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Concepts and Movements

Folk Art

Historical Craft Reform Movements

Art and craft made within a community's living tradition rather than the academy: weathervanes, quilts, carved figures, painted furniture, decorated utility. Its makers are often untrained and sometimes unnamed, and its study treats the household object as a carrier of culture. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Origin Year
1894 1
The objects and practices of folk art are far older than this date. 1894 is recorded here as the origin of folk art as a defined field of scholarly study, marked by a study titled Volkskunst, Hausfleiss, und Hausindustrie published by Alois Riegl, not as the origin of folk art practice itself.
Origin
The concept of folk art as a distinct category is a nineteenth-century one. 1
FAQs

What makes a work folk art rather than fine art?

It is made within a community's living tradition rather than the academy, often by an untrained or unnamed maker.

Folk art is art and craft made within a community's living tradition rather than the academy: weathervanes, quilts, carved figures, painted furniture and decorated everyday objects. Its makers are often untrained and sometimes unnamed, and its study treats the household object as a carrier of culture rather than a work meant for a gallery. The concept of folk art as its own distinct category is a nineteenth-century one.
Connections

Associated With

Source Mingei (Wikipedia)

Its collection of about 17,500 objects from 141 countries is devoted to folk art, craft and design from around the world.

Quilting, Crafts

Quilting is named directly as a continuing folk art tradition.

Additional Source Folk Art (Wikipedia)Practices section
Woodworking, Crafts

Wood carving is catalogued among folk art's own materials, forms and crafts.

Additional Source Folk Art (Wikipedia)Materials, forms, and crafts section
Sources
1. Folk Art (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Lead section
    The concept of folk art is a distinctly 19th-century one.
  • Materials, forms, and crafts section
    Folk art is designed in different shapes, sizes and forms. It traditionally uses the materials which are at hand in the locality and reproduces familiar shapes and forms.
  • Folk artists subsection
    This was originally articulated by Alois Riegl in his study of Volkskunst, Hausfleiss, und Hausindustrie, published in 1894.
  • Associated With: Quilting, Practices section
    Many folk art traditions like quilting, ornamental picture framing, and decoy carving continue to be practiced, and new forms continue to emerge.
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