Religious Folk Art in America: Reflections of Faith

ABOUT
This book explores in depth the link between religion and American folk art, for when compared to mainstream art, done by trained artists working in conventional media and styles, folk artists seem to have produced the most powerful expressions of religious art in America’s history.

The spiritual emphasis in much folk art becomes increasingly evident as one examines work done in relatively recent years, in part because of the corresponding decline and virtual disappearance of religious imagery in nineteenth and twentieth-century fine art. The spiritual content in folk art, present at the beginning of our country’s history, has not suffered a similar decline. Indeed, some of the most moving spiritual statements are being made by contemporary folk artists. By gathering the finest examples of religious folk art into a single volume and by placing those works into their proper historical and social contexts through accompanying essays, Religious Folk Art in America brings into clearer focus the spiritual foundation of our national life and the enduring personal faith of the American people.

(Description source: inside cover)