Who Put the Folk in Art? A Study of Folk Art Collecting through the Native American Folk Art Collection of Elisabeth Houtzager at the National Museum of Ethnology

This study explores folk art through Elisabeth Houtzager’s collection of Native American folk art at the National Museum of Ethnology (NME) in Leiden, Netherlands. The Houtzager collection at the NME is comprised of circa 4,000 objects of folk art from around the world, and was acquired from Houtzager by the NME in 1993. Research began as part of an internship project held at the NME. The objects of focus comprise a sample of Native American Pueblo pottery and its makers from the Southwestern United States. During initial research of the collection, it became apparent that folk art is a relatively complex matter and occupies a unique position in the world of material culture. This thesis expands on the results of the internship, and seeks to answer questions primarily including: What motivated Houtzager to collect folk art so extensively? Why did the NME accept Houtzager’s large collection of folk art in 1993? In order to broach these questions, one must investigate: What is folk...Show moreThis study explores folk art through Elisabeth Houtzager’s collection of Native American folk art at the National Museum of Ethnology (NME) in Leiden, Netherlands. The Houtzager collection at the NME is comprised of circa 4,000 objects of folk art from around the world, and was acquired from Houtzager by the NME in 1993. Research began as part of an internship project held at the NME. The objects of focus comprise a sample of Native American Pueblo pottery and its makers from the Southwestern United States. During initial research of the collection, it became apparent that folk art is a relatively complex matter and occupies a unique position in the world of material culture. This thesis expands on the results of the internship, and seeks to answer questions primarily including: What motivated Houtzager to collect folk art so extensively? Why did the NME accept Houtzager’s large collection of folk art in 1993? In order to broach these questions, one must investigate: What is folk art, and how does it relate to other objects such as ethnographic artefacts and art? The concept of folk art eludes a concrete definition, and can be best understood by recognizing a conglomeration of interpretations. An examination of the Native American art market in 20th century Southwest United States reveals a host of dynamics that may have influenced individuals and institutions to collect objects like folk art. Changes in the lives and careers of the makers of the Pueblo pottery in Houtzager’s collection led to innovations, individuality, and competition in the folk art community in the American Southwest, and created the setting in which Houtzager was traveling, socialising, and thus influencing her purchases of folk art. Individuals collect objects for various reasons, whether as an obsession, a pursuit for a complete collection, an expression of identity, or a memento from events or souvenir from travels. Given the environment in which Houtzager collected, it may be speculated that her travels and personal connections with the pottery makers represented in her collection lent to feelings of nostalgia through the objects. On an institutional level, museums of all types including ethnology, art, folk art, natural history, serve a certain purpose to the collections, staff, and public. Choices in museum collecting are influenced by the interplay between these actors. Today, folk art can be found in many different types of museums. In this study, interviews with three curators from the NME with varied disciplinary backgrounds, reflected a variety of opinions of folk art, and its situation within the institutional setting of museums. With the already discussed indefinable aspect of folk art in mind, these current movements in museums of all types to collect or display folk art contributes to the story of folk art as an issue in the contemporary museum world.Show less

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Who Put the Folk in Art? A Study of Folk Art Collecting through the Native American Folk Art Collection of Elisabeth Houtzager at the National Museum of Ethnology