The Reverend Howard Finster was twenty feet tall, suspended in darkness. Or so he appeared in the documentary film that introduced a teenaged Greg Bottoms to the renowned outsider artist whose death would help inspire him, fourteen years later, to travel the country. Beginning in Georgia with a trip to Finster's famous Paradise Gardens, his journey--of which The Colorful Apocalypse is a masterly chronicle--is an unparalleled look into the lives and visionary works of some of Finster's contemporaries: the self-taught evangelical artists whose beliefs and oeuvres occupy the gray area...

Since the mid-1980s, whimsical, brightly colored wood carvings from the Mexican state of Oaxaca have found their way into gift shops and private homes across the United States and Europe, as Western consumers seek to connect with the authenticity and tradition represented by indigenous folk arts. Ironically, however, the Oaxacan wood carvings are not a traditional folk art. Invented in the mid-twentieth century by non-Indian Mexican artisans for the tourist market, their appeal flows as much from intercultural miscommunication as from their intrinsic artistic merit.

In this...

This handsome collection contains scores of unique images based on folk art designs created by artists of Austria, Poland, Hungary, Russia, Switzerland, and other European countries.
Adapted from authentic sources, 265 original renderings depict scores of charming motifs incorporating florals, wildlife, riders on horseback, mythical figures, men and women in traditional costumes, and religious and secular motifs. Ideal for adding a touch of Old World flavor to a variety of projects, these eye-catching, stylized designs appear in assorted configurations, among them borders, squares,...

Linked historically, culturally, and geographically, the counties that make up southwestern Virginia and northeastern Tennessee are also connected by a shared decorative arts tradition. -Great Road Style, - so called because of the region's historical importance as a stage route connecting the eastern seaboard with the western frontier, is evidenced in distinctive forms of furniture, ceramics, textiles, and metalwork. Yet until now, the area's rugged geography--and the isolation of its communities--has prevented systematic documentation of its decorative artifacts. With Great Road...

This book provides a rare and authoritative glimpse at the splendid decorative military art of the Ottomans, and art that is both insufficiently known and insufficiently appreciated. Professor Zygulski describes in detail masterpieces from collections around the world, including the Topkapi Saray Museum in Istanbul, the National Museum In Cracow, the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., the Nationalbibliothek in Vienna, and elsewhere.

Covering basketry, musical instruments, wood carving, quilting, pottery, boatbuilding, blacksmithing, architecture, and graveyard decoration, John Vlach seeks to trace and substantiate African influences in the traditional arts and crafts of black Americans. It is a widespread tradition, he observes, readily visible in areas such as the coastal regions of South Carolina and Georgia but discernible as well in places far to the west and north. With the aid of more than two hundred photographs and numerous maps, diagrams, and drawings, Vlach not only examines the form and content of the...

A complete catalog of the Atlanta History Center s permanent folk art exhibition, this richly illustrated volume defines and documents the folk arts of the lower southeastern United States. The objects, crafting processes, and performances represented here illustrate the unique qualities of the community-learned traditional arts of the South. John A. Burrison examines a multitude of traditional art forms, many of which still thrive today. Intricately constructed miniatures of covered wagons, sorghum-syrup mills, and pottery workshops speak of a life of subsistence farming. Decorated...

This abundantly illustrated volume arises out of the painstaking work of the Georgia Quilt Project, the most authoritative survey of quilts and quiltmakers ever undertaken in the state. "Georgia Quilts" showcases the diversity of quilting materials, methods, and patterns used in the state from the nineteenth century to the present and reveals how quilts serve as conduits of history and culture. From plain bed coverings of fabric scraps to exquisitely wrought pieces made for the "best bed," each of the 120 examples featured in the book tells its own story of abundance or want, peace or war,...

For many years, Maud Lewis was one of Nova Scotia's best-loved folk painters. In the 1990s she was embraced by the rest of the country when the landmark exhibition of her work The Illuminated Life of Maud Lewis travelled across Canada. By the time the tour was over, half a million people had become acquainted with her delightful work.

Between 1938, when she married Everett Lewis, until her death in 1970, Maud Lewis lived in a tiny one-room house near Digby, Nova Scotia. Over the years, she painted the doors inside and out, the windowpanes, the walls and cupboards, the...

In the American Southwest, Native people remain connected to the lands that have been their homes for centuries. In Home: Native People in the Southwest, they tell of that connection, of how it has survived and changed over time, and of how they are preserving it for future generations. Native artists express multiple visions of home in their art. The stories of the people who made the art are all different and yet, as Native people, they have a shared history and land, and their stories have common themes for all people. The permanent collection of the Heard Museum is a part of these...