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Folksongs in Art
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Subject: Folksongs in Art From: JohnInKansas Date: 08 Oct 05 - 10:30 PM A recent announcement of an exhibit at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, titled Artist as Narrator: Nineteenth Century Narrative Art in England and France suggests an interesting(?) question. The above announcement of the exhibit describes it: The exhibition explores the visual interpretations of prose, poetry, legends, and myths through paintings, prints, and drawings, illustrating the close relationships between the written, oral, and visual arts in nineteenth-century England and France. (The official page for the museum is at Oklahoma City Museum of Art.) The announcement doesn't specifically mention connections to Folklore in our usual sense; but raises the question – have artists produced "narrative works" depicting well known (or vaguely known) folk tales, folk songs, and lore? Of particular interest would be an artwork depicting a folk legend (possibly an actual historical event) for which we have a song or two. There are of course many works that depict famous and/or notorious historical and political events, and certainly some of these have produced "folk songs," but I'm afraid my own familiarity, especially with the songs and their historical significance, doesn't readily make the connections with any certainty. The numerous works that depict "folk dancers" or musicians don't really have much specific relationship to any particular folk tale/song. A few artists have done a lot of work depicting mythical characters. Robin Buick comes to mind, but I don't know a song about Niamh or Gráinne. Any examples come to mind? Barring an artwork made specifically to illustrate a folk legend, perhaps one that could illustrate a particular one? As a footnote here, those who are artily inclined and want to browse for appropriate stuff may be interested in another thread at Web Art Update. I've looked at those works, but haven't made the connections. I might consider visiting the Okie exhibit, but it's about a 500 mile (800 km) round trip, and would take all day (and quite a bit of gas). John |
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Subject: RE: Folksongs in Art From: Bob the Postman Date: 09 Oct 05 - 01:49 PM You must be talking about Thomas Hart Benton. Google "benton" along with "sourwood mountain" or "frankie and johnnie" or "jesse james" or especially "The Sources Of Country Music". |
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Subject: RE: Folksongs in Art From: JohnInKansas Date: 09 Oct 05 - 04:33 PM Benton looks pretty good here. A Google search turned up a whole lot of hits, but pretty scattered. Most Benton works appear to be ©, which is probably to be expected since he died so recently (in 1975). I got better search results from ArtCyclopedia. The ArtCyclopedia Benton Search provides quite a lot of stuff. The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco provides several good ones: Wreck of the Old "97", 19th - 20th century Lithograph 26.3 x 38 cm (image); 32.2 x 43.4 cm (sheet) Seems like an obvious one. I Got a Gal on Sourwood Mountain, 1938 Lithograph 31.7 x 23.4 cm (image); 40.5 x 29.8 cm (sheet) Sounds good, but is their a song by that title? His Susannah and the Elders (hillbilly version) is intriguing, but I haven't heard the song. At the University of Kansas Spencer Collection: The Ballad of the Jealous Lover of Lone Green Valley sounds obvious, but does anyone actually know the ballad? At the Woodcock Museum (St Louis, MO) the search result claims 20 images, but I could only find 11. They did include: Frankie and Johnnie, 1936 lithograph 22.12 x 16.32" Jesse James, 1936, lithograph 22.12 x 16.32" Ten Pound Hammer 1965 bronze 0.00 x 0.00 x 10.00" (He added a pound on the hammer?) If you're a Benton fan, I was surprised to see several of his works at the US Navy Art Collection, a fairly large collection of Benton works, mostly pen and ink with wash and most related to LST service(?). A little different that his more popular works, and perhaps less well known? (Or maybe I'm the only one who didn't know. I didn't hit on "Origins" but I know I've seen it and it shouldn't be too hard to find. While I'd prefer more specific ties to a particular tale/song, it certainly fits in. An excellent start. Any others - and does someone know the words to the songs? John |
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Subject: RE: Folksongs in Art From: Bob the Postman Date: 09 Oct 05 - 06:19 PM Yes indeed. Sourwood Mountain is in Digitrad. |
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Subject: RE: Folksongs in Art From: JohnInKansas Date: 09 Oct 05 - 07:31 PM Bob- Looks like a pretty good match. Making progress. John |
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Subject: RE: Folksongs in Art From: JohnInKansas Date: 11 Oct 05 - 02:38 AM Bob the Postman - I found a good (149 KB) image of "The Sources of Country Music," but it was in an ad for "The Lazy J Ranch" without attribution. Good picture, but a little generic. (And I haven't found it yet where there's a decent attrib or that tells who owns a copy. Not too important, but I like to keep track.) I'd rather find stuff that is specific to a particular bit of lore, like "Frankie and Johnnie" etc. Still curious, and still looking. John |
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Subject: RE: Folksongs in Art From: GUEST,Val Date: 11 Oct 05 - 12:41 PM There are those who might dispute classifying a "graphic novel" as "art", but there have been some illustrators who have rendered some old trad. ballads into that format. See This example at Barnes & Noble |
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Subject: RE: Folksongs in Art From: JohnInKansas Date: 11 Oct 05 - 01:56 PM Val - Now we've got to contend with "what is art" when we haven't even scratched the surface on "what is folk?" Good suggestion though. I don't have any problem with including illustration as an "art form," and if well done even as "fine art." I should have remembered the couple of "illustrated folk tales" that SingOut! included a very few years ago. (I'll have to check whether Vess was the one who did those – CRS syndrome being at hand..) For the record, the book cited is: The Book of Ballads ISBN: 076531214X Format: Hardcover, 192pp Pub. Date: November 2004 Publisher: Tor Books $24.95 (US) The summary indicates individual tales by Charles Vess, Neil Gaiman, Sharyn McCrumb, Jane Yolen, all illustrated by Charles Vess.
John |
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Subject: RE: Folksongs in Art From: michaelr Date: 11 Oct 05 - 03:25 PM "The Lady of Shallott" comes to mind... J.W. Waterhouse's painting (pre-Rafaelite school), also J.A. Grimshaw. Both are in a book I have, "From the Deep Waters". It's full of mermaids, sirens, kelpies etc. Cheers, Michael |
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Subject: RE: Folksongs in Art From: GUEST Date: 11 Oct 05 - 04:25 PM http://community-2.webtv.net/@HH!CB!9E!808299344327/dand31/DanDuttonsBallad/ There are paintings at this site interpreting old folk songs. |
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Subject: RE: Folksongs in Art From: Joybell Date: 11 Oct 05 - 05:35 PM John, The song usually called "The Jealous Lover" or "Fair Ellen" is set "Way down in a lonesome valley". Fair Ellen is stabbed there. The picture surely seems to show a scene from the ballad. Wonderful pictures. Thank you so much John. Cheers, Joy |
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Subject: RE: Folksongs in Art From: JohnInKansas Date: 11 Oct 05 - 06:43 PM Michaelr – Waterhouse makes several references to "The Lady of Shallot." "The Lady of Shalott," 1888 is probably best known, and shows the lady in her boat heading for Camelot. The later "'I am Half-sick of Shadows,' said the Lady of Shalott," 1915 shows her in her castle prior to departing. Several other artists, especially among the "preRaphaelites," have depicted her, but usually "dead in the water" (or dead in a canoe). I'd made the connection to Tennyson's writings, but without considered how much "folk legend" connection there might be. GUEST – Link given: Dan Dutton's Ballad Project Some nice work there. It will take a while to get through it all. For reference, ballads cited on the first page: True Thomas, Barbara Ellen, Lord Bateman , The Farmer's Curst Wife, Rosefoal, The Fox , The Frog's Courtship, The Selkie, John Henry, Babes in the Woods, Black Jack Davy, Usher's Well, Jimmy Randall, Hangman, Reynardine, The Boar Hunter. Dan Dutton indicates 12 "primary illustrations" in his "Ballad Series," and numberous others of similar kinds. There's a CD available for the main selections, for those who might be interested. Anyone heard him? Joybell - There's sure to be a whole lot more(?). John |
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Subject: RE: Folksongs in Art From: Bob the Postman Date: 15 Oct 05 - 12:11 PM Looks like song book illustrations will prove the most fruitful field. I have a pretty dreadful book of Canadian folk songs illustrated dreadfully by the otherwise excellent and beloved Canadian painter Arthur Lismer. And here is a link to an exhibition inspired by this same book. Also William Sharp's illustrations of Stephen Foster songs can be seen in this nifty book. Another area to explore is historical events which have been the subject of both paintings and songs. For example, there are several songs about The Death Of Wolfe in Digitrad. |
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Subject: RE: Folksongs in Art From: Bard Judith Date: 15 Oct 05 - 12:47 PM Another angle: If you'll accept book covers as illustrations of the text within, then some very fruitful searches could be done on the works of these marvelous women authors. Jane Yolen works almost exclusively with folk and fairy tale motifs, for example. Search for 'Tam Lin' on Amazon and have a look! Jane Yolen Terri Windling Elizabeth Ann Scarborough Sherri S. Tepper Robin McKinley Tanith Lee Mercedes Lackey |
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Subject: RE: Folksongs in Art From: Bard Judith Date: 15 Oct 05 - 12:58 PM Two marvelous links with ballad illustrations: The Bodleian Library's collection - http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/ballads/ballads.htm has scanned images from authentic broadside ballads. 'Bonnet so Blue' is illustrated on the link above, but there are many more in the searchable database, apparently. George Wharton Edwards - http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/boeb/ beautiful wood-cut illustrations for over twenty songs, from 'Fair Margaret' to 'The Twa Corbies'. You might also try the art of Tom Canty - contemporary book illustrator |
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Subject: RE: Folksongs in Art From: JohnInKansas Date: 15 Oct 05 - 04:50 PM Bob the P - Arthur Lismer ArtCylcopeda search shows a lot of fine stuff. I'm assuming this is the right "beloved Arthur Lismer." The National Gallery of Canada link at the above search page shows "many (146) works online" and is impressive, but I don't spot any with obvious "folklore" ties. The Dalhousie University also lists 14 works with similar range of subjects. The accessible works seem to be mostly from his landscape stuff, which would be expected based on his "Group of Seven" association. The Tom Thomson Memorial Gallery near the bottom of the search page does indicate that he was much into "children's art" in his teaching, and he may have done "folkish" stuff in that connection. No illustrations of that sort found thus far though. The link to notes on the Exhibition provides a lot of artist names to look up. Bard J – The Bodleian and G.W. Wharton connections are good. I'll have to spend some time poking around those. Book covers often are great illustrations, but the artists are so seldom acknowledged that it makes research rather difficult. I'm not discounting the value – just saying it will take a lot of searching to make good associations of the kind I'd like to find. SWMBO says she knows all of the authors you listed, so maybe I can delegate some research to her – or at least get her to dig out the several books she has so I can look for the artist info in the books themselves. All good stuff. John |
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Subject: RE: Folksongs in Art From: Donuel Date: 16 Oct 05 - 08:59 AM That is pretty much all I do but most of the songs and poems I depict are as contemporary as Bruce Springstein. |
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