Folk Art/Expert Profile

Expertise

Over the past 30 years, I have been researching the artist Ferdinand A. Brader and have become a bit of an expert. I can answer most questions regarding the drawings of F.A. Brader also known as Ferdinand A. Brader. Brader was an late 19th Century untrained(?)itinerant Folk Artist who throughout Pennsylvania and Ohio doing large pencil drawings (portraits) of farms and other dwellings and businesses. He worked from around 1876 to 1895. I'd love to hear about any Brader drawings you might have of know about... Check out my blog on Brader: http://ferdinandabrader.blogspot.com/ I can also answer questions about Antique Mid-Western Amish Quilts, especially those from the Ohio Amish. In addition, I can answer questions about other types of Antique American Quilts and other types of American Folk Art. Please note. I can only answer questions on AMERICAN items.

Experience in the area

I have been a collector and dealer of American antique quilts and American folk art for over 35 years. Recent exhibition of my Ohio Amish quilt collection in Germany and France.

Publications

"Antique Ohio Amish Quilts, the Darwin D. Bearley Collection" My bolg on Ferdinand A. Brader: http://ferdinandabrader.blogspot.com/

Education/Credentials

Bachelor of Fine Arts, Ohio State University and Master of Fine Arts from University of Kentucky

Awards and Honors

Numerous exhibitions and articles both in the USA and in Europe. Recent publication of "Antique Ohio Amish Quilts, the Darwin D. Bearley Collection"

Past/Present Clients

Numerous collectors and dealers thoughout the US and the world, some quite well known.

What do you like about this subject?

Designs, colors, details, stories behind the objects, thrill of the discovery...

What do you still hope to achieve/learn in this field?

Like any collector, I'm always looking for new and unknown examples of what I collect. As for the drawings of Ferdinand A. Brader, I'm working on a database on the surviving works by Brader.

Something interesting about this subject that others may not know:

Ferdinand A. Brader was very prolific and did some 972 large pictures and many hundreds of smaller drawings. The majority of Antique Amish Quilts are no longer in the hands of the Amish but in private Quilt and Folk Art collections.

Something controversial or provocative about this subject

Over the years numerous Amish Quilts have been sold as being older than they actually are. Very few dealers can actually tell their true age and a lot of new quilts have been sold as old by the unscrupulous or the ignorant...