Framing Fraktur: Pennsylvania German Material Culture and Contemporary Art

by Judith Tannenbaum (Editor)

Fraktur is a manuscript-based folk art tradition brought from Europe by German-speaking immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania in the seventeenth century. Fraktur documents are exuberantly decorated with distinctive lettering and painted tulips, hearts, angels, unicorns, and eagles. Resembling illuminated manuscripts, fraktur documents were usually domestic and personal documents, such as birth and baptismal certificates, writing samples, music books, and religious texts.

Framing Fraktur takes a unique approach to the study of traditional fraktur by connecting it to the work of contemporary artists who similarly combine images with texts. Examining masterworks from the Free Library of Philadelphia's vast collection of fraktur as well as manuscripts, books, and broadsides, the first section of the book provides historical background, analysis, and recent interpretation of fraktur material culture. In the second section, fraktur is linked to modern practices and movements from around the world, including Dada, Pop Art, Imagism, graffiti and street art, and contemporary folk art genres such as samplers, block prints, and sign painting. Vividly illustrated in full color, Framing Fraktur traces the resonances of this unique and vibrant art from the past to the present.

Contributors : Lisa Minardi, Janine Pollock, Matthew Singer, Judith Tannenbaum.

104 pages, Hardcover

Published July 16, 2015

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Reviews

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Framing Fraktur is a companion book to two exhibitions held at the Free Library of Philadelphia in 2015, Quill & Brush: Pennsylvania German Fraktur and Material Culture and Word & Image: Contemporary Artists Connect to Fraktur. The book consists of four articles written by experts in their fields. Each article stands alone as an exemplary explanation of its specific subject, but all together they paint a picture of the purpose of the exhibition and the book. Judith Tannenbaum, editor of Framing Fraktur, states the fivefold purpose of the exhibition in her introduction. She wants to “introduce art into the daily lives of library visitors; acquaint people with the extraordinary resources of the Rare Book Department; raise awareness of fraktur, an art form with particular significance for the southeastern Pennsylvania region; connect the art and literature of the past and present; and bring the work of seven contemporary artists to a large and diverse audience.” The exhibition and the book expand upon what a library can be to its community. As Tannenbaum asserts, technology is changing what patrons need from the physical library building, with people increasingly “borrowing” books online with no need to visit. Exhibitions like Framing Fraktur unites text and art, and reminds patrons that the physical library holds treasures that can only be seen inside. See full review at www.passedtime.com