American Folk Art

When we consider folk art, what usually springs to mind are the wares that were hand crafted or decorated by members of an ethnic community, with skills that were passed down from generation to generation. While there are other types of folk art, including music, dance, and even more modern "outsider" art, traditional folk art has typically served a purpose. Folk artists were usually rural and sometimes even isolated, and the items they created were reflections of their culture, and the time and place in which they were created.

Folk artists were typically farmers and everyday people that wanted to dress up their surroundings. They were sometimes able to sell their wares but by no means were they able to be artists in their own right. By means of painting, carving or weaving, they created signs, furniture, and household goods, rather than things that were purely decorative, and each piece is considered unique. One distinctive feature of folk art is that it is recognized by the community it was created in; that is, it speaks more about cultural heritage than it does the individual artist.  Decorations and methods are passed from generation to generation, but also expanded on by the individual. 

A surge of American folk art occurred as a response to the American Revolution, perhaps as a celebration of autonomy. It also coincided with a wave of immigrants bringing traditions from their home countries. One example from this time period is the American sampler. Young girls used them to practice different kinds of stitching, often while practicing their letters and numbers, but also recording genealogy, religious references, or anecdotal advice. They are important pieces of the historical record.

One American folk art painter that has become well-known today was a Bucks County Quaker Minister named Edward Hicks. While there is no clergy within the Society of Friends, being a Minister at that time meant that he was recognized for his skillful oration and sent to meeting houses throughout the region to speak. He began painting tools, equipment, and signs in order to support his family and cover his traveling expenses. While Hicks had a steady income doing his decorative painting, he often made canvas paintings not for sale, but for gifts to family and friends. During Hicks' lifetime, many in his community felt that his decorative art went against the Quaker tenet of simplicity. Today, it is common for his paintings to fetch over a million dollars at auction.

While folk art isn't always the most conventionally aesthetic form of art, collectors value it for the nostalgia and lifestyle that it denotes. It was a way for isolated people to make the ordinary more meaningful, to make a house a home. It speaks to a shared cultural heritage and there is a recognizable style or method in which the item was crafted. With untrained artists, the art is perhaps more primitive but depicts life in an uncomplicated way.

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