Special Collections

A Wisconsin Decorative Arts Feathursday

This week we present some decorative avian motifs form the 1948 portfolio Decorative Art in Wisconsin by Anne Kendall Foote (1910-1986) and Elaine A. G. Smedal (1922-2014), published in Madison, Wisconsin by Screen Art Company. The portfolio is a follow-up to the authors’ 1946 portfolio Norwegian Design in Wisconsin, and was funded by a grant from the University of Wisconsin’s Committee on the Study of American Civilization. The portfolio includes 15 original silk-screened prints with photographs and descriptions of the artifacts that the designs are drawn from.

We were delighted that bird images were included, and particularly delighted that some of them were … CHICKENS!!

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Decorative Art in Wisconsin

Today we are presenting Decorative Art in Wisconsin, a portfolio of serigraphs by Anne Foote and Elaine Smedal, printed in Madison, Wisconsin by Screen Art Company in 1948. The portfolio includes 15 color screen prints, along with an index that includes photographs documenting the historical decorative art that serves as inspiration for each print.

Clifford L. Lord, of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, writes:

“Many of us will turn to Decorative Art in Wisconsin again and again for a refreshing glimpse of antique implements and articles, for speculation on the evolution and progression of design motifs, the interplay of designs between different national groups, their evolution in America, their contributions to native design – and frequently, too, for the pleasure of re-exposure to the impeccable choice of examples exercised by the authors and the excellence of their artistry with both camera and serigraph. Others with more talent will find stimulating suggestions in these simple motifs of ways to put to use their creative impulses in embellishing the everyday items of modern living.”

View more posts about decorative arts and pattern books.

–Sarah, Special Collections Graduate Intern

Decorative Art in Wisconsin

Clifford L. Lord, of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, writes:

“Many of us will turn to Decorative Art in Wisconsin again and again for a refreshing glimpse of antique implements and articles, for speculation on the evolution and progression of design motifs, the interplay of designs between different national groups, their evolution in America, their contributions to native design – and frequently, too, for the pleasure of re-exposure to the impeccable choice of examples exercised by the authors and the excellence of their artistry with both camera and serigraph. Others with more talent will find stimulating suggestions in these simple motifs of ways to put to use their creative impulses in embellishing the everyday items of modern living.”

View more posts about decorative arts and pattern books.

–Sarah, Special Collections Graduate Intern