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, fibreglass, plastic wire, or other pieces of plastic an ...

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

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, 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. A screen door incorporates screen mesh to block birds, flyi ...

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 human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

still life A still life (: 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, human-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 Naivety, naïve imitation, overly eccentric, gratuitous or of banal Taste (sociology), taste. The modern avant-garde traditionally opposed kitsch ...

, authentic examples can still be seen in Baltimore neighborhoods such as

Hampden Hampden may refer to: Places Oceania * Hampden, New Zealand ** Hampden (New Zealand electorate) ** Murchison, New Zealand, known as Hampden until 1882 * Hampden, Queensland * Hampden, South Australia * County of Hampden, Victoria, Australia * Shir ...

Highlandtown Highlandtown is a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Description and history The area currently known as Highlandtown was established in 1866 when the area known as "Snake Hill" was established as a village outside the Baltimo ...

History

Screen painting was invented by the Czech immigrant

William Oktavec William Oktavec (born Wenceslaus Anton Oktavec Sr.; October 25, 1884 – June 2, 1956) was a Czech-born American artist, draftsman, butcher and grocer, best known for inventing screen painting. Personal life Oktavec was born in Kasejovice in Bohe ...

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

rowhouse A terrace, terraced house ( UK), or townhouse ( US) is a type of medium-density housing which first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses sharing side walls. In the United States and Canada these are sometimes known as row ...

s. 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. The museum specializes in the preservation and display of outsider art (also known as "intuitive art," " ...

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 interpr ...

, 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

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

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 American folk art Windows Window coverings Working-class culture in Maryland

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links