Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum

A colorful, horizontally-oriented oil painting of a diverse group of people seated on a train.
October 10, 2015–January 3, 2016
Second floor

Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum explores the “self-taught” artist as an elastic and enduring phenomenon with powerful and profound implications that have changed over time. More than 100 works of art are on view in this groundbreaking exhibition that highlights the roles of folk and self-taught artists as figures who are central to the shared history of America and whose contributions to the national conversation are paramount. Self-Taught Genius features masterpieces in a variety of forms including textiles and needlework, ceramics, sculptural and carved figures, drawings, paintings, furniture, and much more, dating from the 18th century to the present.

The exhibition considers the shifting implications of a self-taught ideology in the United States, from a widely endorsed movement of self-education to its current usage to describe artists working outside traditional frames of reference and art history. Self-taught art, past and present, blurs boundaries between disciplines, questions the definition of art, and forces us to reconsider our assumptions about what art truly is. These “self-taught geniuses” have been active participants in the shaping of American visual culture, influencing generations of artists, and establishing lively artistic traditions.

Ralph Fasanella

Subway Riders, 1950

Oil on canvas

A colorful, horizontally-oriented oil painting of a diverse group of people seated on a train.

Edward Hicks

The Peaceable Kingdom, 1829-31

Oil on canvas, in original painted wood frame

An oil painting of a tree-covered hill with three White children in white dresses surrounded by animals: lions, cows, leopards, wolves, goats, and pigs.

Flag Gate, ca. 1876

Paint on wood with iron and brass

A wood gate painted to look like an American flag with wavy red stripes.

Ammi Phillips

Girl in Red Dress with Cat and Dog, 1830-35

Oil on canvas

An oil painting of a seated young White girl in a red dress with puffy sleeves holding white cat, with a small dog lying by her feet.

Mary T. Smith

Untitled, 1976

Paint on metal

A painting in a child-like style with three figures (L-R): A human figure in yellow on black, a human figure in black on yellow, and another human figure in yellow on black.

Marino Auriti

Encyclopedic Palace/Palazzo, ca. 1950s

Wood, plastic, glass, metal, hair combs, and model kit parts

A black-and-white photograph of a White man standing behind an elaborate model of a building with seven tiers, like a cake, surrounded by a columned portico.

Sheldon Peck

Anna Gould Crane and Granddaughter Janette, ca. 1845

Oil on linen

An oil painting of stylized White people: a girl with dark curly hair wearing a yellow dress holding a pink rose toward a seated older woman in a black dress with a white collar and bonnet.

Asa Ames

Phrenological Head, ca. 1850

Paint on wood

A painted wood sculpture bust of a White child with different parts of the head painted in different colors.

Bill Traylor

Untitled (Figures and Construction with Blue Border), ca. 1941

Poster paint and pencil on cardboard

A child-like drawing in black of (top-bottom) a large bird, a man in a top hat with a cat on one side and a person on the other, two human figures and an animal figure with a human face, and a large animal bearing its teeth.

Installation Photos

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In the Press

"What It Means To Be A 'Self-Taught Genius' In Art"

HuffPost

July 22, 2015

All Exhibitions

Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum is organized by the American Folk Art Museum. The exhibition and national tour are made possible by generous funding from the Henry Luce Foundation, as part of its 75th anniversary initiative.

Local presentation is sponsored by the Kleinheinz Family Foundation for the Arts and Education.