Folk art of the United States
Generally developing in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when settlers revived artistic traditions from their home countries in a uniquely American way, folk art includes artworks created by and for a large majority of people.
[1] It includes hand crafted items such as tools, furniture and carvings, and traditional mediums such as oil paintings and tapestries which often served dual purposes, such as for the protection of a surface.
[9] There were two types of settings for portraits: a solid, monotone backdrop or the homes of the sitters often surrounded by objects that conveyed their personality, status or gender.
The artworks are carefully composed with clear spatial arrangements for each figure within the work as the sitters are either posted in full profile, looking straight at the viewer or slightly turned to one side.
[12] Fraktur art was a decorative illumination element for documents such as poems, religious texts, birth and baptismal certificates, and furniture.
Artists typically used a goose quill as a primary tool to outline and draw onto their mediums while using a brush made from cat hair to put the colors down.
[4] Fraktur art is closely related to calligraphy, not only in the similar use of tools but also in the dependence on the line to create dimension and shape within the artworks.
The main subject matter of these fraktur artworks often consisted of birds, animals and flower motifs within a floral arrangement that encircled the text as a border.
[13] Appalachian painting is a diverse collection of related styles that incorporate influence from Native American, African-American, and European traditions.
Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs in the 30s and 40s provided support and employment for many Appalachian painters in that time, which lead to the creation of many new paintings and murals.
[14] One prominent modern Appalachian folk painter is Mike Ousley, whose work draws on stories and folklore he has heard and experienced throughout his life in eastern Kentucky.
The 1920s and 30s produced many of these organizations, such as the Arrowcraft Shop, the John C. Campbell Folk School, the Southern Highland Handicraft Guild, and the Tennessee Association of Craft Artists (TACA).
The Catawba Nation is generally recognized as having the longest standing pottery-making tradition, and their pottery techniques have influenced both other Indigenous groups and White and Black settlers in the area.
'[25] Ships were almost always adorned with some type of wood carving, be that a figurehead, a sternboard, a gangway board, or any other number of different places that could have aesthetic value.
They have been created by Indigenous peoples for thousands of years in northern North America, and today are made and used mostly in the Great Lakes region.
Artists such as Edward Hicks (1780-1849) and Sheldon Peck (1797-1868) both had to find another source of income to support their art career, the latter becoming a farmer and the former working as a preacher.
[32] Artists such as Ammi Phillips were the outliers in this regard; he would maintain art as his only profession the entire time he produced pieces professionally.
Several would be born into families that had local political influence or enjoyed a higher standard of living due to a high demand for their services.
The artist Edward Hicks was born into a family that had been loyal to the English Monarchy during the revolutionary war due to his role in local governance.
[35] There is thus some evidence to suggest that prominent folk-artists were of higher social standings, but artists generally came from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds.
[39] This allowed them to cultivate the artistic skills and craftsmanship both required to satisfy their role in society (clothing the children, making bedsheets, decorating the home) and to create art.
[41] As critical acclaim was not often afforded to women artists, many of their artworks were made as gifts for family and friends, such as Shaw’s textile art.
As most women were confined to using techniques and tools that were culturally acceptable such as needle and thread, entering male dominated mediums such as easel painting could be difficult.
[42] Middle and upper-class women did not need to rely on domestically available mediums such as stitching and embroidery and instead experimented with high quality art materials which granted them greater validity as artists.
