Madison Museum of Fine Art, Inc. |
| Home |
| About the Museum |
| Visit Us |
| Exhibitions |
| Rental Facilities |
| Education |
| Sculpture Garden |
| Give |
| Calendar of Events |
| Join |
| From the Director |
| In The News |
| Picture Gallery |
| Collection |
| Links |
| Site Admin |
| Image Details
AUDIO 4: American Folk Portrait  This American primitive folk portrait of two young sisters in an interior setting was painted in the late 1700's to early 1800's. The work exhibits the abstract, imaginative, and humble qualities that typify early folk portraits. Says Bechtell, “We are delighted to add such a captivating painting to the Museum’s collection. It offers viewers an opportunity to compare early primitive folk portraits with those produced by academically trained artists of the same period.” Gallagher adds, “Not only does this portrait represent a stylistically defining period in American art history, but it’s also been fun to learn that distinguished Modern art masters of the early 20th century like Robert Laurent, William Zorach, Elie Nadelman, and Charles Sheeler recognized the inherent abstract qualities of American ‘primitives,’ collected them, and drew inspiration from them.” Academically trained artists of the late 18th-early 19th century typically created portraits with accurate perspective, anatomically correct bodies in natural often relaxed poses, and realistic lively facial features. And they skillfully applied shading, highlights, and coloring to add dimension, identify fabrics like velvet or satin, and depict detailed backgrounds, furnishings, and accoutrements. In contrast, early primitive folk portraits were typically painted by untrained or minimally trained itinerant artists who worked for food or lodging and rarely signed their names, like the artist who painted the Museum’s portrait of two sisters. And the Museum’s painting exhibits the defining elements of early folk portraiture: a linear rendering of the sitter, flat facial features, a stiff pose turned three-quarters or fully frontal, minimal shadowing to suggest the direction of light, simple depictions of hands, ears, and hair, disproportionately sized heads, limbs extended in distorted directions, greater emphasis on clothing and background details compared to the face, and plain backgrounds absent of objects and scenery or, in some cases, an imaginary background, like the portrait gifted to the Museum. Previous • Back to List • Next |