The Board of Trustees and staff of the American Folk Art Museum are saddened to learn of the loss of esteemed colleagues in the field of art by the self-taught. Dr. Jacqueline Porret-Forel, who was a founding member of the Collection de l’Art brut in Lausanne and a leading expert on Aloïse Corbaz, died on March 28, 2014. Charlotte Zander, collector, patron, and founder of a gallery and a museum that specialized in works of art by autodidacts, died on March 12, 2014. Monika Kinley, an early champion of art by the self-taught, died on March 9, 2014. Each of these women made important contributions to the field. Their presence and their voices will be missed.

Image: (double-sided) Nenuphars/Paix Christi, Aloïse Corbaz (1886–1964), Switzerland, mid-twentieth century, crayon, colored pencil, geranium-flower juice, and thread on machine-wove paper, 57 7/8 x 27 5/8″, collection American Folk Art Museum, New York, gift of Etienne Forel and Jacqueline Porret-Forel in honor of Sam and Betsey Farber, 2002.8.1. Photo by Gavin Ashworth.