American Folk (HC)

About This Item

One of the best-loved and most fervently collected forms of American art, folk art is a diverse and authentic vernacular expression. It is a unique heritage full of everything from whirligigs and quilts, to decorated chests and frakturs. American Folk presents over 60 of these remarkable objects, from one of the most prominent collections in the country. They include such masterpieces as Erastus Salisbury Field's lush The Garden of Eden, E. L. George's surrealistic Child in a Rocking Chair, a complex, monumental quilt by the former slave Harriet Powers, and Wilhelm Schimmel's extraordinary carved animals. The introductory essay by curator Gerald W. R. Ward discusses the elusive notion of "folk art" itself and presents the history of the collection's acquisition by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Lavishly illustrated in full color, American Folk is a vibrant and engaging introduction to one of our proudest cultural traditions.

"Many [of these] objects are masterpieces...These works survive as intriguing, often poignant evidence of the circumstances of ordinary lives, and of the need to make art." -New York Times

Hardcover.
112 pages.
88 color illustrations.
9" x 10".