Disclaimer
The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent anyone else's view in any way, including those of my employer.
© Copyright 2009
The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent anyone else's view in any way, including those of my employer.
© Copyright 2009
KANGAS ARTICLES & BOOKS. Gene and Linda Kangas have written over 160 Articles and a dozen Books and Exhibition Catalogs during the past 35 years. We are archiving complete articles including photographs and excerpted book and catalog texts with photographs to Creekside Art Gallery Blog. Each can be downloaded and printed out for your convenience. Please come back to look for more on a monthly basis!
Subjects include Waterfowl Decoys, American Historic and Contemporary Folk Art, International Folk Art, Biographies of Artists and Collectors, and Contemporary and Antique Woodturning including 19th and 20th century Peaseware.
Books & Catalogs Available for Purchase: We are happy to personalize autographed books and catalogs; most are also available discounted in multiples.
Want your book, article or catalog written? Contact us at Creekside Art Gallery.
The emancipation of slaves following the end of the Civil War did not guarantee that insidious racism and bigotry were over, far from it. Southern blacks especially continued to suffer unspeakable intrusions into their everyday lives. Slavery was illegal but segregation was not. Voting and openly speaking one’s mind were not possible. Fear dictated how one acted and how one expressed him or herself. Southern black folk artists were acutely aware of the suffocating burden of these limitations, yet they bravely struggled to find a voice. To protect themselves and their families from potentially deadly reprisals, critical messages were necessarily disguised within their visual creations. Openly expressing ideas might be dangerous. Social commentary could have serious consequences. "Thornton Dial hid his work in the tool shed, he buried it in the backyard, he tore it up and made something else out of it. He was not hiding and recycling merely to appease Clara Mae (his wife). He knew somehow that whatever he was making could bring far more danger than a tongue-lashing from the wife. As his work became less practical and more aesthetic, it began to reveal Dial’s emotions about his plight and how the civil unrest around him, and these feelings — too dangerous to let escape his ever-closed mouth — now seeped from his whirring mind into his hands and out through metal and cement." (From The Last Folk Hero by Dietz p19) The "civil" war was not over. The struggle was just beginning.
As Albert Lee Wagner grew up in poverty stricken rural Arkansas, he heard horrific stories of atrocities dealt upon his people. Racism, rape, whippings and even murder were remembered as commonplace events. Unfortunately, such nightmarish memories were inescapable and were thus burned deep into his psyche to emerge much later as ingredients in his visual vocabulary. Basic life just prior to, during and following the Depression was extremely challenging for poor black folk; in 1941, Wagner and his family emigrated from desperate dead-end circumstances in rural Arkansas in search of better jobs and a new life in Ohio. The North, he pleasantly found, not only offered much better pay and greater opportunities but also previously unknown freedoms. Albert Wagner unexpectedly discovered that he could boldly speak his mind on any subject without fear of receiving a beating or worse, getting hung from a tree. Life was dramatically different in the North. Life was good. Albert Wagner was free to express his experiences and memories in any liberated manner he preferred. Freedom gave him permission to be brutally candid and affectionately picturesque. Freedom opened the exciting door to uncensored artistic expression. Freedom differentiates him from his Southern folk artist peers. Inhibiting social censorship and cultural repression were left miles behind.
Following the purchase of an early Augustus "Gus" Wilson old squaw from the November 7-8, 2007 Guyette & Schmidt decoy auction in Easton, Maryland, we thought it would be an interesting exercise to examine the historical provenance of this rare decoy. This decision was influenced by the fact that we were aware of several prior ownerships not listed or identified in the auction catalog. Curiously, onl
y one previous owner was mentioned, although additional data was readily available.
Usually the consignor provides the pertinent information that establishes the provenance to an auction house. According to Wikipedia, the free Internet encyclopedia, provenance is defined as "the origin or source from which something comes, and it can and should include the history of subsequent owners (also known in some fields as chain of custody). The term is also used in the sense of place and time of creation, production or discovery.
"The provenance of works of fine art, antiques and antiquities often assumes great importance. Documented evidence of provenance for an object can help establish that it is original, has not been altered and is not a forgery, reproduction, or stolen or looted art. The quality of provenance of an important artwork can make a considerable difference to its market value; this is affected by the degree of certainty of the provenance and the collective status of past owners as knowledgeable collectors. Provenance of a work of art may be recorded in various forms depending on context or the amount of information that is known, from a single name to a scholarly notation several thousand words long." More »
The concept for SACRED STONES began germinating over thirty years ago in the tiny rural town of Mesopotamia, Ohio. "Mespo," as it is called by locals, is in the heart of Amish country in Trumbull County in northeastern Ohio. This general area is home to the fourth largest Amish community in America. The center of town is a community oriented public green space or park. A tall Civil War Monument topped by a stone eagle was erected there in 1867 honoring area veterans. Over 2,000 people attended the dedication.
About half way north on the eastern side of the commons is Fairview Cemetery, which had its first burial in 1818. Like most cemeteries, the majority of the marker stones tend towards the routine. Many of those in Fairview were fashioned from soft white marble and now appear to be melting from years of exposure. Names, dates and other embellishments are slowly vanishing; history fades with each rain storm. Scanning the cemetery, however, several obviously different stones immediately summon each visitor’s attention. They are not marble but seemingly indestructible hard granite. No detail has been erased by over a century of constant weathering. It is visually evident that a remarkable sculptural approach produced the various granite monuments in Fairview. One is a large highly detailed spiral sea shell. The largest is the Brigden Family marker accentuated by carved foliage and a friendly climbing bear. Another features a life-size seated curly coated faithful canine patiently waiting next to the headstone of a small child. These wonderful memorials originated from the self-taught artistic mind of Howard A. Brigden (1841-1913), a native of Mesopotamia. He also sculpted the stone eagle perched atop the Civil War Memorial. Being a sculptor, art teacher and folk art enthusiast, I was immediately attracted to Brigden’s masterpieces of cemetery art. Their existence provided an excellent reason to take visitors to Mesopotamia.
About twenty-five miles (40+ Km) west of Mespo is the town of Chagrin Falls, Ohio. There, a contemporary of Brigden’s named Henry Church, Jr. (1836-1908) gained a reputation as a maverick and eccentric. Among various artistic accomplishments was the ambitious thirty foot high relief carving locally referred to as "Squaw Rock." Its actual title is "The Rape of the Indian Tribes by the White Men." It boldly overlooks the Chagrin River for passers by to notice. Like Brigden, Henry Church sculpted a distinctive family grave marker in the form of a large reclining peaceable kingdom lion, protecting a gentle lamb that rests on one of its front paws. Fearing damage from vandalism, descendents eventually removed the lion and lamb from their original location in the Evergreen Hill Cemetery in Chagrin Falls and arranged for their relocation in the sheltered courtyard of the prestigious Cleveland Museum of Art. While Church’s cemetery sculpture is now safe in the hands of art professionals, its new sterile modern environment lacks context and the emotional impact of a serendipitous encounter.
Enjoyment from the publicly accessible artwork of Howard Brigden and Henry Church eventually led to the stone and wood folk carvings of Silvio Peter Zoratti (1896-1992) who immigrated to America in 1919 from Udine, Italy. Zoratti lived a quiet private life in Conneaut in the very northeast corner of Ohio. He carved primarily for his own enjoyment. During his lifetime none of his artworks were for sale. Zoratti did not make overt political statements or attempt to craft other communal expressions. Yet, Silvio Zoratti’s stone sculptures intentionally functioned as visual affirmations of his faith; each representing one of many elements of a total complex environmental matrix that evolved into his own unique Garden of Eden. He admitted that his colorful wood carvings tended to wear and deteriorate due to effects from the harsh snowy northeastern Ohio winters. Many required annual repairs, repainting or were discarded; but the hard stones, he believed, "They will last longer."
Zoratti was employed by the Nickel Plate Railroad to construct and maintain bridges, buildings and fences. That is where surplus stone for his sculptures originated. He created a multi-media shrine surrounded by brightly colored and fragrant flowers. It was situated on a prominent earthen rise in the very center of his beloved garden. Whether pruning fruit trees or harvesting beans, Silvio could fondly gaze upon his sacred hill. It was an extraordinary place, his special place.
The aesthetic accomplishments of these three individuals, Brigden, Church and Zoratti, were the essential inspiration for SACRED STONES.
[I contemplated a publication focusing on local or regional memorial artisans.] The idea gradually evolved; [actually] begged to be much larger. Was it possible to expand the basic idea into a worldwide survey? If so, how could such an overwhelming task be accomplished? The answer, proved to be quite simple. The Internet could and would provide global communication with virtually no restrictions. The Internet could quickly help discover foreign sites to consider as well as help develop a list of potential contributing professional and amateur photographers.
The title doesn’t refer to the NASCAR circuit or to porno; it identifies certain decoys, specifically merganser decoys. The very physical characteristics that so aptly enable American, hooded and red–breasted mergansers to be successful food gatherers often inspired the imaginations of creative decoy makers. Hooded merganser decoys are the rarest of the three. All mergansers are superb underwater swimmers and divers, possessing streamlined bodies well adapted to the task. Their long thin serrated bills enable them to capture and hold fish. Upon returning to the surface, their combs are wet and slicked back. Once dry, feathers on the back of the head grandly unfurl into fan shaped crests and coiffures suggesting the nickname "hairy heads" to some hunters. More »
Since the dawn of time, living creatures faithfully responded to seasonal climatic changes. In early spring birds gathered one by one in the South, assembling into large flocks anxious to begin their journey north. Months later, Mother Nature’s hints of approaching wintry weather urged them to once again return south. Humans always noticed and were amazed by the great migrations. There was something magical in the annual passing of massive numbers of winged travelers. Like the songbirds and waterfowl he so loved to carve, James Lapham also migrated with the seasons. More »
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Jay Cooke became one of the most powerful figures in America by the mid-nineteenth century. He rubbed shoulders with the most prominent socialites, politicians, and business moguls and mucked through marshlands with local hunters, guides, and fishermen from the Mid-West to the East Coast. He was someone directly involved in the mix of dramatic historical events unfolding around him; he had power and influence.
A long-standing controversy exists regarding the identities of makers of certain styles of early Delaware River waterfowl decoys. It is referred to as "the Blair Mystery." Questions related to it have consistently ignored how the transmission or origin of design concepts occurred, perhaps resulting from a limiting regionalized focus and perspective. However, there is a significant larger picture; and, Jay Cooke is the pivotal character. More »
When people first began to paint and sculpt, they portrayed those things around them that had very special significance. Tens of thousands of years ago they enlivened the hidden walls of their protective caves with impressions of magical four-footed animals. 
Once dark galleries in the earth were transformed into places of wonderment, which continue to intrigue us today. Now visitors go to experience the total environments, to think about the people who created them, and to time travel. Mental images link us with others like ourselves, who also required the same daily essentials of food, drink, and sleep. Like us, they dreamed, loved, laughed, and wept. Like the animals, they also migrated. And, when afforded the leisure opportunity to collect their thoughts, some chose to record personal experiences, inventing methods for that purpose. They made art and enriched lives. More »
1800 Years of Paper Mache History
An insatiable European appetite and search for new and innovative art and decoration enthusiastically embraced the adoption of paper mache as an expressive material. Hardened paper became an inexpensive substitute for wood; and, it was just as easily polychromed and gilded. In the 17th century, strong markets for paper mache products existed in both England and France. During that period, English artisans experimented with paper mache to produce various types of furniture as well as dimensional embellishments for application to architecture. By 1750, English paper-ware factories were busy keeping up with the demand. George Jackson is recognized as one of the first Englishmen (circa 1756) to carve boxwood molds to manufacture paper mache forms; his were concave or carved in reverse to receive wet pulp. About that time "japanning" became popular. It was a highly decorative painting technique which also helped strengthen and preserve paper objets d’art. Then Germany in the 18th century and Russia in the first half of the 19th century became active manufacturers and consumers of a wide assortment of paper mache items. One example of the high level of acceptance and respect for quality paper mache is illustrated by the English firm of Jennens and Bettridge’s gift of a set of elaborately decorated trays to Queen Victoria as a wedding present in 1840. Queen Mary was an active collector of paper mache objects, later donating them to several museums. Her Majesty the Queen of Spain was another Jennens and Bettridge client as were English Kings George IV and William IV. The Great English Exhibition of 1851 featured a tremendous diversity of fanciful paper mache items including an entire suite of furniture. Such works often reflected existing interests in Far Eastern decorative arts. More »
DR. JAMES McCLEERY "patted his feathered wooden friends goodbye" and sent them out into the world again. One by one, ove
r thirty years, Jim had carefully selected each duck, goose and shorebird decoy he brought to his Pasadena, Texas home. Shorebirds were approximately one-half of Jim’s collection, with ducks and geese from all North American hunting regions making up the balance. His emphasis was on working decoys. They encompassed examples from the major factories as well as many prominent makers and excellent examples of unknown folk art. He loved each wooden bird nearly as much as he adored his live feathered and furred housemates. And, when his collecting was done, he determined that they go, one by one again, into new homes, those of his good friends, acquaintances, and others he had not met but who are kindred spirits. More »
Much like the grass–roots effort of Fall 1997 that produced OUT OF FOCUS, turners’ first Internet salon de refuse, PATHWAYS was an independent venture. It received support from a variety of private and public sources, and suggests the potential of what can be accomplished by a few dedicated individuals with vision and enthusiasm. For the first time, practitioners were offered an exhibition opportunity with distinct categories which acknowledged the variety of attitudes and avenues within the field. Sculpture was recognized as having distinct and separate intentions from other work which addressed utility, scale, material, or the major vessel types. The Peaseware component of the exhibition presented a portion of the field’s past in the belief that history helps to nurture contemporary investigations; an attitude that was integral to the American Association of Woodturner’s 1997 TURNED FOR USE exhibition, and is very much a part of the Wood Turning Center’s mission. This catalog continued the interest in documentation via the affordable black/white format which was established by the two previous AAW exhibitions while it raised the standards for size and presentation quality and adds a distinctive color component. More »
The Western Reserve lands of northeastern Ohio represent three million acres once owned by the Connecticut Land Company. "When the land company visited the Reserve and began to explore it (in 1796), the men could not say enough in praise of it. They gave glowing tributes, exalting the new Connecticut as a Garden of Eden whose natural advantage and beauties were unsurpassed with forests of magnificent growth, streams of clear sparkling water and deer, elk and fish affording much food for man. Moved by such inspiring accounts the great army of immigrants began to march."1
Pease is a name well-recognized as a family associated 
with the production of high quality nineteenth century hand-turned woodenware. Born in New England, David Mills Pease (1815-1890) was the patriarch of a new business started by him in northeastern Ohio in 1850. With three of his sons, David operated first one and later a second woodturning mill in Cascade Valley in Concord, Ohio. The small, picturesque community was a thriving, self-reliant manufacturing beehive. By 1875 approximately two dozen mills of various endeavors were powered by the beautiful flowing waters of Big Creek and other local streams which feed into Lake Erie. One of those who realized an existing opportunity and capitalized on the idyllic circumstances was Otis Almon Brown (1859-1923) whose family also has a protracted history in the area. More »
Thousands of individuals and over one hundred factories produced millions of waterfowl decoys after the idea began over two millenium ago. 
Of that multitude of makers, how many went far beyond the typical decoy in creative efforts to make miniature ducks and other decoy related artifacts? The answer is a very small percentage. Of those, how many fashioned not only quality lures but also a wider variety of folk sculptures distinguishing them from the norm? Only a handful did and they have become recognized for their special contributions. These legends include Elmer Crowell, Ira Hudson, Charles Perdew, The Ward Brothers, Shang Wheeler and Gus Wilson, all prolific masters. More »
New World Folk Art evolved from art faculty discussions concerning plans to commemorate the Columbus Quincentenary at Cleveland State University. Unlike the last observance, which brought forth the influential Columbian World Exposition in Chicago in 1893, the current anniversary has stoked bitter controversy. Native Americans feel that there is little to celebrate. Many Americans look upon some aspects of this country’s history less positively than their ancestors and regard the future with increasing uneasiness. In light of these circumstances, the art faculty sought an idea that would recognize these feelings and still pay homage to the native-born and immigrant people of the New World. Various concepts were suggested until the importance of interactions between cultures and their effects on folk imagery were decided upon as the focus of this exhibition.
Centuries before Christopher Columbus voyaged to these shores, ancient 
cultures prospered all across the North American continent. Much was learned by native people as they adapted to their environment and innovated methods to improve their lives. One of the eventual results of contact with new foreign settlers was a cross-cultural sharing of ideas and technologies. The exchange of knowledge benefited both, and each new cultural influx added to an already rich and complex history. More »
American folk artist, a fact attested to by the genuinely significant body of carvings he has produced during the past half century. The carvings are his own design in several significant aspects. They can be related to the works of late 19th century trompe l’oel painters such as William Harnett and Alexander Pope who, among other expressions, attempted to render "eye-fooling" hanging game paintings. For effect, their paintings relied on an extreme realism that concentrated on minute detailing. Sirois’ carvings may also be compared on a superficial level with the popular service area of the taxidermist whose main business purpose is the preservation of trophy catches as documentation of sport. Sirois’ bas relief fish carvings are a documentation of the sport of fishing in the true trompe l’oel sense. Each of his fish is an exact scale carving and painting of a fish he caught primarily to eat; and at first glance, Sirois’ fish carvings appear to be as real as the fish he caught. More »
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