Cyril I. Nelson, 78, prominent collector of American folk art; donated pieces to the American Folk Art Museum
Hoodoo
Collected American folk art
New York Times News Service
June 23, 2005
http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Cyril I. Nelson, a prominent collector of American folk art who
donated about 150 pieces to the American Folk Art Museum in New
York, has died in Fairfield, Conn. He was 78.
A longtime resident of New York City, Nelson had lived in
Fairfield for the last several years. The cause of his death June
1 was colon cancer, according to a niece, Anna Nelson.
For a half-century, Mr. Nelson was an editor at E.P. Dutton, now
a division of Penguin Putnam. There, he published many seminal
books about folk art, including "American Painted Furniture,
1660-1880" (1972), by Dean Fales Jr. and Robert Bishop,
considered a classic in the field. He also developed and edited
the Quilt Engagement Calendar, published annually from 1981 to 2001.
In conjunction with the museum, Mr. Nelson published exhibition
catalogs, including "Glorious American Quilts" (1996). He became
a trustee of the museum in 1974.
Over the years, Mr. Nelson gave the museum many works from his
own collection, most made from 1800 to 1940. In 2000 the museum
featured many of Mr. Nelson's gifts in an exhibition, "An
Engagement With Folk Art," which included paintings, sculpture
and furniture.
Mr. Nelson's great love was textiles, and the exhibition included
many significant examples of weaving, needlework and quilting.
Among the most notable was a vibrant quilt in the Courthouse
Steps pattern, sewn in explosive shades of red, orange and blue
silk by a New York City tailor in the late 19th Century.
This fall, some decorated furniture and boxes from Mr. Nelson's
collection will be displayed in the museum's exhibition "Surface
Attraction: Painted Furniture From the Collection," scheduled to
open Sept. 20.
Mr. Nelson is survived by his companion, Cary Baker, and three
brothers
--
It's a big old goofy world. - John Prine