Folk Art: The Collection of Elie and Viola Nadelman

When the modernist sculptor Elie Nadelman (1882–1946) and his wife Viola (1878–1962) began collecting in the early 1920s, they were enthralled by the simple forms, bold colors, and unaffected expression of works by self-taught artists and artisans. The Nadelmans were at the vanguard of an interest in objects that reflected an “authentic” American spirit and were among the first to use the term “folk art” to describe their discoveries. In a burst of collecting fervor, the couple assembled an extensive trove―eventually numbering some 15,000 objects―that comprised the nation’s first significant collection of American and European folk art and helped to define this emerging field of collecting. Like a number of other American modernists, Elie Nadelman found inspiration for his own work in the simplicity and directness of folk art.

In 1926, the Nadelmans opened a museum on the grounds of their country home in Riverdale, New York, to showcase their burgeoning collection. The Museum of Folk and Peasant Arts was the first folk art museum in the United States and the first in the world to consider the European origins of American folk art. Financial reversals suffered during the Depression, however, forced the Nadelmans to part with their treasures. After selling a small number of works to private collectors, they sold the bulk of their holdings to the New-York Historical Society in 1937. This selection presents a diverse sampling of their collection.