What is American Folk Art?

American folk art is found all over the country. It’s an art form that’s touchable, usable, and pleasing to the eye. Its artists create pieces, having had no professional art training.

We’ve discussed folk art before, but what is American folk art?

Today, we’re delving into this specific subgenre.

Let’s dive in!

What Is American Folk Art?

Folk Art is a term used to identify a range of crafted objects in which the artist received no formal training. It’s often colorful and simplistic and has a use or purpose.

American folk art includes paintings, signage, furniture, and quilts. Early settlers often created baskets, figurines, and toys for use and display.

Native American artists strive for beauty, balance, and harmony. They tell stories or honor the spirits through the designs and symbols used in their work. The art you might find varies by location and lifestyle of each particular tribe. Figurines and jewelry are some of the most commonly found pieces of Native American folk art.

Asian American folk art dating before 1960 doesn’t have the presence in museums the other styles have. However, that’s changing. Paintings, figurines, and pottery are just a few items the Smithsonian is working to preserve.

How Did American Folk Art Get Started?

American folk art dates back to the Revolutionary War era when European settlers revived the artistic traditions of their homelands. These artisanal traditions were passed down through the generations and never taught in the European art academies. 

Along these same lines, enslaved Africans also created items of use based on skills they brought from their homelands. And indigenous peoples produced what you’d consider American folk art in the form of winter counts for thousands of years before the Europeans arrived.

Is American Folk Art a Fine Art?

To compare American folk art and fine art is to compare apples and oranges. Folk Art captures the traditions and skills of its creators. It often tells a story of their location, lineage, and lives. 

Fine art is where the artist has spent several years perfecting their craft, receiving formal instruction to create the balance, symmetry, and light often seen in works in museums worldwide.

What Is the Difference Between American Folk Art and Outsider Art?

While folk art and outsider art are similar in that the artists lack formal training, they’re also different. 

Unfortunately, the public doesn’t typically discover Outsider art until after the artist dies. In addition, their work tells the story of a person who has had little to no contact with the conventional art world. 

In fact, its origins come from 19th-century European psychiatric hospitals. Once used to help study the brain, the created pieces began to be seen differently in the 20th century.

Why Is American Folk Art So Important?

American folk art tells the story of various people who used the blank slate of this country to create something new. It allows us to learn about different cultures and our nation’s history, unlike anything else. Whether as a beaded hat made in Swedish style or a quilt meant to keep the family warm in the winter, folk art shares the artists’ stories and lives with us. 

Frequently, families pass the furniture, quilts, or figurines from one generation to the next. The older generations share their skills and knowledge with the younger generations to keep the skills alive. And each artist will then lend their own story to the work.

Who Are Some Famous American Folk Artists?

American folk artists became well-known because of their mediums, inspiration, and incredible talent. Each has impacted the folk art genre in ways no one else had at that point.

Charlie Willeto

Charlie Willeto was born in 1906 on the Navajo (Diné) Reservation, Nageezi, New Mexico. He was a sheepherder who did not take up woodcarving until just a few years before his death in 1964. 

Charlie was a medicine man and was familiar with illness dolls. Healers would typically work with illness dolls and then leave them at sacred sites along with prayer sticks. His figures were almost identical to these dolls, but Willeto used his carvings to barter for groceries on the reservation.

He was the first in the Navajo nation known to carve figures and animals. He broke with traditional taboos in creating his whittled men, women, and animals.

You can find pieces of Willeto’s work at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) in Washington D.C. In addition, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Wisconsin contains 45 of his carvings they restored and conserved. 

Consuelo González Amézcua

Consuelo González Amézcua was an American artist born in Mexico in 1903. Her family immigrated to Texas in 1913. She knew she wanted to study art and received a scholarship to attend the Academy of San Carlos. 

Unfortunately, her father passed away a few days later, so she never took any classes. Consuelo lived in the family home with her sister after her mother’s death. 

All along, Consuelo pursued the arts. As a child, Consuelo wrote songs for herself. Later, she began drawing and creating pieces based on Mexican filigree jewelry. 

Her songs and artwork then poured over into poetry, which was sometimes a part of her drawings. Consuelo also compiled a book of her poems titled Cantares y Poemas.

Her drawings were unknown until they were part of an exhibit in 1968 at the Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum. Other shows followed in the US and Mexico. Today, you can view much of her work at the SAAM.

Consuelo passed away in her hometown of Del Rio, Texas, in 1975.

Purvis Young

Purvis Young is considered the most famous folk artist to have come out of Florida. He lived and died in Miami, an artist influenced by the plight of African American life in The South. Purvis painted his stories on scraps of found wood and created collages with everyday discarded. And documentaries, murals, folklore, and American history inspired him.

Although his younger years were tumultuous, Purvis turned his life around and became world-renowned, beginning with his first exhibit in 1972 on the walls of buildings in Overtown (Miami), Florida. 

Galleries and museums in Europe, Mexico, and the United States display his works. A few of his outdoor installations are still intact, including  “Everyday Life,” which is currently at the Overtown Branch of the Miami-Dade Public Library.

Some of his work is also displayed at SAAM, while the Skot Foreman Gallery in New Mexico runs a website dedicated to him.

Where Can I See More American Folk Art?

You can find American folk art in small towns, farmers’ markets, and touristy areas such as the Appalachians or Native American reservations. 

But you can venture into Art Museums across the country to see historical pieces from the past. Three of the most extensive collections are at the museums listed below.

American Folk Art Museum

The American Folk Art Museum opened its doors in 1961 and is in New York City. It’s the leading institution in preserving and educating others about self-taught art through its exhibits, publications, and educational programs. 

Within the collection are books, textiles, photographs, and wildlife decoys. It also offers numerous paintings, furniture, and three-dimensional works for viewing.

Admission to the museum is free, and it’s open Wednesday through Sunday.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum

SAAM is located in Washington D.C. and is open daily. The Renwick Gallery within SAAM is the nation’s premier museum dedicated to American craft. 

It recently acquired works from previously mentioned artists and holds the second-largest collection of works by Emery Blagdon. The collection represents the powerful vision of untrained artists from across America.

Visiting SAAM is free, though some tours may have a fee. The museum is open daily.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, or the MET, is located in New York City. Within its walls is a collection of 19th-century American folk art acquired primarily by gifts to the museum. 

The largest donor is the Garbisch family, who began collecting these “naive” works of art in the 1940s. The MET received over 100 paintings and drawings from them. 

The collection ranges in subject matter from mourning scenes to portraiture and landscapes. The MET has two locations, with the main location on Fifth Avenue being the most well-known. Admission is $30 for adults, and they’re open every day except Wednesdays.

A Sense of History

American folk art comes from cultural influence, lifestyle, and a passion for the arts. It’s an artistic artform that needs no formal training, which lends a raw and realistic feel to the works that you can’t anywhere else. Visit a local museum today to learn more about this impactful art form that reflects our history.

Do you have a favorite American folk artist? Tell us about them in the comments!