."
DAVID WHEATCROFT Antiques 26 West Main Street.Westborough, MA 01581 • Tel:(508) 366-1723
davidwheatcroft.corn
Trotta-Bono Antique Native American Art Art of the Frontier and Colonial Periods
Commanche Buffalo Robe - Circa 1850 Adult-size - Southern Plains - Texas
By Appointment: (914) 528-6604 • P.O. Box 34 • Shrub Oak, NY 10588 • Email: tb788183@aol.com We are actively purchasing fine individual pieces and collections. We specialize in collection formation and development.
19th C. New England hooked rug.
George R. Allen • Gordon L. Wcl(o-rc Phone:(8%)22+-1282• Email: raccooncreelc@msn.com Weksite: www.raccooncreekanticiues.com
JEFFREY TILLOU ANTIQUES 39 West Street • Box 1609, Litchfield, Connecticut 06759 Tel. (860) 567-9693 • jtillouantiques@earthlink.net
Signed, Peters. Dated 1889 on verso. Probably New York State Oil on canvas, white pine stretcher. Untouched original condition. An exceptional example of Patriotic American Folk Art. Measurements: 40" W x 32" H. sight size
JAN WHITLOCK TEXTILES 302.655.1117 www.janwhitlocktextiles.com
Miniature Boxing and Baseball Souvenirs or Salesman Samples, artfully assembled in segmented shadowboxes. Just Fun! Mailing Address PO Box 583 Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania 19317
Shop Address 5800 Kennett Pike Centreville, Delaware 19807
Carousel Giraffe Gustav Dentzel carved wood with o glass eyes Philadelphia, c' H 66/ 1 2" L 58" ,
2005 Catalogue Available Twe Fred Giampietro 203.787.3851 1531 / 2 Bradley New Haven,
fredgiampietro.
FOLK ART VOLUME 30, NUMBER 4 / WINTER 2005/2006
FEATURES
Obsessive Drawing
42
Brooke Davis Anderson
Surface Attraction: Painted Furniture from the Collection
52
Stacy C. Hollander
Roses and Thorns:The Life of Susanna Paine
62
Michael R. Payne and Suzanne Rudnick Payne
Passing Thoughts on Passing Things: Real Photo Postcards
72
Todd Alden
DEPARTMENTS
Cover: ARMCHAIR WITH VIEW OF ITHACA FALLS, American Folk Art Museum, promised gift of Ralph Esmerian, P1.2001.72
(see page 58)
Museum Information
12
Update: Henry Darger Study Center
92
Editor's Column
12
Museum Reproductions Program
94
Director's Letter
15
Books ofInterest
96
Miniatures
24
Museum News
98
Conversation
30
Obituaries
104
The Collection: A Closer Look
38
Public Programs
106
Quilt Connection: Cyril Irwin Nelson (1927-2005): In Grateful Remembrance
83
Donors
108
Index to Advertisers
112
Mai Folk Art is published four times a year by the American Folk Art Museum.The museum's administrative office mailing address is 49 East 52nd Street, New York,NY 10022-5905,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
o 73
dues. Copies are mailed to all members. Single copy 88.00.Published and copyright 2005 by the American Folk Art Museum,45 West 53rd Street, New York,NY 10019.The cover and contents ofFalkArt are fully protected by copyright and may not be reproduced in any manner without written consent Opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily those ofthe American Folk Art Museum.Unsolicited manuscripts or photographs should be accompanied by return postage.Folk Art assumes no responsibility for the loss or damage ofsuch materials. Change ofaddress: Please send both old and new addresses to the museum's membership department at 49 East 52nd Street,New York, NY 10022-5905,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 ofobjects or quality ofservices 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 ofobjects or services advertised in its pages.The museum is dedicated to the exhibition and interpretation offolk art and it is a violation ofits principles to be involved in or to appear to be involved in the sale ofworks ofart. 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 ofplacing an advertisement.The publisher reserves the right to exclude any advertisement.
WINTER 2005/2006 FOLK ART 9
FOLK ART Tanya Heinrich Editor and Publisher Vanessa Davis Assistant Editor
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM Maria Ann Conchi Director
Executive Committee Laura Parsons President/Chair ofthe Executive Committee
Linda Dunne Deputy Director/ChiefAdministrative Officer
Barry D.Briskin Vice President
Erildca V.Haa Copy Editor Lori T Leonard Production Editor
ADMINISTRATION & FINANCE Robin A.Schlinger ChiefFinancial Officer
DEVELOPMENT Cathy Michelsen Director ofDevelopment
Eleanor Garlow Advertising Sales
Susan Conlon Assistant to the Director
Christine Corcoran Manager ofIndividual Giving
Madhuicar Balsara Assistant Controller
Pamela Gabourie Manager ofInstitutional Giving
Angela Lam Accountant
Katie Hush Special Events Manager
Irene Kreny Accounts Payable Associate
Dana Clair Membership Manager
Danelsi De La Cruz Accounting Assistant/Membership Assistant
Lan Allen Development Coordinator
Beverly McCarthy Mail Order/Reception
Matthew Beaugrand Membership and SpecialEvents Assistant
Katya Ullman Administrative Assistant/Reception
Wendy Barreto Membership Clerk
COLLECTIONS & EXHIBITIONS Stacy C. Hollander Senior Curator/Director ofExhibitions
EDUCATION Diana Schlesinger Director ofEducation
Brooke Davis Anderson Director and Curator ofThe Contemporary Center and the Henry Darger Study Center
Lee Kogan Director ofthe Folk ArtInstitute/Curator of SpecialProjectsfor The Contemporary Center
Ann-Marie Reilly ChiefRegistrar/Director ofExhibition Production
James Mitchell Librarian
Elizabeth V.Warren Consulting Curator
Janet Lo Manager ofSchooland Docent Programs
DEPARTMENTS Susan Flamm Public Relations Director
Jennifer Kalter Museum Educator and Coordinator
Jeffrey Kibler, The Magazine Group,Inc. Design Cenveo Printer
MUSEUM ADDRESS 45 West 53rd Street New York,NY 10019-5401 212/265-1040 www.folkartmuseum.org MAILING ADDRESS Administrative Offices 49 East 52nd Street New York, NY 10022-5905 212/977-7170,Fax 212/977-8134 info@folkartmuseum.org SHOPS ADDRESSES 45 West 53rd Street New York, NY 10019-5401 212/265-1040,ext. 124 2 Lincoln Square (Columbus Avenue between 65th and 66th Streets) New York, NY 10023-6214 212/595-9533,ext. 26 MUSEUM SHOPS STAFF Assistant to the Director ofMuseum Shops: Sandy B.Yun; Shop Managers:Dorothy Gargiulo,Louise B. Sheets,Pierre Szczygiel, Marion Whitley; Book Buyer:Evelyn R. Gurney; Staffi Matthew Beaugrand,Melissa Pouliot,Joel Snyder, Susan Tan EVA AND MORRIS FELD GALLERY STAFF Weekend Gallery Manager:Ursula Morillo; Security: Kenneth R. Bing,Bienvenido Medina
Marie S.DiManno Director ofMuseum Shops
Madelaine Gill Fami6r Programs Coordinator
Alice J. Hoffman Director ofLicensing
FACILITIES Robert J. Saracena Director ofFacilities
Janey Fire Director ofPhotographic Services
Alexis Davis Manager ofVisitor Services
Richard Ho Manager ofInformation Technology
Christine Rivera Assistant Manager ofVisitor Services
Jane Lattes Director of Volunteer Services
Daniel Rodriguez Office Services Coordinator
Caroline Kerrigan Executive Director ofTheAmerican Antiques Show
PUBLICATIONS Tanya Heinrich Director ofPublications Vanessa Davis Assistant Editor Lori T Leonard Production Editor
Lucy Cullman Danziger Vice President Frances Sirota Martinson,Esq. Vice President Edward V.Blanchard Jr. Treasurer Taryn Gottlieb Leavitt Secretary Didi Barrett Joyce B. Cowin Joan M.Johnson Margaret Z.Robson Selig D.Sacks,Esq. Members Akosua Barthwell Evans Barbara Cate David L. Davies Jacqueline Fowler Susan Gutfreund Robert L.Hirschhom Kristina Johnson,Esq. Michelle L.Lasser Nancy Mead J. Randall Plummer Bonnie Strauss Nathaniel J. Sutton Richard H.Walker,Esq. L.John Wilkerson Trustees Emeriti Ralph 0.Esmerian Chairman Emeritus Joseph E Cullman 3rd (1912-2004) Samuel Farber Corclelia Hamilton Cyril I. Nelson (1927-2005) George E Shaslcan Jr. Gerard C.Werticin Director Emeritus
AMERICAN
_J 0 MUSEUM
10 WINTER 2005/2006 FOLK ART
Beautifully Carved Child's Pull Toy Stamped on the bottom "H. Leach,Woburn, Mass., 1876" Size: 14 1/4"L x 7 1/4"W x 7"H Henry Leach carved the models for most of the weathervanes produced by Cushing and White of Waltham,Mass. Several of his carved molds currently reside in the collection of the American Folk Art Museum,New York City,and are pictured in American Radiance. The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum,pages 340-341.
Allan & Penny Katz By Appointment 25 Old Still Road Woodbridge, CT 06525 Tel.(203) 393-9356 folkkatz@optonline.net
Americana
ALLAN KATZ
SEEM
American Folk Art Museum
EDITOR'S
COLUMN
45 West 53rd Street 0 13193M12
New York City 212/265-1040
www.folkartmuseum.org
MUSEUM HOURS Friday
10:30 Am-5:30 Pm 10:30 Am-7:30 PM
Monday
Closed
Tuesday—Sunday
ADMISSION Adults
$9
Students/Seniors
$7
Children under 12
Free
Members
Free
Friday evening
Free to all
5:30-7:30 PM
SHOP HOURS Saturday—Thursday
10 Am-6 Pm
Friday
10 Am-8 Pm
Shop Branch:2 Lincoln Square (Columbus Avenue between 65th and 66th Streets) Hours:Tuesday—Saturday, 12-7:30 PM; Sunday,12-6 Pm
EXHIBITION SCHEDULE Obsessive Drawing Floor 2 Through March 19,2006
Surface Attraction: Painted Furniture from the Collection Floor 3 Through March 26,2006
Folk Art Revealed Atrium and Floors 4 and 5 On continuous view
White on White (and a little gray) Floor 2 March 28—Sept. 17, 2006
Concrete Kingdom: Sculptures by Nek Chand Floor 3 April4—Sept. 24,2006
TRAVELING EXHIBITIONS Darger: The Henry Darger Collection at the American Folk Art Museum and
Studies and Sketches from the Henry Darger Collection The Andy Warhol Museum,Pittsburgh 412/237-8300; www.warhol.org Feb. 4—Apri129,2006 Frye Art Museum, Seattle 206/622-9250; www.fryeart.org Aug. 18—Oct. 29,2006
12 WINTER 2005/2006 FOLK ART
TANYA HEINRICH
he proliferation in the early 20th century ofreal photo postcards, actual one-of-a-kind or limitededition photographs,coincided with relaxed postal regulations and the rising popularity of Kodak's inexpensive handheld camera,which enabled laypersons to document their everyday lives. Real photo postcards differ from lithographically printed postcards in process and,quite often,in subject matter and composition, as the creative motivations tended to be personal and informal rather than commercial.Todd Alden elucidates the appeal ofthese rare photographs UNTITLED REAL PHOTO POSTCARD beginning on page 72. (Sun Set/Dominick St.)/ photographer Two exciting exhibitions opened at the museum in unidentified / postmarked Rome, September."Obsessive Drawing" presents the work offive New York / dated 1911 / silver gelatin emerging self-taught artists, each of whom uses pencil or print on preprinted postcard stock / 5/ 1 2 3/ 1 2 " / collection of Harvey ink on paper to render complex compositions with exactTulcensky ing detail. Brooke Davis Anderson introduces us to the work of Eugene Andolsek, Charles Benefiel, Hiroyuki Doi,Chris Hipkiss, and Martin Thompson; please see page 42."Surface Attraction: Painted Furniture from the Collection" is an examination ofthe various techniques and evolving fashions in paint decoration applied to enhance even the humblest piece offurniture. Stacy C.Hollander highlights the whirls and swirls and swags and dots ofthese rich and stunning surface effects; please turn to page 52.1 hope you are able to take in these aweinspiring works before both shows close,in March. Susanna Paine was an itinerant portrait painter in New England,active for about 35 years in the first halfofthe 19th century.In 1854 Paine published an autobiography, and it provides a revealing glimpse into the highs and lows ofan itinerant lifestyle. Michael R.Payne and Suzanne Rudnick Payne have painstakingly woven together the artist's compelling story by investigating signed works and clues yielded in the autobiography, which is surprisingly scant on specific geographical and biographical information; their research, and Paine's own words,can be found beginning on page 62. Trustee Emeritus Cyril I. Nelson (1927-2005)was a passionate collector offolk art, especially quilts and textiles. Over the course of his lengthy career as an editor ofbooks on art and antiques, he made significant contributions to the scholarship ofthis field. Gerard C. Wertkin brings us an expanded edition of Quilt Connection with a look back at the life and career of the museum's longtime,cherished friend; please see page 83. With this issue we are reconfiguring a few sections: Donors for exhibitions and operations will appear once a year,in the winter issue; beginning in spring, donors to the collection will move to Museum News; the listing of museum trustees can be found with the masthead; and visitors'information and the exhibition schedule appear on this page. Vanessa Davisjoined the staffofthe museum as assistant editor in July 2002,and since the moment she arrived graced these offices and these pages with her own distinct wit, charm,and cheer.The extremely talented Lori T. Leonard came on board as production editor in April 2004,ably shepherding Folk Art advertisements and the museum's graphic design; she's one cool cookie. Vanessa moved to California in October,and Lori moved to Boston in November,so this is their last issue. With deep respect, admiration, and appreciation,I bid them the fondest offarewells. Happy winter and warm wishes for the new year.
T
Ted Gordon
THE
AMES GALLERY
Visit the gallery to see Fascinated with Faces—Three California Obsessives: Ted Gordon, Attilio Crescenti and Willie Harris. Through December 2005.
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Visit the Ames Gallery booth at the Outsider Art Fair Jan. 27-29, Preview Jan. 26, Puck Building, New York, NY Works by contemporary, visionary, self-taught and outsider artists including Eddie Arning, Dorothy Binger, Attilio Crescenti, Jack Fitch, Julio Garcia, Ted Gordon, Wilbert Griffith, Willie Harris, Harry Lieberman, Dwight Mackintosh, Alex Maldonado, A.G. Rizzoli, Jon Serl, Barry Simons, and others. Early handmade Americana including carved canes, tramp art, quilts, tintypes and whimseys. Bonnie Grossman, Director • 2661 Cedar Street, Berkeley, CA 94708 • tel: 510/845-4949 fax: 510/845-6219 • email: info@amesgallery.com • online:
www.amesgallery.com
National Defense c. 1920-50,mixed media collage on photograph, 8 1/4 x 6 1/2". Image courtesy of DoocIletown Farm,LLC.
Newly-released works by FELIPE JESUS CONSALVOS on view in our gallery and at TAAS 2006 fully-illustrated catalogue available 11.0W
1616 Walnut Street,Philadelphia,PA 19103 215 545-7562 fleisher-ollmangallery.corn info@fleisher-ollmangallery.corn
DIRECTOR'S
LETTER
MARIA ANN CONELLI
y first three months as director have been a whirlwind of Two stellar exhibitions opened this fall."Surface Attraction: Painted celebrations, committee meetings,fund-raising events, Furniture from the Collection," organized by Stacy C. Hollander,exand museum excursions.There have been breakfasts with plores the rich colors and imaginative patterns that embellish tables, business associates,lunches with colleagues, dinners with chairs, chests, and cabinets—works that span from a Pennsylvania donors, pictures with the mayor,and conferences with German dower chest to New England Fancy furniture."Obsessive members ofthe City Council. In this short time,a new world has Drawing," organized by Brooke Davis Anderson, highlights the work of emerged for me. five contemporary artists: Eugene Andolsek, Charles Benefiel, Hiroyuki This hectic start has been balanced by time spent in the museum as Doi,Chris Hipkiss,and Martin Thompson.The drawings range from I become acquainted with the collection.Those of you who know these compulsive dots and symbols to visionary landscapes and conceptual works will understand the great pleasure I have derived from walking works to modular creations.Together,these exhibitions underscore the through the galleries to view the museum's wonderful paintings, quilts, vibrant range of material that constitutes both traditional and contemsculptures, and furniture. It also has been a pleasure to come to better porary folk art. know the staff They have been warm in their welcome and quickly It's time to mark your calendar for two exciting January events:The made me feel like a member of"the family." American Antiques Show(TAAS)will open on January 18,2006,with Together we have embarked on a number of new initiatives. a gala preview to benefit the museum.This year,I am delighted to anWe are planning the launch nounce that Martha Stewart of a Web-based curriculum with will be our honoree.The digitized images from the colAmerican Antiques Show will lection that we will offer to New be held at the Metropolitan York City educators to help them Pavilion,January 19-22. enhance their students'academic One week later, the mulearning experience. Drawing seum will participate in the upon the rich visual resource of Outsider Art Fair at the Puck HOE. JOEL RIVERA the museum's objects, teachers Building.In celebration ofthis America. Folk Art Mmeena will be able to download lesson event,the museum will host s YAWN' -F T o sano emmm plans that tell the stony ofour Outsider Art Week and offer nation's history. Both the City three outstanding programs: Council and the Office ofthe Uncommon Artists XIV: A Mayor have provided significant Series of Cameo Talks will capital funding in support of feature presentations on artthis project—funding that will ists Roy Ferdinand, Donald allow us to create a state-of-theMitchell, Martin Thompson, art learning environment that and Carlo Zinelli. A panel Holding a giant check for $25,000 from the New York City Council in support of education will benefit teachers,students, on new media art will delve initiatives (from left): Cathy Michelsen, director of development; Janet Lo, manager and parents alike. Many talented into the field of digital and of school and docent programs; Lara Allen, development coordinator; Pamela Gabourie, people are engaged in this initiaWeb-based works; it will be manager of institutional giving; Jennifer Kalter, museum educator and coordinator; tive. I would like to thank Diana and Diana Schlesinger, director of education moderated by artist and educaSchlesinger and Janet Lo,ofthe tor Mark Tribe. Finally,there museum's education department, will be a performance of"Sins and Cathy Michelsen and Pamela Gabourie,in the development de&Needles: A Dramatic Monologue"by Ray Materson,whose widely partment,for their expertise and tireless efforts. acclaimed miniature embroideries provide powerful and compelling The museum can be proud ofits educational projects and programs. portrayals ofhis life. I'd like to spotlight our extraordinary Teen Docent Program, which proOn a personal note,I'd like to thank Anthony Crawford,our manager vides training in leadership skills to New York City students from alter- ofvisitor services,for ajob well done.Anthony recently moved with his native public high schools.The program has garnered much praise and family to Florida, where he'll begin the next stage ofhis career. We wish has been consistently recognized by the New York State Council on the him great success but will miss his bright smile and gracious manner.To Arts. Watching these teens lead groups through the galleries is always a our good fortune,Alexis Davis will assume this position; we welcome her delight, but knowing that the program has a profound impact on their in this new role. lives—empowering them and broadening their perspective ofcareer opSince I've joined the staff as director, many ofyou have introduced tions—is thrilling. One ofthe teen docents, Nancy Molina,who gradu- yourselves to me at various events.I have greatly enjoyed these encounated from Vanguard Academy in June, decided to explore the art world ters and the opportunity to hear from you.I look forward to seeing you and is now working in the museum's visitor services department. again at the museum.*
M
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E.E111ER5EEME
WINTER 2005/2006 FOLK ART
15
CHARLTON BRADSHER
AT4IERICAN ANTIQUES
Oil on canvas portrait of an African-American man. signed McCall lower left. Southern, circa 1930-1940. Dimensions: 34" high. 24" wide.
Specializing in folk art & material culture ofthe Southern backcountry. By Appointment. (828) 251-1904 Asheville, North Carolina www.charltonbradsher.com
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World War I quilt top. Pristine, original condition. Entirely hand cut and hand sewn. Circa 1914. African American origin. Found in southern Indiana. Archival mounting. 65 x 83"
CARL HAMMER GALLERY
Above
Exhibiting
Late 19th Century Sheet Iron Eagle Weathervane Sheboygan, Wisconsin Origin. 24 x 21.5 inches Remnants of Original Red, White & Blue Paint
The American Antiques Show The Metropolitan Pavilion, NYC Jan 18-22/06
The Outsider Art Fair Puck Building, NYC Jan 26-29/06
Specializing in Contemporary Art and select examples of Folk and Outsider Art 740 N. WELLS STREET, CHICAGO, IL 60610 PH: 312-266-8512 / FX: 312-266-8510 hammergall@aol.com
www.hammergallery.com
AMERICAS LEADING ANTIQUE SAMPLER AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
1 C It E . ri,t- Nteistory (,f 'Hy ta. 1..(17NlettlwrElizubeth I )1141.11 b.tir
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Sartlf 1:ra. .41i1 with 6.4.• lab ileour.
Fine Lititz Moravian School Silk Embroidery, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, by Eliza Carolina Dagen of Frederick County, Maryland, circa 1822. Oval Size: 16.25 by 14.5 inches, overall frame size: 27.5 by 24 inches. Conservation mounted in original stenciled frame. Published in "The Ornamental Branches," by Patricia T. Herr, p. 50, figure 24. est. 1947
M.Finkel0Daughter. 936 Pine Street • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107 • tel: 215.627.7797• fax: 215.627.8199 www.samplings.com • mailbox@samplings.com
ABRAHAM DELANOY
Auction January 19-21
Portrait of.1 /aria
Sherman
To be sold in the Important American Furniture and Folk Art sale, on January 19-21, 2006, at Christie's Rockefeller Center.
Viewing January 14-19 Inquiries 212 636 2230 Catalogues 800 395 6300 New York 20 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10020 christies.com
IMPORTANT AMERICAN FURNITURE AND FOLK ART New YorkJanuary
CHRISITE'S SI\LI
1766
19-21, 2006
JOAN R. BROWNSTEIN ART Sk ANTIQUES
Extremely rare signed examples of three members of the Colby Family of NH, each sitter identified, their age given, and each inscribed "By J.A. Davis" (Jane Anthony Davis). Circa 1840. Sitters are "Mr. Enoch Colby, age 48 years", "Miss Sybil P. Colby, age 24 years", and "Converse S. Colby, age 18 years". Excellent condition and completely original. Executed in watercolor and pen and ink on Bristol Board. From the estate of President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy who bought them for their Hyannis Port home.
24 PARKER STREET NEWBURY, MA 01951 WWW.JOANRBROWNSTE1N.COM
(978) 465-1089
:Wm- Shirt-, c. 180 tmti\v tmncLi Indpiiihred hide in yellow and green ochre with cochineal dyed stroud clot n and hair locks 2 inches 1 45 x 55 /
Always Seeking To Purchase Historic Native American Objects fKrt
4 vW. I. ‘-° sAutfienneity.tof&pity
Tel: 301623.8181 1637 Wazee Street- Denver, Colorado 80202 www.davidcooklinearnericanart.com infoOdavidcookgalleries.com
DAVID COOK
ELLIOTT & GRACE S
IgannEriMi
7 0RVIS 速BCN.NF
MINI
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BY VANESSA DAVIS
VON BRUENCHENHEIN'S CERAMIC WORK Milwaukee artist Eugene Von Bruenchenhein (1910-1983) is known primarily for his paintings, photographs,and chicken-bone sculptures, but"The Ceramic Art of Eugene Von Bruenchenhein," an ongoing exhibition at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center(920/458-6144; www.jm kac.org),in Sheboygan,Wis., explores one of the largest and longest-lasting aspects of the artist's oeuvre. Von Bruenchenhein chanced upon the ceramic medium when a clean layer of natural clay was uncovered by a bulldozer at a construction site near his house. With permission, he proceeded to haul a quantity ofit home. His ceramic explorations, which lasted close to 40 years,began with the creation of many tiny flowers on individual stands; he gradually began to develop other forms,from gargoylelike creatures to towering vessels. Von Bruenchenhein fired his refined and delicate pieces in the small coal-and-wood stove that heated the parlor of his home.
ROWERS / Eugene Von Bruenchenhein / Milwaukee / 1947 / clay / John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin
24 WINTER 2005/2006 FOLK ART
ALEXANDER BOGARDY The Gallery of Art and Design at North Carolina State University (919/515-3503;gad. ncsu.edu),in Raleigh, presents "Alexander Bogardy, Divine Aesthete" until Dec. 17. Organized by cocurators Marsha Orgeron and Margaret Parsons, this exhibition spotlights self-taught artist Alexander Bogardy(1901-1992)by presenting two of his many vocations: his work as a religious painter and his interest in hairstyling and makeup. Fifteen of Bogardy's visionary,theologically focused oil paintings are on view, along with his self-published book, The Hair andIts Social Importance. An essay on the artist by the curators appeared in Folk Art 29, nos. 1-2(spring/ summer 2004).
UNTITLED (Girl in Prom Dress) / photographer unidentified / c.1955 / collection of John and Teenuh Foster
TWO SHOWS AT INTUIT "Singular Visions: Images ofArt Brut from the Anthony J. Petullo Collection," on view at Intuit:The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art(312/243-9088; www.art.org),in Chicago,through Dec. 15,features 50 works by European and American self-taught artists. Some ofthe artists, such as Madge Gill(1882-1961),were inspired to create through spiritual muses. Gill believed that she communicated with the dead,who guided her through her ornate drawings. Works by Henry Darger, Michel Nedjar, Martin Ramirez, Scottie Wilson, Anna Zernankova,and residents ofthe House of Artists,in Gugging, Austria, are also on view. The traveling exhibition "Everyday Voices: Extraordinary Vernacular Photographs from the Collection ofJohn and Teenuh Foster" is making a stop at Intuit,Jan.5—April 2006. The show features found vintage snapshots taken by anonymous amateur photographers.The 50 pieces in this show,dating from approximately 1900 to 1970,evoke the mysterious histories of individuals,families, and everyday visionaries.
KULTS, WEREWOLVES, AND SARCASTIC HIPPIES A celebration ofthe creative and political spirit ofindependent publishing,"The Zinc UnBound: Kults,Werewolves,and Sarcastic Hippies" is on view until Dec.30 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (415/978-2787; www.ybca.org),in San Francisco. Three noteworthy zines—K48, based in Brooklyn; Werewoh'Express, out of Los Angeles; and Hot and Cold, from Oakland—are showcased as models ofcollaborative activity. Also represented is a collection ofzines dating from the 1980s and '90s from the archives of noteworthy writer and zinc publisher Dennis Cooper.
HOT AND COLD/ Griffin McPartland / 2003/ silkscreen cover / Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco
MINI
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LINDSAY GALLERY NORTH CAROLINA POTTERY TheNorth Carolina folk pottery tradition, with roots tracing back to the 18th century,flourished in the central part of the state. Today folk potters there still use local clays, glazes, and wood-fired kilns. "The Potter's Eye: Art and Tradition in North Carolina PLANTER / Mark Hewitt / North Carolina / 2004 / Pottery," an exhibition alkaline-glazed stoneware/collection of the artist highlighting the state's most distinguished traditional potters, will run through March 16,2006,at the North Carolina Museum of Art(919/8396262; vvvvw.ncartmuseum.org),in Raleigh. Masterpieces from the 19th century will demonstrate historic and aesthetic links with early work from Europe and Asia as well as with contemporary pieces by six living North Carolina potters: Kim Ellington, Mark Hewitt,Ben Owen III, Pam Owens,Vernon Owens,and David Stuempfle.
MATERSON NEEDLEWORKS Recollectionsofhis grandmother embroidering inspired Ray Materson(b. 1954), while in prison, to fashion his own embroidery hoop from the lid ofa plastic container and to unravel socks for thread. His visually compelling autobiographical narratives in the form of miniature embroideries are sometimes created with an astonishing 1,200 stitches to the inch. They evoke memories—some nostalgic, some that expose the pain and suffering he experienced as the child ofan abusive father. The artist's descent into alcohol and drug addiction led to armed robbery and incarceration,followed by eventual rehabilitation. Materson's odyssey is an inspiring personaljourney of healing, faith, and transformation. An exhibition of his work, "Sins and Needles: A Dramatic Monologue," is on view Jan. 9—March 3,2006, at the Guilford College Art Gallery (336/316-2438; www.guilford. edu),in Greensboro, N.C. In New York City, Materson will debut his one-man performance, also titled "Sins and Needles: A Dramatic Monologue," at the American Folk Art Museum,on Jan. 24, 2006,as part of Outsider Art Week programming. For more information on this and other programs, see pages 91 and 106. LAKE MICHIGAN (South of Grand Haven)/ Ray Materson / 1991/ sock thread on cotton /
Jane Winkelman
GRAND OBSESSIONS Lewis Smith 1907-1998
986 North High Street (614) 291-1973
Columbus OH 43201
www.lindsaygallery.com
collection of Melanie Materson
WINTER 2005/2006
FOLK ART
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MINI
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HARDING ROBE / Pendleton Woolen Mills, Pendleton, Oregon / c.1923-1930 / wool and cotton / The Baltimore Museum of Art
JUDY A SASLOW GALLER OUTSIDER ART • FOLK ART • CONTEMPORARY ART 300 WEST SUPERIOR CHICAGO ILLINOIS 60610 PHONE 312 943 0530 FAX 312 943 3970 USASLOW@CORECOMM.NET WWW.JSASLOWGALLERY.COM TUESDAY — SATURDAY 10 TO 6
us Come see at the NEW VC)RK RR OUTSIDE 6`1" ART F' Booth 26 27-29 Janu°rY 2006
26 WINTER 2005/2006 FOLK ART
TOOTHPICK ART Toothpick sculptures by Steven J. Backman will be on view from March 1 to May 1,2006,at the Empire State Building(212/7363100; www.esbnyc.com)in New York City.The San Francisco—based artist's sculptures—with which he aims to evoke the "essence ofpatience"—are composed ofup to thousands ofindividually glued toothpicks. His work ranges from linear figurative portraits and abstract curvilinear forms to large-scale monumental representations ofsuch historical icons and landmarks as a San Francisco cable car and the Golden Gate Bridge.
TRADE BLANKETS "Woven Rainbows: American Indian Trade Blankets," on view until May 14,2006,at the Baltimore Museum of Art(410/396-7100; www.artbma.org),features 25 colorful manufactured trade blankets from the museum's textile collection. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Native Americans would trade their own handwoven blankets, baskets, and other goods for machinemade blankets produced by non-Indian manufacturers.These commercial versions were inspired by Indian designs but made with the wide array of yarns available to factory designers, in such brilliant and unusual hues as hot pink and chartreuse. With Jacquard looms producing a lighterweight and flexible drape,these blankets were more adaptable than traditional weaves and quickly became FREE-FORM / Steven J. Backman / San Francisco / 2005 / toothpicks and glue! collection of the artist objects of prestige for tribal members.
STELLA
RUBIN Antique Quilts and Fine Design Jewelry
Rare Bull's-eye Quilt Berks County, Pa. Circa 1870
By Appointment • (301) 948-4187 • www.stellarubin.com 12801 Esworthy Road, Darriestown, Maryland 20878 (Near Washington, D.C.)
WINTER 2005/2006
FOLK ART
27
Greg K. Kramer & Co. 27 West Freeman Street, Robesonia, Pa. 19551
Tel: 610.693.3223 Fax: 610.693.3433
Established 1970 • By Appointment
Specializing in Americana, Folk Art, Period and Painted Furniture, Architectural and Decorative Objects.
copper figural eagle
Details of wing surface, signature, back and side views below.
Standing on ball with outstretched wings. Exceptional repousse work depicting accurate anatomy and feathers. Monumental size. Original gold leaf with Verdigris patina. Trade sign for Eagles Fraternal Lodge. Signed R. Wildenmuth. Dated 6-19-1906. Dimensions: Height: 24"; Width: 74": Depth: 37".
Thurston Nichols american
antiques
Thurston Nichols American Antiques LLC 522 Twin Ponds Road, Breinigsville, PA 18031 phone: 610.972.4563 fax: 610.395.3679 email: thurston@thurstonnichols.com www.antiques101.com
C
ON
V
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BY TANYA HEINRICH
Greg Rivera, a clothing designer and prop master, collects handmade soft-sculpture Mr. T dolls similar to the Cabbage Patch Kid dolls. There is nothing quite like them. What started as an oddity in a collection of more than 2,000 pieces of Mr. T memorabilia soon became a major collecting focus. The dolls, now numbering more than 150, were exhibited at the Orchard Street Art Gallery in Manhattan earlier this year. I sat down with Rivera, and a few of the dolls, for a conversation in September. For more information on the collection, be sure to visit Rivera's website (www.mrtandme.com). We should start with the man before we get to the dolls. Mr.T catapulted to stardom with the movie Rocky HI(1982),in which he played Rocky's opponent Clubber Lang. His role as one of the vigilante heroes in the hugely popular TV series The A-Team (1983-1987)secured Mr.T's relevance within mainstream popular culture. His look varied little from role to role: Mohawk attached to beard,feather earrings, dozens of heavy gold necklaces (a breastplate ofsorts), denim vest baring bulging biceps, and a snarl. Intentionally or otherwise, however,he was very much a real-life cartoon character or action figure, with his tough/tender persona and catchphrases such as "I pity the fool." Kids loved him,and he proved to be very influential with his messages to stay in school and stay off drugs. When you first started collecting Mr.T pieces in general, was it sort ofa lark or were you responding to something more personal? GR I think it was a little ofboth. I come from a family ofcollectors. My brother is 20 years older than me and heavily collects art deco sculpture,vintage prints, and
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FOLK ART
anything Victorian era. He was bringing me to flea markets, antiques shows,and thrift stores when I was a kid,so I've always had that collector's bug. And Mr.T was definitely a role model growing up.I think any guy my age had some sort of admiration for Mr.T—he was a larger-thanlife character who stood for everything tough.I don't think it was 'til I was around 17 that I decided that I wanted to have a full and complete collection ofsomething. I started to collect Mr.T because his memorabilia was hard to find, and there was minimal documentation of his collectibles. It was a challenge, and something I felt hadn't been done but needed to be. TH The dolls are endearing enough individually, but when you see a few as a group—or all 150 ofthem—they become really funny. And yet it's not an empty joke; it's a doll that commands some serious pondering.The pattern was published in 1984 by an Alabama company called Miss Martha Originals, at a time when the Cabbage Patch Kids were at the height of hysteria. Patterns
enabled the home sewer to craft a less expensive or more individualized doll. And yet the Mr.T pattern is an anomaly: The company's other patterns were for generic babies and toddlers with names like "Preshus." The Mr.T pattern is basically a baby doll but for the defined biceps, the signature hairstyle, and the accessories. As a result, the Mr.T dolls in your collection have faces that range from very babylike to almost deranged. How do you imagine a kid would have responded to one ofthese dolls? GR I've thought about this a lot. It must have been a series of mixed emotions.I remember as a kid wanting a Cabbage Patch Kid,a real one, not one ofthe bootlegs or homemade ones.I think I was pretty adamant about that, and my mom was totally one ofthe moms that would have made me a doll before buying one. Partly because she was crafty like that, and partly because she couldn't afford a real one.I kind offeel bad for the kids who got the Mr.T doll. First of all they didn't get their mass-produced Cabbage
Patch Kid, and instead of getting the 12" action figure they are getting some weird-looking Mr.T potato-head doll. I bet most of the dolls that I have were not actively played with, because they are in good condition.They were probably put on a shelf or thrown in a corner. TH Do you have any favorites? GR I like the ones that are a total labor oflove. Maybe the person who made the doll was not very skilled at doll-making, so their doll didn't come out quite right. I also like the dolls that are very well made—you can tell by the intricate stitching ofthe eyes or the handmade clothes.I also like that some people decided to make them anatomically correct—this is obviously interesting on a number oflevels. TH Are any two very much alike? GR The doll pattern came with clothing patterns,so a lot ofthe dolls have a similar look. Funny thing is, I have only one doll in my entire collection that has the barbell pictured on the cover of the pattern book.There are a few that don't have beards.There is one with hands big enough to fit kidsize plastic rings on the fingers. Needless to say, the hands are
disproportionate to the rest of the body.I think the ones that are very light skinned are also unusual. Mr.T was obviously a black man,but many ofthe dolls are almost white.The doll on the pattern book is noticeably lighter skinned than Mr.T himself. TH Facial features could be rendered with embroidery thread or paint or pen. Some ofthe whites ofthe eyes look suspiciously like Liquid Paper. Miss Martha also offered an iron-on face. GR I do have a few ofthose.They are my least favorite. I like the ones that are hand-drawn with marker or pen. TH When did you first encounter the dolls, and how did you discover that they were based on a pattern? GR My friend Brian Cain had one. He owned a pop culture collectibles store in Orlando called Populuxe, and he was selling off his entire collection ofA-Team and Mr.T memorabilia, but the one thing he wouldn't sell was his doll. I ended up working at his store so that I could buy whatever he had. He gave me the pattern book and said there had to be others out there— he was right.I have found most of mine on eBay over the past eight years. It sort of happened by accident that I collected so many. I would bid on every one that I saw on eBay,and they kind ofjust all added up. TH Tell me how you met your collecting rival, Mike Essl, who is now your partner in the Mr.T collection website. GR I met Mike after he began to outbid me on eBay.It was annoying but exciting, because I thought I was the only one bidding on this stuff So I e-mailed Mike,we compared collections,and we quickly became friends and decided to build our collections together. We have a gentleman's agreement that whoever bids on an item first gets to keep it. Mike hasjust one soft-sculpture doll, however—he's
always thought they are creepy. TH You and Mike both sport beautiful Mr.T tattoos. A tattoo brings the passion for Mr.T into a whole other realm. Are there others out there who are equally obsessed? GR I have never met anyone else with a Mr.T tattoo, but a friend of mine once saw a guy with one on his hand. TH In the gallery show,called "I Pity the Dolls," the entire collection was installed directly on the walls of a tiny space. What was it like to see them in this context, as art? GR It was amazing.It was very well received, and I was surprised how many people"got it." It really gave me a chance to examine the collection separate from the massproduced Mr.T items.It made it more clear how important these dolls are in the realm offolk art, black Americana,the black influence in pop culture, and just how big the Mr.T/Cabbage Patch Kid phenomenon really was. TH Now that the doll collection has received a fair amount of coverage in the national press, have any ofthe dollmakers or original doll owners contacted you? GR They haven't! I really wish they would. TH Do you ever get sick ofthe collection? GR No way, not sick at all. But I have gotten to a point where I don't necessarily need more ofthem. It's reached a plateau. IfI had a permanent place to store them, I wouldn't stop. But I am 26 living in New York City. Maybe when I open the Mr.T museum in Berlin. TH What's next for the dolls? GR They are probably going to be taking a trip to Toronto early next year for a gallery show, and I'm planning a traveling exhibition.There is also a book about the collection ofMr.T memorabilia in the works.In the meantime,the dolls are living safely in my new Spanish Harlem apartment.*
Quilts of Gee's Bend
Loretta Pettway, Bars, 1970s, Cotton, denim and twill, 88 x 85 inches
Thornton Dial
Tnorritcpi Dial. Flying Freir, 19r94 Charcoal, graphite and oil pastel on paper, 30 x 44 inches
Works available by: "Prophet" William Blackmon, David Butler, Sam Doyle, Rev. Josephus Farmer, William Hawkins, Lawrence Lebduska, Dwight Mackintosh, Aldo Piacenza, Simon Sparrow, Mose Tolliver, Joseph Yoakum, Purvis Young
Exhibiting at the Outsider Art Fair, New York January 27 — 30 2006 Russell Bowman Art Advisory 311 West Superior, Suite 115, Chicago, IL 60610 T 312 751-9500 F 312 751-9572 www.bowmanart.com
WINTER 2005/2006
FOLK ART
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SLOTIN AUCTION WINTER S February 11, 2006 Buford, Georgia 800 Lots Including Important lifetime collection of African Art from the 1950's. Margaret Mitchell's Estate and other Antiques from the Atlanta Museum An incredible selection of African-American Quilts Native American Works Central American Art Art from the Sand Blast Islands Carribean Island Art
Very Important White Face Punu Dance Mask with Characteristic diamond shaped scarifications on forehead and temples. Fine patina kaolin and holes for stick for dancer to hold in teeth. Punu Tribe. 10.5" h
European Masterpieces Antique Folk Art GAL # 2864
Call or Email for your FREE 100-page Color Catalog 770 932-1000 • 404 403-4244 Email: folkfest@bellsouth.net Website: www.slotinfolkart.com
SLOTTN AUCTION Spring Folk Art Sale May 2oo6 • Buford, GA
Including this Incredible Discovery Anonymous Mechanical Sculpture Ohio, c. 1920's
GAL #2864
Call or Email for your FREE loo-page Color Catalog 932-1000 • 403-4244 Email: folkfest@bellsouth.net Website: www.slotinfolkart.com 404 770
STEPHEN 0°II BIEN JR. FINE ARTS, LLC
Canada Goose and Brant by Birdsall Ridgeway, Barnegat, New Jersey circa 1900. Both birds display excellent form. The goose is in a swimming position and the brant is in a preening position.
APPRAISALS • AUCTION REPRESENTATION • BROKERAGE • COLLECTIONS MANAGEMENT
268 Newbury Street • Boston, MA 02116 • (617) 536-0536 www.antericansportingart.com
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American Folk Art Sidney Gecker
RARE CENTER COUNTY,PENNSYLVANIA DOWER CHEST. DATED AND SIGNED "GEORG GRAMHBER 1814." ORIGINAL DECORATION OF A LARGE,SPREAD WINGED EAGLE,SHIELD, BANNER, PINWHEELS,TULIPS AND COMPASS STARS. WIDTH:52 INCHES; HEIGHT:27 INCHES;DEPTH:23 INCHES.THE CHEST IS Au. ORIGINAL. West 21st Street• New York, N.Y. 10011 •.(212) 929-8769 • Appointment Suggested Subject to porsuM
34 WINTER 2005/2006 FOLK ART
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MOLLOY—BLITZ
TRIBAL 594 BROADWtY Sums 2()5 NEW YORK NY 10012 212 219 9822 rnolloytribaWvertzon.net
ANTIQUE NATIVE AMERICAN DOLLS
MOM
an,
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The Spanish & Indian Trading Company c.A4 ( 000)1°
444) '
924 RISCO de Peralta, Suite 1 Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 505 983 6106
CHERRY GALLERY NINFIgar 14111711,NV
•-$ Incised decorated birch bark mocuck by renowned Passamaquoddy Indian artist Tomah Joseph (1837-1914). Imagery includes hunting scenes and figures from Algonquin legends. Maine, circa 1900. 6"w, 4"d, 4"h See History on Birchbar* by Joan Lester, 1993
Mt.
Pine Plains, NY
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Brian Cullity Antiques 18 Pleasant Street, P.O. Box 595 Sagamore, MA 02561 508-888-8409 bcullity@adelphia.net www.briancullity.com A selection ofsome small choice items currently in stock.
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SKINNER Auctioneers and Appraisers ofAntiques and Fine Art
FINE FOLK ART AT AUCTION Major Collections • Single Items • World Record Prices Now Accepting Consignments Contact the Americana Department at 978.779.6241, or email americana@skinnerinc.com
63 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116 • 617.350.5400 / 357 Main Street, Bolton, MA 01740 • 978.779.6241
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THE
COLLECTION:
A
CLOSER
LOOK
BY STACY C. HOLLANDER AND TANYA HEINRICH
T
RAG DOLL Artist unidentified United States 1910-1920 Cotton and muslin with shoe buttons, yarn, and ribbon 17 < 11 1/4 >< 2%" American Folk Art Museum, gift of Ann Baxter Klee in celebration of her mother, 1980.22.75
38 WINTER 2005/2006 FOLK ART
ANNIVERSARY TIN: APRON Artist unidentified Gobles, Michigan 1880-1900 Tin 29/ 1 2 33" American Folk Art Museum, gift of Martin and Enid Packard, 1988.25.3
/11
GAVIN ASHWORTH
he custom ofgiving anniversary gifts ofincreasing value through the years of marriage originated in medieval Germany but was interpreted in a whimsical manner in Victorian America. During the second halfofthe 19th century,the 10th—or tin—anniversary became an occasion ofriotous celebration, and whimsical gifts made of tin were presented to the married couple. Often these gifts were oversize replicas ofeveryday items or humorous pieces with personal meaning.In literature ofthe period, hosts were encouraged to send out invitations that were covered with tinfoil or produced on tin cards. Professional tinsmiths offered a host ofready-made articks that could be purchased for such parties and also made custom items to order. Pieces were cut from sheet tin using templates, and the sections were soldered together.The seams were hooked over each other and hammered to create a tight seal.The anniversary tin that survives demonstrates the skill with which the items were fashioned and the variety offorms that were available.This apron is part ofa group of more than 20 pieces discovered together in Gobles, Mich.,which were probably gifts from a single 10th-anniversary celebration. —S.C.H.
ag dolls typically were constructed using a simple pattern oftwo identical remnant scraps of muslin and a cluster of yam for hair, and were a popular home handicraft. A rag doll's softness and pliability, like a stuffed animal's, ensured an intimacy between child and doll not easily afforded by the more formal dolls manufactured in china, porcelain, rubber, or plastic. Facial features usually were painted on or embroidered in thread and embellished with buttons, with simple gestures indicating eyes, nose,and mouth. The Rag Dollillustrated here, with its beribboned reddishbrown yarn hair, brings to mind the infinitely popular Raggedy Ann.The character,first introduced in a 1918 illustrated storybook by John Barton Gruelle (1880-1938),was partially inspired by a featureless rag doll that had belonged to his mother and which he had decorated—with an upside-down-triangle nose and exaggerated lower lashes—for his daughter.The Raggedy Ann doll prototype was made by Gruelle's wife, Myrtle,to promote the books in a store window display in New York The embroidered facial features ofthe Rag Doll, however, bear a much stronger resemblance to the chubby toddlers that appeared, beginning in 1900,in numerous newspaper comic strips by Grace Drayton (1877-1936),who also achieved fame with her Campbell Kids illustrations,featured in Campbell's Soup advertising. Many of her cartoon characters had names like Bobby Blake, Dolly Drake, or Dottie Dimple; her popular Dolly Dingle paper dolls,on which this doll is most likely based, appeared in the Pictorial Review from 1913 to 1936. —TI'.
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LIEBESBRIEF (detail) / Christian Strenge / East Petersburg, Pennsylvania / c.1790 / watercolor and ink on cut paper / American Folk Art Museum, promised gift of Ralph Esmerian, P1.2001.209 / Photo: Schecter Lee, New York
WINTER 2005/2006 FOLK ART
39
0•.473.7089/209.36:. -
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Graves' Country Gallery
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A world of wonder awaits at the Kentucky Folk Art Center.
AFTER THE FLOO Hugo Sperger,1990 acrylic on canvas 36 x 23.5 inches Available at the KFAC museum store,price $5,000 kg/ Kentucky Folk Arf
'CO 102W.First Street • Morehead,KY 40351 I 606.783.2204
KFAC is a cultural, educational and economic development service of Morehead State University.
40
WINTER 2005/2006
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RAWVISION #52
1ANISION
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CZECH ART BRUT B.SAFAROVA AND T.ZEMANKOVA A look at the art of Czech mediums
SUNNYSLOPE ROCK GARDEN PROPHET BLACKMON VILJO GUSTAFSSON
IVAN RABUZIN VLADIMIR CRNKOVIC Lyrical landscapes of Croatian classic naive artist.
HAROLD BALDWIN Mosaic sculpted fantasy in Arizona. ''PrIPPFT W 3! NA J. BLACKMON T.L.REID Visionary paintings by elderly evangelist artist. CAROLINE CHRISTIE Austrian studio for Outsider artists. RAW CLASSICS TOM DI MARIA Dwight Mackintosh.
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Drawing Paper, pencil, pen, and line have aided self-taught artists in their art-making endeavors for centuries. Adolf Wolfli, Madge Gill, and Edmund Monsiel, all well-established artists in the canon of art brut, exploit line in their highly mysterious and compulsively detailed compositions. Regardless of economics, geography, education, or other conditions, such as confinement, the force of line and the eloquence of the mark dominate the visual experience. The driving, accumulative quality of much of this work, known as horror vacui (the need to fill the page), sets the stage, in a way,for emerging artists working today. I Although contemporary versions of drawing in an obsessive manner can be more reductive, even quite minimal, the artworks are all labor-intensive and painstakingly precise, mirroring the methodologies of some of the best art brut. This minimal appearance does not equate to less lust for line but points to a more cautious, almost spiritual and meditative approach to the process of marking a page. The immediacy of this art formâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;drawing is portable and inexpensiveâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;masks the laborious nature of these artists' creative approaches. The mind-bending processes and resulting images are both "obsessional." I Like most vernacular creators, those in this exhibition did not strategically set out to become artists. Their motivations for art-making are married to their self-taught survival skills in contemporary society: each of these artists employs the tools of artistry initially, at least, to help them cope with regret, fear, loss, or illness. The language of drawing becomes a means of creative self-expression as well as a system of thinkingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a way of coping with realities and of hoping for
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RANDOM NUMERIC REPEATER (detail) Charles Benefiel (b. 1967) New Mexico 2001 Ink and watercolor on paper 51x 351/2" Courtesy the artist and American Primitive Gallery, New York
"Obsessive Drawing" is on view at the American Folk Art Museum through
well-being. The act of making art is an unexpected and surprising necessity for each of them. Inevitably, though,
March 19, 2006.
the practice of making a drawing eventually dominated this motivation, and making marks on a page became so
The exhibition is supported in part by the Gerard C. Wertkin Exhibition Fund and the Robert Lehman Foundation, Inc.
captivating that it moved to the level offixation, and remains an obsession.The hunger for line trumps everything.
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UNTITLED Eugene Andolsek (b. 1921) Crabtree. Pennsylvania c. 1950-2003 Ink on graph paper 17 x 221 / 4" Courtesy the artist
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UNTITLED c.1950-2003 Ink on graph paper 16% x 22" Courtesy the artist
Eugene Andolsek ugene Andolsek (b. 1921) created thousands ofink drawings over the course offifty years, rarely showing them to anyone and certain that they were not very interesting. He worked for the Rock Island Railroad as a clerical assistant and for the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. Now residing in an assisted-living facility in Crabtree,Pennsylvania,the artist still questions the fierce interest in his drawings."Obsessive Drawing"is the first public display ofhis artwork. Andolsek started drawing in 1950 after he saw an ink work at an art show. Perhaps as a means to cope with what are not uncommon challenges in life, he started a ritual of nightly drawing sessions at the kitchen table of his mother's home. Using a straightedge and a compass,he would begin to compose the forms in his drawing.The black outlines—what he calls the designs—are applied first, and the coloring happens later. The artist describes his process as methodical and orderly, but also trancelike in that the drawings just"came out"of him. He sometimes doesn't even remember putting stylus to paper. His recollection of "waking up sometimes and a drawing was there and I didn't even know how it got there" points to the transcendent, meditative quality that the process of creating can lend to an artist. In Andolsek's case, drawing helped him cope with an otherwise uncertain and tentative existence. As a young man and into his middle age, he remained anxious aboutjob security and overwhelmed by the demands ofcaring for his mother. Even though he worked for stable organizations, he always expected to be handed a pink slip. Now 84 years old, and alone since his mother's death in 1984, he never was fired from anyjob. Some of Andolsek's highly decorative, symmetrical patterns and color combinations recall oriental carpets or Dutch wax fabrics typical of African fashions.The artist's palette was not achieved with store-bought inks but rather through his careful and laborious mixing ofthose inks. He used an eyedropper to painstakingly customize the inks to reach a desired hue, and he credits his hobby ofvintage stamp collecting as the source of his sophisticated color sense.The jarring tincture (yellow and purple is a common pairing) causes the forms to move and dance on the flat page,creating an exciting rhythm.The pulsating and never-ending mazes of the artist's drawings allude to a vibrant, vital imagination. Andolsek drew while listening to the radio, and the songs he heard undoubtedly impacted the musicality of his compositions. Eugene Andolsek's eyesight has deteriorated over the years. At first, he tried to work with a magnifying glass, but this proved too frustrating, and he gave up drawing in 2003.
AUGUST SANDAL
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RANDOM NUMERIC REPEATER / Charles Beneflel(b.1967)/ New Mexico / 2002/ink on paper / 36 x 24'/ courtesy the artist and American Primitive Gallery, New York
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Charles Beneflel harles Benefiel(b. 1967) was born in Santa Monica,California, and currently resides in Pittsburgh. He created the Random Numeric Repeater series ofdrawings from 2000 to 2002 while living in New York City and New Mexico. Urged on by his sense offutility about the reductive and dehumanizing use of numbers as a source ofone's identity—on passports, Social Security cards, driver's licenses, electricity bills, and credit card accounts,for example—Benefiel has designed a new method ofcommunication,
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a"dumb language" ofrandomly repeated symbols.In this system, dots and circles and arcs, with corresponding sounds, replace the numbers that encode our technology-driven society. It represents an attack on the way in which consumers routinely employ numbers as dialogue,and the apathetic manner in which it is accepted and even embraced. Taking the numerical sequence of zero through nine (or through one hundred in some ofthe larger drawings), Benefiel marries both a symbol and a sound to each number(see code above).
WINTER 2005/2006 FOLK ART
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For example,one equals a dot equals the sound “ba";four equals a circle equals the sound "da"; or zero equals a solid circle equals the sound "na."While he draws each symbol,Benefiel recites the corresponding tonal notes and counts offthe numbers of his system, making the process a musical event, a visual experience, and a mathematical equation of sorts. This three-tiered artistic process is overly complex,though the outcome appears overtly simple and minimal. Benefiel was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)when he was 30 years old. Over the past decade,he has figured out how to control his OCD (with medical oversight) by making art that simultaneously engages his mind mathematically, philosophically, musically, and artistically. He believes that the process of organizing symbols and counting deters his illness and attributes his current state ofwell-being to the healing dimensions of art-making. The drawings are economical and reductive in their finished state.They are composed of tiny"movements"—small forms made by deliberately diminutive actions that demand a meditative, ritualistic approach by the artist. He has tapped into a subdued and refined way of drawing by creating these visual mantras and embodying them with a spiritual quality; they bring to mind Jonathan Borofsky's number drawings from the 1960s as well as Agnes Martin's grid paintings, both of which have been described by their makers as healing and spiritual work. Venturing into the creation of symbols and sounds has in turn led Benefiel into sound recording and filmmaking.Tracks on his recent CD mixes,with titles like"Descending from the Stars" and "The Ocean and the Radio," use appropriated sounds from commercial radio and have the same contemplative quality as his works on paper.
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HiroyukiDoi ow that we are living in the age ofcomputerized society," writes Japanese artist Hiroyuki Doi,"I believe human work using human hands has to be emphasized more. By drawing,I started to feel relief, at some point I started to feel that something other than myself allowed me to draw these works. Suppose every creature is a circle, which exists in this world, how many ofthem can I draw? That is my life work and my challenge.I have to keep on working, otherwise nothing will be brought into existence. By drawing circles I feel I am alive and existing in the cosmos." Doi(b. 1946) has selected a single form for his visual vocabulary: the circle. He covers page after page with highly organic forms that evoke several images: the world's topographical map,enormous soaring galaxies, swirling comets,and stormy tsunamis. The artist executes a remarkable variety ofcircles,from fat, cartoonlike discs that appear decorative and almost cute to dense, highly rendered, and less orderly circles that take on more mysterious personalities. Using a Pilot ink pen and a range of paper, Doi is able to present an impressive span of color values—from pale gray to jet black—through only the variation of the circles' scale. His artistry partially rests in how he exploits volume and creates such a sense of mass in the process. Working on imagery that is quite large in scale and completely abstract, but with a form that is quite intimate, makes for complex drawings. Doi was born in Nagoya,Japan; he is a trained chef and teaches cooking in Tokyo. He has been working as an artist for more than three decades, but this series ofdrawings with the circle motif and the meditative process is something new. He began to work in this way after the death of his younger brother, and the drawings are much more personal than the illustrations he creates for magazines. He approaches the blank page in a pensive state—"something other then myself allowed me to draw these works"—and his process is reminiscent ofthe spiritualist, trancelike works ofself-taught artists Madge Gill, Emma Kunz,and Agatha Wojciechowslcy.
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UNTITLED (detail) Hiroyuki Doi(b.1946) Tokyo 2003 ink on paper 55 x 27" Courtesy the artist and Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York
UNTITLED n.d. Ink on paper 43.31" Collection of Shari Cavin and Randall Morris
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LONELY EUROPE ARM YOURSELF / Chris Hipkiss (b.1964)/ England and France /1994-1995 / pencil and silver ink on paper / 5 x 35 / John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Chris Hipkiss he artwork of Chris Hipkiss is cinematic in its narrative detail and haunting implications.The larger works made over multiple years feel like filmic treatises, while the smaller images are like previews for a psychological thriller. In their horizontal format, monumental scale, and depictions ofotherworldly landscapes, the scroll-like drawings also remind one ofthe watercolors by Henry Darger. But while Darger documented a more conventional system ofconflict, Hipkiss fixates on the aftereffects of a devastating millennial war. His drawings,in which landscapes are burnt out, overused,and irretrievably abused, are postapocalyptic.This futuristic quality is further enhanced by the artist's use of a bar code for his signature as well as his peculiar use oflanguage. His mysterious titles, like poetry, are executed in a nonsensical manner and are as unfathomable as the landscape is foreign. Hipkiss was born in England in 1964 and lives in France with his family. He has been drawing since he was a young boy. His works are lovingly rendered in pencil and sometimes a silver ink underlay for detail and highlighting, and there is a lushness to his line that exists in stark contrast to the nasty subject matter. He has been working on small drawings over the past several years, and he often makes them while he is on the road.Indeed, each one looks like a miniature fragment ofa road trip, with its central motif being a well-traveled path or a river winding up the composition to the horizon line. In these highly detailed drawings,the human figure is absent, and the existing subjects (trees, corn, bugs,flowers) are wounded, drooping, near death. Nature appears contaminated,tainted by man and technology; birds spit up material from their beaks,the same phlegm that spurts from the factories and out ofthe ground. Everyone is gone. Everything is barren. Only tombstones, haystacks, roaches, and broken trees remain. Hipkiss's naturalist sentiment comes out in his artworks, but so too do his fears and his skepticism about mankind's ability to be capable stewards ofthe earth.The landscape of Hiplciss's hometown (Doddington,England) is ever present,so that as much as they are musings of a devoted environmentalist concerned about the harmful effects oftechnology on the
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future landscape,they also operate as memory drawings of his childhood home. Lonely Europe ArmYourselfis opera performed in pencil on paper.This ambitious drawing is thirty-five feet long and took two years to complete.It depicts a new world landscape as seen from the air, bordered by two contraptions: a whisldike tower on the far left, on which a multi-armed woman balances atop a spire, and an enormous balloon labeled "olive nation" on the far right. While it is difficult to connect one image to another, it nevertheless is tempting to apply a linear scenario to the composition: Ifthe left and right edges imply the "before" and the "after," then the bulk of the drawing—the center—is the "during." As in Hipkiss's smaller,later works,the river path meandering across the composition enables the artist and the viewer to traverse the sooty,grim landscape; but here, figures, architecture, and nature all fight for equal space.This urban environment is all fantasy: exciting, exotic, and bizarre. The figures are transgendered or utterly fantastic. Armies of dominatrixes recall the punk culture ofurban England in the 1970s and 1980s, Hipkiss's coming-of-age years. Alone or in groups,they appear to be performing synchronized routines— balancing,flapping, twirling, or leaping, these figures seem trapped by nature and trumped by architecture.The structures are mostly composed oftowers and turrets and forts connected by an abundance of piping and other mechanical features. The corporeal architecture is undeniably phallic and fiercely funny, but it seems that it is transgendered as well—masculine buildings are turned inside out by the vaginal windows and openings that are drawn into nearly every smokestack and tower. There is a musical structure to this passionately constructed drawing:"phrases" ofarchitecture sprout across the landscape, and the piping deftly moves the viewer across the page. Figures, like musical notes, punctuate various passages.The over-the-top imagery feels very much like the crescendo of an opera's finale— the costumes,the set design, everything is onstage for an encore, which might include the furious whirlpool in the composition's center,into which everything will be sucked down.
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Martin Thompson or the past thirty years, New Zealand artist Martin Thompson (b. 1956) has used graph paper and finepoint colored pens to draw perfectly designed diptychs that are as exacting in execution as they are mesmerizing in design.Thompson's only other tools are a handsaw used as a straightedge, a small scalpel, and Scotch tape. His drawings look like traditional quilt patterns or embroidery designs as well as the screen of a Pac-ManTm game or the pixellated satellite photographs from war-torn Iraq. Each ofthese drawingsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;from the specific to the more abstractâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; involves math. Thompson is a self-taught artist and a mathematician. Each of his markings relates to an equation, and each formula is based on multiples often,thus allowing him to explore the visual patterns of mathematical rhythms and sequences. After developing a hard-edged pattern on a line ofsquares on graph paper scaled in millimeters, he creates a mirror image using its opposite sequence on a second sheet ofgraph paper.Thompson works in decimals,
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fractions, and other mathematical modes. He memorizes each ofthese formulas or sequences and then meticulously repeats the pattern in reverse. Thompson has devised a specific system to correct a composition when he makes a mistake with his sequencing. He backs each page of graph paper with a layer of Scotch tape and uses a scalpel to carve out the inked square (or squares) with the mistake. Once the section is excised, he cuts a new section of graph paper from the margins.This replacement patch is positioned into the artwork with surgical precision, and the backing of Scotch tape holds it in place.Thompson builds up his diptychs using this self-designed collage technique.The evidence ofthe errors and the remains of his mistakes are an unintentional but rather marvelous layer ofthe finished drawing. Thompson has lived in many locales around his home country and finally settled in Wellington more than thirty years ago. His studio space is located at Vincent's Art Workshop, a center for artists with disabilities.
Like the other artists in this exhibition,Thompson works on his drawings as part of a self-developed system for survival.The art-making process helps him negotiate the world, which he calls a mindless distraction. Like Charles Benefiel,Thompson also recites mathematical equations while making his marks.This methodical technique satiates his interest in the rational and in math,but it also tempers his feelings toward what he considers the irrational state ofsociety and his discomfort with contemporary culture.The artist struggles with the political and social realities ofour culture and readily acknowledges himself as an outcast.* Acknowledgments The curator would like to thank the artists and the galleries that represent them, as well as Jenifer P. Borum, Robert Leonard, Stuart Shepherd, John Smith,and the staff at Carmella's House.
Brooke Davis Anderson is the director and curator ofthe Contemporary Center at the American Folk Art Museum.
GAVIN ASHWORTH
UNTITLED DIPTYCHS Martin Thompson (b. 1956) Wellington, New Zealand c.2002-2005 Pen on graph paper 161 / 2 >< 23/ 1 4" each Courtesy the artist
WINTER 2005/2006 FOLK ART
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or most of us, the sheer tactile pleasure ofrunning one's fingers through wet,viscous paint is experienced primarily in young childhood. During the early decades of the nineteenth century, the abstract whirls, swirls, and dots similar to those we reveled in as children were elevated to a Fhighly expressionistic and controlled manipulation of wet paint on wood surfaces. Using their fingers, brushes, and a variety of textured materials to direct the process, professional decorative painters produced fantastic, creative effects that glorified even the humblest pieces of furniture. This transforming power of paint is considered in the exhibition "Surface Attraction: Painted Furniture from the Collection." The museum's collection is particularly rich in these bold expressions on furniture that transcend utility through the masterful application of colorful paints and pigmented glazes in visually dynamic patterns. Various techniques were employed to achieve stunning—and sometimes startling—effects using a wide array oftools. Multiple factors had an impact on painted decoration applied to furniture. Aesthetic concepts remembered from Europe migrated with the earliest colonists. Other fash-
ionable ideas conceived in Europe quickly proliferated in America's urban centers and soon after reached localized areas of furniture making, where they were interpreted and adapted to new markets. Changing methods of production and distribution, as well as technical innovations, also determined trends in furniture design and decoration. But more mundane considerations, such as cost, required skill level, and quality of pigments, also had a significant effect on the appearance of painted furniture. Most vernacular American furniture from the colonial period through the nineteenth century was made from local woods and was stained, glazed, or painted, and then varnished. Two primary motivations are most often cited as the reasons so much furniture received painted treatments. The first is that paint protected the surface of the furniture and unified its presentation by disguising the use of several different woods.The routine use of primary and secondary woods was partly a measure of expediency—less expensive woods were used in areas that were not visible—and partly a response to function, as appropriate woods were used in the areas of highest wear. The second motivation arose from a desire to imitate expensive materials, such as marble and scarce woods, in the less expensive medium of paint. Such decorative painting became expressive of regional taste or reflective ofconsumption patterns.
BLANKET CHEST-ON-CHEST OF DRAWERS (detail) Artist unidentified Maine C.1830-1840 Paint on pine, with replaced brass drawer pulls 407/a x 39/ 1 2x 19/ 1 4" American Folk Art Museum, gift of Cyril Irwin Nelson in memory of Robert Bishop, 2001.33.5
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"Surface Attraction" is on view at the American Folk Art Museum through March 26, 2006. The exhibition is supported in part by the Gerard C. Wertkin Exhibition Fund.
The paints used on furniture were primarily ground in oil using the earth, mineral, and early synthetic pigments available to all artistic practitioners, whether they were painting portraits, houses, or furniture. This palette remained fairly unchanged throughout the eighteenth century, when a little more than three dozen colors were imported from Europe or were manufactured from a small number of American sources. New pigments introduced in the early nineteenth century resulted from innovations in color chemistry and production, as well as the addition of newly discovered materials such as cobalt and chrome. Among the most common early colors were mineral pigments, including red and white lead, iron oxides, and verdigris; organic pigments such as boneblack, which was produced from charred bone; earth pigments, including ochre and umbers; and synthetic pigments, notably Prussian blue. The coatings used on wooden furniture fall generally into three categories: transparent, metallic,and opaque.Transparent coatings, such as varnishes, were made from natural resins or gums dissolved in oil or solvent. Metallic coatings, including gold, bronze, and silver, were applied to wood in the form ofleaf or powder by gilding or stenciling. Opaque paint was composed of dry pigment that was suspended in a fluid vehicle, such as linseed oil. This paint was often
invention of the collapsible metal tube in 1841 and readymade paints in the 1860s,small quantities of paint could be kept in bladders and larger quantities in casks. These could not be preserved for long periods of time, however, and it was not uncommon for an artist to prepare only enough paint for each day's work. Because it was hand-ground and applied with handmade brushes, early paint tended to be dispersed unevenly on furniture and interior surfaces, often leaving ropy streaks and spots of pure pigment. It is a widely held misconception that milk or casein was the most popular vehicle for paint used on furniture. In fact, linseed oil, expressed from flax seeds, was by far the most common vehicle used to produce opaque paint and transparent oil varnishes. In part because paint production was a specialized, dangerous, and laborious activity, furniture decoration was generally the province of professional rather than amateur artisans. Furthermore, the public at Large was not privy to the mysteries of the early painters and stainers, descendants of a guild system designed to protect trade secrets from becoming general knowledge. Until the American Civil War era, when premixed paints in cans became available, artists had an intimate relationship with their materialsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;grinding pigments, boiling oil, mixing colors, and making brushes. It was also imperative for the decorative painter to have a
By Stacy C. Hollander
n. ctio ttra Painted Furniture from the Collection prepared with lead compounds to accelerate drying. In addition, a binder, such as white lead or zinc, was usually combined with the paint and held the particles of pigment in place once the medium had dried. The preparation of the medium determined the viscosity of the paint, whether it was opaque or transparent, and its propensity to spread and adhere to a prepared surface. For instance, some lead compounds caused linseed oil to gel, and with the addition of mastic varnish or beeswax produced a buttery medium, such as megilp, which had desirable qualities of texture and workability. Dry pigment needed to be finely ground in the oil to wet the grains thoroughly; the finer the pigment was ground, the richer the color it produced. Grinding was accomplished using a conical stone, known as a muller, against a marble slab; toxic pigments such as vermilion and leads might be ground using a paint mill, which limited physical contact with these poisonous materials. Before the
practical knowledge of the behavior and longevity of pigments in combination with oils, resins, and varnishes. In some cases, pigments were imported directly from Europe by the artist himself, who might in turn sell the pigments locally; more often colors were purchased in dry or paste form from professional colormen,druggists, and other merchants. Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the same basic pigments were available to all artists. Though their preparation might differ depending upon the object's end use, the same professional once practiced many genres of painting. As these applications separated into purely artistic and applied "mechanical" spheres, painters increasingly specialized in one area or another. The canvas upon which the artists in this exhibition worked was furniture, and their efforts enlivened homes throughout the American countryside. Today their names are largely lost to history, but their fingerprints remain in the expressive "paintings" they have left behind.
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Identity in Paint
Imitative Graining
he Low Blanket Chest relates to a number of Dutch-influenced hasten, or cupboards,that were made early in the eighteenth century, primarily in New York and New Jersey, though the date indicates that it was painted well after the major period of production.These kasten featured bold grisaille decoration of pendant fruit and drapery swags combined with architectural imagery ofcolumns and arches.The bluegray color of this example, most likely mixed from Prussian blue and white lead,is applied over a deep red-brown primer coat.The massive cupboards were usually set on ball feet in the front and bracket feet in the bacic; this low blanket chest rests on four ball feet and exhibits similar painted architectural imagery, though it is less robust than that ofearlier examples.The late date suggests that the delicacy and restraint ofthe decoration may have been a response to neoclassical taste.'
uring the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, architectural surfaces such as baseboards and fireplace surrounds were painted in imitation of marble,cedar, or mahogany. On furniture, the most commonly simulated wood grain was mahogany,though instructions for other exotic decorative finishes, such as japanning and tortoiseshell, were provided in English design sources as early as 1688,when the influential Treatise on Japaning and Varnishing byJohn Stalker and George Parker was first published. The Secretary Bookcase is painted with a spotted, mottled surface evocative oftortoiseshell, which may also be inspired by the early"sponge painting" seen on architectural interiors.The term referred to a spotted patterning executed in paint as a series of freehand dots. What appears to be a brown ground coat is actually a varnished surface that has darkened with age and grime.The original ground was in fact a vibrant yellow ochre spotted with red lead, white lead, and black.'
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LOW BLANKET CHEST Artist unidentified Hudson River Valley, New York 1792 Paint on pine 1 2x 183/8" 247/8 x 48/ American Folk Art Museum, gift of Howard and Jean Lipman in honor of Cyril Irwin Nelson, 1983.25.1
When graining was reinterpreted at the turn ofthe nineteenth century, new techniques,improved glazes, and the vogue for Fancy painting aspired to realistic effects that"deceive us into a belief that we look upon marble, mahogany,stone, etc."'"Fancy" referred to an aesthetic movement, most popular between 1790 and 1840,that advocated the use ofthe creative imagination to stir the senses and delight the eye. In the context of house and furniture painting,Fancy painting meant the art ofimitating exotic and highly patterned woods and marbles, and its practitioners came to be known as marblers or grainers. Preparation was time-consuming,with a priming coat that sealed the porous wood followed by one or two additional ground layers. Once dry,the ground was polished to a smooth finish and was then ready to receive the artistry ofthe painter's hand and imagination. Graining tools included badger-hair brushes,sponges,leather, quills, sticks,feathers, putty, chamois,combs,and other materials that were used to provide texture in the paints and glazes. After a surface was decorated and dried, it received protective coats ofvarnish, which provided the additional benefit oflending depth and saturation to the colors beneath.The paint decorator charged for the area he covered in solid paint, the number ofcoats that were applied, then added fees for graining and marbling and for the use ofexpensive colors such as green and blue. Once confined primarily to tabletops,imitative painting began to appear on case furniture after about 1810.Trompe l'oeil surface treatments became preferable to the very woods they imitated. According to one mid-nineteenth-century writer, "It is doubtful whether it would be desirable to select many of the fancy woods for house decoration,in preference to the imitations which are produced by modern artists ...even ifthey could be obtained at the same cost." Until about 1820, mahogany remained the most popular hardwood to imitate, grained in umber on a medium-yellow ground. With the introduction ofthe Empire style, however,rosewood became the dominant wood grain,the rich black and red striations providing a handsome background for archaeologically inspired motifs applied in gold leaf or metallic stenciling. The unusual form ofthe Blanket Chest-onChest ofDrawers(see page 52) may be unique, as the top portion is a detached,independently constructed blanket chest that simply rests on the bottom chest ofdrawers. Accentuating the form is a masterfully executed painted decoration ofblack over red that creates the appearance ofa complex knotted and burled wood surface through sponging and freehand penciling. Areas of dense and dramatic patterning alternate with delicate strokes, resulting in an effect that is fantastic and abstract, yet also imitative.
SECRETARY BOOKCASE Artist unidentified New England 1760-1780 Paint on maple and pine 67/ 3 4 x 37 x 163 / 4" American Folk Art Museum purchase, Eva and Morris Feld Folk Art Acquisition Fund, 1981.12.1
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Imaginative Graining ming the second quarter ofthe nineteenth century, the widespread enthusiasm for Fancy painting freed furniture decorators to give full sway to their imaginations, resulting in fantastic effects painted on wood furniture that were nevertheless firmly rooted in traditional and time-tested techniques.The descriptive names given to these techniques, known as two-toned finishes, or "veining," are almost as evocative and fanciful as the graining itself: vinegar painting,shelling,seaweed pinning, mottling,sponging,stippling, scumbling.5 In each ofthese finishes, the lightest tonesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;frequently yellow ochre or white leadâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;were usually applied first, then when dry overlaid with a darker glaze or paint.This second layer was manipulated using various tools,textured materials, and flat brushes of different sizes. After the primary effects were created,finely detailed veining could be applied in a darker pigment using a very small brush. Once the entire surface was dry,it received coats ofvarnish that protected the surface and added luster. In addition to paints and glazes, a gelled medium such as megilp was sometimes used for grain painting because it enhanced the handling properties of the paints. The Chest over Drawers is one ofseveral chests with highly similar painted decoration. The technique used to produce the patterning, usually referred to as vinegar painting or vinegar graining, exploits the chemical reaction between oil and vinegar to create interesting dispersions of pigment. For this method,the furniture is covered with a solid ground that is then coated in a glaze containing vinegar in the suspension. When putty prepared with oil is rolled or stamped over the surface, the glaze separates into seaweedlike patterns, with the effects controlled through the artist's manipulation ofthe putty.True vinegar painting is not as common as once believed: Similar effects could be achieved more easily by pouncing a crumpled material,such as leather, onto the wet glaze in a technique known as sponging. Pigment that pooled in the folds ofthe leather produced the seaweed patterning. This chest displays a variant on vinegar graining called shelling,in which one end of the putty is held stationary while the length ofthe roll is stepped around the wet glaze in a semicircular motion,resulting in fan-shaped patterns that can be overlapped.This type of free-spirited surface treatment may be a rural expression ofFancy,combining an abstract allusion to neoclassical corner fans with colors evocative ofNew England's dramatic fall foliage.
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CHEST OVER DRAWERS Artist unidentified New England 1825-1840 Paint on pine 4 39 >< 18" / 371 American Folk Art Museum, gift of the Lipman Family Foundation in honor of Jean and Howard Lipman, 1999.8.6
BLANKET CHEST Artist unidentified New England c. 1830 Paint and smoke decoration on wood 25 x 43 x 19" American Folk Art Museum, gift of the Lipman Family Foundation in honor of Jean and Howard Lipman, 1999.8.10
Smoke Graining
Dry-Brush Graining
ome of the most - 1 delicate and impressionistic effects in painted furniture decoration during the early decades of the nineteenth century were achieved through smoke graining. As the name suggests, smoke graining was accomplished by passing a burning candle over a partially wet paint or glaze coat.The oily, sooty residue from the smoking candle was literally captured in the tacky surface to create the graceful, cloudlike trans that are characteristic ofthis technique. When the surface dried,it was varnished for protection and to give it greater visual depth. Smoke graining was used most often for overall patterning on boxes and small pieces offurniture. Sometimes it was effectively combined with another technique,such as stenciling.In the Blanket Chest, the patterning is smoked in rows that are contained within a blue-painted reserve.This is further enhanced with "striping," applying a thin line with a fine brush known as a pencil.To steady the artist's hand, English designer Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806)suggested bringing the paint-laden pencil to a fine point, and,while holding it between the thumb and first finger, using the middle finger as a guide by running it along a straight edge of the work to be striped.6
n dry-brush graining, a flat brush was first dipped in paint, then most of the wet paint was squeezed out ofthe brush before it touched the surface.The small amount of paint remaining left streaky impressions ofthe bristles as the brush was pressed or stroked onto the wood.The ground color often showed through the brushstrokes, and at times bristles were deliberately thinned from a brush to create more interesting textures. The dry-brush technique was often performed freehand, without the aid of a pattern or guide, and tended to be simple,linear, and repetitive, featuring designs such as scallops or wavy lines. Other patterns could be formed by smashing the brush onto the surface randomly,leaving spongelike marks.These patterns were most frequently applied using a dark paint over a solid ground coat of a lighter color. The Tall Case Clock is housed in a wooden case painted yellow with green striping. It is embellished overall with a spotted decoration that has been called paw print.The pattern is an example of a dry-brush technique that was probably made by dabbing the surface with a crumpled material or a dry brush. In rural areas, it was not unusual for expensive clockworks to be purchased from well-known makers but housed in locally made cases.The clock was found in New Jersey, but it relates most strongly in style to Connecticut clock- and cabinetmaking traditions, and the movement is a Connecticut type, with pull-up weights that run the clock for thirty hours.The name L.W.Lewis on the face refers to Lambert W.Lewis, who was originally from Southbury, Connecticut, but had purchased property in Ohio by 1806. With several of his brothers, he became the earliest and largest manufacturer ofclocks in Trumbull County,an area on the Western Reserve that was developed primarily by Connecticut Yankees.'
TALL CASE CLOCK Artist unidentified; clockworks attributed to Lambert W. Lewis (c. 1785-1834) Trumbull County, Ohio 1812-1834 Paint on pine case, with watercolor on paper clock face and wooden clockworks 87 x 211/2,, 12/ 3 4" American Folk Art Museum purchase, Eva and Morris Feld Folk Art Acquisition Fund, 1981.12.22
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Fancy to Factory rchaeological discoveries in the eighteenth century dramatically changed widely held perceptions of the classical world.The color, variety, and intimate scale of the residences that were unearthed in excavations such as Herculaneum and Pompeii were a far cry from the gleaming white-marble colossal government buildings and temples commonly associated with ancient Greece and Rome in the public imagination. In European decorative arts, new interpretations of classicism gave birth to a neoclassicism characterized by geometric forms combined with classical motifs such as fans, paterae, urns, and swags offlowers. Early examples ofFancy furniture,from about 1790 to 1815,embraced neoclassicism and balanced its rationalism with a sense of imagination imparted primarily through its painted surfaces. Among the earliest furniture makers in America to parlay this new aesthetic into a thriving business were John and Hugh Finlay, brothers who set up shop in Baltimore. In addition to their inventory ofclassical-inspired Fancy furniture forms,they were the first to offer"FANCY and JAPANNED Furnitureâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;with or without views adjacent to the city." These landscape views were painted by special artists for hire, notably Francis Guy(1760-1820), who worked with the brothers from 1804 to 1806. After commissions for local views ofland and houses were satisfied, concerns such as the Finlays' offered "Fancy landscapes," imaginary views conceived by the hired artists.' The Armchair with View ofIthaca Falls is painted in oil on the broad top rail with a "real view" of the falls and the many mills that it powered.Ithaca Falls had the most dramatic and precipitous drop ofthe six falls along a stretch ofFall Creek.Its identification in this scene is confirmed by the presence ofthe wooden flume that was replaced by a tunnel in 1830 and 1831. The growing taste for Fancy chairs led to techniques that sped up production and reduced cost,thereby making fashionable furniture available to the broadest clientele. One such technique involved combining Fancy ornament with simple construction,such as the traditional Windsor chair featuring wooden plank seats rather than woven cane. Fancy Windsors were fashionably elevated through elaborate painted treatments, such as the architectural views embellishing the crest rails ofthe Side Chairs.The friezes are painted in a golden-yellow paint outlined in black that gives the impression ofstenciled repeats in gold leaf or metallic powders,which may have been laid out with the aid oftemplates.The set indudes six chairs, each with a different architectural scene. Over the next few decades,the making and marketing of Fancy furniture, chairs in particular, relied increasingly upon methods of mass production. Parts might be purchased inexpensively from one locale, then assembled, decorated, and sold in another.Improvements in overland and water shipping allowed finished products to be distributed to expanding markets in farther reaches ofthe country and abroad. As
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ARMCHAIR WITH VIEW OF ITHACA FALLS Chairmaker unidentified; decoration probably by R.H. Ranney (dates unknown) Ithaca, New 'York c. 1817-1825 Paint, bronze-powder stenciling, and gold leaf on wood, with rush seat 1 2" 37/ 3 4 21 16/ American Folk Art Museum, promised gift of Ralph Esmerian, P1.2001.72
SIDE CHAIRS Possibly Worcester Chair Factory Worcester County, Massachusetts 1820-1835 Paint on maple and pine 331 / 4 15/ 3 4 18" each American Folk Art Museum, promised gift of Ralph Esmerian, P1.2001.73
SIDE CHAIR Lambert Hitchcock (1795-1852) Hitchcocksyille, Connecticut 1826-1829 Paint, bronze-powder stenciling, and gold leaf on wood, with cane seat 343/4 x 18 x 15" American Folk Art Museum, gift of the Historical Society of Early American Decoration, 58.29
productivity was further increased through the introduction oftime-saving techniques such as stenciling, the vogue for Fancy furniture was made affordable to a broader consumer base,becoming the dominant vernacular furniture style. The so-called Hitchcock chair was developed as an inexpensive response to the heightened demand for Fancy chairs in an Empire style, which typically featured gold elements on rich woods like mahogany. In 1818 Lambert Hitchcock established a chair factory in Riverton, Connecticut, producing parts that were shipped as far away as South Carolina.The factory churned out finished chairs and other furniture forms with distinctive bronze stenciling on dark backgrounds. Hitchcock's marketing strategyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;labeling the backs of the chairs with his name and marking them "warranted"â&#x20AC;&#x201D;was so successful that even today his name is identified with this type ofchair.The crown-top, turtleback Side Chair is an early example of Hitchcock's production; it bears the stamp "L. Hitchcock. Hitchcocks-ville. Conn. Warranted," which he used between 1826 and 1829. At this time,such chairs sold for $1.50,less than halfthe cost of a Fancy chair ofthe same period. One reason Hitchcock could price his chairs so inexpensively was that he applied methods of mass production, creating interchangeable chair parts in a limited range of styles. Workmen specialized in one area of production, while the stencil designs were often done by women.
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Pennsylvania German Furniture hroughout its history, Philadelphia has been an important American port ofentry for people and products. Among those attracted by William Penn's"Holy Experiment" were large numbers ofimmigrants from Germanic areas throughout Europe who settled in Philadelphia and its environs.In all areas of settlement,from the city to the farthest reaches ofrural Pennsylvania, traditional arts were practiced in an unbroken continuum. Paradoxically,the retention ofenduring traditions,such as fraktur and furniture decoration, was facilitated through the use ofinnovative materials. Pennsylvania Germans had ready access to the sophisticated and plentiful goods that flooded into Philadelphia on the great ships that docked in her harbor.These goods were often distributed to local dealers such as James Peter, a Lancaster druggist, who in 1764 offered goods imported in the "last vessels at Philadelphia,from London,"including pharmaceuticals,spices, perfumes,utensils, gold and silver leaf, and more than a dozen pigments. An analysis of Pennsylvania German fraktur has revealed that almost as soon as new colors were invented they appeared in this art form,disproving the notion that the pigments,inks, and other materials used in fraktur were homemade.' The application of new pigments depended upon the medium in which the pigment was suspended. In fraktur, a calligraphic art executed on paper,the pigments were suspended in water or in gum arabic, producing a transparent, shiny appearance.The same pigments suspended in an oil-based vehicle and mixed with white lead for opacity provided a sturdy medium with the strong coverage appropriate for furniture decoration.Thus,the vibrant greens, yellows, reds, and blues that adorned the important documents marking milestones in the lives of Germanic communities were also used to enliven furniture with similar motifs and identical colors. A distinctive group offurniture and decorative objects emerged in an area of Germanic settlement around the Schwaben and Mahantango creeks in Pennsylvania. Probably the work ofseveral craftsmen, similar painted motifs evidence a close relationship that may derive from such shared sources as fraktur and gravestones. Other painted elements are drawn from broader decorative trends of the period,such as neodassical striping, urns, and corner quarter-fans. It is conjectured that one ofthe major contributors to this regional furniture style was Johannes Mayer,whose home was discovered to contain moldings and trims identical to those used on chests such as the Chest ofDrawers. When originally painted,it was probably a blue-green color, as the paint is composed primarily ofPrussian blue with chrome yellow and whiting.The chest has received six generations ofresin varnish that have probably darkened to the bright green we see today.' Johannes Spider was an artisan of Germanic heritage born in the Massanutten area of Virginia(now Page County),which was settled in 1733 by fifty-one German and Swiss pioneers from Lancaster County,Pennsylvania. Spider relied upon conventional motifs associated with Germanic arts in America,but he interpreted such common elements as hearts,flowers, and birds in a highly
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stylized and unique manner. Most of his work appears on full-size blanket chests and a few smaller storage chests; it is not known whether he constructed the furniture that bears his decoration." The Chest is one oftwo nearly identical painted chests that, according to oral history, were made for sisters who lived in adjacent homes on the same farm in Virginia.The designs on this chest are executed in five pigments,ground in oil, that Spider used consistently: Prussian blue, white lead, red lead,lampblack,and burnt umber.These pigments were all commercially available, and some were relatively new at the time. An analysis ofthe paint layers indicates that Spider covered the entire surface ofeach piece offurniture with a thin red ground of burnt umber.' The motifs were incised into the surface either before or after the application of the ground,using a straightedge, compass,and sometimes templates or stencils as time-saving devices. Prussian blue mixed with white lead was applied last, brushed around the designs; initials and dates were painted freehand. After the decoration was completed,the entire surface was covered with several coats ofvarnish.* Stacy C. Hollander is senior curator and director ofexhibitions at the American Folk Art Museum.
Notes 1 Peter M. Kenny, curator of American decorative arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, e-mail to the author,July 8, 2005. 2 Susan L.Buck, conservator and paint analyst, letter to the author, August 5,2005. 3 Sumpter T Priddy III,American Fancy:Exuberance in the Arts, 1790-1840 (Milwaukee: Chipstone Foundation,2004),p. 73. 4 Ibid, p. 72. 5 Cynthia V.A. Schaffner and Susan Klein,American Painted Furniture(New York: Clarkson N.Potter, 1997), p. 109. 6 Ibid, p. 125. 7 Rebecca M.Rogers, Trumbull County Clock Industry, 1812-1835 (Dayton,Ohio: National Association ofWatch and Clock Collectors, 1991), pp. 19-20. 8 Priddy,op. cit., p. 51. 9 Janice H.Carlson and John Krill,"Pigment Analysis ofEarly American Watercolors and Fraktur," Journalofthe American Institute ofConservation 18,no. 1 (1978): 19-32. 10 Buck,op. cit. 11 Donald Walters,"Johannes Spider, Shenandoah County, Virginia, Furniture Decorator," The Magazine Antiques 108, no.4(October 1975): 730,732. 12 Chris Shelton,"Johannes Spider, a Virginia Furniture Decorator at the Turn of the 19th Century," WAG Posq2rints(Buffalo: Wooden Artifacts Group ofthe American Institute for Conservation, 1992).
CHEST Attributed to Johannes Spitler (1774-1837) Shenandoah County, Virginia c.1800 Paint on yellow pine and walnut, with metal and wrought-iron hardware / 4" 23/ 1 4 x 48/ 1 4 x 221 American Folk Art Museum, promised gift of Ralph Esmerian, P1.2001.188
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CHEST OF DRAWERS Probably Johannes Mayer (1794-1883) Mahantango or Schwaben Creek Valley, Pennsylvania 1830 Paint on pine and poplar 47/ 1 2x 433/8 x 22" American Folk Art Museum purchase, 1981.12.3
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HANNAH FULLER SMITH STANWOOD (detail) Susanna Paine (1792-1862) Cape Ann, Massachusetts 1834 Oil on wood panel 30 25" Cape Ann Historical Association, Gloucester, Massachusetts
Roses and Thorns
nly a few American folk artists left diaries, letters, or autobiographies that provide firsthand accounts of their lives and artistic careers. Yet what may be one of the most interesting of such documents has rarely been cited.' Roses and Thorns, or Recollections of an Artist:A Tale ofTruth,for the Grave and Gay is the 1854 autobiography of Susanna Paine (1792-1862), which she wrote at the age of61.2 This account is a description ofthe life and career of an itinerant female portrait painter and her extraordinary determination to be self-sufficient. Many of the events recounted in the text show how Paine overcame the entrenched prejudices she encountered as an itinerant and as a single woman traveling alone. Roses and Thorns provides a remarkable view of the folk portrait painter and of the few women who followed Paine down the itinerant's road. It is likely that Rosesand Thorns has not been extensively referenced because of the difficulties that it presents for the reader. Because rumors and innuendo had affected her painting commissions and relationships, Paine's autobiography omits any details that might be used to spread gossip. For example, only her parents, grandparents, and brother are named at the beginning of the 204-page book. Not included are the names of her stepfather, who was married to her mother for thirty-nine years, her own husband and son, or many of the people she encountered throughout her lifetime. Although the autobiography is presented chronologically, the only date in Roses and Thorns is that of its completion. Even locations are given in code; for example,"P (RI)" stands for Providence, Rhode Island. For these reasons, it has been necessary for us to fully research Paine's life,
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to examine her relatives and other people she describes, Paine lamented that her mother's affections now had to be and to locate her in various census records, directories, and shared with her new stepsibfings. Tall for her age and manewspaper advertisements. Through this process we found ture in appearance, Paine was employed at age 15 to teach the dates, names, and locations for many of the events she at the local school."When my term of school expired in the Fall,I went,as a scholar,to the best Academy in Rhode described.' At the start of Roses and Thorns, Paine introduces Island." She was unable to afford the cost of this education. herself by having two people discuss a "tall, large lady" "I paid my board, nearly all by needle work, which I did in a drab bonnet: "She is seen going to her studio every morning, and returning about sunset. Neither cold, heat, or even storms prevent her. She .. . sustains an unblemished character." Is she a person with "matrimonial disappointment?" She "does not appear to move in any society . . . but seems to be wholly unconnected.... She certainly is a very eccentric person.... She seems to be a bird of passage. She dropped here among us one day, but who she is, to whom related, or wherefrom,still remains a mystery to many." Susanna Paine, the second and last child of James (1764/5â&#x20AC;&#x201D;?) and Mary Chaffee Paine (1767-1849), was born on June 9, 1792, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts.' Her father was lost at sea when she was "too young to know, or even retain the faintest recollection of him." She grew up in the home of her grandparents, Reverend Jonathan and Mary Chaffee. It was a comfortable life on a small farm. Her grandfather, who had "no regular salary, because his feeble health would not admit of his preaching constantly," died on August 7,1800. Paine was an excellent student, "a favorite with the teachers, an object of envy and jealousy with the scholars," but she left school at age 11 to help care for her grandmother. When she was 12, she was struck by a bolt of lightning that killed the woman standing next to her. According to the attending physician, she nearly died herself. "To all appearances, I died," she recollected. "My mother wept over me.. ..I seemed to be going forward towards a large group of very young women. They had on white dresses, and looked most beautifully." She was revived after an hour, evenings and Saturdays. Wrought work,at that time, bore a but suffered from seizures for the next several years. On October 14, 1807, her grandmother died, and on high price,...I remained until I was so far advanced in my April 9, 1808, her mother married Nathaniel Thurber studies, as to be able to teach any of the common branches (1761-1848), a widower with four children. The combined of education ...at my final examination, the highest honfamily moved to a small farm in Foster, Rhode Island, and ors were bestowed on me."5
GEORGE MORILLO BARTOL Maine Pastel on paper 1827 24/ 1 4 x 191/4" Private collection, courtesy David Wheatcroft Antiques, Westborough, Massachusetts Signed and dated on reverse: Mrs. Paine 1827
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Paine returned to her mother's home in Foster and opened a school a few miles away. After a term of seven months, she lent her profit of $40 to her stepfather. For several years, she taught school during the summer and spent the winter sewing garments and embroidering. Paine continued to give her mother all of her earnings. Around this time a son named Nathaniel was born to her mother and stepfather.
Portland (Maine) Advertiser, January 12,1827
completefailure.... How could that tender mother so sacrifice her only daughter, and thus abuse the influence and control she held over her? Oh, how could she!...I was led to the altar—of sacrifice!" She soon found that her husband was "a taunting, sneering, surly tyrant . a consummate hypocrite." He frequently used profane language, he often locked her in a room, and he began "burning bibles when angry." She left him after she "had spent one year and two months in cruel bondage." On August 30, 1821, three months after returning to • • • • •• ••I • • a .;I rl her mother's home, Paine gave birth to Theodore Winthrop Phillips. The divorce agreement gave her custody of 1'0111.1t IT the baby, but she received no alimony and had to give her Meisr9, DM & EtItv.ir.is, husband all of her real estate. Because she had been giving your paliev al) Advertisement of NotiChip her earnings to her mother, she now described herself as a Ws- rail, Who ittri.ri her ,erviet s ;AI Port. destitute. Her son's death is recorded at age 11 months and iiil halide-, I Iniri the coriosily to çiotl at her room for the plicoose iii iewiog the Partrilitt 13 days,on August 12,1822,in Coventry, Rhode Island.' sJut takett since she has bero in town, and In 1823, when she was 31 years old, she decided to it is due to merit to say they arc well Clecuird ' paint portraits. "[In my earlier days, [I] made some atand • olkt likenesses. Miss P. is n native of tempts at drawing and painting; but without instruction, th4: 1.1 S. being from Providence It. I.* a stranand entirely for my own amusement. I thought, in this 1 ger in this place, and vris induced to coma ltistre, on the extremity, to try my hand at painting portraits, having is uf loading cmploymant. I ikflow it is Nio orkti the (leo that naiire enitv painted several in crayons, which proved to be correct liketatrot is too fierimaitly t.eglectrd, whil4 nesses, I commenced the labors of an artist." Paine rejoiced !for, igners are sought niter in 1 p ti ^enized—sach when she found that portrait painting was profitable and thitir,li outd.t not to be I thick it is only conesthat she could both support herself and help her mother. vary for this perrioi to lc, kiitiw a to be employAt this time, her stepfather sold his farm and moved the ed--Lailies Irri a pride and pleasure 111 Ipatrouizing a ftinnir artist. family into a rented home in South ICillingly, Connecticut. Affirm/ to merit. Paine continued to teach school, and she painted portraits 1 'See ' 1?,s adverikement in thig riper. during the recess periods. 5111111Mihm...mwm.m.mmeine•-•••re...ma••• m In late 1826, at age 34, Paine made her first long trip as an itinerant painter. Without asking her mother for permission she knew she would not receive, she traveled alone to Portland, Maine."On my arrival at P[ortland], after paying fares, &c.,I had just eight dollars left, five of which, I found would not pass, so that, three dollars was all my available resources. ... I hired my painting room ... and advertised S. Paine—Portrait Painter."' Her first advertisements appeared in the December 12, 1826, and January 12, 1827, issues of the Portland Advertiser(at left). IP publin,t 1einfientitti ;.1;11.s The January edition included a testimonial from "A friend" Pritchard's in IF new Drirk Block, t)-et 4Irtet stating that her portraits "are well executed and excellent Ow POIVIIIAIT former suelikenesses" and that "Ladies must feel a pride and pleasure ces,•es in Providence, where she line been libein patronizing afemale artist." Paine's other advertisement rally pntioi.iacd, inspire her with confidence to RI solieth patroller.; 83 she miticipates a very simit .41 in the same newspaper listed prices of $8 for oil and $4 stay in Purilneir, she n ill put her Portraits at a up for crayon portraits.' "I had advertised full satisfaction very reduced pi ice, ntid will engasa to make or no pay. .. week after week, came and went; but they then' to entire. sat i;fuct ion, ne receive tin pay— brought no orders for me ... my three dollars had nearly those who will Civet her with 'their patrosirv, ss will please to apply very roon. all melted away,for wood, oil, &c....There was no one to Price—Oil :tietures S 8,00. whom I dared to confide the secret of my utter destitution." Critywis do$ ‘1,00. Her sympathetic landlady, who had not demanded payPortland, Dec. P2, 1S26, I ment, asked Paine to paint her daughter with her kitten. ROA,‘1ilifir1143 (This proved difficult, as the cat occasionally let her "have the benefit of her nails.") The landlady greatly praised the A fellow church member, James Phillips (1794-1878), portrait and invited her acquaintances to see it. Callers took notice of Paine and started visiting regularly. He flocked to see whether "a woman could paint a likeness?" asked her to marry him, but she rejected his proposal. Her Finally, Paine started receiving portrait commissions. With mother implored her to accept, however, and she finally this trip to Portland, she began her life as an itinerant agreed. On November 4, 1819, when Paine was 27 years portrait painter. old, the couple married in Foster. Paine described her wedHer mother wrote disapprovingly of her "clandestine ding with deep regret:"The evening was sad and dull ... a departure." That spring, Paine visited South Killingly with
PORTRAITS.
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$50 in profits (which had been "carefully hoarded to bestow on mother"), but promised to return to Portland within three months to fulfill twenty portrait commissions. An incident on the return trip by boat from Providence demonstrates Paine's independent character. She realized during the passage that she was fifty cents short. She had befriended a mother and son aboard the boat but was too embarrassed to request help. "What would she think of me;—a stranger, and genteelly dressed, to ask her for money! Psha! The idea was preposterous! I threw myself into my berth—with the cold sweat standing in large drops, on my face. ... I saw the colored cabin maid, looking with admiring eyes, at my traveling basket. . .. Would I sell it to her? . .. It cost me one dollar; but, as I have used it a few times—you may have it for seventy-five cents." With enough money now for her fare, she declared,"How plainly I saw the merciful hand of God,in this little incident." Paine placed several additional advertisements during 1827 and 1828 in the Portland newspapers as a painter of portraits and miniatures.' She also traveled through southern Maine and New Hampshire painting portraits.' In Portland, she moved to a popular boardinghouse."My painting-room was thronged with visitors—indeed, it was a fashionable resort. I was enabled... to dress as I chose,—and for once,in my life, indulged my tastes, however expensive.... Many declared they never saw so happy a temperament as mine." Then problems started."A rumor had risen,... that I had absconded from my native place—leaving behind me a husband... and several young hapless children!" Immediately, her painting commissions ended, and she noticed a "gradual coldness of manner" toward her. Moving to a new boardinghouse, she had a friend publish in the local newspaper the story of her divorce using the fictitious name "Jessey," along with testimonials. "All recognized ... the afflicted Jessey. ... Many came forward with professions of sympathy and friendship . . . my business revived, and the affair seemed gradually to be forgotten.... But with me—the wound left a scar, that never healed." After several years in Portland, Paine became seriously ill."I was paying nurses wages, paying her board; and rent for the furnished parlor ... together with the rent of two office rooms, which I had used as painting and exhibition rooms... . After my recovery. .. again I stood alone and penniless ...[but], as soon as I was able to paint, I found plenty of employment." On her next trip to visit her mother, it was reported that the boat she had taken from Portland had sunk, with the loss of all passengers. "[M]y sudden death ... was much lamented in P[ortland]." It was not until the next evening that her grieving friends learned that a different boat had been lost.
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Religion was important in Paine's life, and she was particularly proud of her ability to quote large sections of the Bible to support her assertions. Yet she struggled with her religious conviction."[S]omething was wrong... I was astray from the Fold of God." Apparently quite depressed, she returned to her mother,and "never expected to be capable of[the portrait] business again." During a stay of several weeks, she "made a great change in ... apparel," as "a simple dress would better become a follower ofthe Lamb."
She again returned to Portland and was soon painting. She spent several weeks with a family living near the New Hampshire border. "I visited in this way, being invited from one place to another, and painting at their residences. ... But my health was gradually sinking." At this time, a wealthy friend from Providence wrote to Paine and asked her to come and paint her dying daughter. "I was so reduced, that many thought it doubtful,ifI outlived the daughter." When the daughter died a week later, the mother told Paine that she could inherit the daughter's
SARAH GILBERT Portland, Maine 1829 Oil on wood panel 30 x 24" Maine State Museum, Augusta Inscribed on reverse: by Miss Paine ... Taken 1829 in June
fortune if she stayed with her."Would I sell my liberty for a few thousands of dollars?" Always seeking independence, Paine said no, but she did stay with the woman for several months. Around 1832, at age 40, Paine moved to Boston. She had "the opportunity of studying my profession, at the [Boston] Athenaeum... which was opened for the benefit of artists.... This was very advantageous to me." Although Paine had been a portrait painter for many years, this was the only time she described receiving any formal art instruction." Paine was invited in 1833 to Cape Ann, Massachusetts, where she spent "a most beautiful and pleasant summer....The scenery was delightful."'For several years, she visited her mother each fall and spring, returning each time to Cape Ann."As there were few places of amusement
ELIZA AND SHELDON BATTEY AND THEIR SON THOMAS SHELDON BATTEY Providence, Rhode Island 1830 Oil on wood panel 42 >< 60" Private collection Note on reverse in Thomas Sheldon Battey's hand stating the portrait was painted by Miss Susan Paine in 1830
in this out of the way place; my painting-room was a place of general resort; I was liberally patronized." She found that her mother and stepfather were having trouble maintaining their home, so she set up an apartment for them. "It seemed left to me to make arrangements, and provide for the aged pair." Soon she was traveling again and settled in Salem, Massachusetts, where her "exhibition-room was constantly thronged with callers; frequently more than one hundred in a day" That fall she returned to her mother, to "paint at home." Shortly thereafter, her stepfather received a bequest and purchased another farm. Paine was left alone in the apartment she had set up for her mother and stepfather, and her "feelings were much hurt." She "felt ... the sting ofingratitude." Paine's interest in writing was first seen in 1836 when she published a Christmas hymn in the (Providence)
Courier and six moral and religious poems in the following two years.' Around this time she took in a 12-year-old girl for three years. "I had tried in vain to make a painter of her.... I introduced her as my adopted daughter." For several months, they both lived in Fall River, Massachusetts, where their room and board was $5 a week. On a visit to her parents' new farm, Paine was shocked when she found them "living in a sort of out-house" while her half brother Nathaniel was living in the main house with the deed to the farm in his name. Paine always traveled by moving between boardinghouses, arriving with several letters of introduction, so that each move was based on a recommendation ofsomeone she trusted. Her visit to Worcester, Massachusetts, at age 47, around 1839, exemplifies the problems of a woman traveling alone. She makes a clear distinction between a hotel or public house and a boardinghouse, where a lady would lodge. This incident is the only example of Paine staying at a hotel recorded in her autobiography:"[I] proceeded alone, an entire stranger, with two introductory letters, to W[orcester], Mass. . . . The darkness of night came on early, every female, one after another, had got out of the coach.... At length, about 8 o'clock in the evening, we arrived at our destination. The rain was still pouring like a flood... where was [I] to be left? . I was an entire stranger in W[orcester], and as it was impossible to deliver my letters that nightâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;that I must, though reluctant, go to a Hotel." She found that her room was "neat, and handsomely furnished," and that the bed proved to be "good, clean, and well aired," three things that she believed to be "seldom found together at a hotel." However, she made the discovery that three doors opened into the room, and this situation frightened her. She asked the maid to show her the outside of each door and found the adjacent rooms to be vacant. "I then bade her lock the doors, and hand the keys to me. . . . When alone, I inserted each key on the inside, partly turned,to prevent the possible use of duplicate keys." After falling asleep, she was awakened at the sound of someone trying to open one of the doors."After trying for some time, they left ... but I found it impossible to close my eyes again that night." Early the next morning,she used the letters of introduction to find a suitable boardinghouse that also provided her with a painting room. She remained there for the winter. In the spring, Paine found that her half brother Nathaniel had sold her parents' farm and moved them back to South Killingly, Connecticut, where he operated a tavern. There she "found the poor old people looking sad and dejected," so she again moved them into an apartment. Paine asks,"Reader, do you now comprehend the cause of my being poor? I have never received pecuniary aid from any mortal, since I was sixteen years of age." She returned
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titute of money. Not a solitary instance—as the reader knows." Traveling once more to Providence, she "was, again, afloat on the wide world.""[W]ithout a home, and no friend, that would do to lean on. I knew not where to rest the sole of my foot... reader, you will begin to think that I had better have been more prudent, and kept my money when I had it. I answer—that money was made to use, not to hoard. That the best time to do without what we need, is when we cannot get it." She could not find a suitable painting room, so she tried tending a picture and
ELVILLE MCLEAN
to Providence to be closer to her mother."I took a room for my work, on the principal street, where I did pretty well in my profession, and began again, to enjoy life—a thing I had almost done hoping for." She continued to live in Providence for several years, maintaining her parents in "comfortable support." Paine felt it necessary to leave Providence during 1842 because of the political crisis called the Rhode Island Wars.' She returned after three months but found that she "could not get enough to defray the expenses,that were rapidly accumulating." She traveled to Cape Ann, Massachusetts, and found that "they had learned to croak of hard times even there, and it was not profitable to remain." In 1843 she returned to Providence and to a new boardinghouse. She set up her painting room and put out a sign, but her landlady closed the boardinghouse with just three days' notice. "Winter had now set in and the streets were full of snow and mud." Paine became ill, and by the middle of that winter her money was entirely gone. "[F]or my rent ... I saw no way to meet; this made me perfectly miserable by day—and haunted my dreams by night." A relative asked her to paint two full-length portraits, at half her usual price. Paine greatly resented being taken advantage of, but she had to accept these terms. On November 2, 1848, Paine's stepfather died in Killingly, Connecticut, and her widowed mother came to live with her in Providence."I now felt almost happy—true, she had entered her second childhood, and was almost entirely past her usefulness, but she was my mother still." Her mother visited Paine's half brother, who had moved to Hartford, and once there was persuaded to spend the winter. Paine also moved to Hartford, to be near her mother. She moved into a stylish boardinghouse but did little business. When the time came to return to Providence with her mother, Paine set out first to arrange accommodations. Expecting her mother's arrival, she instead "received a Telegraphic notice—to set out immediately for H[artford], that mother was at the point of death!" Mary Thurber died on March 11, 1849."Myfirst, last and longest loved, of earth, had gone, gone forever!" Paine was 56 years old. Since her teens, she had continuously supported her mother and stepfather. Paine found that painting relieved her grief, and six months after her mother's death she decided to go on a journey. First she traveled to Portland and took room and board with a small family. An extremely cold winter meant few portrait commissions and increased heating expenses. Another family invited her to spend the winter with them as their guest, but her pride and independent spirit did not allow her to accept the offer. "Will you compromise your independence, to be the humblefriend of any family? And perhaps become a guest without welcome, and a servant without pay? ... Shortly after this, my business increased, and I soon found my way out, without the assistance of any hand." Beginning in the spring, she spent several months at Lisbon Falls, Maine,"but found it neither profitable or agreeable." Paine returned to Portland and was employed at once. "[A] favorable circumstance for me; for I was nearly des-
frame store for a few weeks but soon found this worse than unprofitable."I was selling my liberty, if not my health, at a very low price; considering the immense value of those two blessings." Many of the events in Roses and Thorns reveal the difficulties encountered by a single woman who constantly moved, and by an artist who had to reestablish herself at each new location. "[Nothing] had ever yet induced me to take any situation, however profitable—involving the least impropriety, always determined to respect myself; and to take no step that prudence and delicacy would not approve." Paine debated a possible painting room in a
MR. J.H. AND MRS. C. CORBETT Portland, Maine 1831 Oil on wood panels 297/8 x 243/8"each Portland Museum of Art, Maine, gift of Elizabeth B. Noyce, 1996.59.2, 3 Signed and dated on reverse: Mr. J.H. Corbett Susan Paine Jan 3rd 1831and Mrs. C. Corbett by Susan Paine Jan 3rd 1831
MELVILLE MCLEAN
Providence commercial building that, although there were other artists,"had no other lady occupantsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;not one." Being assured that the building was highly respectable, she took a yearlong rental on a painting room that required sixty yards of carpet. Business was slow through the summer, but each day she went to her painting room. "After sitting in sadness, for twelve long tedious hours,[I] nearly suffocated with the heat of the room, and,[had] perhaps not a person to speak to, during the day, and not business enough to occupy me one-half of my time." She was able
Her proud determination to be an unattached itinerant repeatedly caused her to dismiss any opportunity that might have anchored her to a specific location, or to particular people. She came to lament her place in the world: "I found few who took an interest in my welfare,â&#x20AC;&#x201D;and felt myself an isolated, homeless, friendless being; whom no one loved, or cared for....True,sometimes my efforts were crowned with success, and then would follow the long coveted need of approval and unqualified praise; but more frequently, some affected, self-sufficient person, who, perhaps, had never seen a dozen good paintings in their whole lives,â&#x20AC;&#x201D;would come in, and... hurl my air castles to the ground, and my painting talents ... with the same feelings that a cow would tread on a pearl necklace." She kept her painting room in the Providence commercial building as business gradually increased. Only toward the end of her life did Paine ultimately settle in Providence. In the final pages of Roses and Thorns, Paine comments on the lack of respect given to the elderly, the genteel "parlor ladies" who look down on women who work, children who are "bound servants," and cruelty to animals. The autobiography concludes,"I hope to rest my weary heart where sorrow never comes, and joys are never ending.... And there,I hope to find perfect truth; pure, unchanging love; boundless confidence and unalloyed happiness." Roses and Thorns ends with the author wishing her readers a happy New Year on January 1, 1854. An appendix features eight pages of moral poetry It is also interesting to note what Paine did not describe in Roses and Thorns. Although she advertised that she painted miniature portraits, they are never discussed in her autobiography. She barely mentions the depression of 1837, probably the most severe economic downturn in the history ofthe United States; the monetary crisis usually looms large in autobiographies of this era. The introduction of the daguerreotype in the early 1840s represented the end of many folk portrait painters' careers, and must have greatly affected Paine's business as well, but the effect of this competition is never mentioned. She was always determined to continue painting, and the last dated portrait that we have located is from 1859,only three years before her death. In 1860 Paine continued her literary career by publishing Wait and See, a rambling Victorian novel filled with sinister villainy, moral questions, and deathbed stories." On November 10, 1862, the artist, poet, and novelist Susanna Paine died,in Providence, at age 70.
to pay for her board by painting portraits ofthe family with The Paintings whom she was living. Slowly, business improved."Reader, Susanna Paine produced portraits in Connecticut, Rhode trust God," she admonishes,"and you need never despair." Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. She She describes her discouragements: "[T]o toil through writes in Roses and Thorns that she first started creating summer's heat and winter's cold ... and make nothing over portraits with crayons, which today are called pastels. Her paying my expenses.. .. It might have been otherwise, if first known work is a portrait of George Morillo Bartol all my employers had been honest enough, after ordering (see page 64), a signed pastel dated 1827. Signed portraits and obtaining, an expensive picture, to pay for it." She dating between 1827 and 1859, spanning the length of complains that it sometimes took years to receive payment, Paine's career, have been located. even with the "acknowledged excellence ofthe likenesses." Paine filled her paintings with bold and forthright Susanna Paine's only close relationship was with her images of the sitters. Each portrait presents a solid and mother, and there was no one to turn to in difficult times. confident personality Distinctive features include broad
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HANNAH FULLER SMITH STAN WOOD Cape Ann, Massachusetts 1834 Oil on wood panel 30 25" Cape Ann Historical Association, Gloucester, Massachusetts
areas of pure color and doelike eyes that are often too large. Subjects'faces are overly modeled and tend to be too round, and the flesh tones are exaggerated toward white. Hands are usually too long and not very convincing. Linear perspective was difficult for Paine.The direction of her sitters' hands is often jarringly inconsistent with the rest of their bodies. The placement of tables and other objects is often quite awkward.The sitters' clothing, hair, and jewelry are usually painted with elaborate details. Sometimes the interests of the sitter are proudly displayed, such as the sewing implements seen with Mrs. Corbett (see page 69) or the schoolbook in George Bartol's portrait.'" The portraits of four members of the Oldridge family (opposite), signed in November 1839, may have been a less expensive commission, as they appear to have been quickly painted, with fewer costume details. The vast majority of Paine's signed oil portraits were painted on wood panels and are rarely on canvas. This is surprising, as she was working in urban locations where artists' canvas was readily available. She apparently preferred the wood panels and continued to paint on them throughout her life. These wood panels help make her paintings recognizable today.They are unusually thick (one half-inch), and their back and sides often have a distinct green-blue, gray-green, or red wash. Her standard thirtyby-twenty-five-inch portrait was usually painted on one large piece of wood but was occasionally composed of two pieces with a spline joint.These panels were well prepared, and today only a few show the expected cracks or bowed surface that come with age. In small, precise handwriting, Paine often recorded the name of the sitter, the date, and her own name on the back of the portrait. Interestingly, the George Bartol pastel is signed "Mrs. Paine," probably a reflection ofthe discomfort she felt of being a single woman.Portraits have been found on which she signed her first name as "Susan,""Susanna," or simply "S." While most of Paine's portraits depict the sitter in a standard half-length pose, excepting the large Battey family portrait (see page 67), a wonderful signed full-length portrait of two children has also been seen. The children, one holding a whip and the other a knife, stand on a patterned floorcloth or Brussels carpet with a toy sled.'' Today, more than 150 years after Roses and Thorns was published, we must thank Susanna Paine for allowing us the unusual opportunity to follow her career as an artist and to examine her life. She provides a window that furthers our understanding of the nineteenth-century American folk art portrait painter.*
Signed and dated on reverse: Susan Paine 1834
MRS. WILLIAM FULLER DAVIS (LUCY KINSMAN BROWN) Cape Ann, Massachusetts 1835 Oil on wood panel 30 x 21" Cape Ann Historical Association, Gloucester, Massachusetts Unsigned; dated on reverse: 1835
The authors dedicate this essay to the memory ofSybilB. Kern (1924-2005).
Notes 1 See Gad McKibben and William D.Barry, Woman Pioneers MichaelR.Payne,Ph.D.,and Suzanne Rudnick Payne,Ph.D., are members ofthe American Folk Art Society; Suzanne currently serves as vicepresident. Their recent article on Justus Da Lee appeared in Folk Art 29, no.4(winter 2004/2005). Please note that despite the similarity ofname, Susanna Paine and the Paynes are not related The authors would welcome correspondence concerning Paine;they can be reached by e-mail at mpayne@biodesignofny.com.
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in MaineArt(Portland: Westbrook College, 1981), pp. 13-14; Nina Fletcher Little,"Indigenous Painting in Maine,1825-65," The Magazine Antiques 83, no.4(April 1963):454-457;Joyce Hill,"New England Itinerant Portraitists," in Peter Benes,ed., Itinerancy in New England and New York (Boston: Boston University, 1986), pp. 150-171; and Gertrud A. Mellon and Elizabeth F. Wilder, Maine and Its Role in American Art,1740-1963(New
York Viking Press, 1963),P.57.Paine's autobiography has not been used previously as the basis ofan article describing her life and paintings. 2 Susanna Paine,Roses and Thorns, or Recollections ofan Artist: A Tale ofTruth,for the Grave and Gay(Providence: B.T. Albro, 1854). All quotes,including italicized text, are from this source. Copies can be found at the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester,Mass.; the New-York Historical Society, New York; and the Library of Congress,Washington,D.C.The entire text
THE OLDRIDGE FAMILY New England 1839 째lion wood panels 30 x 25" each Private collection, courtesy Skinner Inc., Bolton, Massachusetts Portrait of the oldest son (bottom right) signed and dated on reverse: Painted Nov. 1839 by Miss Susan Paine
is available at the website ofAuburn University Library, Alabama (www.lib.auburn.edu). 3 If a date is given with a month,it represents an event for which documentation has been found.Ifonly a year is given,the date should be considered accurate within one or two years. Sources of dates, names,and locations include James N.Arnold, VitalRecord ofRehoboth, 1642-1896(Providence: Narragansett Historical Publishing Co., 1897), vols. 1-4;James N. Arnold, Vital Record ofRhode Island, 1636-1858(Providence: Narragansett Historical Publishing Co., 1891-1912),vols. 1-21;federal and Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maine censuses, 1800-1860; and the websites Family Search (www.familysearch.org) and Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com). We particularly note the value of Charles K. Bolton's unpublished manuscript from 1939, Workers with Line and Color in New England,in the Boston Athenaeum. 4 The land that was the town of Rehoboth,Mass.,at Paine's birth,in 1792,is today found in both Massachusetts(Rehoboth and Seekonk) and,because ofchanges in the borders between the
states,in Rhode Island (Pawtucket,East Providence, and Cumberland). As we have been unable to find a record of her father owning property, we cannot locate the family home. So it is not possible to determine which city would today be considered her birthplace. 5 The elegantly wrought needlework pieces produced in the young ladies'academies ofProvidence are well known;see Betty Ring,Let Virtue Be a Guide to Thee(Providence: Rhode Island Historical Society, 1983). Paine's autobiography provides new information: that a poor student could pay her board by selling needlework produced during evenings and weekends. 6 VitalRecord ofRhode Island,op. cit. 7 As paper currency was issued by local banks,this money often could not be used outside that financial institution's immediate area. 8 In 1826 and 1827,Paine's Portland advertisements stated that she was charging only $8 for large oil portraits, at a time when $20 to $30 was the typical price.This low price would have given her a competitive advantage but may have also been the basis of her precarious finances. 9 Paine's additional Portland newspaper advertisements appeared in the Portland Advertiser(July 31,1827),the Christian Mirror (August 31,1827,and November 13,1828), and the Eastern Argus (October 24,1828). Note that the Misses Charlotte and Sarah Paine,who were not related to Susanna Paine,operated a young ladies'academy in Portland. Newspaper advertisements offering art instruction are probably referring to this academy and not to Susanna Paine. 10 Maine and Its Role in American Art,op. cit. 11 Paine did not enter her work in any ofthe painting exhibitions at the Boston Athenaeum. 12 Cape Ann,Mass.,is the peninsula that includes the town of Gloucester. Susanna Paine is remembered as one ofthe first artists to paint on Cape Ann. 13 The Christmas hymn appeared on December 27,1836.The poems were published September 19, November 14 and 28,and December 26,1837; and February 8 and May 1,1838. 14 This event is usually referred to as Dorr's Rebellion of1842. As one had to own significant property to vote in Rhode Island, 60 percent ofthe white males were ineligible. This situation fermented until those who wanted to change the state's electoral system held a separate political convention and drafted a new state constitution to address this grievance. Both the opposition and the previously elected state legislature held their own elections, with the opposition group claiming Thomas W.Dorr to have been elected as governor. The state was divided between these groups, which began to amass arms,while President Tyler refused to intervene.The arsenal at Providence was unsuccessfully attacked, Don was imprisoned,and a compromise was reached,with white males being able to vote by paying a poll tax of$1 if they were not property owners. See Paul Buhle,Scott Molloy, and Gail Sansbury, eds.,A History ofRhode Island Working People(Providence: Regine Printing Co.,1983). 15 Susanna Paine, Wait and See(Boston:John Wilson and Son, 1860). A copy of this book,which was also reprinted in 1865 after Paine's death,is in the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass.The text is also available on the Auburn University Library website; see n. 2. Paine apparently published another novel, Withering Leaves, also around 1860,but we have been unable to locate a copy. 16 Until recently, Mr. and Mrs. Corbett's portraits were accompanied by the signed portrait oftheir daughter, Mary Elizabeth; see the catalog for Sotheby's sale 6444,June 23-24,1993,lot 215. 17 D.Roger Howlett, Childs Gallery, Boston,letter to the authors, March 2005;and Bernard Plomp,who sold this painting during the 1970s,telephone conversation with the authors, June 2005.
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.%1
Inscription verso: A greeting from Alfred and his mother. Postmark: West Auburn, PA Jan 23 1911
By Todd Alden
lthough a commonplace form of popular culture, real photo postcards remain a relatively neglected province of photographic history, one that sustained its strongest popular interest between 1907 and 1930. In fact, countless millions were produced by amateurs and professionals alike. The postcards reproduced in this essay represent a narrow glimpse into these vernacular photographs that have been mostly forgotten in attics or have gone missing in the dustbins of everyday life. They were all acquired by Harvey Tulcensky, an artist with an artist's eye,and have been recently published in the book Real Photo Postcards: Unbelievable Imagesfrom the Collection ofHarvey Tulcensky.'
Postcards All postcards collection of Harvey Tulcensky. Photography courtesy Princeton Architectural Press.
While Tulcensky organizes the cards in his beautifully printed book thematically, under such categories as "parading," "at work," and "romance," this conventional ordering system goes against the grain of what I find most compelling about real photo postcards: namely their timebound specificity and their pointedly irregular or heterogenous character. Unlike our engagement with all-toofamiliar official histories of photography, characteristically organized by author, theme, or chronology, my recommendation is to unpack real photo postcards, instead, like a disorganized box of personal photographs and to marvel at their unique properties and vernacular inflections. Passing thoughts on passing things, real photo postcards are inspired fingers pointing beyond the frame toward the furtive pleasures, idiosyncratic poignancies, and piercing wonders of the real world and, self-reflexively, of course, to the singular wonders of the real photo postcards themselves. This admittedly poetic approach, however, does not aim to cast our gaze up toward the ether of universal constellations of art but rather zeroes in on the here and now. Intended to be sent through the mail for a particular and familiar audience, real photo postcards are time-bound registrations of particular things, events, people, or places. Sharing little in common with the pretensions of timeless art, these messages have a workmanlike quality, bearing the
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characteristic markings of a local, vernacular message intended to be useful only for a short period oftime. Sometimes produced by great photographers,the discrete charm ofreal photo postcards for me, however, derives instead from inspired, idiosyncratic visions, methods, and purposes rather than from professional values. This local, particular, and contingent emphasis is elaborated on the postcard's verso, where handwritten captions and messages could also be added, thereby inscribing a personal relationship between sender (frequently the photographer) and original recipient. So what is a real photo postcard? The prototype, the real photo mailing card, dates from around 1900 but differs from the former in that it did not allow for unique, written messages on the verso because of U.S. postal regulations established to prevent interference with the address. Real photo postcards began to proliferate dramatically in 1907, however, the year that the U.S. Postal Service allowed personali7ed messages to be written on a postcard's preprinted back, with space allotted for a message on the left and the address on the right.' This postal sea change virtually coincided with Kodak's introduction of an affordable, easy-to-use, folding pocket camera with postcard-size negatives the previous year. Photographic images now could be printed directly onto sturdy postcard stock. The larger negatives and the photographic printing process gave the real photo postcards greater clarity relative to the vast majority of postcard images, which were printed on a lithographic press and composed of small dot patterns.' Some of Kodak's cameras also included a window at the rear through which the operator could scratch a caption or message directly onto the negative with a metal tool. This homespun, do-ityourselfimage/message conjures up the wonder and process of discovery that amateur photographers were only beginning to explore. Previously elusive or ephemeral images—a giant trout,an arrested eclipse, a neighbor sledding, a local fire—could now be captured, and thereby witnessed, by virtually anyone. What is extraordinary about real photo postcards, for me, is not that the images are "unbelievable" (as the subtitle of Tukensky's book sug-
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gests), but rather because they record Norte Redwood"; an abundant applequotidian, real, and believable facts in bearing branch with "four appels [sic] an uncanny register. In many cases, not shown ... grown by G.W. Stone, real photo postcards gave form to the Aztec, N.M."; a photomicrograph of amateur's awe-inspiring ability, for the snowflakes by Vermont's legendary first time, to fix and to share images amateur farmer-scientist Wilson A. that were previously uncapturable, un- "Snowflake" Bentley, who dedicated fixable, or simply beyond the reach himself to the hobby for years (and of certain representational domains. who subsequently died of pneumonia My favorite example is the real photo brought on by his pursuit of snowpostcard picturing giant hailstones be- flakes). Of course, Bentley's obsessive neath the incised inscription "Hail hobby of photographing snowflakes Storm. / June 23/06 / Hail Stones. / yielded the ultimate collision of con2 in Diameter. / 71/2 in Circumfer- tradictions: between the image-fixing 1 2/ ence." Here, there, and everywhere, character of photography—that which the awe, the wonder, and the terror promises, theoretically at least, to of the real, the contingent, the heter- return endless copies of the same— ogenous that photographic cards re- versus the ephemeral, heterogenous doubled with (then new) singularly character of nature (and its infinite supply of unique variations). piercing effect. Instead of communicating with commercially produced or government-published postcards of lithographic generalities, legions of indus4 trious amateurs chose to make and distrib9 ute their own selfE.t re ct itgw, generated, vernacular 5 we. at -see images. Attention to ca. stikte. 14,..N.251.1k local detail, therefore, 19 AS.1>erwit.also distinguishes OILOAWY/u5r postcards real photo from what are said to be the first American postcards—so-called souvenir cards issued by the government at the World's Columbian ExWhat real photo postcards iniposition of 1893, in Chicago. Although professional photographers tially delivered was a space capable were significant producers of real of registering the infinite variety of photo postcards, amateurs produced photographic possibilities; even when and exchanged idiosyncratic views of commercialized in the popular form the world beyond the scope of the of travel or tourist cards, they freimages otherwise found embedded in quently manage to multiply heterogeneity and to resist classification. In professional photography.' Photographic postcards such as an era of increasing homogenization, these were made possible by the de- digitization, and mediatization, we professionalization of photography are drawn to real photo postcards for and ushered in with Kodak's early slo- their particularity, for their "authengan, "You push the button—we do ticity," and for their fugitive, timethe rest." This ease of use allowed for bound registrations of the here and cameras to be bought by both nov- now. To see them today is to recall ices and entrepreneurs, who sought the dawn of vernacular photography out contingent, generally inacces- and the luminous, passing wonder of sible, and, above all, local subjects: its early registrations. To see them tosomeone's wife, dwarfed by "A Del day is to recover sepia-toned facts and
Wilson A. "Snowflake" Bentley (1865-1931), Vermont
Dece Ntoto
04lacy 21 • Al 15 Mat urc kttcrva Postmark: White Horse, Jul. 15, 1933 Canada
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-Rt,,,SAVaisciosm..X. I.A...,T.ITTrt-1 ' "D‘Sk"‘...sW SkA"'3.E.lallVa•kl..., 1 ll NO NtWtSVAVV0-/ML;311h,y ‘z‘;
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Inscription verso: Chicago 9-4-07/Card received./ Other side shows the Illinois Steel Co./plant by night: am working there now./How do you like the "Quake" town./ Note change of address.
desires—otherwise mute,forgotten, or without further witness—that remain inscribed with the hushed presence of the not-quite-passed. To see them today is to remember the wonder, to remember that we lived where dusk had meaning. Like other photographic indices, the images cut us to the quick by reinscribing that which was in the present tense of that which is. But while they
Postmark: Chicago, Ill. Sep 6 130 AM 1907
do reflect—as do all photographs— a unique relationship to the real, it is problematic to suggest that they reflect a purely authentic vision or unfiltered truth. Knowingly or not, amateurs would adopt the visual rhetoric of professional photography (or even professional painting) and, what is more,they also sometimes played with photographic fictions. One of my favorite types of professionally produced
real photo postcards, widely distributed at the time, is the "exaggeration" card, consisting of trompe-l'oeil photos of,for example, exaggeratedly gargantuan animals,fruits, and vegetables that were neither straight photographs nor "real" facts but rather seamless examples of photomontage. Still, some of the pleasure they delivered derived, no doubt, from their winking, paradoxical claims to representing truth. Even though exaggeration cards were distributed as more commercial "souvenir cards," these commemorative oddments still manage to communicate with unofficial, local, and quirky dialects. Snapshots were intended, for the most part, as private commemorations, but real photo postcards supported other purposes: to engage brief communication over long distances, especially significant in the pre-telephone era. Modest, idiosyncratic, and above all unique—even when they were widely reproduced—real photo postcards retain a special access to particular, timebound messages, especially when the sender was also the photographer; the postmark on the address side of the card, however, does not cancel their uncanny power to deliver their arresting registrations of the here and now to the present viewer, one more time, with feeling. These are not impersonal, timeless, official views but rather idiosyncratic messages with passing impressions of passing things that pierce us with their particularity—what Roland Barthes described as a photograph's punctum, "this wound, this prick, this mark made by a pointed instrument."' Then as now,piercing wonders.* Todd"'Eden is a writer and artist living in New York He is currently director °flirt Removal Services.
This essay is adapted from Todd Alden, And We Lived Where Dusk Had Meaning: Remembering Real Photo Postcards," in Laetitia Wolff, ed., Real Photo Postcards: Unbelievable KAI PHOTO POSTCARDS Images from the Collection of Harvey Tulcensky(New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2005). The book, in paperback with 180 duotones, is available at the American Folk Art Museum Book and Gift Shop for $19.95. Museum members receive a 10 percent discount on all shop items. Notes 1 A selection ofTulcenslcy's collection was exhibited in "Postmarked: Real Photo Postcards, 1907-1927" at K.S. Art,in New York,in 2004.The author is grateful to Kerry Schuss for commissioning the earliest version of this essay. 2 The craze for all types of postcards was extraordinary at this time.The U.S. Postal Service estimates that almost 678 million (mostly lithographic) postcards were mailed in the United States in 1908 alone. 3 Lithographic cards, significantly more common than real photo postcards,were already popular at the end ofthe nineteenth century and became increasingly so after 1907;the majority oflithographic cards around this time were printed in Germany,a stark contrast,ofcourse, to the local production of real photo postcards. Printing options varied at the advent of amateur photography; early on,Eastman Kodak offered customers the option of mailing the entire camera back to its Rochester, N.Y.,factory for film developing. Probably most amateur-produced real photo postcards were printed only a single time—unlike commercial cards produced by professional photographers. 4 Professional cards are sometimes distinguishable from amateur ones because professional photographers frequently inscribed their name or copyright onto the negative. 5 Roland Barthes, Camera Lucida:Reflections on Photography(New York Hill and Wang,1981).
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THE AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM PRESENTS
THE AMERICAN ANTIQUES SHOW A BENEFIT FOR THE AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM AT THE METROPOLITAN PAVILION
JANUARY 19-22, 2006
GALA BENEFIT PREVIEW Wednesday, January 18, 2006 AMERICAN SPIRIT AWARD RECIPIENT Martha Stewart CHAIR INTERIOR DESIGNERS' COMMITTEE Susan Gutfreund
FEATURING THE COUNTRY'S FOREMOST AMERICANA AND FOLK ART DEALERS! Mark & Marjorie Allen American Primitive Gallery Diana H. Bittel Charlton Bradsher American Antiques Marcy Burns American Indian Arts H.L. Chalfant Antiques Cherry Gallery David Cook Fine American Art The Cooley Gallery Brian Cullity Peter H. Eaton/Joan R. Brownstein M. Finkel & Daughter Fleisher-011man Gallery Garthoeffner Gallery Gemini Antiques Ltd.
Russ and Karen Goldberger/RJG Antiques Leah Gordon Antiques Carl Hammer Gallery Harvey Art & Antiques Heller Washam Antiques The Herrs Samuel Herrup Antiques Hill Gallery Allan Katz Americana Kelly Kinzie Greg K. Kramer Nathan Liverant and Son Antiques Brant Mackley Gallery Judith & James Milne Stephen B. O'Brien Jr.
Odd Fellows Art and Antiques The Philadelphia Print Shop S. Scott Powers Antiques Raccoon Creek Antiques at Oley Forge, LLC Jackie Radwin Ricco/Maresca Gallery Stella Rubin John Keith Russell Antiques, Inc. Stephen Score Elliott & Grace Snyder Antiques Trotta-Bono Van Tassel-Baumann American Antiques Clifford A. Wallach Woodard & Greenstein American Antiques
EDUCATIONAL SERIES Reservations suggested TOUR OF MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS AND TAAS WITH MUSEUM CURATORS Thursday, January 19 10:30Am at the American Folk Art Museum Tour "Folk Art Revealed" and "Surface Attraction: Painted Furniture from the Collection" with curators Stacy C. Hollander and Lee Kogan, followed by a tour of TAAS with Lee Kogan. Light refreshments will be served. $50 general; $45 members, seniors, and students IN THE COMPANY OF EXPERTS Auction House Experts Conduct Tours of TAAS Thursday, January 19 & Friday, January 20 10:30Am at TAAS Thursday's tour will be with Nancy Druckman, director of the American folk art department of Sotheby's, and Friday's tour will feature Stephen Fletcher, director of American furniture and decorative arts at Skinner. $50 general; $45 members, seniors, and students BOOTH TALKS Meet TAAS Exhibitors Thursday, January 19 & Friday, January 20 5-6:30pm at TAAS Participating exhibitors will lecture about their material and answer questions. Free with TAAS admission
SHOW HOURS Thursday I noon-7Pm Friday I noon-7pm Saturday I noon-7pm Sunday I noon-5pm
FOLK ART EXPLORERS DAY TRIP Exploring Traditions: Art & Antiques in New York City Friday, January 20 10Am-6pm This daylong excursion will start with a private curatorial tour at the American Folk Art Museum and end with a guided tour of TAAS, with stops for lunch and visits to remarkable private home collections in between. $100 AFAM members only. Motor coach transportation provided. Lunch not included in ticket price. Details subject to change. To register or for more information, please call 212. 977. 7170, ext. 328. BOOK SIGNINGS Friday, January 20 noon at TAAS Helaine Fendelman, co-host of the television program Treasures in Your Attic, will sign copies of her new book, Collecting American Folk Art. Free with TAAS admission 2Pm at TAAS TAAS exhibitors will sign copies of their books. Free with TAAS admission. APPRAISALS DAY Saturday, January 21 10:30Am at TAAS Join internationally renowned appraisers Helaine Fendelman, David Gallager, and Jane Willis, who will assess and value your objects! Continental breakfast will be served. $45 general; $40 members, seniors, and students
LOCATION Metropolitan Pavilion 125 West 18th Street, NYC
Daily admission $15, includes show catalog Group rates available For more information, e-mail taasgfolkartmuseum.org or call 212.977. 7170, ext. 319 Managed by Karen DiSaia
WWW.FOLKARTMUSEUM.ORG
THE AMER,CAN ANTIQUES SHOW
FAME WEATHERVANE (detail)/ attributed to E.G Washburne & Company / New York / c.1890 / copper and zinc with gold leaf / 39 x 353/4 x 231/2/ American Folk Art Museum, promised gift of Ralph Esmerian, P1.2001.372 / photo by Gavin Ashworth
fine art SHOW
10th Anniversary Black Fine Art Show
Thursday, Feb. 2 — Sunday, Feb. 5, 2006 Charity Preview, Wednesday, February 1 Beneficiary: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture ESSENCEe A-no ilork,flnunity gimes
Affairs Dcpartment
LEGACY 0000
Hennessy
MOET & CHANIMN
The Puck Building, 295 Lafayette at Houston Street, SoHo, New York All Artwork is for Sale — Classical to contemporary Black artwork including paintings, photography, sculpture, outsider art, mixed media and works on paper. For more information: www.blackfineartshow.com or call 212-925-5257 For advance Preview Tickets call, 21 2-491 -2206 2006 Exhibitors 70th Art Gallery, Ltd., NY Aaron Galleries, IL Peg Alston Fine Arts, Inc., NY Avisca Fine Art, GA Batista Gallery, MI Carter Studio, NY Colours Fine Art, CA Dolan/Maxwell, PA Galerie Bourbon-Lally, Canada Galerie Intemporel, France M. Hanks Gallery, CA
Thelma Harris Art Gallery, CA Hatch-Billops Collection, NY Hearne Fine Art, AR Martha Henry, Inc. Fine Art, NY Bill Hodges Gallery, NY In The Gallery, TN Stella Jones Gallery, LA Joysmith Gallery, TN Jubilee Fine Art, CT Just Lookin' Gallery, MD Kenkeleba Gallery, NY Makush Arts, VA
Mojo Portfolio, NJ Nicole Gallery, IL G. R. N'Namdi Gallery, IUMI Noel Gallery, NC Pounder-Kone Art Space, CA Dell Pryor Gallery, MI Revolution Gallery, MI Merton D. Simpson Gallery, NY Sragow Gallery, NY Sande Webster Gallery, PA Partial List 8.31.05
Show produced by Keeling Wainwright Associates, Inc. Artwork courtesy of: Jubilee Fine Art, Sande Webster Gallery and Avisca Fine Art
African American Quilts
Multidirectional improvisational hourglass variation. Cotton fabric. 1930's - 1940's (65 x 76)
Corrine Riley (773) 772 - 6102 Selections of African American Improvisational Quilts from the collection of Corrine Riley. Previous selections shown at the Outsider Art Fair in New York and at the Intuit Show in Chicago.
THE AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM IS GRATEFUL TO THE FOLLOWING DONORS WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED A COMBINED TOTAL OF MORE THAN $33.8 MILLION TOWARD THE CONSTRUCTION AND ENDOWMENT OF ITS NEW HOME AT 45 WEST 53RD STREET: Antiques Marjorie W. Abel • James & Gail Addiss • Dr. & Mrs. Karl P. Adler • Alconda-Owsley Foundation • Judith Alexander • George R. Allen & Gordon L. Wyckoff, Raccoon Creek Ardizone American Capital Access • The American Folk Art Society • Barbara Anderson • Ingrid & Richard Anderson • Mama Anderson • Marie T. Annoual • Aarne Anton • Barbara 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 Bankers Trust Company • Barn Star Productions, Inc. • Didi & David Barrett • Jimi Barton, Rhinebeck Antiques Fair • Joyce & Ron Bassin, Bird In Hand • Denny Beach • Patricia Beatty Wrecking & Mary F. Beck • Judy & Barry Beil in honor of Alice & Ron Hoffman • Philip & Leah Bell • Laurine Hawkins Ben-Dov • Mrs. Arthur M. Berger • Julie M. Bernson • Big Apple Construction Corporation • Mrs. George P. Bissell Jr. • Diana H. Bittel • Edward V. Blanchard Jr. & M. Anne Hill • Lenore & Stephen Blank • Bloomberg L.P. • The Bodman Foundation D. Briskin, Booth Ferris Foundation • Robert, Katharine & Courtney Booth • Catherine & Chris Botta • Marilyn W. Bottjer • Ronald Bourgeault, Northeast Auctions • Edith S. & Barry Goldberg Hayden Brown, F. Curtis • Inc. Foundation, Brown The • Bromley Scott R. • Brog Auron & Sheila • Brody Florence • Brodish Susan The Shirley K. Schlafer Foundation • Mr. & Mrs. Edward James Brown • Gail Brown • Marc Brown & Laurene Krasny Brown • J. Bruce Antiques • Fred & Theresa Buchanan in memory of Sybil Gibson • Charles & Cahn Deborah Burgess • Jim Burk Antique Shows • The Burnett Group • Joyce A. Burns • Marcy L. Burns, American Indian Arts • Paul & Dana Caan • Lewis P. Cabot • Elinor B. Mr. & Mrs. Donald Campbell • Bliss & Brigitte Carnochan • John W. Castello in memory of Adele Earnest • Caterpillar Foundation • 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 & Cullman Jr. George Contos • Judy Angelo Cowen Foundation • Mrs. Daniel Cowin In memory of Daniel Cowin • Jeanne D. Creps • Mr. & Mrs. Edgar M. Cullman • Elissa F. & Edgar M. 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 Joseph Del Valle • Vincent & Stephanie DiCicco • H. Richard Dietrich Jr. • Mr. & Mrs. Charles M. Diker • Patricia McFadden Dombal • Colette & Jim Donovan • Kathleen M. Doyle, Doyle New York • 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 • Rich & Pat Garthoeffner • Garth's Auctions, Inc. • 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 & Woodard Baron Gordon • Howard Graff • Jonathan Green • Nancy M. & Ben S. Greenberg • Greene & Mays American Antiques • Marion E. Greene • Blanche Greenstein & Thomas William & Shirley E. Greenwald • Peg & Judd Gregory • Audrey Elkinson Griff • Bonnie Grossman, The Ames Gallery • Path 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 • Robert & Marjorie Hirschhorn & Carolyn Hirschhorn Schenker, The Hirschhorn Foundation 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 • Martin & Kitty Jacobs, The Splendid Peasant • 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 • Phyllis Kind • Joe K. Kindig III • Jacqueline & Jonathan King • Susan & Robert E. Klein • Nancy Knudsen • Nancy Kollisch & Jeffrey Pressman • Greg K. Kramer • David & Barbara Krashes • Dr. Robert & Arlene Kreisler • Sherry & Mark Kronenfeld Robert A. Landau • Bruno & Lindsey LaRocca • Michelle & Lawrence Lasser • William & Karen Lauder • Jerry & Susan Lauren • Wendy & Mel Lavitt • Mark & Taryn Leavitt The Edith and Herbert Lehman Foundation, Inc. • In memory of Henry J. & Erna D. Leir • John A. Levin & Co., Inc. • Morris Levinson Foundation, Inc. • Bertram Levinston, M.D. Levy Charitable Trust • 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 Antiques Digest • The Jane Marcher Foundation • Paul Martinson, Frances Martinson & Howard Graff in memory of Burt Martinson Mr. & Mrs. Christopher Mayer • Mrs. Myron Mayer • In honor of Nancy Mayer • Kerry McCarthy • Milly McGehee • Nancy & 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 Morgan • 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. • Susan Nova • Sally W. O'Day • Odd Fellows Antiques • Bequest of Mattie Lou O'Kelley Olde Hope Antiques • Cheryl Oppenheim & John Waters • The Overbrook Foundation • Patsy Palmer & Talbot D'Alemberte • Virginia Parks • Paternostro Investments • Eloise Paula Rolando & Karin Perez • Jan Petry • Philip Morris Companies Inc. • Elizabeth A. Pile • Harriet Marple Plehn Trust • Carolinn Pocher & William Woody, Darwin • Frank & Barbara Pollack Lucile & Maurice Pollak Fund • Ronald & Debra Pook, Pook & Pook Inc. • Wayne Pratt, Inc.• Fran Puccinelli • Jackie Radwin • Teresa Ranellone • Christopher T. Rebollo Antiques Ricco/Maresca Gallery • Julia & Leroy Richie • Jeanne Riger • Marguerite Riordan • John & Margaret Robson Foundation • Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund - Le Rowell Miss Virginia Carolyn Rudd • F. Russack Antiques & Books, Inc. • Selig D. Sacks • Judith Sagan • Mary Sams, Ballyhack Antiques • Lauren Sara • Jack & Mary-Lou Savitt Peter L. Schaffer • Carol Peden Schatt • Shirley K. Schlafer Memorial Fund • In memory of Esther & Sam Schwartz • Marilyn & Joseph Schwartz • The Schwartz Gallery, Philadelphia • Phyllis & Al Selnick • Jean S. & Frederic A. Sharf • The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation • In honor of George Shaskan • The George and Myra Shaskan Foundation, Inc. Roz & Steve Shaw • Arthur & Suzanne Shawe • Harvey S. Shipley Miller & J. Randall Plummer • 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 • Nancy T. & Gary J. Stass • Frederick Stecker • Stella Show Mgmt. Co. • Su-Ellyn Stern • Tamar Stone & Robert Eckstein Ellen Stone-Belic • 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 • David Teiger Nancy Thomas • Tiffany & Co. • Jeffrey Tillou Antiques • Peter Tillou Pamela P. Tisza • Jean L. & Raymond S. Troubh Fund • Tucker Station Antiques • Karen Ulfers • John & Kathleen Ullmann • Lee & Cynthia Vance • Jacob & Ray Van Gelder Bob & Ellie Vermillion • Joan & Clifford Vernick • Joseph & Meryle Viener • Robert E. Voelkle • I.H. & Birgitta X.L. von Zelowitz • 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 Weiss Marta Watterson • Weeden Brothers: Bill, Alan, Jack & Don • Mr. & Mrs. Alan N. Weeden • Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP • Frederick S. Weiser • David M. Weiss • Jay & Meryl Ed Weissman • Julia Weissman • Mr. & Mrs. Peter Wells • Ben Wertkin • David Wheatcroft • Harry Wicks • Donald K. Wilkerson, M.D.• John & Barbara Wilkerson The Jamison Williams Foundation • 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 • Bernadette Mary Zemenick • Steven J. Zick • Jon & Becky Zoler • 27 anonymous donors
QUILT
CONNEC
T
BY GERARD C. WERTKIN
Cyril Irwin Nelson (1927-2005):
In Grateful Remembrance yril Irwin Nelson died on June 1,2005,at the Carolton Chronic and Convalescent Hospital in Fairfield, Conn.He had served with dedication as a trustee ofthe American Folk Art Museum for 30 years and had helped the institution build a comprehensive permanent collection oftranscendent beauty and historical importance. Although the cancer from which he suffered was incurable, he decorated his hospital room with objects from home,kept a stack of books beside his bed to read, and welcomed friends with a stoical courtliness that revealed his formidable inner strength. When Cy Nelson spoke, he did so quietly and in measured cadences, although his voice was impressively deep and resonant. In 1993 he and I attended a memorial service at a church in Brookline,Mass.,for the noted antiquarian Bertram K. Little. When the congregation began to sing the hymn "The New Jerusalem," with its stirring words by William Blake,Nelson's voice soared above the others:"Bring me my bow of burning gold!/ Bring me my arrows of desire! / Bring me my spear!0clouds, unfold! / Bring me my chariot of fire!" Following the service, I remarked to Nelson that his singing was beautiful."Oh," he said after a pause,"music has been one of the great satisfactions of my life." At that memorial service in Brookline,it struck me that Cy Nelson's soft-spoken manner,on the one hand,and his impressive singing voice, on the other, suggested a contrast that could be discerned throughout various
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aspects ofhis life. Because of his culture. He worked closely,for personal reticence and modesty, example,with Carol E Jopling, an for example, he was less well recanthropologist whose fieldwork ognized professionally than his was with Zapotec weavers in distinguished career warranted, Oaxaca,Mexico,on the publicabut his work nevertheless was tion by Dutton in 1971 ofher widely influential. Indeed, Art andAesthetics in Primitive Nelson's name rarely appeared Societies:A CriticalAnthology. in any ofthe scores ofbooks that None ofthe writers or rewere published under his editosearchers with whom Nelson rial direction,but his was a major worked were as influential in the Cyril I. Nelson, 2000 voice in the American decoradevelopment of his interests as tive and folk arts—especially in Robert Bishop, director ofthe the documentation,study, and ing. A 1944 cum laude graduAmerican Folk Art Museum from appreciation ofquilts as an art ate ofthe Hotchkiss School,in 1977 to 1991.41n the early 1960s form—for almost three decades. Lakeville, Conn.,he wrote for the multitalented Bishop helped Nelson was born on May 6, and edited the student newspaper, support his career as a dancer by 1927,in Baltimore, where his faserved on its editorial board, and dealing in antiques. Nelson met ther, Cyril Arthur Nelson,taught received prizes for excellence in him at an antiques show in 1961, at Johns Hopkins University. A history and other subjects; he also and the two became fast friends. professor of mathematics,the elder was a soloist in the school choir. Nelson also began to buy antiques Nelson later received an academic As a Princeton University underfrom Bishop—first some pieces appointment at Rutgers University graduate, Nelson continued to of American furniture and then and taught there for many years. pursue music, but when he gradu- a wide variety ofobjects, many of Cy Nelson and his three brothers ated with honors in 1948,it was which would eventually grace the grew up in New Jersey in a home with a concentration in English.' collection ofthe American Folk in which the cultivation oflearnIn November 1948,almost Art Museum through Nelson's ing and an appreciation for art and immediately after receiving his generosity. culture were valued. His grandbachelor's degree from Princeton, Although he was not a collecmother Sophie Anna Macy,a con- Cyril Nelson secured an editorial tor earlier in his life, Nelson was tralto, had taught at the Mannes position with E.P. Dutton & Co., drawn to antique American furCollege of Music in New York. a small but respected publishing niture and folk art in part because Throughout his life, Nelson felt a house. Remarkably,his entire his family owned two adjacent warm and abiding connection to career—more than 50 years— summer homes on Monhegan his family,especially to his mother, would be spent with the New Island, Maine,that were furElise Hastings Macy Nelson,who York publisher.' He became nished with antiques. Nelson's had a great influence on him and known for the long hours that he mother was an admirer ofthe his interest in the arts, and an dedicated to his work,and for his Rocldand, Maine,antiques adoptive grandmother,Elinor preference for working alone,even dealer David Rubinstein,from Irwin Holden,whose kindness when assistants were assigned to whom she purchased several and generosity were imporhim;in fact, as a senior editor he pieces of 18th- and 19th-century tant factors in his upbringing. still preferred to open his own American furniture. Although Through his Macy forebears, mail and type his own letters. these objects were important to Nelson was descended from the At first his editorial assignments Nelson,they held less personal first settlers of Nantucket; his anwere varied, but by the early significance to him than a sensicestor Thomas Macy arrived on 1970s, as a result ofthe success tively rendered watercolor portrait the island in 1659: ofseveral early ventures, he had of two standing figures—a handNelson's education prepared become a specialist in books relat- some woman and a delicate young him well for a career in publishing to art, antiques, and material girl—that hung in one ofthe
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1._ 'I very few weeks for a number of years,! had the privilege of anJ swering my phone at the museum and hearing with affection a deep sigh followed by a rich, sonorous voice saying, "Stacy, my dear, it's Cy." Most often the purpose of the phone call was to offer yet another exquisite quilt for the museum's collection. Other times it was to chat or comment on an article in Folk Art or one of the museum's exhibitions. In the course of these conversations, Cy would often be reminded of a story, and we would be off on reminiscences about his "dear mother" or grandmother, excursions into another time and place that for me were almost literary, evocative of the stories of Henry James or F. Scott Fitzgerald. True to his genteel upbringing, Cy was precise in his speech and formal in his manner. In person he was a tall and imposing figure, but I was always struck with an impression of pastels: bright-pink cheeks, baby-blue eyes, a shock of white hair; he was given to wearing yellow ties and lightblue jackets. Cy had a formidable intellect and an unquenchable curiosity. His memory was legendary and never failed him. His aesthetic interests extended from textiles to architecture to food, and he could recall the page of each photograph that graced every book published under his imprimatur. Cyril Irwin Nelson was a gracious, modest, and generous man. A true friend to the museum for many, many years, I miss him, and I miss his beautiful voice intoning, "Stacy, my dear, it's Cy." —Stacy C. Hollander, senior curator -always think of Cy Nelson during the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. Every year shortly before Christmas, when I was serving as curator of the museum. Cy would call and ask whether I was going to be in the office the following week, because he had a few things he wanted to bring in for me to look at. After the first year, I knew never to plan vacation for those days. Without fail, he would show up with two large shopping bags filled with magnificent quilts that he wanted to give to the museum. He had traveled by subway to our offices so that he could make the delivery in person, even though we always offered to arrange for an art handler to pick up these valuable textiles. It was much like Santa himself arriving with a bag full of goodies. On a personal note, I was also deeply touched when Cy designated one of his donations to the museum as a gift in my honor. Perhaps he had run out of honorees (he did manage to toast most of the quilt world in this manner), but I think he also realized that I was as much taken with
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family's island houses; it had descended in the family of Nelson's adoptive grandmother,Elinor Irwin Holden,who was born in Deerfield, N.H. In the mid-1960s Nelson brought the painting to Mary Black,then director ofthe American Folk Art Museum; she identified its artist as J. Evans,who was active in New Hampshire and elsewhere in the mid-19th century In 1974 Jean Lipman included the work in the widely admired and influential exhibition "The Flowering of American Folk Art," at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Nelson said that his interest in this engaging watercolor was the original source of his fascination with folk art.This work of art is now in the permanent collection ofthe American Folk Art Museum. In view ofthis background it is not surprising that Nelson should have decided around 1968 that a comprehensive book on American painted furniture would be a valuable addition to the literature ofthe American folk and decorative arts. With the support of his colleagues at Dutton, he invited Dean A.Fales Jr. to be the principal author ofthe work and Robert Bishop to serve as picture editor and designer. Nelson himself acted as general editor. Fales had been registrar at the Winterthur Museum,in Delaware,and was director ofthe Essex Institute, in Salem,Mass.The author of a study of documented Essex County furniture, he was a recognized authority on American antique furniture. Bishop—who by then had made the folk and decorative arts the focus of his career—had worked as a picture researcher and editor before
Members of Cyril Nelson's family with museum staff and friends at a memorial tribute held at the museum October 1 (from left to right, top to bottom row): Macy Nelson, Anna Nelson, Lee Kogan, Ann MacNeille, Lucy Danziger, Stacy C. Hollander, Elizabeth V. Warren, Barbara Nelson, and Sharon L. Eisenstat, and Dr. Nicholas M. Nelson, Cary F. Baker Jr., Guerdon H. Nelson, and Michael U. Nelson
becoming museum editor and a curator of American decorative arts at the Henry Ford Museum, in Dearborn,Mich.Their pioneering study,American Painted Furniture:1660-1880, was published by Dutton in 1972,with forewords by the distinguished collector-scholars Jean Lipman and Nina Fletcher Little, with whom Nelson had forged close friendships.They were mentors to him,and he subsequently collaborated with each ofthem on book projects. American Painted Furniture was not the only book to be published under Cyril Nelson's aegis in 1972 in collaboration with Robert Bishop. About a month after the first work appeared, Dutton published another trailblazing volume: America's Quilts and Coverlets by Carleton L. Safford, consulting curator of textiles at the Henry Ford Museum. Bishop again served as picture editor and designer. Nelson initiated this project after being deeply inspired by "Abstract Design in American Quilts," a groundbreaking exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1971 that was organized by Jonathan Holstein and Gail van der Hoof."I had been vaguely aware of quilts before that," Nelson commented in 1988 to Elizabeth V. Warren, then curator of the American Folk Art Museum,"but it was that exhibition ... that led to the book and my intense appreciation of the field."' For good
measure, Nelson also brought out Bishop's Centuries and Styles ofthe American Chair in 1972. From then until his retirement in 2001,Cyril Nelson published books about the folk and decorative arts almost every year, many ofwhich continue to serve as essential references to this day. These books often extended the fruitful collaboration that Nelson enjoyed with Robert Bishop; at least 20 volumes document the American Folk Art Museum's exhibitions and collections, a service that Nelson provided without cost to the institution. Among the writers and researchers with whom he especially enjoyed working were Jean Lipman and Nina Fletcher Little. His work with Little on Little by Little: Six Decades ofCollecting American Decorative Arts, which was published in 1984,was one ofthe highlights of his career. Although virtually every topic in the field was addressed in the books that Nelson published— American folk sculpture and painting, hooked and sewn rugs, religious folk art, clocks, decorative wall painting, weathervanes, Victorian-era antiques, the folk art ofchildhood,samplers and needlework,20th-century folk art, the folk art ofLatin America—it was the subject of quilts that particularly captured his interest. Altogether Nelson supervised the publication ofalmost 50 volumes that were devoted wholly to quilts, including his exceptionally popular annual series, The Quilt
,imaniumemig TREE OF LIFE CUT-OUT CHINTZ QUILT / artist unidentified, initialed GMR / probably Wiscasset, Maine / 1925-1935 / cotton / 96 x 90"/ American Folk Art Museum, gift of Cyril I. Nelson In honor of Elizabeth V. Warren and Sharon L. Eisenstat, 2001.33.2
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"quilt disease" as he was, and that it was not just my job but also my pleasure to care for and research these textile treasures. —Elizabeth V Warren, consulting curator 1 yen though I have worked at the museum for almost 20 years, I can J still remember the first time that I had to telephone Mr. Nelson. His formal tone and sonorous voice scared me! It wasn't long into our working relationship, though, before we were more comfortable and I was calling him "Cy." His brown shopping bags were famous. He seemed to have an unending supply. Cy did not store the textiles in these brown bags, however, and always called the next day to ensure that I had taken the object out of the protective plastic and the bag. Every textile given to the museum by Cy was in excellent condition. Thanks to him, the museum has a premier collection of coverlets, early blankets, embroidered blankets, and quilts, from c.1800 to contemporary. His special collecting interest was whitework textiles. One piece, the c.1810 Basket of Flowers stuffed whitework coverlet, he loved so much that he was unable to part with it until just a few weeks before his death. Cy's love of family was amazing. As he sat in my office and dictated dedications for each donation, he would often become teary-eyed remembering his grandmother, mother, or other relative named in the dedication. I miss his phone calls and messages—always checking to be sure the information on a particular quilt or blanket was exactly as he wanted. Cy's love of textiles, painted furniture, and paintings will live on at the museum through the more than 150 gifts he made to the collection. —Ann-Marie Reilly, chiefregistrar
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-remember with great pleasure several conversations with Cy about classical music, especially opera, an interest we shared. Family genealogy was another topic of numerous conversations. In 1990 I began research on a watercolor by J. Evans that Cy had given to the museum. Cy patiently compiled family names as far back as he could remember. With his memory of family history, fine genealogical records at the New York Public Library, and some fortunate leads and good luck, the subjects of the untitled portrait of a woman and a child turned out to be members of the Chase family, Cy's ancestors. Cyril Nelson was a quintessential member of the museum "family." —Lee Kogan, director ofthe Folk Art Institute and curator ofspecialprojects for The Contemporary Center
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Engagement Calendar, which he produced for 27 years beginning in 1974.In the preface to the 25th edition in 1999, he commented that the Calendar and he had "grown old together.""It has been such a privilege," he wrote, "to discover and assemble together so many wonderful quilts through the years and to learn how many people continue to enjoy [the Calendar], use it, and keep it on their shelves after the year is no more—only to look forward to what the next calendar will contain." Following the publication ofAmerica's Quilts and Coverlets in 1972, Nelson edited volumes on Amish quilts, crazy quilts, contemporary quilts, patriotic quilts, the quilts of California and New York,African American quilts, and Double Wedding Ring quilts,among others.In 1990 he brought out Amelia Peck's American Quilts and Coverlets in the Metropolitan Museum ofArt. Fittingly, his last project for the American Folk Art Museum was Glorious American Quilts: The Quilt Collection ofthe Museum of American Folk Art by Elizabeth V. Warren and Sharon L. Eisenstat, which was published in 1996.It bears a dedication to Nelson for his "deep and abiding interest" in quilts and recognizes him for "immeasurably enriching" the museum's collection. As his professional interest in the subject developed, Cy Nelson began collecting quilts himself, which in time became a passionate pursuit.Through his books and especially The Quilt Engagement Calendar, Nelson came to know many ofthe major dealers in American antique quilts and respected them immensely, establishing warm relationships based on deep respect
and mutual affection. As a collector of quilts, he was drawn to fine craftsmanship and bright,"sunny" colors, but he also appreciated rare, early bed rugs; the dramatic simplicity ofindigo calimanco whole-cloth quilts; and perhaps most especially the elegance of whitework bedcovers. In 1974 Cyril Nelson accepted an invitation to join the Board ofTrustees of the American Folk Art Museum. As a trustee, he was especially interested in the development of the institution's permanent collection. For many years, he served as the chairman or as a member ofthe board's Collections Committee.If anything, Nelson's commitment to the museum only deepened when Robert Bishop became director in 1977. In the midsummer 1978 issue ofthis magazine,then known as The Clarion, Bishop published "A Guide to the Permanent Collection."The extent of Nelson's generous interest in the museum was already evident then.Indeed, Nelson increasingly saw his collecting not simply as a personal pursuit but as a way of helping the museum to grow. Each year saw additional gifts to the collection, many of them quilts." In 2000 the American Folk Art Museum organized an exhibition in tribute to Nelson,"An Engagement with Folk Art: Cyril I. Nelson's Gifts to the Museum,"for which consulting curator Elizabeth V.Warren selected 60 stunning gifts from the Nelson collection.' By the time of his death, Nelson had contributed about 150 works of art to the museum.With his typical thoughtfulness, many ofthem carry his dedications to family members and friends.
Cyril Nelson was an exceptionally kind and caring person, with a discerning eye for excellence. He has left a legacy ofinestimable importance through the scholarship that he encouraged, the books that he published, and the collection that he helped build.The American Folk Art Museum is fortunate to have had him as a friend and champion.* Gerard C. Wertkin is director emeritus ofthe American Folk Art Museum. Notes 1 Some ofthe biographical material in this essay is drawn from an interview with Cyril I. Nelson conducted by Patricia.l. Keller on Oct.3,2003, as part ofthe Ellin Ente Oral History Project, an endeavor generously funded by the family and friends of the late Ellin Ente. 2 For information on Nelson's education,I acknowledge with thanks the kind cooperation of Ellen M. Eschbach,Alumni and Parent Programs Office,The Hotchkiss School,and Tad Bennicoff,special collections assistant, Seeley G.Mudd Manuscript Library,Princeton University. 3 Late in Nelson's career, E.P. Dutton & Co. was acquired by other publishing houses, and the imprints under which his books were published changed several times. However, Nelson continued to work for Dutton's successors, effectively remaining in place for more than 50 years. 4 See Cyril I. Nelson,"Bob Bishop: A Life in American Folk Art," Folk Art 18, no. 1 (spring 1993): 35-39. 5 Elizabeth V.Warren,"Cyril I. Nelson, A Special Museum Friend," The Clarion 13,no.2(spring 1988):65. 6 See also Stacy C.Hollander, "Building for the Future," Folk Art 24, no. 1 (spring 1999): 28-33. 7 Elizabeth V.Warren,"An Engagement with Folk Art Cyril I. Nelson's Gifts to the Museum,"Folk Art 25, no.3 (fall 2000):40-45.
Quilt and Textile Exhibitions COMPILED BY ELEANOR BERMAN American Quilt Study Group Research funds available P.O. Box 4737 Lincoln,NE 68504 402/472-5361; wwvv.h-net.org/-aqsg
Lincoln, Neb. Museum of Nebraska History Patchwork Lives Through March 2006 402/471-4754; www.nebraska history.org/sites/mnh
San Jose, Calif. San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles Traditions in Transition Through Jan. 8,2006 408/971-0323; www.sjquiltmuseum.org
Boone,N.C. Turchin Center for the Visual Arts Quilt National'05 Through Jan. 14,2006 828/262-3017; www.turchincenter.org
Denver, Colo. Denver Art Museum Blanket Statements Through Dec.31,2005 720/865-5000; www.denverartmuseum.org Golden, Colo. Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum Improvisation:An African American Tradition Jan. 10-March 25,2006 303/277-0377; www.rmqm.org Chicago,Ill. DuSable Museum of African American History Bold Improvisation:120Years of African American Quilts Through Jan. 8,2006 733/947-0600; www.dusablemuseum.org New Albany,Ind. Carnegie Center for Art &History Form Not Function:QuiltArt Jan. 13-March 18,2006 812/944-7336; www.camegiecenter.org
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Paducah, Ky. Museum ofthe American Q_uilter's Society Dialogues: Carol Taylor and Ruth B.McDowell Through Jan. 15,2006 270/442-8856; www.quiltmuseum.org
La Conner,Wash. La Conner Quilt Museum "DearJane"Quilts Through Dec.31,2005 360/466-4288; www.laconnerquilts.com
Lowell, Mass. New England Quilt Museum Fiber Revolution Through Jan. 7,2006 978/452-4207; www.nequiltmuseum.org
Toronto,Ontario Textile Museum of Canada Dance ofPattern Through March 27,2006 416/599-5321; www.textilemuseum.ca Eleanor Berman is a volunteer at the American Folk Art Museum.
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THE AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF THE FOLLOWING INDIVIDUALS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE
GERARD C. WERTKIN EXHIBITION FUND Robert Adsit Judith Alexander Martin P. Amt Marie T. Annoual Mrs. Andrew Anspach Lois S. and Gad Avigad Lucy and Joel Banker Ruth Ann Bardes Barbara Barrett Didi and David Barrett Maureen Barrett Denny Beach Mary F. Beck Helen Bing Mrs. George Bissell Jr. Edward V. Blanchard Lenore and Stephen Blank Louis H. Blumengarten Catherine Brawer Edith S. and Barry D. Briskin/ The Shirley K. Schlafer Foundation Lois and Marvin Broder Linnea and Daniel Brown Meredith and Sylvia Brown Brigitte and W. Bliss Carnochan Angela and James Clair Walter Corcoran Joyce B. Cowin Louise and Edgar M. Cullman Kendra and Allan Daniel Lucy and Mike Danziger David L. Davies and John Weeden Marian DeWitt Vivian and Strachan Donnelley Deborah Dunn Gloria Einbender Robert P. Emlen Joyce and Klaus Eppler Ralph 0. Esmerian Sara and David Evans William Fagaly Sam and Betsey Farber Sue K. and Stuart P. Feld Marna FeIdt Burton and Helaine Fendelman Susan and Eugene Flamm Joanne H. Faulk Jacqueline Fowler Susan and Henry Fradkin Maxine and Stuart Frankel Foundation Susan Furst The Galerie St. Etienne Ellie and David Garlow Edith and Gilbert Garshman Gemini Antiques Catherine Ghostley Barbara Gimbel Merle and Barry Ginsburg William and Mildred Gladstone Merle and Barbara Glick Natalie Gliedman Barbara H. Gordon Ellin and Baron Gordon
Nancy Greenberg Lynda Hartigan Helen Caplin Heller Hiram and Mary Jane Hershey Sandra Heyman Ann Hickerson Martha Nickerson Historical Society of Early American Decoration, Charter Oak and New York Chapters Alice J. Hoffman A. Grant Holt and Carter Houck Thomas Isenberg Theodore J. Israel Jr. and Laurel Cutler Vera and Pepi Jelinek Joan and Victor L. Johnson Gwen Kade Isobel and Harvey Kahn Austin and Irma Kalish Mildred and Edward Kaliski Louise Kaminow Penny and Allan Katz Mary Kettaneh Jacqueline and Jonathan King Robert and Luise Kleinberg John B. Koegel Barbara and David Krashes Lee Kogan Nancy Kollisch and Jeff Pressman Susan and David Kraus Arlene and Robert Kreisler Addie and Theodore Kurz Diane LaBelle and Norman Girardot Taryn and Mark Leavitt The Leir Charitable Trusts Betty and John A. Levin The Lipman Family Foundation Marianne Bosshart Littman Barbara Lovenheim Frances S. Martinson Beth K. Martin Basil Mavroleon The Mary Shaw Love May Family Nancy Mayer Nancy and Dana G Mead Virginia B. Michel Samuel C. Miller Angie Mills Jean Mitchell Ann and Monroe Morgan Flo Morse Jane and Robert Moss Mrs. Stanley Newhouse Sally and Art O'Day David T. Owsley Michael Pardy Laura and Richard Parsons Joan Pearlman Martha Stokes Price Roberta and Jack Rabin Dorothea and Leo Rabkin Mary M. Regas Irene Reichert
Julia and Leroy Richie Jeanne Riger Marguerite Riordan Cheryl Rivers and Steven Simon Harriet Robbins Dorothy Roberts Margaret Robson James and Frederica Rosenfield Lois and Richard Rosenthal Le Rowell Raymond Saroff Marilyn and Joseph Schwartz Philip and Cipora Schwartz Martin E. Segal Myra and George Shaskan Eugene Sheehy Edythe Siegel Alan Sieroty Sarah B. Snook Sotheby's Nikki B. Springer Kathryn Steinberg Rachel and Donald Strauber Bonnie and Tom Strauss Carol MilIsom Studer David Teiger Barbara Tober Frank Tosto Terri Trieger Richard S. Trump Janice Vander Poel George and Sue Viener Suellen Ward Elizabeth and Irwin Warren Leslie and Peter Warwick Joan and Richard Watson Frederick S. Weiser Julia Weissman Barbara Wertkin Anne G. Wesson Tracy and G. Marc Whitehead Barbara and John Wilkerson Robert N. Wilson Janet Winston Mr. and Mrs. Frederic Withingto Susan Yecies Shelly Zegart Malcah Zeldis Jon and Becky Zoler
THE FUND GENERATED $350,000 IN ITS FIRST YEAR. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SUPPORT THE MUSEUM'S EXHIBITIONS WITH A CONTRIBUTION TO THE FUND, PLEASE CONTACT CHRISTINE CORCORAN AT 212. 977. 7170, EXT. 328, OR CCORCORANC FOLKARTMUSEUM.ORG.
AMERICAN
>. 7J MUSEUM
2006 LOAN EXHIBI I
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THE PHILADELPHIA ANTIQUES SHOW 45th Annual Benefit for the University of Pennsylvania Health System
tfe
e/8
200
33rd Street Armory,Philadelphia PHOTO ID REQUIRED TO ENTER ARMORY
56 preeminent dealers and galleries offering the finest antiques and decorative arts Daily guided show tours and special events Group rates and hotel packages available
For information: Visit wvvvv.PhilaAntiques.com or call 215-387-3500 Show managed by Keeling Wainwright Associates
PRESENTING SPONSOR
The Haverford Trust Company Investment Management Photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
fourteenth annual
friday noon - 8pm saturday llam - 8pm sunday llam - 7pm
Opening night previa. thursd 'anuar 26 benefit for information: 212.977.7170 x 308
uck building lafayette & houston stree soho, new york city
information & reservations 212.265.1040 x 105
212.777.5218 www.sanfordsmith.com
madge g.11, courtesy henry boxer gallery Ilija bosilij, courtesy gaierie at. etienne
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OUTSIDER ART WEEK THE AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM PRESENTS OUTSIDER ART WEEK CELEBRk 1NG SELF-TAUGHT ARTIST!' JANUARY 24-29,2006 Join us for a weeklong series of exciting and informative special programs and receptions organized by the museum's Contemporary Center and education department. And be sure to visit the MUSEUM'S BOOTH at the Outsider Art Fair (January 27-29)for a selection of recent publications from the museum's book shop and highlights of current and upcoming exhibitions, educational programs, and membership opportunities. Also, don't miss the museum's vibrant Opening Night BENEFIT PREVIEW of the Outsider Art Fair on Thursday, January 26, for hors d'oeuvres, cocktails, and the chance to make purchases before the fair opens to the public. For more information, please call the museum at 212. 977. 7170, ext. 308. PERFORMANCE Sins & Needles: A Dramatic Monologue Tuesday, January 24, 7pm $15 general; $10 members, seniors, students Needlework artist Ray Materson chronicles stories from his life in this debut performance FOLK ART EXPLORERS DAY TRIP Inside Outsider Art Friday, January 27,10Am-6pm $110 museum members only (lunch additional) Itinerary includes a curatorial tour of "Obsessive Drawing" at the American Folk Art Museum, a curatorial tour of the Newark Museum, a visit to the studio of artist Kevin Sampson, and a guided tour of the Outsider Art Fair
AMERICAN
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AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM 45 WEST 53RD STREET NEW YORK CITY 212. 265.1040 WWW.FOLKARTMUSEUM.ORG
UNCOMMON ARTISTS XIV A Series of Cameo Talks The Anne Hill Blanchard Symposium Saturday, January 28,10Am $35 general; $30 members, seniors, students Featuring Phyllis Kind on Carlo Zinelli, Regenia Perry on Roy Ferdinand, Cheryl Rivers on Donald Mitchell, and Stuart E. Shepherd on Martin Thompson PANEL DISCUSSION I Taught Myself Everything I Know: Autodidacticism in New Media Art Sunday, January 29,10Am $10 general; $5 members, seniors, students Moderator: Mark Tribe; panelists: artists Mary Flanagan, W. Bradford Paley, and Keiko Uenishi EXHIBITION TOURS Conversing with Contemporary Art at the American Folk Art Museum Tuesday-Sunday, January 24-29, 3pm Free with museum admission IN THE WORLD (detail)/ Consuelo "Chelo" Gonzjlez Amezcua (1903-1975)/ Del Rio, Texas /1962 / ballpoint pen on paper / 365/8 x 305/8" / American Folk Art Museum, Blanchard-Hill Collection, gift of M. Anne Hill and Edward V. Blanchard Jr.,1998.10.1/ photo by Gavin Ashworth
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essica Yu's critically acclaimed documentary In the Realms ofthe J Unreal: The Mystery of Henry Darger aired on PBS's independent documentary film showcase RO.V on Aug.2. As part ofthe program's goal of maximizing the potential oftelevision, PO.V created an interactive companion website for the film (www.pbs.org/pov/intherealms). The website serves as a treasure trove ofinformation about the movie,the filmmaker, Henry Darger's life and work, and the work ofother self-taught artists. Brooke Davis Anderson, director and curator ofthe museum's Contemporary Center,conducted an interactive audio tour ofDarger works in the museum's collection, and also is featured in a video tour discussing the artist's working methods. Visitors to the website can read excerpts from Darger's 15,000-plus-page novel, The Story ofthe Vivian Girls, in WhatIs Known as the Realms ofthe Unreal, ofthe GlandecoAngelinnian War Storm, Caused by
the Child Slave Rebellion. An essay by Michael Bonesteel, author ofHenry Darger:Art and Selected Writings(Rizzoli,2000),examines the religious significance ofthe Vivian Girls and the nature of sexual dualism in Darger's work. The website also features film resources,such as the movie trailer, an interview with Jessica Yu,and a production journal ofthe documentary-making process. A high school curriculum,In the Realms of Henry Darger, developed by Diana Schlesinger, the museum's director ofeducation,in collaboration with New York City educators,can be downloaded. Viewers can also discuss the film, Darger's work,and the website in a related forum,as well as contribute to the PO.V "Talking Back Tapestry," a colorful, interactive representation offeedback about In the Realms ofthe Unreal. Visit the website to access all of these resources and for updates about the film. Darger works from the museum's collection are on the road; please see pages 12 and 100.*
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 9 Be mo'VI-OBS its*9Ptil(1/PT
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Special Features SO,Ct Henry Cramer 1592-1973 At the time of his death at age SI. Henry Darger left Mg.-volume POP.a IS.000-pa0, amobrography and hundreds of parr...set surtanstrigly losle was known about hrin while 0.vas al.. •
Henry Danger Selected Works Take an interact. a.lo tour through several of Henry Parget, worts. led by Hooke goon Anderson. director and orator of the COnttenPer.1,
The Frightful Storm` In these excerpts from Parger, IS.0110-page 'mom. •Rams r•aI and Henry Ilaipror anc, Sabcrol 11.ran.. Danger Introchmes masers to the VIA.. Girls a.author MrchaeI Sanest. cumin*, then in..,hen...re •
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THE KENNET,
THE MARK TWAIN
PRIZE
pb .orbillainpri e2005
THE GALLERY AT HAI CONTEMPORARY OUTSIDER ART IN AMERICA: SURVEY 2006 January 10 - March 25. 2006
OUTSIDER ART WEEK
Monday - Saturday
JANUARY 23 - 30
RECEPTION
MONDAY - SUNDAY llam - 7pm
JANUARY 25, 2006
Outsider Artists of HAI Also On View
,t\ivr- inn12 548 Broadway, 3rd Flo
D
V
Noon - 6pm
6 - 9pm
Open Studio January 28, Noon - 6pm 212 575-7696
www.hospaud.org/outsider
3
E
9 Be sure to visit our booth at the OUTSIDER ART FAIR January 27 - 29, 2006 Puck Building • SOHO • New York City
ilY8 AND
GAL1,EQY FRAMING
8750 Florida Boulevard Baton Rouge, LA 70815 225.922.9225 outsider@eatel.net or visit us online at: Whirligig with Flying Elephant • 19" x 32" • Painted Tin and Wood
www.gilleysgallery.com
WINTER 2005/2006
FOLK ART
93
MUSEUM
REPRO
DUCT IONS
PROGRAM
BY ALICE J. HOFFMAN
FOLK ART
Representing more than 300years ofAmerican design, from the late 1600s to thepresent, the American Folk Art Museum CollectionTm brings within reach ofthe public the very best ofthepast to be enjoyedfor generations to come.
COLLECTION
New Directions *Sunham/Home Fashions Bed Worthy! Quilts, comforters, duvets,sheet sets, and much more will soon be available from Sunham/Home Fashions, a leader in the bedding industry and the museum's newest licensee. Sunham celebrates the past, present, and future by drawing inspiration from the museum's extensive textile and archival collections as it creates new and innovative designs for today's lifestyle. With one eye on current market tastes, trends, and visions and the other on America's folk art heritage, this collection is certain to be treasured for its beauty, utility, and craftsmanship.
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News from Museum Licensees Share our legacy;look for new products from our family oflicensees,featuring unique designs inspired by objects from the museum's collection. *Takashimaya It's Paradise! For more than 20 years,Takashimaya,the museum's exclusive licensee in Japan,has been drawing inspiration from one ofthe most famous textile masterpieces in the museum's collection, the Bird ofParadise Quilt Top.This fall,Talcashimaya introduced a new line of soft goods,pillows, blankets, and seat cushions,featuring details offlowers and fruit motifs from this folk art icon. These products are available only in Japan.
* Mary Myers Studio Peace on Earth! Peaceable Kingdom was inspired by the painting The Peaceable Kingdom by Edward Hicks,a promised gift to the museum. Each ofthe 13 wooden animals in this limited-edition collection was hand-carved and hand-painted by Mary Myers herself. Peaceable Kingdom is available only on a made-to-order basis. Contact Mary Myers Studio at 757/481-1760 to order a collection for your home or office, or as a special gift for friends and family. What better way to illustrate a sentiment we wish for all! Dear Customer Your purchase of museumlicensed products directly benefits the exhibition and educational activities ofthe museum.Thank you for participating in the museum's continuing efforts to celebrate the style, craft, and tradition of American folk art. Ifyou have any questions or comments regarding the American Folk Art Museum Collection', please contact us at 212/977-7170.
Family of Licensees Andover Fabrics(800/223-5678) printed fabric by the yard and prepackaged fabric craft kits. Chronicle Books(800/722-6657) note cards.* Fotofolio(212/226-0923) art postcard books and boxed note cards.* FUNQuilts(708/445-1817)limited-edition quilt collection.* Galloon(212/354-8840) portfolio and boxed note cards and jigsaw puzzle.* LEAVES Pure Teas(877/532-8378) loose tea in decorative tins.* MANIG'Raps(800/510-7277)decorative gift wrap and coordinating accessories.* Mary Myers Studio (757/4811760) wooden nutcrackers, tree ornaments,and table toppers.* Museum Store Products(800/966-7040) magnets.* On the Wall Productions, Inc.(800/788-4044) Magic Cubes.* Ozone Design,Inc.(212/563-2990) socks.* Pfahzgraff(800/999-2811) The America Collectionni dinnerware(by request).* Sunlliun/Home Fashions(212/695-1218) quilts, comforters,duvets, and sheet sets. Takashimaya Company,Ltd.(212/3500550) home furnishings and decorative accessories (available only in Japan). Waterford Wedgwood USA (800/223-5678) holiday decor.* *Available in the American Folk Art Museum Book and Gift Shop. Members receive a 10 percent discount on all shop items.
ANDERSON
DEBORAH BERKE & PARTNERS ARCHITECTS
Stephen T Anderson offers the finest heirloom-quality hand-hooked rugs made in America today. Since 1985 Stephen has taken hand-hooked rug making â&#x20AC;&#x201D; one of America's only indigenous folk arts â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and moved it into the forefront of modern design. Clients are offered the highest level of customization. Each rug is designed for the individual buyer. Patterns may be chosen from Stephen's extensive repertoire of designs or clients may create their own unique rug design. Each rug is prepared from wool fabrics hand-hooked into a linen base in Stephen's NYC studio. Offering the advantages stom sizing, from the quite s
LTD
PHOTOGRAPH CATHERINE TT
mansion size," each rug possesses the nuances of coloration and textural subtleties usually found only in antiques. Self-taught as a restorer of hooked rugs, Stephen gained his first critical acclaim in 1983, when his expert craftsmanship garnered him the title of"the most respected hooked rug restorer in New York" by The New York Times. Leading designers, architects and collectors from around the world have commissioned Stephen's work. In addition to being featured in some of the worlds finest homes, his work has appeared in the pages of Architectural Digest, House Beautifid, House and Garden, Town and Country, Forbes FYI, York Times and
BY APPOINTMENT STEPHEN T. ANDERSON LTD. 1071 FIRST AVE. NEW YORK, NY 10022 PHONE 212.319.0815 FAX 212.980.5453 www.customhookedrugs.com
BOOKS
OF
INTEREST
HAVE YOU
REMEMBERED
COMPILED BY EVELYN R. GURNEY
THE AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM
IN YOUR WILL?
he following titles are available at the American Folk Art Museum's Book and Gift Shop at 45 West 53rd Street, New York City To order, please call 212/265-1040. Museum members receive a 10 percent discount.(* New titles)
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American Anthem:Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum, Stacy C. Hollander, Brooke Davis Anderson, and Gerard C.Wertkin, American Folk Art Museum in Association with Harry N.Abrams,2001, 432 pages, $65
Through a bequest, you can provide enduring support for the American Folk Art Museum. To make an unrestricted bequest to the museum, the following language is suggested: percentage or all of dollars/ I give the residue of my estate to the American Folk Art Museum,45 West 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019, for its general purposes. The bequest may be funded with cash, bonds, marketable securities, or property. The museum is a not-for-profit tax-exempt 501(c)(3) entity.
The museum's CLARION SOCIETY recognizes individuals who have remembered the museum in their wills and through other planned gifts. To join the CLARION SOCIETY or to make a specific bequest, please contact Christine Corcoran at 212. 977. 7170, ext. 328, or ccorcoran@folkartmuseum.org.
AMERICAN
0 MUSEUM ELEPHANT WEATHERVANE (detail) / artist unidentified / probably Bridgeport, Connecticut / late nineteenth century / paint on pine with iron / 191/2 x 48 1/4 x 1" / American Folk Art Museum, promised gift of Ralph Esmerian, P1.2001.335
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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,2001,572 pages,$75 American Self-Taught Art:An Illustrated Analysis of20thCentury Artists and Trends with 1,319 Capsule Biographies, Florence Laffal and Julius Laffal, McFarland & Company,2003, 322 pages, $45 The Art ofAdoy Wolfi: St. AdolfGiant-Creation, Daniel Baumann and Elka Spoerri, American Folk Art Museum in association with Princeton University Press, 2003, 112 pages, $29.95 *The Art ofGaman:Arts and Craftsfrom theJapanese American Internment Camps(1942-1946), Delphine Hirasuna,Ten Speed Press,2005, 128 pages, $35 * Bill Traylor, William Edmondson, and the Modernist Impulse,Josef Helfenstein and Roxanne Stanulis, eds., Krannert Art Museum,2005, 208 pages, $40 * Christine Sefalosha: Phantom, Art & Fiction Press, 2005, 80 pages,$30
* Clementine Hunter: The African House Murals, Art Shiver and Tom Whitehead, eds., Association for the Preservation of Historic Natchitoches,2005, 75 pages,$29.95 Collecting American Folk Art, Helaine Fendelman and Susan Kleckner, House of Collectibles, 2004, 196 pages, $12.95 Coming Home:Self-TaughtArtists, the Bible, and the American South, Carol Crown,ed., University Press of Mississippi in association with the Art Museum of the University of Memphis,2004, 304 pages, $65 (hardcover), $30 (softcover) Create and Be Recognized: Photography on the Edge,John Turner and Deborah Klochko, Chronicle Books,2004, 156 pages, $40 Darger: The Henry Darger Collection at the American Folk Art Museum, Brooke Davis Anderson, American Folk Art Museum in association with Harry N. Abrams,2001, 128 pages, $29.95 * Disabled " Fables:Aesop's Fables Retold and Illustrated by Artists with DevelopmentalDisabilities, Starbright Books,2005,52 pages, $19.95 * Donald Mitchell.Right Here, Right Now, Cheryl Rivers, ed., Creative Growth Arts Center, 2005,92 pages,$24.95
Enia's World: The Art ofEugenia Alter Propp, Sharon Gold, ed.,Jandam Press, 2004, 138 pages, $35 * Forms ofTradition in Contemporary Spain,Jo Farb Hernandez, University Press of Mississippi, 2005,256 pages, $65 (hardcover),$35 (softcover) Howard Finster(1916-2001), Norman Girardot, Diane LaBelle, and Ricardo Viera, Lehigh University Art Galleries, 2004, 90 pages,$32 * How to Look at Outsider Art, Lyle Rexer, Harry N.Abrams, 2005, 176 pages, $22.95 James Castle: His Life and Art, Tom Trusky,Idaho Center for the Book,2004,190 pages, $29.95 (hardcover), $19.95 (softcover) Lonnie Holley:Do We Think Too Much?IDon't Think We Can Ever Stop, David Moos and Michael Stanley, eds., Holzwarth Publications,2004,78 pages, $20 * Miracles ofthe Spirit: Folk, Art, and Stories of Wisconsin, Don Krug and Ann Parker, University Press of Mississippi, 2005,336 pages, $65 Nek Chand:Healing Properties, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 2000, 15 pages,$12 The Perfect Game:America Looks at Baseball, Elizabeth V. Warren, American Folk Art Museum in association with Harry N. Abrams,2003, 150 pages, $29.95
* The Potter's Eye:Art and Tradition in North Carolina, Mark Hewitt and Nancy Sweezy, University of North Carolina Press,2005,336 pages, $39.95 Radiant Spaces:Private Domain, Doug Harvey,ed., Smart Art Press,2004, 128 pages,$20 * Quilted Planet: A Sourcebook ofQuiltsfrom Around the World, Celia Eddy, Clarkson N. Potter, 2005, 224 pages,$40
2006
( LT:
AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM
2006 WALL CALENDAR
* RealPhoto Postcards: Unbelievable Imagesfrom the Collection ofHarvey Tulcensky, Laetitia Wolff, ed., Princeton Architectural Press, 2005, 192 pages, $19.95 Scottie Wilson:Peddler Turned Painter, Anthony J. Petullo and Katherine M.Murrell, 2004, 78 pages, $25 * The Shipcarvers'Art: Figureheads and Cigar-Store Indians in Nineteenth-Century America, Ralph Sessions, Princeton University Press,2005, 240 pages, $75
IMAGES FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION LIMITED QUANTITY
* Silk Stocking Mats:Hooked Rugs ofthe Grenfell Mission, Paula Laverty, McGill Qyeen's University Press, 2005, 192 pages,$44.95
$12.95(members $11.50) SHOPS
45 West 53rd Street, NYC 10019 2 Lincoln Square, NYC 10023 E-MAIL
giftshop@folkartmuseum.org PHONE ORDER
212. 265. 1040 ext.100 VISIT
www.folkartmuseum.org
Tools ofHer Ministry: The Art of Sister Gertrude Morgan, William A. Fagaly, American Folk Art Museum in association with Rizzoli, 2004, 120 pages, $35
0 Li MUSEU
WINTER 2005/2006 FOLK ART 97
MUSEUM
NEWS
BY VAN ESSA DAVIS
MUSEUM FRIENDS FALL FOR FOLK ART The museum's Book and Gift wo great causes for celebraShop has gotten into the spirit of tion drew more than 350 the new shows by playing on exguests to the museum's hibition themes: on offer are giant opening preview reception on pencils,decorative paints,combing exhibitions the for 19 Sept. "Obsessive Drawing,"organized by tools, a video on decorative painting,and hand-grained pieces by Brooke Davis Anderson,director Carroll Hopf.Books in the shop Conand curator ofthe museum's celebrate obsessive drawers,such temporary Center,and "Surface Attraction: Painted Furniture from the Collection," organized by senior curator Stacy C.Hollander. Three ofthe artists whose work is on view in "Obsessive Drawing" were present at the reception: Eugene Andolsek,whose drawings have never been exhibited before, Charles Benefiel,and Hiroyuki Doi,who traveled from Tokyo to attend. Several lenders,without whom the exhibitions would be incomplete,also joined the celebration: Phyllis Kind,Shari Cavin,Randall Morris, and as Dwight Mackintosh,Donald Aame Anton. Mitchell, Scottie Wilson,and Both shows were made possible AdolfWolffi. Other hits are the to donors in part by the almost 200 books Early American Stencils on the Gerard C.Werticin Exhibition Walls and Furniture and First Fund,established to honor the muAmerican Furniture Finisher's seum's director emeritus through Manual-A Reprint9e"The Cabithe development and installation netmaker's Guide"of1827,which ofnew exhibitions at the museum. further illuminate some ofthe A special reception honoring these techniques displayed in the works donors took place directly before on view in "Surface Attraction." inspires Wertkin party. the opening an uncommon devotion in museum Museum members always receive a 10 percent discount on all shop members and friends,and an exitems. traordinary number ofpeople were prompted to pay homage to him Bruce Barnes (left) and Joe Cunningham and the museum's goals through gifts ranging from $25 to $25,000 (see page 88). Extensive programming complemented the two new shows, notably an artists'talk on Nov.9 with Charles Benefiel,Hiroyuki Doi,and Chris Hipkiss;and a soldout symposium on paint-decorated furniture held on Nov.12 that featured presentations and discussions by distinguished colleagues in the field.
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From left: Trustee Frances Martinson, Arthur Hoffman, trustee Jacqueline Fowler, and director Maria Ann Conelli Randall Morris and Shari Cavin in front of a 35-foot-long drawing by Chris Hipkiss on view in "Obsessive Drawing"
Allan and Kendra Daniel with AarnhAnton (right)
Hiroyuki Doi (left) and Yoshiko Otsuka
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATT FLYNN
Artist Eugene Andolsek and Elgin Panichelle admiring a drawing by Hiroyuki Doi
UNTITLED (Nellie in Her Yard)/ Nellie Mae Rowe (1900-1982)/ Vinings, Georgia /1978 / pencil, pen, and felt-tip marker on foam core / 171 / 2 >< 20" / American Folk Art Museum, gift of Judith Alexander, 1997.5.1
Lenore Blank
Tanya Heinrich (left), Jane KaIlir, and director emeritus Gerard C. Wertkin
A FAMILY LEGACY he museum has been notified that Henry Alexander,who died in July,left a generous bequest to the museum in his will. Alexander had inherited his sister Judith Alexander's estate, and he desired to support the institutions that were important to her in her lifetime.This is a very thoughtful remembrance that is appreciated by everyone at the museum. Judith Alexander was a pioneering dealer in modem American art in Atlanta, where she was widely known and respected. She discovered the work of Nellie
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Artists Charles Benefiel (left) and Hiroyuki Doi (far right) with Brooke Davis Anderson
Mae Rowe,befriended the artist, and spent the rest ofher life as Rowe's champion. A longtime supporter ofthe museum, Alexander cooperated closely with curator Lee Kogan on the 1999 exhibition "The Art of Nellie Mae Rowe: Ninety-Nine and a HalfWon't Do"and its accompanying catalog. She also donated more than 40 objects to the museum's permanent collection. Folk Art 30, no. 1 (spring 2005)features a tribute to Judith Alexander by Lee Kogan.
CELEBRATING NEW MEMBERS Allan Katz (left) with Joel and Marilyn Schwartz
Trustee Barbara Cate (left) and director Maria Ann ConeIli
Dan Carlson and Julia Jacquette examining an Andolsek drawing
n July 20,the museum hosted a special evening for first-year members to welcome its newest supporters to the museum community. Curators Stacy C.Hollander, Brooke Davis Anderson,and Lee Kogan led tours ofthe exhibitions "Ancestry and Innovation: African American Art from the Collection," which closed Sept.4,and "Self
0
and Subject," which closed Sept. 11. Museum staff members were on hand to meet and greet, and guests enjoyed the opportunity to have their photo taken in oversize cutouts ofwell-known portraits in the museum's collection. Intimate celebrations such as this are among the many benefits of membership throughout the year.
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NEWS
A view of Clementine Hunter's murals in the African House, Melrose Plantation, Natchitoches, Louisiana
CURATORS ON THE ROAD ee Kogan,director ofthe museum's Folk Art Institute and curator of special projects for the Contemporary Center, participated in a symposium in July at the Association for the Preservation of Historic Natchitoches,in Louisiana,which is celebrating the 50th anniversary ofClementine Hunter's African House murals. Hunter worked at Melrose Plantation,in Natchitoches,for more than 60 years and created nine wall-size panels over the course ofone sweltering summer in 1955.The murals,which depict vignettes of plantation life, were not damaged by Hurricane Katrina. A newly published book on the murals is available in the museum's Book and Gift Shop; please see page 96. In September,senior curator Stacy C. Hollander delivered a lecture at Sotheby's in New York City on painted furniture, highlighting objects from "Surface Attraction: Painted Furniture from the Collection." Brooke Davis Anderson, director and curator ofthe Contemporary Center,lectured at a
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symposium at the Center for Creative Studies,University of Missouri, Kansas City,in September, presented in conjunction with the traveling exhibition"Now Read On:Jesse Howard and Roger Brown," which was on view at the Kansas City Art Institute. In October Anderson juried the inaugural exhibition ofthe new museum ofthe Provincetown Art Association,in Provincetown,Mass.,and traveled to Cleveland,where she lectured at the Cleveland Artists' Foundation in support oftheir exhibition "Visual Tales."
MUSEUM OBJECTS ON THE ROAD Four religious-themed pieces he museum's beautiful are on view at the American building at 45 West 53rd Embassy Residence (www.usa. Street isn't the only place to enjoy pieces from the permanent am)in Yerevan, Armenia: Bible History Quilt(1930-1940) by an collection. Several objects from unidentified quiltmaker; Noah's the museum's holdings are on Ark (c. 1976), a sculpture by Luis view at venues across the United States and Europe, and two exhi- Tapia;Jacob's Dream (1982), a painting by Makah Zeldis; and bitions are traveling as well. Two quilts from the museum's Adam and Eve(1835), a sampler first Great American Quilt Festi- by Helen Shaw. Two works by Henry Darger val are part of the traveling (1892-1973) are included in exhibition "American Visions the exhibition "Rough Magic," of Liberty and Freedom." Spaorganized by Fundacion la Caixa cious Skies Quilt(1985-1986) by (www.fundacio.lacaixa.es),in Charlotte Warr-Anderson will Madrid,on view Jan. 26— be featured when the show is April 2,2006.The show then on view at the Charlotte Museum of History(704/568-1774; travels to the Whitechapel Art Gallery (www.whitechapel.org), www.charlottemuseum.org),in in London,April 18—June 18, Charlotte, N.C., Feb.4—May 2006; and the Irish Museum of 28,2006. Glorious Lady Freedom Modern Art(www.modernartie), Quilt(1985-1986) by Moneca in Dublin,July 26—Oct. 1,2006. Calvert will then be substituted Finally, the museum's two when the show is on view at comprehensive Darger exhibithe National Heritage Museum (781/861-6559; www.monh.org), tions,"Darger:The Henry Darger Collection at the Ameriin Lexington, Mass.,July— can Folk Art Museum" and October 2006; and the Missouri "Studies and Sketches from the Historical Society (314/746Henry Darger Collection," will 4599; www.mohistory.org),in travel west in 2006; please see St. Louis, November 2006— page 12 for details. March 2007.
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DAZZLING DOCENTS n July and August,five high school students who matriculated from the teen docent program became Summer Teen Docents.These vibrant youths gave tours and facilitated art workshops for the 500 campers who came to explore the museum this summer. Lucy Cruz,Ashley Henry,Luis Jimenez, Metin Sarci, and Tiffannie Wallace, all students from the Julia Richmond Educa-
I
tion Complex,were mentored by the museum's adult docents. The museum's teen docent program, now in its fourth year, gets bigger and better every year. The museum is very pleased to have received a two-year grant from the New York State Council on the Arts(NYSCA)for $25,000($12,500 per year) to support this program.The museum will receive an additional
$2,500 in January ofeach year if funds are available in the NYSCA budget. NYSCA has supported the teen docents for much ofthe program's history. Museum docents of all ages are keeping up with the increase in demand for group tours.The museum has a new class of adult docents in training, and they will begin giving tours to the public in spring 2006.
Phyllis
so" x 58"
The Big Swings
45" x 48"
Anne Bourassa www.annebourassa.corn www.homeportfolio.corn e-mail: abourassa@prexar.com (207) 872-5236 (215) 842-2168
MUSEUM
NEWS
2:UffdAiiMiMMMIM[MIUMa;
DRAWING FROM LIFE THE JOURNAL AS ART
Museum staff members (left to right) Pamela Gabourie, Lara Allen, and Dana Clair with some very artistic young CultureFest participants
BY JENNIFER NEW
FEATURING THE JOURNALS OF.
LYNDA BARRY DAVID BYRNE MIKE FIGGIS MAIRA KALMAN AND DOZENS MOr $25.00 PAPERBACK www.papress.com
1-56898-445-6
GREGORY BLACKSTOCK CULTUREFEST ainted furniture took center stage at the museum's booth at CultureFest, an annual showcase of New York City cultural institutions, held in Battery Park on Sept.24 and 25.To promote the exhibition "Surface Attraction: Painted Furniture from the Collection," the mu-
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...........
11.
44:44 ' 44.1 WESTERN DIAMONDBACK RATTLER A VERY MEANSHORT-TEMPERED, DANGEROuS OPEC UPS THE AMER IGANDOMAIEST, OF AND AaVENUMr THE:,ftEASAT FRT.RYMER TO THE LARGER , EAZE:141MONOORTHE4ST.
THE DEADLY FER-DE-LANCE OF L TROPICAL AMERICA.A DANGEROUS , MENACE To FARMERS AND PLANRESPONSIBLE WORKERS, AND TATioN FOR SEVERAL THOUSAND DEATHS ANNUALLY COMBINED, THE FRETIGH NAME FUR THIS GREAT SNAKE MEANS LANCE-SHAPED HEAD AND Thus CREATURE RASHES FROM SOUTHERN MEXICO TO THE NORTHERN EDGE OF THE AMAZON BASIN IN BRAZIL.
SUMMER TEACHER INSTITUTE Among the highlights ofthe he museum conducted its first Summer Teacher Instiweek was a special behind-thescenes look at a carousel restoratute with 19 teachers from tion with museum benefactor New York City's Department of Education for five days in July. Jane Walentas and a tour ofthe Participants studied the museum's museum's collections with chief registrar Ann-Marie Reilly. collection and developed ways If you are interested in learnto integrate folk art into their ing more about professionalclassrooms.The intensive course development courses for educawas led by Janet Lo, manager of school and docent programs,and tors, please contact the education included exhibition tours with cu- department at 212/265-1040,ext. rators Stacy C. Hollander, Brooke 119, or jlo@folkartmuseum.org Davis Anderson,and Lee Kogan.
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THE BUSHMASTER-WORLD'S LARGEST PIT-VIPER,WITH A LENGTH OF UP TO 12 FEET SOMEWHAT LESS THAN THE HARMLESS BOA CONSTRICTOR-IS THE MOST FEARED SNAKE IN LATIN AMERICA.IT RANGES SOUTHERN NICARROM TO THE FROM NORTHERN EASTERN DIAMONDBACK RATTLER OF THE EDGE OF THE AMAZEN BASIN IN BRAD!. AMERICAN SOUTHEAST-LARGEST OF ALL AND ON THE WEST INDIES ISLAND OF NORTH AMERICAN POISONOUS SNAKES. 'FAME VENrsEEIREMEIY ' ' EyToHDVIANS% e
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102 WINTER 2005/2006 FOLK ART
scum's booth offered children and their parents the opportunity to paint their own miniature wooden chairs, perfectly sized for dolls or stuffed animals.The same kind of tools used by 18th- and 19thcentury furniture painters were available at the booth to create unusual paint effects.
CRAIG FARROW Cabinetmaker QUILT WEEKEND he 12th annual Quilt Weekend,organized by Lee Kogan,director ofthe Folk Art Institute, took place Sept.30 and Oct. 1.Textile and quilt enthusiasts from all over the country convened at the museum to explore what's new in the contem-
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Anita Grossman Solomon
porary quilt worldâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;everything from the most popular trends to traditional techniques. The much-beloved annual event kicked offwith a lively workshop on scrap quilting led by Folk Art Institute instructor Susie Andersen in which participants experimented with old
and new fabric scraps,creating dynamic quilt tops.The second day offered a variety ofprograms. Award-winning quiltmaker and author Anita Grossman Solomon conducted a special workshop in which she shared the secrets of her easy and innovative"Make It Simpler" technique for paperpiecing. Elizabeth V.Warren,the museum's consulting curator, gave a moving memorial lecture on trustee emeritus Cyril I. Nelson (1927-2005), paying tribute to the late friend ofthe museum whose generous contributions and publishing endeavors added invaluable depth to the museum's quilt holdings and the literature ofthe field (turn to page 83 for an overview ofhis life). Throughout the day, tours oftextiles on view in the museum were offered, and demonstrations were given by American Quilt Study Group representative Dawn Hefner and metropolitan-area quilt guilds,including the Empire Quilt Guild, Long Island Quilters Society, Northern Star Quilters, Quilters of Color Network of New York, Quilters Guild ofBrooklyn, Quilt-n-Queens,and Women of Color Quilters Network.
18th-century spoon rack
ELENA BERNSTEIN
History and Artistry in Wood 17th and 18th Century American Furniture Reproductions 240 Lewis Creek Drive Ferrisburgh, VT 05456
Please call 802.425.6070
Members of Quilt-II-Queens quilt guild
WINTER 2005/2006
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OBI
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UA
R
IES
BY LEE KOGAN
HECTOR ALONZO BENAVIDES (1952-2005) walk without braces and crutches. day at his apartment in San ector Alonzo Benavides, Encouragement from his family Antonio,and later at his family known for his intricately ranch, his creative output interin the 1980s drew Benavides to detailed drawings that rupted only by a job as a security an art class, but he did not adapt resemble finely woven patterned guard. Benavides drew inspiration well to a proscribed program, textiles, died in his sleep at his from his mother, dedicating all his perhaps because he had already family's Texas ranch on July 18, art to her memory after her death established a personal style. He 2005. in 1996. He completed several The youngest ofthree chilwas thoroughly committed to his hundred works. art and worked 10 to 15 hours a dren, Benavides was born in Over the years, portraits of Laredo,Texas,to a family with people and animals gave way to a long history as ranchers. After greater abstraction, with increasgraduating from high school, he ingly organic patterning and attended optometry school in layered elements. He rotated the Tyler,Texas,returning home in paper as he drew,unifying his 1970 after completing his studies. drawing from all vantage points. He worked briefly as an optician He used a straightedge and but struggled with obsessiveultra-fine-point pens. Multiple compulsive disorder, compounded signatures, precisely lettered, often by depression and a physical appear at the edges ofthe work. malady that left him unable to
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JOE LOUIS LIGHT (1934-2005) emphis artist Joe Light black. One of his recurring figures was the "Birdman," based on a vidied ofcolon cancer on Aug.6. Light was born sion he had while in prison. Light's artwork is included in in Dyersburg,Tenn.,and worked "Folk Art Is," a traveling exhibion a farm throughout his youth. He served briefly in the Army tion on view at the Courthouse Cultural Center(772/287-6676; in 1951.While incarcerated,in wvvw.martinarts.org),in Stuart, the mid-1950s and from 1960 to Fla., until Jan. 3,2006. 1968,he found inspiration in the teachings ofthe Old Testament and related closely to Judaism. Following his release, he married Rosie Lee Cotton,and they had eight children together. He traveled throughout the South for 30 years, selling signs and secondhand goods to support his family. Light began making driftwood sculptures and signs in 1971, placing them around his home in Memphis.His expressive signs were filled with messages on current events and racial issues, as well as personal guides to living. His paintings, typically created with house paint on plywood or found objects,feature brightly colored figures and animals or landscapes boldly outlined in
hi
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His palette ranged from very colorful to dark tones and black, and gold and silver were added as decorative elements to his intricate compositions. Benavides was featured in an article by Bruce Webb in Raw Vision 27(summer 1999). His drawings were included in the traveling exhibition "Spirited Journeys: Self-Taught Texas Artists ofthe 20th Century," and his work is in the collections of Wellesley College,in Wellesley, Mass., and the American Folk Art Museum.An untitled Benavides work is on view in the introductory passage ofthe museum's current exhibition "Obsessive Drawing."
ARCHIE BYRON (1928-2005) tlanta artist and former city He began to search woods,lakes, councilman Archie Byron, and riverbeds for interesting natural forms that he worked into vara lifelong Atlanta resident known for his sawdust sculptures nished sculptures. Eventually he began to work with a mixture he and bas-reliefs, died on Aug.29, ofcomplications from lung cancer. devised using recycled sawdust and Byron was a boyhood friend of Martin Luther King Jr.'s. After a stint in the Navy,he returned to Atlanta,finished high school, and attended trade school,where he enrolled in classes in architectural drawing and bricklaying. As a bricldayer, Byron's artistic ability was demonstrated in the unique patterns he designed. Around 1961, he was recruited into the Sheriff's Department; at this time he also household glue. His subjects infounded the first black-owned cluded portraits,flowers,dogs,and investigating firm in the United religious and social themes,and his States, and by the mid-1970s, works were included in the major traveling exhibitions"Passionate Byron also owned a security-guard Visions ofthe American South" training school. A brain aneurysm, which left him in a three-month and "Souls Grown Deep." coma,limited Byron's ability to make art. Byron was inspired to create art when he saw potential in a tree root he had accidentally uprooted.
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JANUARY 27, 28 St_ 29, 2006 Valley Forge Convention Center, King of Prussia, PA
FRIDAY, 6:00PM-9:00PM 4
OPENING NIGHT PREVIEW PARTY Preview Admission: $35.00 per person
SATURDAY, 10:00AM-5:00PM SUNDAY, 11:00AM-4:00PM Saturday 6( Sunday Admission: $12.00 per person $10.00 with this ad (Not valid with any other offer. One per person) Admission is valid for all show days. Children 12 and under are free. Strollers and cameras are not permitted on the showroom floor.
Admission price includes admission to :-
HISTORIC HOME SHOW '(he Resource for Amerivan Architecturd Preservation
The Historic Home Show" and The Designer Craftsmen Show are sponsored by Old-House Interiors' Early Homes magazine.
Produced by GOODRICH &. COMPANY PRONWTIONS, INC., P.O.Box 1577, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055.(717) 796-2380 E-mail. infoagoodrichpromo-tions.com. Web Site: www.goodrichpromotions.com Contact Priority Travel for travel accommodations toll-free at 1-888-796-9991. or email to priotrylehepix.net FA
PUBLIC
PROGRAMS
AMERICA'S OLDEST MAKERS OF COLONIAL AND EARLY AMERICAN LIGHTING FIXTURES Unless otherwise specified, all programs are held at the American Folk Art Museum,45 West 53rd Street, New York City. Programs are open to the public. Admission fees vary; program tickets include museum admission. For more information, please call the education department at 212/265-1040,ext. 102,or pick up the museum's public programs brochure.To purchase tickets, please call 212/265-1040,ext. 160.
WINTER PROGRAMS HIGHLIGHTS
AUTHENTIC DESIGNS www.authenticdesigns.com West Rupert, Vermont 05776 (802) 394-7713 • 800-844-9416 Catalogues $3.00 each
LEAH GORDON SPECIALISTS IN ANTIQUE AND PERIOD JEWELRY, AMERICAN ART POTTERY AND OBJECTS OF EARLY 20TH CENTURY DESIGN
SLIDE TALK
* PERFORMANCE
Selfand Subject Donnell Library Center, 20 West 53rd Street Tuesday,Dec.20 12:30 PM Free admission Lee Kogan,director ofthe Folk Art Institute and curator of special projects for the Contemporary Center,will discuss portraits by contemporary selftaught artists in the museum's collection that range from very accurate likenesses to charged abstractions.
Sins and Needles:A Dramatic Monologue Tuesday,Jan.24 7 PM $15;$10 members,seniors, students While in prison, Ray Materson found hope and salvation through depicting the story of his life in miniature embroideries, using the thread from unraveled socks. In this debut performance, Materson will chronicle stories from his life with passion and humor. *UNCOMMON ARTISTS XIV
SLIDE TALK
Obsessive Drawing from the Living Museum Wednesday, Dec.21 1:30 PM $3;free for members,seniors, students Dr.Janos Marton,director of the Living Museum,Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, Queens Village, N.Y.,will discuss the center's artists whose artwork and process might be considered obsessive. Sterling silver brooch by Frederick Davis. 2 3/4" wide x 3 1/2" high. Circa 1930's.
Manhattan Art & Antiques Center • Gallery 18 1050 Second Avenue, at 55th St., New York, NY 10022 Tel: 212-872-1422 • www.leahgordon.com
106 WINTER 2005/2006 FOLK ART
•Outsider Art Week Programming
A Series ofCameo Talks Anne Hill Blanchard Symposium Saturday,Jan.28 10 AM $35;$30 members,seniors, students At the forefront in celebrating and introducing powerful, underappreciated artists to a larger public, Uncommon Artists seeks to examine creativity within a personal and cultural context. Presenters include Phyllis Kind on Carlo Zinelli, Regenia Perry on Roy Ferdinand, Cheryl Rivers on Donald Mitchell, and Stuart Shepherd on Martin Thompson, whose work is included in "Obsessive Drawing."
JACK FISCHER GALLERY OUTSIDER
SELF TAUGHT
CONTEMPORARY
HORSE WITH FIGURES (double-sided)/ Carlo Zinelli (1916-1974)/ Verona, Italy / 1967 / gouache on paper / 27/ 1 2 x 19%" / American Folk Art Museum, promised gift of Sam and Betsey Farber, P10.2000.8
* PANEL DISCUSSION I Taught MyselfEverything I Know:Autodidacticism in New Media Art Sunday,Jan.29 10 AM $10;$5 members,seniors, students Moderator Mark Tribe, an artist, curator, and educator whose interests lie at the intersection of emerging technologies and contemporary art, and panelists Mary Flanagan,W.Bradford Paley, and Keiko Uenishi, new media artists, will discuss how they gain the conceptual, aesthetic, and technological skills and knowledge to do what they do.The conversation will examine how a new media artist might be classified as self-taught.
WINTER EDUCATORS' WORKSHOPS For information on the museum's accredited professional development courses, please call 212/2651040,ext. 119.
* DOCENT TOURS Contemporary Art on View Thursday—Sunday,Jan. 26-29 3 Pm Free with museum admission
SCHOOL AND ADULT GROUP TOURS For information, please call 212/265-1040,ext. 381,or e-mail grouptours@folkartmuseum.org.
FAMILY ART WORKSHOPS Sundays,2-4 PM $5 per family;free for member families For reservations, please e-mail grouptours@follcartmuseum.org or call 212/265-1040,ext. 160. You will receive a reply only if the workshop is full.
VICTOR CRISTESCU 4 x5'
JACK FISCHER GALLERY 49 GEARY, SUITE 440 SAN FRANCISCO, CA 941013
415.956.1178 JACKFISCHERGALLERY.COM
Dec.4 Focus on Frames „onteoli)
Dec. 18 Holiday Decorated Boxes
Majorsupportfor education is provided by the William Randolph Hearst Foundations. Schoolprograms are made possible in part by Citigroup Foundation. Evening events are madepossible through the generous support ofNancy and Dana Mead Family art workshops are sponsored by D'Arty and Dana G. MeadJr. and Susan and Mark C. Mead.Additional fundingfor education isprovided by Ray Simon in honor ofLinda Simon, JP Morgan Chase, Consolidated Edison Company, the New York Times Company Foundation, the New York State Councilon the Arts, and the New York City Department ofCulturalAffairs.
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Berenberg Gallery Clarendon Street Boston, MA 02116
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AMERICAN
FOLK
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COMING SPRING 2006 , DONORS FOR EXHIBITIONS AND OPERATIONS
7
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The Original 23'Street Armory Antiques Show April 7,8& 9, 2006 PHILADELPHIA,PA Barn Star Productions proudly presents an exciting event featuring 40 nationally recognized American antiques specialists displaying fine antiques from the 18th,19th and early 20th centuries. Located at The 23rd Street Armory,22 South 23rd Street, Philadelphia,PA,minutes away from the Philadelphia Antiques Show For detailed information call Barn Star Productions (845)876-0616 or visit www.barnstar.com
CELEBRATING ANTIQUES WEEK IN NEW YORKI7
ANTIQUES at the ARMORY
JAN. 20-21-22 Friday tk Saturday 11-8•S
lay 11-5 • Show Admission $12
THE ARMORY ON LEXINGTON AVENUE @ 26th STREET,NYC 100 EXHIBITORS SELLING EXCEFTIONAL & EXTRAORDINARY AMERICAN & EUROPEAN ANTIQUES. FURNITURE of MANY PERIODS, AMERICANA, FOLK ART, GARDEN ANTIQUES. LIGHTING. TEXTILES, FINE ART & CERAMICS.
COMPLIMENTARY SHUTTLE TO & FROM The Winter Antiques Show & Americana @ The Piers
AMERICANA @ THE PIERS
JANUARY 21 & 22 SATURDAY & SUNDAY 0-5 • Admission $12* 200 ANTIQUES DEALERS * Furniture. Folk Art, Fine Art. Textiles, Quilts. Silly... Geromlee & Mon * Free Shuttle to & From Antiques at the Armory on 26th Street & Midtown * PASSENGER SHIP TERMINAL PIERS
55TH STREET & 12TH AVENUE NYC Stella Show Mgmt. Co. 212-255-0020 * www.stellashows.com
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The American Folk Art Museum is grateful to the following friends who provided generous support for museum programs and operating activities during the year July 1, 2004-June 30, 2005: $50,000 & up Edith S.8c Barry D.Brislcin Estate ofJoseph Cullman 3rd Lucy 8c. Mike Danziger Ralph 0.Esmerian The Hearst Foundations Marjorie &Robert L. Hirschhorn Leir Charitable Trusts Nancy &Dana G. Mead Laura 8c Richard Parsons Peter Jay Sharp Foundation Bonnie &Thomas W.Strauss Time Warner $20,000-$49,999 Didi & David Barrett Edward V. Blanchard Jr. Bloomberg L.P. The Brown Foundation Citigroup Joyce B. Cowin David L. Davies &John Weeden Deutsche Bank Vivian 8c Strachan Donnelley Betsey &Samuel Farber Jacqueline Fowler Susan &John H. Gutfieund Joan & Victor L.Johnson JP Morgan Chase & Co.,Inc. Just Folk/Susan Baerwald & Marcy Carsey Michelle &Lawrence Lasser Latham &Watkins Taryn &Mark Leavitt Frances S. Martinson National Jewelry Institute New York State Council on the Arts J. Randall Plummer Margaret Robson Selig D.& Angela Sacks Barbara &John Wilkerson S10,000-$19,999 Angelo, Gordon &Co. Consolidated Edison Company Credit Suisse First Boston Louise &Edgar M.Cullman Davis Polk &Wardwell Debevoise 8c Plimpton The Dyson Foundation Fried,Frank, Harris, Shriver &Jacobson Johnson &Johnson Penny &Allan Katz LEF Foundation Cynthia &Dan W.Lufkin The Magazine Group
Pfizer,Inc. Dorothea &Leo Rablcin Kate Stettner 8c Carl Lobell Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen &Katz White &Case Ann & Robert N.Wilson Rebecca &Jon N.Zoler $5,000-$9,999 Altria Group Lois S.&Gad Avigad Akosua Barthwell Evans Bristol-Myers Squibb Company John R.&Dorothy D.Caples Fund The Bonnie Cashin Fund Mark Goldman Nancy &Tim Grumbacher Audrey B. Heckler J.M. Kaplan Foundation Luise 8c Robert Kleinberg Barbara &David ICrashes Lehman Brothers Robert Lehman Foundation,Inc. Betty &John Levin Lipman Family Foundation Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Kay & George H.Meyer Emily Anne Nixon Ricco/Maresca Gallery Marvin &Donna Schwartz Mr.&Mrs.Peter L. Sheldon Smith Richardson Foundation Siri von Reis Elizabeth 8c Irwin H.Warren Tod Williams &Billie Tsien $2,000-$4,999 Becky 8c Bob Alexander Molly F. Ashby &Gerald M.Lodge Bachner &Warren Deborah Bergman Ron & Cheryl Black Jill &Sheldon Bonovitz Katharine 8c Robert E. Booth Lois &Marvin Broder Dana Buchman Ellie & Edgar Cullman Jr. Kendra 8c Allan Daniel Peggy 8c Richard Danziger Ed &Pat DeSear Claire &Alfred C.Eckert III Andrew Edlin Helaine &Burton Fendelman Maxine 8c Stuart Frankel Foundation James Friedlander 8c Elizabeth Irwin The Galerie St. Etienne Merle &Barry Ginsburg Catherine 8c Richard Herbst Stephen Hessler &Mary Ellen Vehlow Sandra Jaffe Kristina Johnson Linda E.Johnson &Harold W.Pote Helen &Steven Kellogg
Mary Kettaneh Lesley &John B. Koegel Phyllis Kossoff Jo Carole &Ronald S. Lauder Stephanie &Sam Lebowitz Deanne D.Levison William M.Lewis Yvonne Liu Richard Lulcins Linda &Christopher Mayer D'Arcy 8c Dana G. Mead Jr. Susan 8c Mark C. Mead Merrill Lynch 8c Co.,Inc. Anne &Jeff Miller New York City Department ofCultural Affairs Ralph E.Ogden Foundation,Inc. Olde Hope Antiques Jeffrey Pressman & Nancy Kollisch Paige Rense The Ida 8c William Rosenthal Foundation Lois 8r. Richard Rosenthal Robert A. Roth Shelley 8c Donald Rubin Myra 8c George F. Shaskan Jr. Smart Design Karen &David Sobotica Su-Ellyn Stern David Teiger Jane &David Walentas Lynn 8c Samuel Waterston Jan Whitlock $1,000-$1,999 Dana 2ic. A. Marshall Acuff Deborah &James Ash James Asselstine &Bette J. Davis Gayle Perkins Atkins & Charles N.Atkins The Atlantic Philanthropies !Celia &Glenn Bailey Jeremy L. Banta Anne H.Bass Jill &Mickey Baten Robin Bell Lawrence A.&Claire B. Benenson Helen Bing Virginia 8c William D.Birch Adele &Leonard Block Barbara 8cJames A.Block Edith C. Blum Foundation Judy &Bernard Brislcin Marjorie B. Buckley Barbara Bundy Carl Hammer Gallery Sharon Casdin Thomas Cholnolcy Angela &James Clair Cullman &Kravis,Inc. Susan R. Cullman &John Kirby Judy &Aaron Daniels Abbie Darer
Deborah Davenport &Stewart Stender Gary Davenport Diamond Baratta Design Drysdale Inc. Charles P. Durkin Douglas Durst The Echo Design Group,Inc. Essie &Sherman K. Edmiston Anne &Joel Ehrenkranz Gloria Einbender Eva &Morris Feld Fund Lori 8c Laurence Fink Marilyn Friedman &Thoma. B10,1, Jill Gallagher Bruce Geismar Mildred &William L.Gladstone Dudley J. Godfrey Trust Susan & Arthur Goldstone Ellin &Baron J. Gordon William R. Grant Susan Green Lewis Greenblatt Bonnie Grossman Irwin &Janet Gusman Cordelia Hamilton Ann &James Harithas Seamus Henchy Stephen M.Hill Sandra &John C. Horvitz Stephen &Carol Huber Thomas Isenberg Theodore Israel &Laurel Cutler Israel Ned Jalbert Vera &JosefJelinek Mitch Jennings Bodil Joergensen Gwen & Ecicart Kade Jane Kallir & Hildegard Bachert Phyllis Kind Mr.8c Mrs. Abraham Krasnoff Cheryl ICrongard Susan &Mark Laracy Lindsey &Bruno LaRocca Susan &Jerry Lauren Alexander Lee Dinah 8c Stephen Lefkowitz Petra & Stephen Levin Barbara S. Levinson Ammirati Puns Lintas Stephen Loewentheil Phyllis &William Louis-Dreyfus Luise Ross Gallery Mary's East Frank Maresca Michael T Martin Mary Shaw Love May Family Mrs. Myron L. Mayer Michael Rosenfeld Gallery Virginia B. Michel Angie Mills Richard Mishaan Design Randall Morris & Shari Cavin Barbara Mulch
Jimmy Lee Sudduth Mose Tolliver & more
Classic & contemporary folk art
WWW.YA.RDDOG.COM YARD DOG FOLK ART 1510 S. CONGRESS AVE. AUSTIN, TX 78704 512.912.1613 FOLKART@SWBELL.NET
ANTON HAARDT GALLERY MONTGOMERY. AL (334) 263,5494 II NEW ORLEANS ANNEX (504) 897,1172
www.antonart.com
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DONORS
Robert Cargo
FOLK ART GALLERY Self-taught, visionary, and outsider artists of the South African-American quilts • Haitian spirit flags
www.cargofolkart.com www.cargofolkart.com www.cargofolkart.com www.cargofolkart.com Caroline Cargo 110 Darby Road • Paoli, PA 19301 Main Line Philadelphia info@cargofolkart.com 610-240-9528 By appointment only
join the
AMERICUS ,ontemporaries
AMERICUS CONTEMPORARIES brings together young folk art enthusiasts for a variety of engaging activities and events. o: 212. 977. 7170, ext. 34t or dclair@folkartmus, um.org UNTITLED (Marie with Flowers in Haft Cropped at Bust)/ Eugene Von Bruenchenhein (1910-1983)/ Milwaukee / n.d. / hand-colored gelatin silver print /7 x 8'/ American Folk Art Museum, gift of Lewis and Jean Greenblatt, 2001.23.5
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'AMERICAN
U— MUSEUM
David Muniz Cynthia &Donald B. Murphy Judy 8c Bud Newman Margaret 8c David Nichols David T. Owsley Elbert H.Parsons Rolando Perez 8c Karin Eriksen Perez Anthony J. Petullo Peter Pollak Roberta &Jack Rabin Jackie & Howard Radwin Bunny &Milton S. Rattner Marguerite Riordan Alyce & Roger Rose Janet Ruttenberg Riccardo Salmona Betty 8c Paul Schaffer Cipora 0.&Philip C.Schwartz Phyllis &Al Selnick Mary Ann 8c Arthur Siskind Susan 8c Peter J. Solomon Jennifer &Jonathan Allan Soros Nancy 8c William W.Stahl Ellen &David Stein Elizabeth A. Stern Alan Stillman Donald &Rachel Strauber Frank Tosto Dorothy C.Treisman Judith 8c Bennett Weinstock Leon &Angela Weiss Barbara &Gerard C.WertIcin Janis &William Wetsman Janet Wmston Lisa &David Wolfe Rosalie Wood Woodard 8c Greenstein Michelle &Robert Wyles Jan &Barry L. Zubrow $500-$999 A La Vieille Russie,Inc. Ethel &Philip Adelman Charitable Foundation Peg Alston American Primitive Gallery Anthony Annese Lucy &Joel I. Banker John Barker Barn Star Productions June &Frank Barsalona Serena &David Bechtel Judi &Barry Beil Lee &Paul Belsky Mr.&Mrs.Thomas L. Bennett Tamara &Bradford Bernstein Priscilla Bijur Georgina M.Bissell Leslie &Andrew Blauner Dena L. Bock Sandra 8c Ronald Brady Linda &James H.Brandi Sally 8cThatcher M.Brown III Jack Burwell Miriam Cahn
Judith F.&Bill Campbell Barbara &Tracy Cate Virginia G.Cave Christie's Richard 8cTeresa Cicotelli Marina 8c George-Anthony Colettis Phyllis Collins Stephen H.Cooper &Karen Gross Courcier &Wilkins Catherine G. Curran John R. Curtis Terry L. Dale 8r.Richard Barry Alex Daniels Sheena &David Danziger Joseph &Jackie Del Galdo Valerie 8c Charles Dater Drake Design Associates, Inc. Nancy Druckman Larry E.Dumont Deborah &Arnold Dunn Edward Lowe Industries Ray Egan Sharon &Theodore Eisenstat Robert A. Ellison Margot &John L. Ernst Tania &Thomas M.Evans Marci Fagan Robert &Bobbie Falk Thomas K.Figge Gail Furman Richard Gachot Rebecca &Michael S. Gamzon Daniel &Lianna Gantt Judy &Jules Garel Barbara Gimbel Helen &Peter Strom Goldstein Gomez Associates,Inc. Barbara L. Gordon Gail &John Greenberger Eva &Leon Greenhill Peter Greenwald & Nancy Hoffman Anton Haardt Foundation Albert Hadley,Inc. Duane Hampton John Hathaway Donald Hayes Inge Heckel Hiram &Mary Jane Lederach Hershey Betty & Rodger Hess Arlene & Leonard Hochman Lesley &Joseph C. Hoopes Katie Danziger Horowitz 8c Steven Horowitz Carter Houck Elizabeth & Richard R.Howe Jerry Jeanmard Virginia Joffe Penny Johnston Isobel &Harvey Kahn Jaclyn &Gerald Kaminsky ICandell Fund Karin Blake Interiors Helen &Martin Katz Emily & Leslie Keno Leigh Keno
Mary Michael Shelley 607-272-5700 Marcy &Michael Klein Barbara S. Klinger Lee Kogan Betty &Arthur Kowaloff Stuart ICrinsly Addie &Theodore A. Kurz Richard Thompson Lammert Stephen Lash Audrey & Henry Levin Nadine &Peter Levy Robert A.Lewis Frances &James Lieu Julie &Carl M.Lindberg Joyce &Edward Linde Shirley &Sherwin Lindenbaum Bruce Lisman Robert Lue &Alain Viel K.Luzak Janet Lyons-Berger Mary P. Mackenzie Eric Maffei &Steven Trombetti Anne &Vincent Mai Juliet Mattila &Robin Magowan Chriss Mattsson Basile Mavroleon Barbie &John A. Mayer Jr. Anne McPherson Dianne &James Meltzer Metaxas, Norman &Pidgeon Barry &Wendy Meyer Judith &James Milne Jean Mitchell Keith &Alix Morgan Judy Mulligan &William Blaine Joshua Nash & Beth Goldberg Nash Ann 8c Walter Nathan David Nazarian Cyril I. Nelson Ronnie Newman Kenneth R.Page Pat Parsons Ruth &Leonard Perfido James Pesando Janet Petry Barbara Pollack Wayne Pratt &Mary Beth Keene Mrs.John S. Price Catherine &F.F. Randolph Irene Reichert Paul J. Reiferson &Julie E. Spivack Julia T. Richie Joanna &Daniel Rose Marshall Rose Joseph B. Rosenblatt Wolfe Rudman Francis Russo Raymond Saroff Allison Saxe Nancy &Henry B. Schacht Linda &Donald Schapiro Elizabeth R. Schloss Anne &Alan Schnitzer Paola &Michael Schulhof Tess &Thomas F. Schutte Dr.& Mrs. David C. Schwartz
Jean 8c Frederic A.Sharf Alexis Shein J. Edward Shugrue Linda & Raymond Simon Susan &Joel Simon Leslie & Scott Singer Skinner Dolores &Stephen Smith Stephanie Smither Matthew Patrick Smyth &Rachel Etz Henry R. Sreck Harvey M.Stone Carol Millsom Studer Rubens Teles &James Adams Barbara & Donald Tober Leonia Van den Heuvel Janice Vander Pod Leslie &Peter S. Warwick Jane &Philip Waterman Jr. Pat &Donald Weeden Sue Ann &John L.Weinberg Pastor Frederick S. Weiser Mark &Mary Westra Sandra &Walter J. Wilkie Evelyn &John Yoder Zanlcel Fund Susan &Louis Zinterhofer Linda Zulcas Stuart Zweibel &Rene Purse
RECENT DONORS TO THE COLLECTION Cuesta Benberry Dr.&Mrs.Irwin R.Berman Virginia Cave Creative Heart Gallery Kendra 8c Allan Daniel David L. Davies Ralph Esmerian Eva Fasanella Thomas K.Figge Jacqueline Fowler Lisa Sharf Green &Eric A.Green Lewis Greenblatt Gale Hamilton Harvey &Isobel Kahn Lois Lockfeld Susan Larsen Martin & Lauri Robert Martin National Children's Museum, Washington,D.C. Cyril Irwin Nelson Dorothea St Leo Rabkin Mr.&Mrs.EE Randolph Mr.&Mrs. Rosenthal Avalie Saperstein Elizabeth B.Dichman Smith Mr.& Mrs.Irving Soloway Ellen Sugerman Maurice C.&Patricia L.Thompson Don Walters & Mary Benisek
E째 Demonstration carving summer Saturdays at the Ithaca
Farmers' Market
WWW.ARTBRUT.COM new works on-line and at the gallery BEVERLY KAYE 15 LORRAINE DRIVE WOODBRIDGE, CT
203.387.5700
FOLK ART by appointment
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111
EPSTEIN/POWELL 66 Grand St., New York, N.Y. 10013 by appointment: 212-226-7316 email: art.folkseverizon.net web: http://allamuchyman.tripod.com •Justin McCarthy (oils and drawings)
• Mose Tolliver
•Victor Joseph Gatto (estate)
•Jesse Aaron
•Rex Clawson (representing)
• Max Romain
• S.L. Jones ('81-'83 drawings)
•Donovan Durham
• Old Ironsides Pry
• and many other folk/outsider artists
13rWin CdId eraddh Lady liglida 8.M. ic t itow. cold litLaat w•nt
o So rilc I. Put th. th•nk yov and enol Corr, II.. Cold.
Donovan Durham, 9 x 11", ink on paper, circa 1976
INDEX
TO
ADVERTISERS
Allan Katz Americana The Ames Gallery Anne Bourassa Antique Associates Anton Ha.ardt Gallery Authentic Designs Barn Star Productions Berenberg Gallery Beverly Kaye Brian Cullity Antiques Carl Hammer Gallery Charlton Bradsher American Antiques Cherry Gallery Christie's Corrine Riley Craig Farrow David Cook Galleries David Wheatcroft Antiques Elliot &Grace Snyder Antiques Epstein/Powell Fleisher Oilman Gallery The Gallery at HAI Garde Rail Gallery Garthoeffner Gallery Antiques Giampietro Gilley's Gallery Goodrich &Company Promotions,Inc. Graves'Country Gallery Greg K. Kramer &Co. Harvey Art&Antiques Hill Gallery Intuit The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art Jack Fischer Gallery
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11 13 101 39 109 106 108 107 111 36 18 16 36 20 81 103 22 3 23 112 14 93 102 27 8 93 105 40 28 17 2 92 107
Jackie Radwin Jan Whitlock Textiles Jeffrey Tillou Antiques Joan R.Brownstein Art&Antiques Judy A.Saslow Gallery Keeling Wainwright Associates,Inc. Kentucky Folk Art Center Laura Fisher Leah Gordon Lindsay Gallery M.Finkel&Daughter Mary Michael Shelley Molloy-Blitz Tribal/The Spanish &Indian Trading Company Northeast Auctions Olde Hope Antiques,Inc. Princeton Architectural Press Raccoon Creek Antiques,LLC Raw Vision Ricco/Maresca Gallery Robert Cargo Folk Art Gallery Russell Bowman Art Advisory Sanford L. Smith &Associates Sidney Gecker American Folk Art Skinner Slotin Auction Stella Rubin Stella Show Mgmt.Co. Stephen O'Brien Jr. Fine Arts,LLC Stephen T Anderson Ltd. Thurston Nichols American Antiques Trotta-Bono Yard Dog Folk Art
Back Cover 7 6 21 26 80,89 40 87 106 25 19 111 • 35 Inside Back Cover 1 102 5 41 Inside Front Cover 110 31 90 34 37 32,33 27 108 34 95 29 4 109
AN AMERICAN AUCTION HOUSE HORTON FOOTE COLLECTION OF
THE KILCUP COLLECTI SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 24305
AMERICAN FOLK ART *VA
NORTHEAST AUCTIONS AUGUST 6, 2005
NORTHEAST AUCTIONS
NORTHEAST AUCTIONS
k 1
AUGUST 5-7, 2005
NORTHEAST AUCTIONS by RONALD BOURGEAULT,LLC 93 Pleasant Street Portsmouth, New Hampshire 03801 (603) 433-8400 www.northeastauctions.com
• .•
•••
••
'A
,
JACKIE RADWIN
TIGER MAPLE PAINT DECORATED CHAIRS. Set ofsix; two arm and four side chairs. Outstanding decoration and condition. Original surfaces. Seat height 17". Circa 1810-20.
By appointment• San Antonio, Texas •(210) 824-7711 Visit us at our website www.jackieradwin.com