Julia S. Ardery

The Temtation

Edgar Tolson and the Genesis of Twentieth-Century Folk Art

The University of North Carolina Press 1998

Stron XIV+353, format: 17x25 cm

Książka w stanie dobrym: 17 stron z podkreśleniami żółtym flamastrem lub długopisem

77 ilustracji czarno-białych i 10 kolorowych.

Why, beginning in the late 1960s, did expressive objects made by poor people come to be regarded as "twentieth-century folk art," increasingly sought after by the middle class and the wealthy? Julia Ardery explores that question through the life story of Kentucky woodcarver Edgar Tolson (1[zasłonięte]904-19) and the evolving public reception of his poplar "dolls."
The Temptation presents a vivid chronicle of folk art's ascendancy in the late twentieth century, enlivened by the voices and opinions of diverse participants in the folk art scene. Drawing on in-depth interviews with collectors and dealers, museum and auction house officials, and Tolson's own family members and friends, the book traces a twenty-year tug-of-war over the definition, sale, and interpretation of folk art. Unlike earlier studies, Ardery's work also links the popularity of folk art to larger historical forces: the civil rights movement and the War on Poverty in Appalachia, government and corporate arts sponsorship, developments in arts education, and an expanded art market.
Well illustrated and impeccably documented, The Tempta­tion offers an engaging account of how a generation both reflected and reinforced its ideals through its fascination with crayon drawings, quilts, and wooden dolls.


CONTENTS

Acknowledgments ix
Introduction i
Striped Pants 9
Crafting a War on Poverty 45
The Counterculture and "The Woodcarver" 100
Art with a Capital "A" 174
A Piece of the True Cross 227
Conclusion: The Temptation 282
Notes 293
Bibliography 319
Index 343

"Fascinating, lively, and well-researched. ... Art lovers will find Julia Ardery's work a unique insight into how art and value are created. The cast of characters alone makes the book great reading."
Gary Alan Fine,
Northwestern University
"A welcome addition to the still all-too-slim library of thoughtful studies on key contemporary folk artists, among whom Tolson looms. Juggling as Ardery does the complexities of time, place, events, and personalities that affected Tolson and the folk art world is no small feat."
Lynda Roscoe Hartigan,
National Museum of
American Art,
Smithsonian Institution
"[This] exhaustively researched, insightful, and readable book is indispensable for anyone seeking to understand the emerging field of contemporary self-taught art and its underlying sociopolitical dynamics."
Tom Patterson, author of Reclamation and Transformation: Three Self-Taught Chicago Artists
"Ardery probes the inner workings of American folk art, a cultural 'site' marked by endless squabbles over labels, market values, and ethical shortcomings."
John Michael Vlach, author of Plain Painters: Making Sense of American Folk Art