Untitled (l’Amérique Stubborn Président)
Aloïse Corbaz
The collection of Audrey B. Heckler is emblematic of the growth of the field of self-taught art in the United States, which manifests a strong interest for African American artists, a consistent attention on American classics, a curiosity for European art brut, and a search for international discoveries. For the last twenty-seven years, Heckler—a long time and committed patron of the American Folk Art Museum—has surrounded herself with excellent examples by the most significant artists associated to this art niche, among them Emery Blagdon, Aloïse Corbaz, William Edmondson, August Klett, Augustin Lesage, Martín Ramírez, Thornton Dial, and Anna Zemánková.
Learn moreGifts are present at all of life’s great milestones: births, birthdays, weddings, and all of the little occasions in between. A Piece of Yourself: Gift Giving in Self-Taught Art is dedicated to exploring the interconnection between gift-giving practices in the United States and self-taught art through a selection of works from the museum’s collection. Self-taught art—an inherent expression of its maker’s views—complicates standard gift-giving dynamics by presenting a one-of-a-kind artwork instead of an everyday commodity.
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Everyone has a story to tell. A life lived, witness to and participant in events both private and shared. Such moments are captured by American folk and self-taught artists in powerful visual narratives that offer firsthand testimony to chapters in the unfolding story of America from its inception to the present. American Perspectives: Highlights from the American Folk Art Museum showcases more than seventy stellar works of folk and self-taught art from the museum’s premier collection. Beautiful, diverse, and truthful, the art illuminates the thoughts and experiences of individuals with an immediacy that is palpable and unique to these expressions.
Learn moreAugust 6, 2019–September 1, 2019
Curator: Stacy C. Hollander
March 15, 2019–July 28, 2019
Curator: Elizabeth V. Warren
February 19, 2019–July 11, 2019
Curator: Steffi Ibis Duarte
January 16, 2019–March 29, 2019
Curator: Sarah Margolis-Pineo, Steffi Ibis Duarte, and Ariel Wilmott
October 30, 2018–February 24, 2019
Curator: Valérie Rousseau
October 30, 2018–February 24, 2019
Curator: Diana Nawi and Nicole Smythe-Johnson; curatorial advisor: David Boxer; coordinating curator: Dr. Valérie Rousseau