Autumn 2015 Preview

Autumn 8 www.antiquesandfineart.com (978) 465-1089 joan@americanfolkpaintings.com w ww.americanfolkpaintings.com The monumentally scaled chalice form was a major series of works within the Scheier oeuvre. These examples date from the mid 1960s and, like other pieces from this group, they are decorated with mother and child imagery or religious stories, re-interpreted by Edwin. Stoneware, New Hampshire, between 19 inches and 24 inches in height. J OAN R. B ROWNSTEIN • A MERICAN F OLK P AINTINGS re some people born scoundrels, or, are they victims of circumstance drawn down a nefarious path? In Richard Brunton, Folk Artist/Counterfeiter (pages 118–123), author Deborah Child has pieced together the life of an itinerant artist whose financial struggles determined his fate. In 1774, Brunton was dispatched to the colonies as part of a British regiment; he deserted after witnessing several bloody encounters. An engraver by trade, he was able to find employment, but despite his attempts at earning an honest wage he eventually became a counterfeiter, a trade to which he turned for the remainder of his career when times were tough. Despite his miscreant ways, Brunton received commissions to engrave and paint portraits, registers, bookplates, and other works. Though Child does not pose this question, was Brunton an individual trying to survive by any means possible or taking the easy way out? Most individuals from the past leave little information about their lives, which is why the fortuitous discovery that authors Suzanne and Michael Payne made of more than 266 items written by folk artist Ira Chaffee Goodell —including letters, an autobiography, an account book, and other documents— is such a bonanza (pages 152–159). This material records his life in his own words, from his decision to become an artist and not a lawyer, his success in that field, and his eventual economic downturn. Not only does this documentation provide insight into Goodell’s artistic output, but it also provides a window into the life of a non-academic artist during what is now considered the prime period in which most folk artists were working. We are fortunate in the amount of recorded and first-hand material available for artists and artisans working in the twentieth century. Ed and Mary Scheier were potters involved in the modern design movement, and the trajectory of their well-publicized careers is discussed in Dale Valena and Richard Candee’s article on pages 110–117. Self-taught, like many folk artists of the previous century, they became award-winning studio ceramicists and two of New Hampshire’s most famous artists. An exhibition of their work is on view at Discover Portsmouth through October 2. It is in tandem with an exhibition on the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, an organization that actively promoted members of the skilled crafts community, including the Scheiers. Thank you, Johanna McBrien Founding editor Photography by Ellen McDermott FROM THE EDIT O R A