Monday 7 November 2016

American Folk Art - part 7

Continuing a major series on American Folk Art featuring 21 postings. Folk Art encompasses art produced by artists and ordinary folk with little or no training in the arts, and is traditionally utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic. The period I’m covering is the C18th and C19th.
See parts 1-6 also for earlier works.

Note: Follow me on Twitter for notice of updates @poulwebb

This is part 7 of a 21-part post on American Folk Art:

Quilts and textiles:

During the C18th and C19th women of all social levels made quilts and coverlets. Primarily meant to be utilitarian, they were often designed to please the eye as well, and were sometimes imbued with significance far beyond being simple bed covers.

They were often wedding gifts, or made by brides-to-be to take to their future marital home. They were also made to celebrate the birth of a child, and even sometimes in remembrance of the dead.


1790-1810 Hewson-Centre Quilt with Multiple Borders
cotton and possibly linen 217.2 x 193 cm
American Folk Art Museum, New York City

1803c Coverlet made for Phebe Warner (probably) by sarah Furman Warner Williams (b 1764)
262.3  x 229.9 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

1825-45 Appliquéd and Embroidered Pictorial Bedcover
wool, silk, cotton, beads with silk and cotton embroidery 231.1 x 204.5 cm
American Folk Art Museum, New York City

1825-49 Block-Work Stencilled Spread
paint on cotton 223.5 x 193.6 cm
American Folk Art Museum, New York City

1842 Quilt Top by "MTD"
cotton 251.5 x 238.7 cm
American Folk Art Museum, New York City

1843 Album Quilt
cotton and ink with cotton embroidery 236.8 x 241.9 cm
American Folk Art Museum, New York City

1845-50 Baltimore-Style Album Quilt Top
cotton with wool embroidery 213.4 x 208.3 cm
American Folk Art Museum, New York City

Detail of the 1845-50 Baltimore-Style Album Quilt Top (above)

Detail of the 1845-50 Baltimore-Style Album Quilt Top (above)

1848 Quilt by Elsey A. Halstead (1830-1850), Middletown, New York
Folk Art Museum, New York City

1850-60  Feathered Stars Quilt by "ECB"
cotton 242.6 x 194.3 cm
American Folk Art Museum, New York City

1850-1880 Soldier's Quilt: Square within a Square
wool 217.2 x 167.6 cm
Folk Art Museum, New York City

1852 Dunn Album Quilt
cotton and ink with cotton embroidery 254 x 252.1 cm
American Folk Art Museum, New York City

1854-1890 Soldier’s Quilt
wool-melton 170.2 x 168.9 cm
American Folk Art Museum, New York City

1858-63 Bird of Paradise Quilt
cotton, wool, and silk with ink and silk embroidery 214.6 x 176.8 cm
Folk Art Museum, New York City

1861 Cross River Album Quilt
cotton and silk with wool embroidery 231.1 x 190.5 cm
American Folk Art Museum, New York City

1866 Abraham Lincoln Flag Quilt by Lucy Frost
cotton with cotton appliqué and embroidery 154.9 x 190.5 cm
American Folk Art Museum, New York City

1870-80 Floral Medallion Quilt
cotton 218.4 x 177.8 cm
American Folk Art Museum, New York City

1875-95 "Sacret Bibel" Quilt Top
cotton, silk, wool, and ink, with cotton embroidery 224.8 x 182.9 cm
American Folk Art Museum, New York City

1876 Centennial Quilt
cotton with cotton embroidery 209.6 x 189.3 cm
American Folk Art Museum, New York City

1880-1910 Circle in Star Quilt
pierced cotton 198.1 x 193 cm
American Folk Art Museum, New York City

1884-90 Grover Cleveland Quilt
cotton 217.2 x 217.2 cm
American Folk Art Museum, New York City

1885 Masonic Appliqué Quilt
cotton
Folk Art Museum, New York City

1885-90 Cleveland-Hendricks Crazy Quilt
lithographed silk ribbons, silk and wool with cotton fringe and silk and metallic embroidery 190.5 x 195.6 cm
American Folk Art Museum, New York City

1885-95 Crazy Quilt by "S.H.'"
silk, ink, paint and cotton with silk embroidery 190.5 x 188 cm
American Folk Art Museum, New York City

1890-1910 Pine Tree Quilt
pierced cotton 172.7 x 223.5 cm
Private Collection

1890-1910 Vortex Quilt
pierced and appliquéd cotton 203.2 x 208.3 cm
Folk Art Museum, New York City

 c1900s "Close Finish"
hooked rug wool and burlap with cotton binding 82.5 x 116.8 cm
American Folk Art Museum, New York City

1907c Quilt by Carl Klewicke (1835-1913)
silk, faille, taffeta and satin 183.1 x 152.4 cm
Folk Art Museum, New York City


Eunice Griswold Holcombe Pinney (1770-1849)

Eunice Pinney is the earliest known American primitive watercolourist. She was born into a large, wealthy family in Simsbury, Connecticut. Painting fruit and flower still lifes, landscapes, and scenes from history was a popular pastime among refined ladies in nineteenth-century America.

Self-educated before art instruction books became popular, Pinney was free to invent her own style. The variety of her subjects is unusual; she painted memorials and literary scenes, portraits and landscapes. English prints inspired some of her works, such as "The Cotters Saturday Night", which illustrates a poem by eighteenth-century Scottish poet Robert Burns. 

1810 The Cotters Saturday Night
pen and watercolour 30.7 x 37.8 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

"Lolotte et Werther" illustrates an episode in the life of the hero of Goethe's enormously popular romantic novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther" (1774).

1810 Lolotte and Werther
watercolour 37.7 x 29.2 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

Pinney seems to have started painting around 1809, when she was thirty-nine. Some scholars have noted that her maturity might have allowed her to be bold and confident in her work. Most of her paintings were done in Simsbury or Windsor, Connecticut, where she settled in 1797, marrying Butler Pinney after her first husband drowned. Of her fifty-four recorded works, the majority were painted between 1809 and 1826.


1800-10 Three Women Standing by a Funerary Monument
watercolour and graphite on paper 25.4 x 20.6 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

1810 (attributed to) Untitled
watercolour 22.2 x 20.9 cm

1810 Two Women
watercolour on paper 25.4 x 30.5 cm

1813 "In Memory of Eunice Pinney"
watercolour and pricking on paper 41.9 x 48.9 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

1815c (attributed to) Lady Standing in a Landscape
watercolour on paper 28.5 x 22.9 cm

1815c Mother and Child
pen and black ink and watercolour on wove paper 25.2 x 30.1 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

1820c Family Group at Piano
watercolour on paper 35.5 x 41 cm
Art Institute of Chicago, IL

1845c Portrait of Two Girls
watercolour and pen and ink on paper

n.d. Children Playing
watercolour 25.4 x 30.5 cm

n.d. Collingwood and Northesk: The Ever to be Lamented Lord Nelson
watercolour on paper 30.5 x 36.8 cm

n.d. Family Register of Butler Pinney
pen and watercolour on paper 38.9 x 26.7 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

n.d. Hope, Faith, Peace and Charity: Family Register of the Butler Family
watercolour 28.7 x 22.4 cm

n.d. Mother and Daughter
pen and brown ink and watercolour over graphite on laid paper 21.7 x 18.1 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

n.d. Shot by Cupid's Arrow
watercolour

n.d. Young Couple in a Landscape
watercolour on paper 19.4 x 15.7 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

Thursday 3 November 2016

American Folk Art - part 6

Continuing a major series on American Folk Art featuring 21 postings. Folk Art encompasses art produced by artists and ordinary folk with little or no training in the arts, and is traditionally utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic. The period I’m covering is the C18th and C19th.
See parts 1-5 also for earlier works.

Note: Follow me on Twitter for notice of updates @poulwebb

This is part 6 of a 21-part post on American Folk Art:

Joshua Johnson (c1763 – c1824)

Joshua Johnson was bi-racial American painter from the Baltimore area. Johnson, often viewed as the first person of colour to make a living as a painter in the United States is known for his portraits of prominent Maryland residents.

It was not until 1939 that the identity of the painter of elite 19th-century Baltimoreans was discovered by art historian and genealogist J. Hall Pleasants, who believed that thirteen portraits were painted by one Joshua Johnson. Johnson’s race, life dates and even his last name (Johnson or Johnston) remained unknown up until the mid-1990s, when the Maryland Historical Society released newly found manuscripts regarding Johnson's life.

Johnson received his freedom in 1782 and began advertising himself as a portrait painter and limner from 1796 on.


1800-02c Letitia Grace McCurdy
oil on canvas 104.1 x 87.6 cm
de Young Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, CA

1800c Family Group
oil on canvas 88.5 x 136 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

1800c Mrs. John Moale (Ellin North) and Ellin North Moale
oil on canvas 103.8 x 89.5 cm

1800c Portrait of a Woman
oil on canvas 85.1 x 74.9 cm
de Young Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, CA

1803-05 Mrs. Andrew Bedford Bankson and Son, Gunning Bedford Bankson
oil on canvas 81.3 x 71.1 cm
Art Institute of Chicago, IL

1803-05c Portrait of Adelia Ellender
oil on canvas 66.7 x 53.7 cm
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC

1804c Grace Allison McCurdy and Her Daughters, Mary Jane and Letitia Grace
oil on canvas 110.8 x 98.7 cm
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

1805-10c Portrait of a Gentleman

1805-10c Portrait of of a Man (Abner Coker)
oil on canvas 70.8 x 55.9 cm
Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Maine

1805c Edward and Sarah Rutter
oil on canvas 91.4 x 81.3 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

1805c Emma Van Name
oil on canvas 73.7 x 58.4 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

1805c Sarah Ogden Gustin
oil on canvas 71.1 x 57.2 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

1807c The Westwood Children
oil on canvas
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

1808-09c Mrs. Abraham White, Jr. and Daughter Rose
oil on canvas 76.2 x 64.8 cm
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA

1808-10c Hilmer Schumacher
oil on canvas 55.9 x 45.7 cm

1809-10c Benjamin Franklin Yoe and Son
oil on canvas 94 x 74.6 cm
Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Salem, NC

1810-15c Portrait of a Girl
oil on canvas 61 x 50.1 cm

1810c (attributed to) Portrait of a Man
oil on canvas 66.4 x 56 cm
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA

1810c (attributed to) Portrait of a Woman
oil on canvas 77.5 x 61 cm
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA

1810c Adelina Morton
oil on canvas 61.5 x 51.4 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

1810c Girl Wearing a Bonnet
oil on canvas 61.3 x 51.3 cm

1810c Portrait of Edward Aisquith
oil on canvas 57.2 x 46.7 cm
Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA

1810c Portrait of Elisha Stansbury
oil on canvas 76.8 x 55.9 cm

1810c Portrait of Mrs. Barbara Baker Murphy (Wife of Sea Captain)
oil on canvas 55.3 x 44.8 cm
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC

1810c Portrait of Sea Captain John Murphy
oil on canvas 54.6 x 44.5 cm
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC

1812-15c John Jacob Anderson and Sons, John and Edward
oil on canvas 76.5 x 100.8 cm
Brooklyn Museum, NY

1820c Portrait of an African American Man
oil on panel 48.3 x 34.9 cm
Flint Institute of Arts, MI

1825c Lady on a Red Sofa
oil on canvas 76.8 x 64.8 cm
Smithsonian National Museum. of African Art, Washington, DC

n.d. (attributed to) Portrait of a Boy With Two Dogs
oil on canvas 91.4 x 74.3 cm

n.d. (attributed to) The Children of Clement Cox and Mary Ringgold Cox
oil on canvas 73.7 x 61 cm

n.d. Portrait of Louisa Boggs Emory
oil on canvas 61.3 x 50.8 cm


William Massey Stroud Doyle (1769-1828)

William Doyle was a portrait painter and museum proprietor in Boston, Massachusetts. He oversaw the Columbian Museum on Tremont Street in the early 1800s.


1800-20c Portrait of a Young Woman in a White Dress with Ruffled Collar
pastel on paper 73.7 x 63.5 cm

1810 Portrait of a Gentleman

1810c (attributed to) Hollow Cut Silhouette of a Gentleman
13.3 x 11.4 cm (frame)

1816 (attributed to) Miniature Mourning Portrait of William Smith
painted on ivory 9.5 x 5.7 cm

n.d. William Porter Jr.
Harvard Art Museums
© President and Fellows of Harvard College

Emily Eastman (1804 - )


Emily Eastman apparently worked through the 1820s, based on the dress and hairstyles depicted in her watercolours. Beyond the fact that she was born in Loudon, New Hampshire, and married Dr. Daniel Baker in 1824, little more is known about her. She may be the Emily Eastman who was born to Ruth Carter and David Eastman and died in 1841.

1820-30c Young Woman with Flowers in Her Hair
Terra Foundation, Chicago, IL

1820-40c Woman with Roses in Hair
pen and ink and watercolour on paper 36.5 x 27.7 cm
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

1820c Young Lady in a Gold-Coloured Gown
watercolour and pencil on paper 24.8 x 19 cm

1825c (attributed to) Woman in Veil
watercolour and ink on paper 36.8 x  27 cm
American Folk Art Museum, New York City

n.d (attributed to) Portrait of a Woman in a White Gown
watercolour and ink on paper 35.6 x 26.7 cm

n.d. Lady's Coiffure with Flowers and Jewels
watercolour on paper 43.2 x 34.1 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

n.d. Lady's Coiffure with Spray of Wheat and Wild Flowers
watercolour on paper 40.8 x 30.5 cm
Museum of FIne Arts, Boston, MA

n.d. Young Girl Bedecked with Flowers
brush and grey wash on paper 45.6 x 35.2 cm
Museum of FIne Arts, Boston, MA

Memorials

1802c Memorial by Elizabeth Dickinson of Amherst, MA
silk, watercolour, metallic threads and velvet on silk 33 x 29.8 cm

1802c Memorial by Sarah Wyman in memory of her sister Abigail
silk, ink and watercolour on silk 44.5 x 38.1 cm

1805c Memorial by Mary Ann Huntingdon aged 16 who died before completing this memorial
silk, ink and watercolour on silk 52.1 x 44.4 cm

1805c Memorial by Mary Lamson in Memory of Jervis Lamson aged 6 years and 5 months 1803
silk, paint and ink on silk 48.3 x 37.5 cm

1806c Memorial by Deborah Keith
silk and watercolour on silk 41.9 x 47.6 cm in original frame

1810c Memorial by Sophia Barney
silk and watercolour on silk

1810c Memorial worked at Abby Wright's School in South Hadley, MA
silk and watercolour on silk 48.3 x 40.6 cm

1811 Memorial to John Allen s
ilk and watercolour on paper on silk 33 x 36.8 cm
Huntingdon Library Art Collections

1815c Memorial by Betsey Ward aged 14 Years
silk, ink and paint on silk 65.4 x 55.9 cm

1820c Memorial signed A.H.
silk and paint on linen with gesso primer 45.1 x 34.9 cm

1827c Memorial by Eliza Lenniman in memory of Mrs, Lucy Churchill
watercolour on paper 27.5 x 31.7 cm

Memorial by Phebe Kissam aged 16c
silk and watercolour on silk 63.5 x 55 cm