"Accidental Genius" Highlights Major Gift to Milwaukee Art Museum

August Walla (Austrian, b. 1936), The Absolute Truth (Gericht!), 1990. Acrylic on canvas (double sided), 78 x 63 in. (198.12 x 160.02 cm). The Anthony Petullo Collection. M2012.230a,b. Photo: Larry Sanders.Milwaukee collector Anthony Petullo owns an extraordinary collection of modern self-taught art--much of which is on exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Self-taught art falls into several categories--including naive art, outsider art (also known as art brut) and sometimes folk art. The article below will give you a peek and some insight into Petullo’s fine collection.

MILWAUKEE, WIS.- Accidental Genius: Art from the Anthony Petullo Collection, an original exhibition of modern self-taught art featuring more than two hundred works opened Friday, February 10, 2012, at the Milwaukee Art Museum. The exhibition includes many of the most important European and American artists in the genre, and celebrates the significant gift of works by Milwaukee collector Anthony Petullo to the Museum. READ MORE...

It should be noted that not all individuals with little or no training are considered naive or outsider artists. Vincent van Gogh, for example, was largely self-taught--but his work is neither naive our outsider art. In addition, some artists who have been professionally trained have aligned themselves with outsider art--as a way of protesting against the powers-that-be of the professional art world.

Christie's New York Recently Announced Americana Week 2010

Rare Double Portrait by Ammi Phillips (1788-1865)From ArtDaily.org:

[T]he lead highlight of the Americana Week sales is an exceedingly rare, full-length double portrait of Theron Simpson Ludington (1850-1922) and His Older Sister Virginia Ludington (1846-1865) by the prominent 19th-century American portrait artist Ammi Phillips (estimate: $300,000-500,000). Unknown among Phillips works until earlier this year, this dynamic, even humorous portrait of two young siblings has been passed down through generations of the Ludington family of Goshen, CT until the present day. Phillips was commissioned sometime around 1852 to paint the family’s members, which included formal portraits of the children’s parents....

Phillips was a naive (self-taught) New England painter--now regarded as one of the most important folk artists of his era. The distinctions between naive art, folk art, and outsider art are often blurred--and the terms are frequently used interchangeably. Naive artists generally refers to painters living in mainstream culture who pursue individualized subjects and themes, such as Henri Rousseau. Folk art typically embodies subjects dealing with a particular culture and/or tells us something about the community or traditions of the artist. Naive painter Grandma Moses is considered a folk artist. Outsider Art refers to works created by individuals living outside or on the fringes of mainstream society--such as homeless people, prisoners, mental patients and the like. One common feature is that all of these forms generally engage artists who have had no formal training--but who pursue their art with the same commitment as professional artists. Although their works were once widely referred to as "primitive" -- and sometimes are still so labeled -- there is a tendency among art historians to avoid that term these days. Some professional (formally trained) artists have chosen to align themselves with the Outsider Art movement--as a way of protesting and challenging what they see as the elitism of the contemporary art world.