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Text By Mary Forsell
Collectors have pursued folk art since
the 1920s, but especially after the Bicentennial in 1976, middle
America began to appreciate the so-called people’s art. “It’s the work of the
unschooled, the untrained,” says Rick Ege, owner of R. Ege Antiques in St.
Louis. “It doesn’t need a name associated with it to be worthy.”
Nor does it
have to be old. “We look for artists who are idiosyncratic, the guy who retires
and suddenly starts making concrete angels,” says St. Louis collector Ken
Anderson, who with wife Katie, combs the country for talent. “There are people
doing wonderful work right now.”
american dreams
(a) Flag and George Washington glass mosaic plaques are by the
Baltimore Glass Man (a.k.a. Paul Darmafall). A retiree, he worked from circa
1983 to his death in 2003. Gyrfalcon (arctic falcon) sculpture copied from an
Audubon painting by an unknown artist was discovered in a Southwestern garden.
(b) Vintage
Boy Scout totem poles made to earn woodcraft badges are hot collectibles. The
quirkier and more unauthentic, the better. (c) diminutive 1930s dart
target. (d)
whirligig with venetian blind spokes.
Of, For, & By The People page
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