For the Folk, By the Folk — The Open Art Fair

11 November 2021

The growing appreciation for the “nebulous” world of folk art.

Richard Unwin

Richard Unwin is a London-based freelance arts journalist and creative writer, contributing to The Art Newspaper, Frieze, Dazed & Confused and Flux, among others.

William Edmondson (1874–1951), *Martha and Mary*, Nashville, Tennessee, between 1931–1937, limestone, 15 x 24 x 10 in, American Folk Art Museum, New York, promised gift of KAWS, P1.2020.1. Photo by Bill Jacobson Studio.
Image courtesy of the American Folk Art Museum.

In October this year, The American Folk Art Museum (AFAM) in New York announced that it had been gifted what has been described as the ‘holy grail’ of American folk art - a stone sculpture of two seated female figures by the feted Depression-era artist William Edmondson (1874-1951). Thought to be Edmondson’s long missing piece, Martha and Mary, the sculpture was amazingly rediscovered in 2019, positioned outside a private home in St. Louis, Missouri. Spotted in its weathered state by a local collector, the work has since been conserved and cleaned and will now go on display in AFAM’s upcoming Multitudes exhibition, opening on January 21, 2022.

The inclusion of Martha and Mary in Multitudes will mark its first public appearance in 84 years, with the sculpture last seen in a 1938 Paris exhibition organised by New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMa). Beyond the story of an incredible reappearing act, the piece exemplifies the longevity of interest ‘folk art’ objects can hold. Edmondson’s own story is more powerful still. Born on a plantation in Tennessee to parents who were originally enslaved, he was a self-taught artist who only turned to sculpture in the early 1930s, at the age of around 60. Initially working to produce tombstones and garden sculptures in Nashville, Edmondson quickly gained enough recognition to become the first black man to have a solo show at MoMa, in 1937. While the attention does not seem to have led to Edmondson benefiting financially during his lifetime, his work has since come to command considerable sums. In 2016, a sculpture by Edmondson, titled Boxer, sold at Christie’s for $785,000, said at the time to be a world record for a piece of outsider art.

Folk art polychrome painted four-fold leather screen, Netherlands, circa 1900.
Image courtesy of Anthony Outred.

The figure achieved by Boxer represents a high peak in a broader trend that has seen work by folk and outsider artists gain growing appreciation. That work produced by people like Edmondson can be described as both folk art and outsider art - two terms that often intersect but are not strict synonyms - points to the difficulty of easily pigeon-holing such artists, but common traits are that they work outside of the established structures of the fine art world, rooted instead in the traditions of local and popular culture.

As the folk art expert, art historian and painter Kitty Walsh explains, “Folk art is a nebulous concept, without fixed boundaries. For me, it’s any art object made away from the intellectual or academic traditions of the art establishment. Today some might define themselves as folk artists, but in the past folk art was made by jobbing artisans who were more interested in serving their communities’ needs than in making self-conscious ‘Art’ with a capital A.”

Bound to the day-to-day of community life, folk art has often played a functional, utilitarian role alongside its decorative qualities. “Historically” Walsh continues, “it was the art ordinary people wanted and needed, whether that was a piece of furniture to mark an important milestone in their lives, an icon to help with private worship, or even just a beautifully knitted sweater to keep them warm. These objects drew upon the knowledge and skills of previous generations of artisans, and that is still very much the case today. Although the folk artists I’ve met in Eastern Europe are anything but slaves to tradition and will use modern materials, often whatever they happen to have lying around.”

Hand-carved folk art cane, the handle formed as a drinking man holding a goblet and bottle seated on the head of a devil figure, presumably an allegory of the sins of drinking in excess. English, circa 1860.
Image courtesy of Michael German Antiques.

Frequently joyful and visually vibrant - though it can when required turn darker and more sombre - folk art is permeated with storytelling, myth making and the kinds of things that combine to form collective, cultural identities. In many places around the world, such artistic production is very much on the surface of everyday life. In Mexico, for example, where folk art is placed front and centre in its festivals and visual culture. Or in rural Central and Eastern Europe, where traditional forms of domestic architecture and elaborate woodworking skills remain conspicuous in the landscape of different regions.

It should be remembered that it does not take much digging to reveal that the UK also remains connected to its folk traditions. Practises such as Morris and maypole dancing are enacted through the use of their own folk artefacts, while decorative traditions like the floral art of well dressing remain alive in communities that have long nurtured them. These activities may not always dominate the cultural agenda, but folk art in general has benefited from the now accepted notion that ‘art’ - even capital A ‘Art’ - can be many things and that we should not be so quick to judge what does and doesn’t deserve attention.

Over the years, such attention has periodically been forthcoming, from the championing of the early 20th century naive artist Nikifor, who lived in the town of Krynica in what is now southern Poland, through to the aesthetic influence of folk art on both modern and contemporary artists, as in the work of Grayson Perry. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, eyes have again turned to the “nebulous” world of artisanal production described by Walsh, perhaps influenced by the desire to look for new beginnings, to strip back the chaff and get back to basics on a more practical, wholesome level. As alluded to by AFAM’s Multitudes exhibition title, though, what folk art offers most of all is its sheer multiplicity, a wellspring of creativity ready to embrace anyone who cares to look.

Joining the trend and embracing folk art may not lead you to discover a sculpture worth a few hundred thousand dollars lying unnoticed in the back garden, but it will reveal a world filled with surprising delights.