American Wood Carving
(above: George Dickson (Haida, Native American), Model of House of Contentment, late 19th century, 2014, Cedar wood, pigment, 36 5/8 x 34 5/8 x 35 13/16 inches, Brooklyn Museum, By exchange, 05.589.7791. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)
Introduction
This section of our catalogue Topics in American Art is devoted to the topic "American Wood Carving." Articles and essays specific to this topic published in our Resource Library are listed at the beginning of the section. Clicking on titles takes readers directly to these articles and essays. The date at the end of each title is the Resource Library publication date.
Following the listing of Resource Library articles and essays are links to valuable online resources found outside our website. Links may be to museums' articles about exhibits, plus much more topical information based on our online searches.
Following online resources is information about offline resources including museums, DVDs, and paper-printed books, journals and articles.
(above: Sailko, Native American artifacts in the Field Museum of Natural History, 2016, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons**)
Articles and essays from Resource Library in chronological order:
Chester Cornett: Beyond the Narrow Sky (5/30/15)
Fragile Fortress: The Art of Dan Webb, with catalogue introduction by Nora Atkinson (4/4/14)
The Image Business: Shop and Cigar Store Figures in America; article by Ralph Sessions (4/22/09)
David Hostetler, Wood and Bronze Sculpture (11/1/07)
Samuel McIntire: Carving an American Style (11/1/07)
Felix Lopez, Santero (9/28/07)
Santos and Retablos (11/28/06)
Animal Sculpture in the Folk Tradition (5/20/05)
Our Saints Among Us: 400 Years of New Mexican Devotional Art (11/20/01)
Puerto Rican Santos de Palo: Sculptures Between Heaven and Earth (4/14/01)
Carvings by Fred Webster (1/9/01)
Gustavo Victor Goler, Santero (9/24/00)
From the Creative Hand: The Carvings of W.D. Neher (12/5/99)
Louisiana Lures & Legends (10/23/99) Traditional hunting decoys and historical artifacts are on display. Chance: the Decoys of Chauncey Wheeler features the work of Alexandria Bay, New York, decoy maker and folk artist Chauncey Wheeler. This exhibit shares some of his finest decoys, folk art flyers, and never seen before treasures.
Life of a Sailor: A Collector 's Vision (6/8/99)
Floyd Scholz, Vermont's Master Woodcarver of Birds (5/21/99) "Wooden" as an adjective usually describes something stiff and lifeless. But in the hands of master carver Floyd Scholz, solid Tupelo hardwood becomes something graceful, light, and spirited, as it takes on the form and feathers of a red-tailed hawk, a bald eagle, or a hermit thrush, Vermont's state bird.
Ah-Louisiana, The Land of the Acadians: Wildfowl Carvers (2/23/99) Wildfowl decoys are not only a work of art as a carved and painted sculpture, but also a piece of history. Unique to North America, the wildfowl decoy is folklore, a form of regional art. Decoys depict bird species found along our waterways, and become history of a people, a time, and a place.
From other websites:
Against the Grain: Wood in Contemporary Art, Craft and Design, an exhibit held March 19, 2013 to September 15, 2013 at the Museum of Arts and Design. Includes video. Accessed March, 2015.
American woodcarvers from Wikipedia. Accessed August, 2015.
A Revolution in Wood: The Bresler Collection, September 24, 2010 - January 30, 2011: introductory video, slide show and 59 minute "Shop Talk" video from the The Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery. Accessed August, 2015.
Arte Latino: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum from the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Accessed August, 2015.
"Asa Ames: New Discoveries," By Stacy C. Hollander, from The Magazine Antiques, August, 2009. The essay was written in conjunction with an exhibit at the American Folk Art Museum in New York City. Hollander organized the exhibition of sculpture by Asa Ames. Accessed January, 2016
Branching Out: The Art of Wood, an exhibit held October 10, 2009 - February 14, 2010 at the Figge Art Museum. Includes images. Accessed August, 2015.
The Center for Art in Wood, located in Philadelphia, PA, says: "The Center for Art in Wood is the founding arts and educational institution, maintaining the history and leading the growth, awareness, appreciation and promotion of artists and their art in or related to wood." The Center offers changing exhibitions, collection and publications. Accessed 3/17
Decoy Carving - sample of artists and works from askArt. Accessed August, 2015.
Decoy Carving from Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center. Accessed August, 2015.
The Essential Elijah Pierce, an exhibit held February 1 - March 16, 2014 at the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft. Accessed December, 2015.
Harriet Rosenberg and Tim Klock: A Cut Above was an exhibit held in 2016 at Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Altoona. A June 3, 2016 article By Cherie Hicks in The Altoona Mirror covers the exhibit. The article says: "One artist noiselessly uses fine, tiny cuts while the other makes coarse carvings and wears ear protection while he works. But there is a similitude to the art created by Harriet Rosenberg and Tim Klock that now is on display....Both involve cutting, you make one from the other and neither is the typical museum fine art....Rosenberg is a paper cutter and Klock is a chainsaw carver, and their dual "A Cut Above" exhibition is now on display through Sept. 10..." Accessed August, 2016
Hopi Wood Carvings: 1880-1980 is a 2026 Gemini 3 Deep Research Report which says: "The Hopi, who identify as Hopitu Shunumu or the "peaceful people," have inhabited the three mesas of northeastern Arizona for over 1,500 years. Their culture is profoundly rooted in a matrilineal social structure and a complex religious cycle dictated by the environment of the Colorado Plateau. In this arid landscape, survival is viewed not as a matter of luck but as the result of a disciplined spiritual life characterized by constant prayers for rain and elaborate ceremonies involving the katsinam. Katsinam are multifaceted spirits representing various aspects of the physical and spiritual worlds, including animals, natural elements, ancestors, and deities. These spirits are believed to reside on the San Francisco Peaks (Nuvatukaua'ovi) for half the year, descending to the Hopi villages between the winter solstice in December and the Niman (Home Dance) in July. During their stay, they are personified by masked men who dance and sing to bring rain, promote fertility, and ensure the growth of corn and beans. The carvings, incorrectly known to many as "kachina dolls," are the physical representations of these masked dancers." Accessed 4/26
Humaira Abid: Searching for Home is a 2020 exhibit at The Center for Art in Wood which says: "Abid is well known for her unique visual language, which blends the discipline of traditional Mughal miniature painting and sculpture in wood." Also see website of artist. Accessed 11/20
John Svenson: For the Love of Wood was a 2014 exhibit at Claremont Museum of Art which said: "John Edward Svenson's love of nature and mastery of his materials is evident throughout his large body of work, which ranges from small wood carvings to monumental public commissions. A native of the Pomona Valley, he studied art at Claremont Graduate School and worked for many years with sculptor Albert Stewart and artist/designer Millard Sheets." Also see YouTube and Vimeo videos titled "John Svenson: For the Love of Wood" and Daily Bulletin 4/11/16 obituary. Accessed 10/16
The Lawrence University website contains a section named History of Björklunden. Part Three, "The Wood Carvings," is an essay by Marjorie Meyers Graham in which she discusses wood carvings at Winifred and Donald Boynton's chapel at Björklunden. Accessed August, 2015.
Meet the Santeros from Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute. Accessed August, 2015.
Santos microsite explaining materials and techniques, culture and history, scientific tools, reading lists and additional resources from Smithsonian Center for Materials Research and Education. Accessed August, 2015.
Turning of the Seasons: The Moulthrop Family and the Chattahoochee River Dams Project is an exhibit held August 6 - December 31, 2016 at the Columbus Museum - Georgia. The museum says: "Georgia's importance as a center for wood-turned bowls is largely due to the contributions of three generations of the Atlanta-based Moulthrop family. Turning of the Seasons: The Moulthrop Family and the Chattahoochee River Dams Project will present a selection of works by Ed, Philip, and Matt Moulthrop, including turned bowls that Philip and Matt recently completed using wood salvaged from the old 19th - century Chattahoochee River dams."Accessed August, 2016
View from the Pier contains in Compass Rose section On the Santos Trail in Puerto Rico, published in four parts April and May, 2011. Accessed August, 2015
The Wood-Turned Artistry of Wilbur C. "Wib" Mock is a 2021 exhibit at the Zanesville
Museum of Art which says: "This exhibition explores the extraordinary
craftsmanship of Zanesville, Ohio-based wood turner, designer, and businessman
Wilbur C. "Wib" Mock (1930-Present). For over thirty years, he
has used a variety of wood species to create beautiful, hand-turned bowls,
plates, vases, and square, rectangular, and round lidded boxes." Accessed
12/21
Kentucky Educational Television offers a series of 1/2 hour videos from Mixed,
a weekly arts series starting in 2003. See Program 615: Harrodsburg potter
Mike Frasca, another member of the Strecker family of artists; long-time
Courier-Journal photographer Bill Luster in his hometown of Glasgow;
and the eclectic sounds of Louisville's A.M. Sunday; Program 718: Wood carver
LaVon Williams; the African American Theatre Program at the University of
Louisville; the "Recovering Is a Beautiful Thing" art exhibit;
and music by the Big Maracas, a Latin band from Lexington Kay Harris, a
visit to the Explorium of Lexington, and a taste of Indian classical music.
Accessed May, 2015.
Dr. Mark Sublette,
owner of Medicine Man Gallery in Tucson and Santa Fe, has created a channel
of YouTube online videos on topics relating to Native American baskets,
weavings, pottery and carvings. Titles include for carvings: How To Identify
Early Hopi and Zuni Kachina Dolls. Accessed May, 2015.
Books:
Early American Wood Carving, by Erwin O. Christensen. 1972, Dover Publications, 160 pages
DVD/VHS videos:
Santeros = Saintmakers. Documents the lifestyle and attitudes of five New Mexican artisans who continue the 300 year-old traditions of the earliest santeros. 33 min. Video/C 1341 from Media Resources Center, Library, University of California, Berkeley.
TFAO does not maintain a lending library of videos or sell videos. Click here for information on how to borrow or purchase copies of VHS videos and DVDs listed in TFAO's Videos -DVD/VHS, an authoritative guide to videos in VHS and DVD format
TFAO wishes to express appreciation to Lonnie Dunbier and Chet Murray for providing information cited in this catalogue.
(above: Gary Halvorson, A totem
pole near Cutsforth Park in the Blue Mountains, 2007, photo, Oregon
State Archives, Oregon Historical County Records. Public domain, via Wikimedia
Commons*)
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