Baltimore vernacular art - screen painting

Screen painting is painting on

window screen A window screen (also known as insect screen, bug screen, fly screen, flywire, wire mesh, or window net) is designed to cover the opening of a window. It is usually a mesh made of metal, fiberglass, fibreglass, plastic wire, or other pieces of ...

s. It is a

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...

form originating in immigrant working-class neighborhoods in

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Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, in the early 20th century. The wire screen section of a

screen door A screen door can refer to a hinged storm door (cold climates) or hinged screen door (warm climates) covering an exterior door, or a screened sliding door used with sliding glass doors. In any case, the screen door incorporates screen mesh to blo ...

is typically painted with bucolic

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

s, or other subjects of interest. The artist paints the scene directly onto the screen, making sure to remove excess paint from the screen's holes so the screen retains its ability to ventilate. The scene painted on the screen prevents the eye from focusing past the image, giving residents privacy without limiting their ability to look outside. While screen painting is now mostly regarded as

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

kitsch Kitsch ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as naïve imitation, overly-eccentric, gratuitous, or of banal taste. The avant-garde opposed kitsch as melodramatic and superficial affiliation with ...

, authentic examples can still be seen in Baltimore neighborhoods such as Hampden or Highlandtown.

History

Screen painting was invented by the Czech immigrant William Oktavec to restrict the sunlight entering his produce store. He had studied commercial art and drawing before opening his

shop. The technique was later taken up in other neighborhoods by other artists. It is estimated that as many as 100,000 painted screens in Baltimore once adorned the rowhomes. As of 2014 there were only 1,000 screen paintings left. The

American Visionary Art Museum The American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM) is an art museum located in Baltimore, Maryland's Federal Hill neighborhood at 800 Key Highway Maryland Route 2 (MD 2) is the longest state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The route runs fro ...

features a permanent exhibition on screen paintings, including a re-creation of a row house and a documentary titled "The Screen Painters" made by folklorist Elaine Eff.

References

External links

*{{cite web , url= http://www.mdhs.org/kids/pscreens.html , publisher=

Maryland Historical Society The Maryland Center for History and Culture (MCHC), formerly the Maryland Historical Society (MdHS), . founded on March 1, 1844, is the oldest cultural institution in the U.S. state of Maryland. The organization "collects, preserves, and inte ...

, title= Baltimore Painted Screens , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090515102649/http://www.mdhs.org/kids/pscreens.html , archivedate= 2009-05-15
Baltimore's painted screens

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The Painted Screen Society of Baltimore
African-American history in Baltimore Art in Maryland Culture of Baltimore Czech-American culture in Baltimore Czech-American history Folk art Windows Working-class culture in Baltimore

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links