American Folk Art, Traditional And Spontaneous, At NBMAA

NEW BRITAIN — The New Britain Museum of American Art will offer a glimpse into the exuberant world of the “untrained” artist in “American Folk Art: Traditional and Spontaneous,” an exhibition of some 120 folk art objects from private and public collections.

The exhibition will open with a reception from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the museum on Tuesday, March 22. It will then be on view through June 12.

Represented in the exhibition are folk art objects created in the Northeast tradition, such as paintings, furniture, pottery, quilts, sailor’s valentines, hooked rugs, painted wooden objects, baskets, scrimshaw, game boards, dolls, tin, as well as theorems. The exhibition transcends past traditions, however, with what is now commonly known as outsider art, created in this instance largely by contemporary artists of the South.

“American Folk Art: Traditional and Spontaneous” has been curated by collectors Linda Cheverton-Wick of Hartford, Julia Isham Ward of New York City, and NBMAA Museum Director Douglas Hyland.

“Most of the Southern ‘outsider’ artists in this exhibition have responded to a highly personal vision, or inner voice that inspired them,” Mr Hyland explains. “Folk artists of the Northeast, in general, have responded to the practices of particular communities and their artistic practices, such as the stimuli of generations of wood-carvers, quilters or stone carvers, working in a tradition that has been passed down from one generation to the next virtually unchanged.”

The outsider art in the exhibition was collected by Julia Isham Ward during a 20-year period while she lived in the South and was purchased largely from the artists themselves.  Most of them are still living, and many have been befriended by Ms Ward.

While there are twice as many male as female artists in her collection, notes Ms Ward, the racial division is about equal.  Included in the portion of her collection on loan is work by artists such as Jimmie Lee Sudduth, Chris Clarke, the Reverend Howard Finster and Sybil Gibson.

Ms Cheverton-Wick, an NBMAA trustee, and noted antiques dealer and lender Barbara Ardizone of Salisbury, have been friends and collectors for many years, sharing a love for myriad folk art objects of all sizes, shapes and forms – particularly hooked rugs.

Together with selected paintings from the collection of internationally renowned dealer Peter Tillou of Litchfield, their collections form the basis of the traditional element of this exhibition. From Ms Tillou’s personal collection are paintings by such well-known artists as Ammi Phillips and Royal Brewster Smith.

The exhibition also includes works from NBMAA’s permanent collection, mostly the recent gifts from the estate of the late Carol Learmont, Mrs Jolene Goldenthal and Dr Carol Goldenthal, and Priscilla Porter.   

A number of gallery talks and special lectures are scheduled on the subject of folk art, including a pair of Charles B. Ferguson Lectures. Each program will begin with refreshments at 6:30 pm, followed by the lecture at 7. Cost is $15 per person and reservations are required; call 860-229-0257 extension 22.

On Friday, March 31, the first lecture will be offered at The Farmington Library. Brooke Davis Anderson, a curator at the American Folk Art Museum, will present “Through The Lens of Language: 20th Century Self-Taught Artists and Their Work.”

The next lecture will be at the museum. On Tuesday, April 26, Stacy C. Hollander, senior curator and director of exhibitions at the American Folk Art Museum, will offer “American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum.”

The museum’s “Five Cs: Creators, Curators, Collectors, Critics & Conservators – Conversations on Contemporary Art,” a monthly event held on the third Thursday of each month, will include two lectures related to the American folk art exhibit.

These lectures run from 5:30 until 7 pm and cost is $10; reservations are required.

On April 21, curator Linda Cheverton-Wick and collector/lender Barbara Ardizone will talk about traditional work in the NBMAA folk art exhibition. On May 21, curator Julia Ward will talk about the NBMAA folk art exhibition and outsider art.

Also incorporating “American Folk Art” into its regular presentation will be the museum’s Art Happy Hours. These events are Wednesday evenings from 5:30 to 7 pm, with refreshments at 5:30 and the lectures beginning at 6. These programs are included with museum admission.

The schedule includes March 23, “Outsider Art and Unusual Minds,” by Kelly Gingras, a collector and the owner of Outsider’s Art Gallery, Cornwall Bridge; March 30, “Focus on Folk Art: Explore the use and making of everyday folk art objects,” by artist and instructor Dorothy Fillmore; April 13, “Music in the Galleries: A Look at Folk Instruments,” with musician/troubadour Mike Kachuba; and April 20, “Metamorphosis: The Resurrected Lives of Contemporary Outsider and Self-Taught Artists,” talk by Salvatore Scalora, the director of the William Benton Museum of Art at the University of Connecticut.

New Britain Museum of American Art is at 56 Lexington Street. It is open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, from noon until 5 pm; Wednesday until 7 pm; and Saturday, 10 am until 5 pm. The museum is handicapped accessible.

Docent-guided tours for adults and children are available by appointment during the morning and public hours. Sunday gallery talks are scheduled throughout the year. Call for details.

Call 860-229-0257 or visit www.nbmaa.org for additional information.