FOLK ART COLLECTION By:  Jennifer Larisey, DAR Museum Outreach State Chair

The DAR Museum in D.C. has a collection of folk art that evolved largely by accident. The DAR Museum was never intended to be a repository for folk art, but over time, as DAR members donated family heirlooms to the collection and the popularity of American folk art increased, a varied selection of folk-art objects came to be represented among the museum’s holdings.

The growing demand for portraits in the 19th century propelled many people, regardless of their background or training, to take up the trade. In addition to traditional portraits, the DAR Museum’s collection contains a selection of profile portraits and silhouettes, less expensive pieces often rendered by aspiring artists just beginning their careers. On display are works by artists from the Prior-Hamblin School, Ruth Henshaw Bascom, and John Brewster.

Portraits of Joseph Knowlton and his sister, Frances Knowlton Chickering,
By Ruth Henshaw Bascom

“Battle of Bennington”, by Grandma Moses
In 1953, Anna Mary Robertson Moses, known as Grandma Moses, presented this painting to the NSDAR after becoming a member the previous year. She was 93 when she painted the “Battle of Bennington” as she imagined the battle scene. In 1954, she wrote to the New York State Conference, DAR, “Add to that, the fact that Archibald Robertson, my great grandfather, on whose line I joined, was a soldier at the Battle of Bennington…” Grandma Moses was an extraordinary woman who overcame many hardships to begin her career at age seventy-seven.