"Contemporary American Folk Artists" by Elinor Lander Horwitz

I have made two earlier posts either about or prompted by the books of Elinor Lander Horwitz who published several books on the subjects of Appalachian Folk Art and/or American Folk Art. Elinor Lander Horwitz, who wrote numerous books on several topics, spent a great deal of time in the 1970's traveling across the United States with her two sons who were both highly skilled photographers meeting, interviewing, and photographing American Folk Artists and their works. I assume also that based on the depth and breadth of her interest in and knowledge about folk art Elinor Lander Horwitz must have owned a large collection of folk art. The book which is the subject of this blog post has individual chapters about 10 folk painters, 6 folk wood carvers, and 6 individuals whom she described as "total environmentalists". A blogger named Jim Linderman has also blogged about Horwitz and this book. The amount of work, time, travel, and expenditures which went into the creation of Horwitz's books about American and Appalachian Folk Art was very extensive and no doubt expensive. The book has 143 pages, 22 chapters each of which profiles a single folk artist. Every one of these people was a unique creator in a greater world of folk art which is also quite unique in both the singular and plural manifestations. Due to the period in which the book was researched, written, and published,the 1970's, I suspect that all, or nearly all of the artists profiled are now dead. I will briefly describe what this book has taught me about a few of them whom I consider the most interesting although I have to admit that I would have loved to have known them all. One or two, maybe less than a handful of the artists, may well have been deceased before Horwitz wrote the book. Sister Gertrude Morgan was an African American Folk Artist and street preacher in New Orleans. Clementine Hunter was also an African American Folk artist who spent her life as a servant on Melrose Plantation in central Louisiana. At the plantation, this illiterate African American cook was exposed to the French painter Francois Mignon and his work, and stated she thought she could "mark a painting" too. After seeing one or more of her unique works of African American life in the early twentieth century, Mignon began to mentor her and provide her with paints and other materials. It is possible today that she is now more famous than her mentor. Hattie Bruner was a Caucasian antique dealer in Pennsylvania Dutch country who grew up poor and only became a painter in her late sixties. She painted wonderful pictures of life in the country side around where she had grown up in an older, more quaint time. Miles Carpenter in Western Virginia was a seller of watermelons and other produce who bacan carving and selling wooden copies of his melons and then branched out to other subject matter for the rest of his life. Edward Ambrose was a Virginia carpenter who developed a sideline of carving small objects of all kinds and then creating much larger tableau of them such as country stores, blacksmith shops, and a duck decoy maker's workshop. In Yorktown, Virginia, Walter Flax was a socially isolated African American man who had desired to go to sea but lived his entire life without ever seeing the ocean and spent years decorating the property on which he lived with his ships made of whatever salvaged materials he could find in the area around his two room shack. Perhaps the most unique of these folk artists was Creek Charlie, Charlie Fields, who lived in a house which he covered with multicolored polka dots and filled with numerous polka dot painted objects in every inch of his residence. On Sundays, he welcomed anyone who wished to visit him to come to his home for conversation and friendship. His little polka dotted farm house is the cover photo of Horwitz's book. Jim Colclough was a Californian whose home was taken by the highway department under eminent domain which caused him to begin to protest the government via his folk art constructions of often animated figures carved from wood and equipped with cranks or other devices to cause them to move in unique ways. His probable favorite of these constructions was of two men, one of whom represented the government of California, and the other who represented others such as Colclough who had been adversely affected by government actions. When the crank is turned to animate the piece the representation of the state of California holding the representation of the victims of the state shakes that figure up and down to shake him loose from his money and/or property. The title of that piece is "Helping Man Decide Sell Home for Highway". I have to say that Colclough is probably my favorite of all the artists who are subjects of the book. This is a wonderful book to read and learn about more than 20 of the prominent American Folk Artists of the early to middle twentieth century. It can usually be found on most internet based used book websites. You will enjoy getting to know these unique and uniquely productive Americans.

Appalachian Folk Art and Mental Illness: Is There Any Correlation?

"The Temptation: Edgar Tolson And The Genesis Of Twentieth Century Folk Art" by Julia S. Ardery

Rarely, if ever, have I seen a book which is so meticulously researched, documented, and written. This book by Julia S. Ardery is a masterpiece and one of the most important books in the field of Appalachian Folk Art. The only potential negative in the book is the fact that it is so well written that it can become a bit pedantic at times. But if one chooses to read books written by a potential pedant, this is the book to read. It is based on the well justified premise that Campton, Kentucky, folk artist Edgar Tolson was largely responsible for the popularity of Appalachian Folk Art and, in some ways, the increased popularity of American Folk Art in general. It is also fascinating that the book was published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1998 more than 22 years after the death of the author. That fact is a clear indicator that it must have been preserved in manuscript form by her son Major General Phillip P. Ardery who was her sole surviving child at the time the book was published. Julia Ardery was also the editor of another book, "Welcome The Traveler Home" which is the memoir of Jim Garland, a career union organizer. That book was also published after the death of Julia Ardery by the University of Kentucky Press. Edgar Tolson was an enigmatic, garrulous, and sometimes abrasive man whose eventual fame might not have been foreseen in a person who fluctuated between periods of preaching and excessive drinking. He is even credited with once having blown up the little church he preached in with dynamite. But he gained many supporters, promoters, and fans as he moved from a life of itinerant labor to become the premier wood carver in America in his lifetime. He was obviously well respected by Ardery who spent a vast amount of time and resources to compile this book which is sourced with numerous interviews by the author with more than 60 people other than her primary subject. She also did an excellent piece of work in detailing the lengthy relationship between Edgar Tolson and Scuptor and educator Michael D. Hall who promoted Edgar Tolson's work tirelessly, collected large numbers of his carvings, and eventually was able to sell his entire folk art collection to the Milwaukee Art Museum which has an entire wall in one room which is dedicated to Edgar Tolson's carvings of the biblical story of Adam, Eve, and their sons, Cain and Able. Ardery goes to extensive and well justified lengths to discuss how Edgar Tolson's growing popularity in the world of "real art" enabled many other folk artists, both Appalachian and American, to sell their works, gain credibility in the art world, and in some cases to actually make a living from what had previously been known more often as "whittling", "fooling around", or "wasting time". This is a truly beautiful piece of work with numerous photograpns of Edgar Tolson, his art works, his family, and others. The research for this book is some of the best I have ever seen on any topic. If you are a person who enjoys reading a well written, extensivley researched, and flawlessly documented work, this is the book for you whether or not you are already an admirer of good folk art. It is actually capable of inducing you to become another of the aforementioned admirers and collectors of folk art. The book is widely available on most used book websites and well worth reading.

"Michael Hall: Three Installations", by Michael Hall

Michael Hall is an American Sculptor who previously taught at the University of Kentucky and left that position to take up a residency at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. This book is an exhibition catalogue for three major outdoor installations which he created in 1977. They were titled Brahma, Stockton, and Drifter. The catalogue is only 38 pages but contains a large assortmenf of photographs of the three installations, Hall, and one piece by Appalachian Wood Carver Edgar Tolson. My interest in Hall came about because of my major interest in Appalachian Folk Art and my extensive connection to Edgar Tolson's son Donny Tolson who was also a major Appalachian Wood Carve in his own right. But Hall's work is fascinating and worthy of attention from any lover of good art, especially large sculptural works. The book also contains essays written by Michael Hall; Frederick J. Cummings, Director of The Detroit Institute of Arts in 1977 when the installations were created; John Hallmark Neff, Curator of Modern Art at the Detroit Institute in 1977; Mary Jane Jacob, Assistant Curator of Modern Art at the Detroit Institute; Robert Pincus-Witten who was an American Art Critic, Curator, and Historian at the time. I have never seen the installations discussed in the catalogue, and honestly do not know at this time if they are still extant. Such large pieces of sculpture are often victims of urban renewal projects, industrial or housing developments, or even highway construction at times. Hall was a well respected scuptor and art educator and his work was popular among supporters of Modern American Art. If I find myself in the Detroit or Bloomfield Hills environs, I can assure you that I will seek out the full story of these three works. But my major interest in Michael Hall will always be his work in support of Appalachian Folk Art and Folk Artists, especially Edgarand Donny Tolson. Hall, during his tenure at the Univerity of Kentucky became an afficianado, collector, and major supporter of Appalachian Folk Art. His and his wife's collection of Appalachian Folk Art now resides in the Milwaukee Art Museum, and I am proud to say that I have seen those pieces from the Hall collection which are on display there including several pieces by Edgar Tolson. They are well worth seeing for any supporter of Appalachian Folk Art, American Folk Art, or simply the greater world of art in general.