: The Long Beach Museum of Art presents "For the People: American
Folk Art from the Collection of Thomas H. Oxford and Victor
Gail," featuring more than 50 examples of American folk art
intended for use in middle class homes in the United States in
the late Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries, September 10-
January 16.
To honor America's heritage with this special exhibition,
admission to the museum is free on Patriot Day, Saturday,
September 11.
The exhibition includes a diverse selection of objects in a wide
array of materials from weathervanes, quilts, decoys, paintings
and samplers, to ceramics, carved wood vessels, furniture and
toys. "For the People" is the fourth major exhibition organized
by the Long Beach Museum of Art highlighting the extraordinary
holdings of American decorative arts collectors Thomas H. Oxford
and Victor Gail.
In an effort to demonstrate the roles objects played in the daily
life of Americans in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries,
"For the People" is organized according to subject, theme or
function. "Men's Activities" explore male vocations and
avocations through such objects as a powder horn of 1766, a
Kentucky rifle, duck decoys and scrimshaw; "Women's Activities"
includes vessels used for cooking and serving food, sewing
implements, needlework and quilts.
"Man and Wife" includes marriage documents (fraktur) produced by
German-speaking émigrés to this country, chests celebrating
marriage and marriage portraits; "Life's Passing" includes
mourning pictures and other commemorative tributes; and "Our
Nation" includes objects from hat boxes to carved eagles that
were created to celebrate the nation's birth and its later
centennial celebration.
Curated for the Long Beach Museum of Art by Director Harold B.
Nelson, "For the People" is accompanied by an illustrated
publication.
The Long Beach Museum of Art is at 2300 East Ocean Boulevard.
For information, 562-439-2119 or lbma.org.
