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American Folk Art Museum

Name: American Folk Art Museum
Address: 2 Lincoln Square, Columbus Avenue at 66th St, New York, NY, 10023, US
Telephone: +12125959533
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American Folk Art Museum

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Since 1961, the American Folk Art Museum has been the leading institution shaping the understanding of art by the self-taught through its exhibitions, publications, and educational programs.

09/15/2024

Come see our upcoming exhibition, Playing with Design: Gameboards, Art, and Culture. The exhibition opens to the public on September 13. Admission is free.

Like a Magic Eightball or Ouija board, this game seems to have been designed as a fortune-teller, with a list of questions noted in pencil on the left. The popularity of Spiritualism, or the belief in the possibility of contact with the dead, was at its height during the second half of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth, providing context for games such as this one.
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Fortune-Telling Game, Late 19th century, Paint on wood, paper, glass, 11 1/2 x 17 1/2 in., American Folk Art Museum, Gift of Doranna and Bruce Wendel, 2024.7.9.

09/13/2024

Our Free Music Fridays series continues in 2024. Music in the museum's critically acclaimed thematically reflects the spirit of self-taught art on view at the museum. Hosted by Lara Ewen.
Featuring:
6:00pm: Cassidy Andrews
6:30pm: Victor Gurbo
7pm: Anana Kaye

Please consider making a donation of any size to support our virtual programs. Find out more about public programs online here.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-music-fridays-facebook-live-sept-13-2024-tickets-1002075363387

Note: Music will be broadcast live from 6:00 to 7:30 pm, and donations will be accepted until 9:30 pm.

Photo credits: Cassidy Andrews by Shravya Kag, Victor Gurbo by Ilya Popenko, Anana Kaye by Dimitri Mais.

09/13/2024

Our new exhibition, Anything but Simple: Gift Drawings and the Shaker Aesthetic, opens to the public on September 13.

The extraordinary, expressive drawings in these galleries, on loan from Hancock Shaker Village, are widely considered one of the world’s finest collections of their kind, containing twenty-five of the two hundred known examples. They were all made by women. Although Shaker brothers also had visions, it was mainly the sisters who translated the visions into drawings.

Known as “instruments,” these women shared common sources for their visual vocabulary. Some were inspired by their experiences in the “outside world” before becoming Shakers. Others who were raised as Shakers based their imagery on everyday life within Shaker communities. Both groups would have seen and likely created textiles such as quilts, rugs, and samplers. Motifs on fabrics, ceramics, wallpaper, gravestones, and tinware may have provided further inspiration.

Shaker sisters were experienced at needlework, and many makers of gift drawings were specifically noted as seamstresses in their communities. Translated to paper, the drawings echoed the textiles these women had been mak ing their entire lives. They expanded upon common nineteenth-century quilt and textile patterns, often given borders, separated into squares or blocks, or embellished like appliqué designs.

Fully realized visions, the drawings were given ample forethought and planning. Makers used compasses and rulers to create straight lines and perfect spheres. Pencil sketches and under-drawings show the practiced skill used to realize a sister’s vision. As can be seen in the drawings, each “instrument” clearly made use of her own style while often sharing a related overall aesthetic.
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Polly Jane Reed (1818–1881), A Present from Mother Lucy to Eliza Ann Taylor, New Lebanon, New York, 1849, Ink and watercolor on paper, 21 3/4 x 23 3/4 in., Miller Collection, Hancock Shaker Village, Massachusetts, 1963.106

09/11/2024

Come see our upcoming exhibition, Playing with Design: Gameboards, Art, and Culture. The exhibition opens to the public on September 13. Admission is free.

This striking board draws its inspiration from the Game of the Goose, introduced in European courts in the fifteenth century and producing numerous variations over the centuries that followed. Originally intended to symbolize the ups and downs of life as a spiritual journey, some versions retained themes of morality while others were adapted to gambling. Like the earliest forms of the game, this rendition has players advance along sixty-three squares, a number long associated with a critical stage in life.
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Game of the Goose, Mid-/late 19th century, Paint on wood, 16 x 15 3/4 in., American Folk Art Museum, Gift of Doranna and Bruce Wendel, 2024.7.4

09/09/2024

Our new exhibition, Anything but Simple: Gift Drawings and the Shaker Aesthetic, opens to the public on September 13. Admission is Free.

Scarves were a regular part of sisters’ wardrobes. Although somber colors like those seen in this example may contribute to a sense of Shaker austerity, textiles were made in a range of luminous shades including baby blues and delicate pinks. In the early decades of the nineteenth century, Shakers participated in every aspect of the fabric manufacturing process , beginning with silkworm cultivation—especially successful at communities in Kentucky—followed by making thread, dyeing, and weaving.
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William F. Winter (1899–1939), Untitled, New Lebanon, New York, c. 1923–1930, printed later from the original negative Gelatin silver print, 8 1/2 x 11 1/2 in., New York State Museum, Albany, H-xx9.1823.

09/07/2024

Come see our upcoming exhibition, Playing with Design: Gameboards, Art, and Culture between September 13, 2024 - January 26, 2025.

The objective of many board games was to reach “home.” The maker of this handsome inlaid Parcheesi board literalized this goal by placing a cozy house at the center of their design. Images of home took on a newly sentimental meaning in the nineteenth century, as the domestic sphere was increasingly identified with ideals of femininity, childhood, and material comfort.
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Parcheesi Board, Late 19th century, Inlaid wood, 19 1/2 x 19 1/4 in., American Folk Art Museum, Gift of Doranna and Bruce Wendel, 2024.7.1

09/05/2024

Our new exhibition, Anything but Simple: Gift Drawings and the Shaker Aesthetic, opens to the public on September 13.

Shaker communities were carefully laid out to facilitate group life. As seen in this watercolor depicting the heart of a village in Alfred, Maine, cohesive color and architectural schemes conveyed a strong sense of order, in alignment with Shaker beliefs.

Communities were also organized by gender. Although men and women were considered equals, separation between the sexes was designed to encourage celibacy, and each group was assigned complementary types of labor. The photograph seen here depicts a women’s workshop building in Watervliet, New York. The photographer’s emphasis on geometric forms and tones of gray gives a bleak cast to the winter scene, heightening a sense of plainness and austerity in everyday Shaker life.

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Joshua Bussell, (1816–1900), View of the Church Family, Alfred, Maine, Alfred, Maine, c. 1880 Pencil, ink, watercolor on paper 17 1/2 x 27 3/4 in. American Folk Art Museum, Gift of Ralph Esmerian, 2013.1.51.

09/03/2024

Please note: our galleries are currently closed for installation, and will reopen to the public on Friday, September 13. The Museum Shop remains open during regular business hours. Visit https://folkartmuseum.org/exhibitions/upcoming/ to learn more about our fall exhibitions opening next week!

08/30/2024

Most of the folk painting today in Haiti is made for galleries with an international clientele. Occasionally, however, one can still find paintings made by Haitians for Haitians. Most of these are related to commercial advertisements. Hand-painted billboards, shop signs, walls on the sides of houses and other buildings can be seen everywhere, and are often done by artists who also paint for galleries.

The medical treatment painting shown here was done by a man who works for Marcel Isaac, the founder and owner of Laboratoire Panacée, an alternative health center in the center of Port-au-Prince. This particular sign illustrates and describes, in Creole, the symptoms of conjunctivitis and the recommended method of treatment. Other paintings in the Laboratoire Panacée show, in vibrant color, the digestive system, the respiratory system, the causes and cures for dandruff, and other things related to the human condition.
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Medical Treatment Sign, Artist unidentified, c. 1985, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Oil on Masonite, 24 × 33 × 1/8", 2007.4.12

08/29/2024

We are delighted to share that earlier this week Jason Busch, our Becky and Bob Alexander Director and CEO, was invited to the Peoria Riverfront Museum to celebrate the museum's unique collaboration with the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. This partnership marked the Tribe’s first-ever museum commission, producing 14 state-of-the-art, internally lit display cases for the museum’s Center for American Decoys.

Thanks to the generous support of Alice Walton's Art Bridges Foundation, these cases now showcase nearly 50 exceptional decoys on loan from the American Folk Art Museum collection, representing the creativity and legacy of self-taught artists across time and place.

We are proud to be part of this meaningful collaboration, highlighting the significant contributions of Indigenous artists and strengthening cultural connections across the country.

08/26/2024

Sam Doyle lived in a home he built for his family on ancestral farmland on St. Helena Island, South Carolina, where Penn School was established in 1862 to assist freed slaves. He learned the importance of Gullah culture from elders and the value of history at Penn. Though his childhood artworks were admired, he didn't consider himself an artist until his senior years. The scholar and collector Gordon W. Bailey notes, "Doyle placed his first painting in his yard in 1944 and thereafter added others. Following his retirement in the late 1960s, he committed to 'painting history.' He blended Gullah lore and his Baptist faith into a rich multicultural impasto. Two series, 'Penn' (school) and 'First' (achievement or event), commingled with folkloric works and established Doyle's mission. His museum-like display evolved into the St. Helena Out Door Art Gallery." Doyle curated an oeuvre of robust paintings including luminaries—such as Dr. Crow, Mr. Fool and Ramblin' Rose—and African American celebrities such as Ray Charles, Joe Lewis and Jackie Robinson. Corcoran Gallery of Art curator Jane Livingston selected Doyle's work for the 1982 traveling exhibition Black Folk Art in America: 1930–1980. The exhibition introduced Doyle to a wide audience including the artists Jean-Michel Basquiat, who collected his works, and Ed Ruscha, who has cited Doyle's influence and painted a posthumous tribute titled Where Are You Going, Man? (For Sam Doyle), 1985. As Bailey observed, "The artist summed up momentous events with poetic simplicity and had a genius for distilling the essence of personality."
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Rocking Mary (double-sided), Sam Doyle ((1906–1985)), c. 1983, St. Helena Island, South Carolina, United States, Enamel house paint on corrugated roofing tin, 52 × 26 × 1/2", Gift of Elizabeth Ross Johnson, 1985.35.23B

08/25/2024

The portrait of this unidentified woman bears an uncanny resemblance to the portrait of Delilah Cook (Mrs. Levi) Johnson that was painted around the same time. Superficial similarities, such as the column and drape and atmospheric clouds in the background, can be attributed to conventions of the period. Both subjects are portrayed waist-length, with one arm crossed horizontally at the waist and holding a New Testament. Mrs. Johnson’s hand is presented flat against the picture plane, with one finger extended on the book’s spine. The woman in the Museum’s portrait holds the testament with only her thumb and index finger visible; both wear rings. Decorative neck pieces appear in each portrait, Mrs. Johnson wearing a beautiful beaded friendship ribbon draped over her shoulders and tucked into her waistband, probably with a watch at the end. The Museum’s subject has a lovely embroidered pink neck ribbon crossed over a deep lace collar with scalloped edges; a gold watch hangs from a long chain almost to her waist. Each has high cheekbones accentuated by rose tones and dark eyes with prominent shadows tracing the line from lid to brow. But the distinctive feature clearly uniting these two portraits is the very specific and almost identical shape of their noses.

It is unlikely that both portraits depict Delilah Cook Johnson, and in fact the Museum’s subject has a cleft in her chin, whereas Mrs. Johnson does not. Their resemblance, however, is surely more than coincidence; they may be sisters or close relations. It has been noted independently that each portrait resembles the work of an artist working in Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire once known as the Bordern Limner and since thought to possibly be John S. Blunt (1798–1835). However, despite similarities to the work of Blunt—the set of the jaw, the placement of the exposed ear in relation to the plane of the face- neither portrait exhibits the green tint in the flesh tones or the use of acid reds and greens most prominently associated with this artist’s work.

Delilah Cook married Levi Johnson during the 1830s, probably around the time her portrait was painted. Johnson was originally from Readfield, Maine, and moved to Canaan in 1830 after the death of his first wife. He was an attorney in Canaan and active in local and state government, representing Somerset County in the Maine State Senate for the year 1836. Little is known of Mrs. Johnson, and it has not been determined if she indeed had a sister; the couple had five children.
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Woman with Pink Neck Ribbon, Attributed to Jonas W. Holman ((1805–1873)), c. 1830–1835, Probably Maine, United States, Oil on canvas, 28 × 24", Gift of Jacqueline Loewe Fowler, 1995.17.1

08/24/2024

Fancy weavers, many of them recent emigrants from Ireland, Scotland, England, and Germany, introduced complex weave structures and loom technology to America early in the nineteenth century. Their knowledge of the complicated weaving techniques used for carpet weaving was adapted to "bed carpets" or "carpet coverlets," which featured two layers of cloth woven simultaneously. Double-cloth coverlets in geometric patterns were popular throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, parts of New England, and eastern Canada, but examples that include names and dates woven into the borders seem to have been a regional preference found on New York's Long Island.

The coverlet woven for Ann Carll is the earliest known American coverlet that is named and dated in the border. It is attributed to the Mott family of weavers, Quakers who worked in the Long Island town of Westbury. Several of the twenty-one extant named and dated double-cloth coverlets produced between 1810 and 1825 were made by the Motts. The name "Ann Carll" appears clearly twice—at the center and at the bottom of a single border. The date March 31, 1810, can be read at the center and at the top. In between, the name and date appear to be stretched out and are illegible. This distortion occurs because of the manner in which the threads are grouped and tied together to make the blocks for the name and date.
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Ann Carll Coverlet: Blazing Star and Snowballs, Attributed to the Mott Mill ((act. 1810–c. 1850)), 1810, Westbury, New York, United States, Indigo-dyed wool, natural cotton, 93 × 79", Gift of Margot Paul Ernst in memory of Susan B. Ernst, 1989.16.11

08/23/2024

Three-dimensional images cast of calcined gypsum, known today as chalkware, were produced in America as early as 1768, when stonecutter Henry Christian Geyer advertised plaster of Paris busts of famous public figures as well as “Animals such as Parrots, Cats, Dogs, Lions, Sheep, with a number of others too many to enumerate.” By the middle of the nineteenth century, chalkware provided an inexpensive alternative to imported ornaments fashioned from porcelain, earthenware, and other materials for the rural consumers hungry for decorative objects for their homes. It was long believed that chalkware was made by Pennsylvania Germans because so many examples survived in eastern Pennsylvania, a region with a heavy Germanic population. However, it has since been established that nineteenth-century chalkware was made primarily by Italian immigrants living in urban areas, such as Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. Chalkware was distributed widely by itinerant “image peddlers,” a fact that is reflected in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women (1868): Amy March, living in Concord about 1862, speaks of her “most precious plaster rabbit.”

Chalkware was made by pouring a creamy mixture of plaster of Paris into a two- (or more) part negative mold, which was held together for casting. The mixture was swirled around to coat the interior of the mold, and the excess was removed. After the plaster of Paris air-dried, the mold was removed, revealing the resulting hollow, three-dimensional form. The final step was to sand the seams where the molded parts were joined and to paint the chalkware in tempera, watercolor, or oil-based paint. Few molds survive today because they themselves were made of the fragile plaster of Paris and frequently broke or lost the clarity of the impression and were discarded.
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Chalkware: Seated Cat, Artist unidentified, 1850–1900, Eastern United States, Paint on plaster of, Paris, 15 5/8 × 8 3/4 × 10 1/8", Gift of Effie Thixton Arthur, 1963.3.1

08/22/2024

Tinsel paintings are reverse paintings on glass, with foil applied behind unpainted areas to provide shimmering highlights when caught in the reflection of candle- or gaslight. American Victorian tinsel paintings flourished between the mid-1830s through around 1890, and the most common pictures were vases of flowers, in the tradition of theorem paintings. The heyday of tinsel painting occurred during the 1860s, spurred by the publication of Art Recreations by “Mme. L.B. Urbino, Professor Henry Day, and others,” which gave instructions for thirty decorative techniques, including monochromatic drawings and theorem painting. J.E. Tilton & Co., Boston publisher, also offered supplies and kits for ornamental work, including stencil designs appropriate for Oriental painting, as tinsel painting was also known.

Art Recreations thoroughly described each step in the process of tinsel painting. The design was traced onto prepared glass, and then lampblack was applied as an opaque filler outside the tracing. Details, such as veins on leaves and flowers, were inked in first. Then transparent oil paints were used for colored portions. Foil—usually copper-colored remnants of tea or cigar packages—was added last, behind the unpainted areas, and was attached with putty or more lampblack. This large-format tinsel painting depicts a tar engaged in stunt riding on a running horse. Although the maritime costume might date as early as the 1830s, the tinsel painting was probably done later, as this type of stunt riding imagery began to flourish in midcentury, inspired by traveling equestrian shows.
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Tinsel Painting: Horseback Rider, Artist unidentified, 1850–1875, United States, Reverse painting and foil on glass with ink and metallic paint, 21 5/16 × 27 3/16" (sight), Bequest of Laura Harding, 1995.12.1

08/21/2024

The practice of tattooing has evolved over thousands of years and has strong roots in maritime culture; marking the body with tattoos was thought to offer protection against drowning and dangers that lurked in the sea. This rare tattoo pattern book, small enough to fit into a pocket or ditty bag, consists of thirty-five waterproof pages and is typical of logbooks used by seamen to record ballast or tank readings and measurements; there is even a page of penciled measurements at the back. The artist signed the first page, but the name following the inscription “Designed by” has faded—it seems to read “J.S. Bombay.”

There are a few surviving books like this one. A sailor most certainly drew the images, for tattoo artists were often sailors, and the portability of the sample book lent itself to the itinerant nature of a seaman’s life. Designs on several pages have nautical themes, and others were inspired by religion, patriotism, and popular culture. One page has several anchor designs with dates ranging from 1873 to 1899, probably the artist’s years of service. There is also a faint inscription dated 1910. One drawing, entitled “Sailor’s Dream,” depicts a sailor asleep in a hammock dreaming of embracing the beautiful girl pictured in the sail of his ship. A third drawing features a young seaman positioned in front of an American flag and leaning against a tombstone inscribed “Remember the Maine”; in the background the American battleship Maine is pictured before and after its destruction in the harbor off Havana, Cuba, on February 15, 1898. The Spanish were blamed for the sinking the ship and the consequent deaths of 260 American seamen, even though no one knew for certain who was responsible. “Remember the Maine” became a national rallying cry that helped to incite President William McKinley to declare war against Spain on April 25 of that year.
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Tattoo Pattern Book, Artist unidentified, 1873–1910, New York, United States, Ink on oiled cloth with buckram binding, 4 1/2 × 3 1/4 × 3/4" (closed), Anonymous gift, 1995.29.1

08/19/2024

The skull and crossed femurs, or thighbones, is an image that dates to antiquity and functioned as a memento mori, a reminder that everything that lives must die. The symbol was used by several fraternal groups as a sober reminder of the importance of leading a moral life. It was also part of the Odd Fellows ritual of rebirth. As one Odd Fellows monitor noted, it was the symbol “perhaps…used most frequently, in both sacred and profane mysteries, as a means of impressing the mind with a realizing sense of the seriousness of the end of life.” One regalia catalog listed plaques similar to this one as “emblems to hang in lodge room” that were sold as one piece in a set of sixteen or eighteen emblems.

The skull and crossbones appears frequently in Masonic contexts as well. It serves as a focal point in a “chamber of reflection,” an anteroom outfitted with arcane symbols intended to encourage deep self-contemplation before a candidate begins his degree.
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Independent Order of Odd Fellows Skull and Crossbones Plaque, Artist unidentified, 1875–1900, Paint and gold leaf on wood, 15 1/2 diam. x 4", Gift of Kendra and Allan Daniel, 2015.1.25, Photo Credit, José Andrés Ramírez.

08/17/2024

Come see our Exhibition, “Francesc Tosquelles: Avant-Garde Psychiatry and the Birth of Art Brut” is on until, tomorrow, August 18, 2024. See it now!
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This exhibition, situated at the intersection of art and psychiatry, explores for the first time in the United States the legacy of the Catalan psychiatrist Francesc Tosquelles (1912, Reus, Spain–1994, Granges-sur-Lot, France). After fleeing Francisco Franco’s Nationalist dictatorship during the Spanish Civil War, Tosquelles arrived in 1940 at the Saint-Alban-sur-Limagnole psychiatric hospital in Southern France. There he pioneered avant-garde psychiatric practices that came to be known as institutional psychotherapy, based on nonhierarchical and collective interactions between patients, medical staff, on-site workers, and neighboring rural communities. During the Nazio ccupation of France, the Saint-Alban “asylum-village”—isolated at four thousand feet above sea level—also became a haven for political dissidents and artistic figures who were exposed to the remarkable creative output of its patients such as Auguste Forestier, Marguerite Sirvins, and Aimable Jayet. Seeing these works prompted the French artist Jean Dubuffet (1901–1985) to coin the notion of “art brut” in 1945, beginning his now-celebrated collection. This rich legacy is presented through rarely seen artworks, films, and documents associated with Tosquelles’s aspiration to “cure” mental institutions, as well as Dubuffet’s concurrent critique of the art institution. It excavates Saint-Alban’s subterranean yet outsized influence on twentieth-century intellectual life, linking it to figures like Antonin Artaud, Paul Eluard, Frantz Fanon, and Jean Oury, and places its initiatives within the history of mental health in the United States.
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Jacques Matarasso (1911, Greece – 1993, France), Francesc Tosquelles in the Garden of the Saint-Alban Psychiatric Hospital, c. 1944–1945, Photograph, Collection Family Ou-Rabah Tosquelles.

08/16/2024

Lucinda Toomer grew up on a farm in Georgia, and learned to quilt from her mother when she was just 12 years old. She was very conscious of the effects of using vivid colors in her work, stating once that red “shows up better than anything else.” In this example, red is used to powerful effect as vertical slashes in long strips, providing strong contrasts in blocks of diamonds. Art historian Maude Wahlman has noted that the pattern of light and dark shapes evokes a special cloth dyed by Nigerian women to symbolize the spots of a leopard, whose attributes of power and courage were often admired. Shortly before her death in 1983, Toomer was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellowship for her remarkable and vibrant works. ⁠
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Lucinda Toomer (1888–1983), Diamond Strip Quilt, Macon, Georgia, United States c. 1975. Cotton corduroy, flannel, velvet, and wool, 79 1/2 × 66 1/4". Collection American Folk Art Museum. Gift of William Arnett, 1990.7.1. Photo by Gavin Ashworth.

08/15/2024

David Crane (1806–1849) and his wife, Catherine (1814–1889), were originally from Pultneyville, New York. They were among the many western New York families who migrated to Illinois during the 1830s, attracted by the promise of plentiful and fertile soil. The Cranes traveled to Aurora, Illinois, by covered wagon in 1834, the year the town was first settled. A few years later, they commissioned impressive portraits of themselves and other family members. Although photography was available by this time, the painted portrait held the weight of tradition and afforded the luxury of scale and color. The realism and aesthetic of the studio portrait, however, had a profound effect that is evident in this work by Sheldon Peck.

The artist began painting about 1820 in his native Vermont before moving to western New York, and then to Illinois. Peck’s earliest efforts were stark and sober bust-length portraits on wooden panels. In Illinois, he introduced a brighter palette and a larger format of full-length figures. The trompe-l’oeil frame was an added inducement, as the portrait was ready to hang without any further expense.
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Sheldon Peck ((1797–1868)), c. 1845, Aurora, Illinois, United States, Oil on canvas, 35 11/16 × 43 5/8", Gift of Ralph Esmerian, 2013.1.17

08/14/2024

There are at least nineteen known reverse paintings on glass of Abraham Lincoln. All of the versions are based upon the photograph of the painting taken by Anthony Berger at Mathew Brady's Washington, D.C., studio on Tuesday, February 9, 1864. The large number of extant glass portraits of Lincoln and other luminaries suggests that many more of these paintings were painted than have probably survived due to their fragility. In three of the Lincoln portraits the president is facing right, which incorrectly places his signature mole on the wrong side of his face.

This example is attributed to William Matthew Prior, who painted more than one hundred surviving reverse paintings on glass of celebrated American heroes including George and Martha Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, and Daniel Webster.
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Abraham Lincoln, Attributed to William Matthew Prior ((1806–1873)), c.1860–1873, Probably East Boston, Massachusetts or Baltimore, Maryland, United States, Reverse painting in oil on glass, 23 1/2 × 17 1/4" (sight), Museum purchase, 1985.18.1

08/13/2024

There is a strong legacy of self-taught artists who came to their creative activities late in life, often after years in the workforce. Sometimes the artist articulates a God-driven urge to create; other times it is a rediscovery of a youthful impulse. Often, older artists record themselves, representing self-images of retained virility or growing frailty. In this contemplative self-portrait, respected Jamaican artist Sidney McLaren has depicted himself in grisaille, his graying visage set against a landscape of vivid color. He signed it, “Sidney McLaren—Artist at 84 yrs. old. Life is What One Makes it. No Two Men Alike.” McLaren’s engagement with artmaking seems to have been almost serendipitous: “In the yard in which I was living, one day I took a bit of cardboard and pencil and started to draw the house, trees, fencing, etc. After showing it around, people praised it, so I was more interested and discovered that my mental faculties started to work by my concentrating on art. If it pleases the Lord, my desire is to go on drawing and painting until I can do no more.”
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Artist at 84 Years Old, Sidney McLaren ((1895–1979)), 1979, Jamaica, Oil on cardboard, 15 3/4 × 13", Gift of Maurice C. and Patricia L. Thompson, 2003.20.7

08/12/2024

Don’t miss your chance to see the critically-acclaimed exhibition “Francesc Tosquelles: Avant-Garde Psychiatry and the Birth of Art Brut,” before it closes on August 18th!

Creative Growth Art Center—which has served people with developmental, intellectual, and physical disabilities in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1974—presents an encouraging U.S. parallel to the counter-hierarchical dynamic of Tosquelles’s Saint-Alban. Its celebrated participant, Judith Scott, known for her bundle-like, fabric-shaped sculptures, arrived at Creative Growth in 1985 after being diagnosed with Down syndrome and deafness (she had been institutionalized most of her life before
receiving this diagnosis). Likewise, the former New York–based organization Hospital Audiences International (HAI) held workshops frequently attended by Melvin Way—now one of the most prominent living art brut artists, known for his formula-filled small drawings, which he often carries with him and enhances over time. Works like Scott’s and Way’s signal an era when art is produced outside of state institutions (like the DeWitt State Hospital in California, where Martín Ramírez was
institutionalized) within the context of therapeutical workshops that support exhibitions and collecting activities.
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Judith Scott (1943–2005, United States), Untitled, 1989, Fiber, string, yarn, 18 x 10 x 10 in., Greenberg–Lee Collection

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Videos

Free Music Fridays online: September 13, 2024

Our Free Music Fridays series continues in 2024. Music in the museum's critically acclaimed thematically reflects the spirit of self-taught art on view at the museum. Hosted by Lara Ewen. Featuring: 6:00pm: Cassidy Andrews 6:30pm: Victor Gurbo 7pm: Anana Kaye Please consider making a donation of any size to support our virtual programs. Find out more about public programs online here. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-music-fridays-facebook-live-sept-13-2024-tickets-1002075363387 Note: Music will be broadcast live from 6:00 to 7:30 pm, and donations will be accepted until 9:30 pm. Photo credits: Cassidy Andrews by Shravya Kag, Victor Gurbo by Ilya Popenko, Anana Kaye by Dimitri Mais.

Free Music Fridays, July 12, 2024

Our last Free Music Fridays series for the summer season is tonight. Music in the museum's critically acclaimed thematically reflects the spirit of self-taught art on view at the museum. Hosted by Lara Ewen. Featuring: 6:00pm: Pete Galub 6:30pm: Lucas Maehara 7pm: Luke Wesley Please consider making a donation of any size to support our virtual programs. Find out more about public programs online here. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-music-fridays-facebook-live-july-12-2024-tickets-929837818947 Note: Music will be broadcast live from 6:00 to 7:30 pm, and donations will be accepted until 9:30 pm. Photo credits: Pete Galub by John Harris, Lucas Maehara by Brewter Smith, Luke Wesley by Drew Luster

Radical Institutions and Experimental Psychiatry: The Legacy of Francesc Tosquelles

We can't wait for our upcoming film program “Radical Institutions and Experimental Psychiatry: The Legacy of Francesc Tosquelles," co-presented with Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI). Taking place at MoMI from June 21-23, the international film series is inspired by themes in our new exhibition "Francesc Tosquelles: Avant-Garde Psychiatry and the Birth of Art Brut." It will explore mental health and therapeutic practices rooted in community building, self-managed care, and creativity that echo the practice of institutional psychotherapy that Francesc Tosquelles established at the Saint-Alban psychiatric hospital in Southern France in the mid-twentieth century. Each film program highlights the practices of radical psychiatrists and intellectuals trained by, influenced by, or working along the lines of Francesc Tosquelles, while offering new insights into mental illness and its intersections with global history, politics and culture. Get tickets here: https://movingimage.org/series/radical-institutions/

Free Music Fridays: May 10, 2024

Our Free Music Fridays series continues in 2024. Music in the museum's critically acclaimed thematically reflects the spirit of self-taught art on view at the museum. Hosted by Lara Ewen. This month, Free Music Friday is brought to you by the Folk Adjacent Showcase Series, and will stream live from Wildwood Recording Studio in Brooklyn, NY. Folk Adjacent is a live music series focused on exploring the deep corners of underrepresented narrative songwriting. Tonight's event features performances from songwriters Manquillian Minnifee, Belu-Olisa, and E.W. Harris. Please consider making a donation of any size to support our virtual programs: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-music-fridays-facebook-live-may-10-2024-tickets-880420831407 Note: Music will be broadcast live from 6:00 to 7:30 pm, and donations will be accepted until 9:30 pm. Artwork by E.W. Harris

Free Music Fridays: April 12, 2024

Our Free Music Fridays series continues in 2024. Music in the museum's critically acclaimed thematically reflects the spirit of self-taught art on view at the museum. Hosted by Lara Ewen. This month's show features: 6:00 pm: Pete Lanctot 6:30 pm: Dave Keener 7:00 pm: Gavin Mendonca Please consider making a donation of any size to support our virtual programs: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-music-fridays-facebook-live-april-12-2024-tickets-866006096547 Note: Music will be broadcast live from 6:00 to 7:30 pm, and donations will be accepted until 9:30 pm. Image: Pete Lantot photo courtesy of Shervin Lainez, Dave Keener photo by Jo Honig, Gavin Mendonca photo by Azikiwe 'Ziggy' Denheart

As part of the exhibition “Marvels of My Own Inventiveness,” curators asked artist Claude Lawrence to reflect upon his creative process as both a painter and musician. Don’t miss your chance to see this exhibition, which explores the artistic self-expression of five Black painters in the AFAM collection, before it closes on March 24!

Free Music Fridays online: March 8, 2024

Our Free Music Fridays series continues in 2024. Music in the museum's critically acclaimed thematically reflects the spirit of self-taught art on view at the museum. Hosted by Lara Ewen. This month's show features: 6:00 pm: Dan Strauss 6:30 pm: John Cathal O'Brien 7:00 pm: Laura Meyer Please consider making a donation of any size to support our virtual programs: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-music-fridays-facebook-live-march-8-2024-tickets-841312547477 Note: Music will be broadcast live from 6:00 to 7:30 pm, and donations will be accepted until 9:30 pm. Image: Dan Strauss photo by Seth Grossman, John Cathal O'Brien photo by Andrew Bisdale, and Laura Meyer photo by Kristijan Lozić.

Happy Valentine’s Day! ❤️💕💘 Did you know that Valentine’s Day cards have a folk art history? “Love tokens,” or cards of affection shared between lovers and friends were introduced to America by the Pennsylvania Germans in the mid-18th century. However, similar fertility-related customs and rituals have been celebrated in mid-February since pagan times. “By the 18th century, we start to see something that really begins to resemble modern Valentine’s cards. In the 19th century, this evolved further to the point where popular ladies’ magazines like Harper’s Weekly published instructions for readers on how to craft them," says AFAM curator Emelie Gevalt. __ 💌 Artist Unidentified , Love Token for Sarah Newlin, (With Envelope), Southern Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States c. 1799. Ink and watercolor on paper 12 5/8 x 12 5/8.” Collection American Folk Art Museum, New York. Gift of J. Randall Plummer and Harvey S. Shipley Miller, 2007.24.1 A, 2007.24.1. A. Photo by John Parnell.

Free Music Fridays online: February 9, 2024

Our Free Music Fridays series continues in 2024. Music in the museum's critically acclaimed thematically reflects the spirit of self-taught art on view at the museum. Hosted by Lara Ewen. This month's show features: 6:00 pm: Stephen Babcock 6:30 pm: Lisa Bastoni 7:00 pm: The Tall Pines Please consider making a donation of any size to support our virtual programs: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-music-fridays-facebook-live-february-9-2024-tickets-799173518507 Note: Music will be broadcast live from 6:00 to 7:30 pm, and donations will be accepted until 9:30 pm. Image: Stephen Babcock photo by Hunter Way, Lisa Bastoni photo by Thomas Lingner, The Tall Pines photo by Chris Dinnerman.

As part of the exhibition “Marvels of My Own Inventiveness,” contemporary self-artist Kevin Xiques reflects on this abstract painting by Claude Lawrence. The exhibition features four additional paintings by Lawrence, along with an original jazz composition made by the artist, and a curator-led interview. Listen to the full audio guide for the exhibition by downloading the free Bloomberg Connects app, available via the link in our bio!

Free Music Fridays on Facebook: Jan. 12, 2024

The first show in 2024 of the museum's critically acclaimed series happens tonight on Facebook Live. Music featured at the Free Music Fridays series thematically reflects the spirit of self-taught art on view at the museum. Hosted by Lara Ewen. This month's show features: 6:00 pm: Cordelia Stephens 6:30 pm: Justin Golden 7:00 pm: Matthew Bloem Please consider making a donation of any size to support our virtual programs: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-music-fridays-facebook-live-january-12-2024-tickets-776720701527 Note: Music will be broadcast live from 6:00 to 7:30 pm, and donations will be accepted until 9:30 pm. Image: Cordelia Stephens courtesy of the artist; Justin Golden photo by Elyza Reinhart; Matthew Bloem photo by Heidi Driesenga

As part of the exhibition “Marvels of My Own Inventiveness,” curators asked contemporary self-taught artist Kevin Xiques to reflect on the works on view. Featuring 22 paintings by five Black artists in the AFAM collection, the exhibition explores the self-expression of Black makers working in and around abstraction. Listen to the full audio guide by downloading the free Bloomberg Connects app!

Free Music Fridays, Facebook live: Dec. 8, 2023

The final 2023 show of the museum's critically acclaimed series is tonight on Facebook Live. Music featured at the Free Music Fridays series thematically reflects the spirit of self-taught art on view at the museum. Hosted by Lara Ewen. This month's show features: 6:00 pm: Andrea Wittgens 6:30 pm: Jeanne Marie Boes 7:00 pm: Michael Patrick F. Smith Please consider making a donation of any size to support our virtual programs: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-music-fridays-facebook-live-december-8-2023-tickets-754380551537 Note: Music will be broadcast live from 6:00 to 7:30 pm, and donations will be accepted until 9:30 pm. Image: Andrea Wittgens by Julia Drummond, Jeanne Marie Boes by Amanda Kaye, and Michael Patrick F. Smith by Mark Cornelison

Have you visited the Museum to see “Unnamed Figures: Black Presence and Absence in the Early American North?” Through 125 works including paintings, photographs, needlework, and works on paper, the exhibition offers a new window onto Black representation in a region that is often overlooked in narratives of early African American history. The exhibition is open Tuesday-Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Admission is free!

On this #GivingTuesday, please consider supporting the American Folk Art Museum by becoming a Member. With your help, we can continue to provide art classes for children and paid internships for college students, as well as funding for groundbreaking exhibitions such as “Unnamed Figures: Black Presence and Absence in the Early American North.” And, if you join today, you can save 20% on all Shop purchases through December 11. You'll also be the first to know about new exhibitions, special events, and more. Visit the link below to learn more: https://shop.folkartmuseum.org/membership/

Free Music Fridays, Facebook Live: Nov. 10, 2023

The museum’s critically acclaimed series continues online tonight via Facebook Live. Music featured at the Free Music Fridays series thematically reflects the spirit of self-taught art on view at the museum. Hosted by Lara Ewen. Tonight's show features: 6:00 pm: Emma Jude 6:30 pm: Lara Herscovitch 7:00 pm: Shira Goldberg Please consider making a donation of any size to support our virtual programs: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-music-fridays-facebook-live-november-10-2023-tickets-734383971227 Note: Music will be broadcast live from 6:00 to 7:30 pm, and donations will be accepted until 9:30 pm. Image: Emma Jude by Ambika Verma, Lara Herscovitch by Joy Bush Photography, Shira Goldberg courtesy of the artist

Don’t miss your chance to see our current exhibitions “What That Quilt Knows About Me,” and “Material Witness: Folk and Self-Taught Artists at Work,” before they close on October 29th!

Free Music Fridays: October 13, 2023

The museum’s critically acclaimed series continues online tonight via Facebook Live. Music featured at the Free Music Fridays series thematically reflects the spirit of self-taught art on view at the museum. Hosted by Lara Ewen. Tonight's show features: 6:00 pm: Juan Soria 6:30 pm: KJ Denhert 7:00 pm: Ben Shooter Please consider making a donation of any size to support our virtual programs: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-music-fridays-facebook-live-october-13-2023-tickets-713466506527 Note: Music will be broadcast live from 6:00 to 7:30 pm, and donations will be accepted until 9:30 pm. Image: Juan Soria by German Saez, KJ Denhert by Kyra Kverno, Ben Shooter by Christin Gabriel

✨We can’t wait for our upcoming gala!! Join us next month at the Lighthouse at Pier 61, Chelsea Piers, NYC, for an evening of celebration. 🎉🥂The Museum will be honoring Joyce B. Cowin in memory of Daniel Cowin, The William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation, and Dr. Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw for their achievements in art, culture, and scholarship. All proceeds from the gala will support our mission to educate and inspire audiences through inclusive programs, exhibitions, and internships. Visit the link below to learn more and purchase tickets! https://us.givergy.com/AmericanFolkArtMuseumBenefitGala/?controller=home