|
Home
>
Worthopedia – Price Guide
>
Fine Art >
Exceptional Piece of Patriotic American Folk
|
Terms and Conditions for using our site |
Exceptional Piece of Patriotic American Folk
Sold For:
 or Sign In to see what it's worth.
This large oil on canvas portrait of George Washington is an exceptional piece of patriotic American folk art. It was painted by Cyrus Furey (American, Indiana 1917) and is signed & dated verso. Furey was a barber in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area. He painted two large historical portraits--one of Lincoln and this one of Washington--and hung both in his shop. The painting was originally obtained from a descendent of his family and was once in the Tim Hill collection. This painting was included in the Bicentennial Exhibition at Colonial Williamsburg, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum and remained there from 1976 through 1977. The exhibition was developed and curated by Donald Walters. The painting measures 40 x 30 inches and is in very good condition. 1930 was the watershed year for folk art. Before then, it was nameless and homeless, and merely existed. But in 1930 a major institution, the Newark Museum, held an exhibition of 83 folk paintings entitled "American Primitives." Now wealthy patrons began to amass large collections of folk art that would eventually form the basis for folk art museums and for outstanding collections within national museums. The classic definition was given by Holger Cahill in 1931 when he said that folk art in its truest sense "is an expression of the common people and not an expression of a small cultured class. Folk art usually has not to do with the fashionable art of its period. It is never the product of art movements, but comes out of craft traditions, plus the personal something of the rare craftsman who is an artist by nature if not by training. This art is based not on measurements or calculations but on feeling, and it rarely fits in with the standards of realism. It goes straight to the fundamentals of art, rhythm, design, balance, proportion, which the folk artists feel instinctively." Between 1930 and 1960, folk artists began to receive serious recognition. In 1937 the Museum of Modern Art showed 12 sculptures by William Edmonson, a retired laborer from Nashville, Tennessee, who carved figures in stone because the Lord told him to do so. Dealer-scholar Sidney Janis not only included such artists ass Morris Hirshfield and Grandma Moses in shows at the Museum of Modern Art, but wrote a seminal book on American folk artists, "They Taught Themselves", in 1942. In the 1950s and 60s, there emerged a sizable, identifiable group of artists who began their careers late in life. Never before in the history of art had there been a "school" of late-blooming artists who found in art an outlet for their energy. Their training was a lifetime of keen observation. The materials they used were simple and cheap, everything from old bottles in junkyards to the roots of trees. Their subject matter and motivations differed----some experienced visions in which God and the angels told them to make art; some were restless in retirement and painted "to keep from rocking and rocking and blowing away"; some were given paint or markers by their families or community centers. These artists were living proof that, although bones grow old, creativity knows no age. Thus the years from 1930 to 1960 established folk art as a serious discipline. This art was no longer homeless, nor was it nameless. Since the 1960s, folk artists have continued the tradition of individualism and have become still freer spirits. There are many new voices and identities. Folk art is not an esoteric process. It most often comes from the hands and hearts of people with little or no formal education. While contemporary fine art may be arcane and incomprehensible to the uninitiated, folk art has a naivete and simplicity that endear it to the beholder.
Items in the Worthopedia are obtained exclusively from licensors and partners solely for our members’ research needs.
View Similar ItemsMore Items from GoAntiques
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Joining is free and gives you access to our Community & Forums.
If you are interested in our pricing data or other paid memberships, try our Full 7-day Free Trial Here.
By creating an account you agree to our Terms & Conditions
