For many years, I have wandered the galleries of major American art museums and chafed at the segregation of American folk art into tiny side galleries apart from the "heavy hitters" of the various museums' permanent collections. Apparently I'm not the only one who has noticed that we are no farther along to accepting folk art into the mainstream than we were years ago. Roberta Smith has a highly reasoned and articulate plea for inclusion in this past Sunday's New York Times, and it is well worth a read. It is titled "Curator, Tear Down These Walls" and you can find it here. Please give it a read and let me know what you think. We could all benefit from more exciting and visually interesting permanent installations that are inclusive and inspiring.
Monday, February 4, 2013
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Excellent article! I was saying Yes! Yes! Yes! as I scanned it. But kept waiting for the outsider/art brut to be mentioned. i wasn't disappointed. Museum institutions should remember the lesson learned when Impressionists were initially excluded. All are richer for inclusiveness. Juxtaposition is a good thing, inside and outside a painting.
ReplyDeleteI think a younger generation of curators is already taking Smith's suggestions to heart. Just last week I paired portraits by Ralph Earl, William Jennys and Rembrandt Peale in a reinstallation of our main fine art gallery at the Bennington Museum. In the same gallery I hung Earl's landscape/townscape of Bennington, 1797, with an 1870s academic, Hudson River School view of the same scene. As we move forward with the reinstallation of our permanent collections I will continue to mix things up. Thank you Roberta Smith for saying it as it really SHOULD be.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, Robin and Jamie. This whole conversation reminds me that museum exhibitions are a visual language all their own and we, as museum professionals, always need to be mindful of what we are saying.
ReplyDeletePaul, thanks so much for the blog. I have been a follower for over a year now, and your insight is refreshing. On my endless search for Folk Art, I came across something interesting a few days ago. It is a work that is signed on the back H. Walton. It is on a featured page for Crocker Farm. http://www.crockerfarm.com/antiques-auction/featured/ It is towards the bottom of the page. What are your thoughts on the work? Could it truly be by Henry Walton?
ReplyDeleteHi Carl,
ReplyDeleteIt sure looks right to me, but I am always careful judging things from photos. I would research the image (probably from a period print) and see what similar works may be extant in the literature. A cool find!