Self Taught Artists of the 20th Century: An American Anthology

by Elsa Longhauser, Harold Szeemann, Gerard Wertkin (Foreword)

Organized by the Museum of American Folk Art, this unique collection of paintings, sculpture, collages, and drawings celebrates the remarkable work of America's self-taught artists.
Insightful profiles of the life and work of each of the featured artists by curators, critics, scholars, and artists with a broad range of perspectives are accompanied by major essays by distinguished scholars Arthur C. Danto, Maurice Berger, and Gerald L. Davis. Together, with the curators, Elsa Longhauser and Harald Szeemann, they bring a fresh understanding to the work of these thirty-two gifted artists.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1998

Reviews

[Samuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I would have liked this book better if I'd seen the exhibition it accompanied. The selection of artists and works is impeccable. However, many of the reproduced artworks are shown in small, inline photos, and a huge number of the works referenced in the essays aren't reproduced at all, which makes the essays harder to follow unless the reader wants to constantly take a break to look up the mentioned works. Additionally, while some essays include a sort of general biography, others don't, which is frustrating unless you a) know all of the artists' details well enough not to need them (which I can do for some, but not all of the included artists), or b) want to look them all up.

I'm keeping this on my reference shelf, and I have some new artists to explore as a result of reading it. But I think it doesn't really stand alone all that well when divorced from the exhibition itself.

[Nativeabuse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would have liked more pictures and examples for each artist, but This was exactly what I like to see in folk art books. A short essay on the life story of the person who made the art and some examples of it without a whole lot of art criticism jargon to fluff up the pages.

Good overall book, quite enjoyable read.

[Gregg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Henry Darger, Grandma Moses and more!