Herbert Hemphill’s collection is the most important private gathering of American folk art in the United States today. From the more traditional collecting of the 1930s and 1940s, he has expanded the nature of his folk art collection to encompass advertising signs, whirligigs, ornamental ironwork, and bone, neon, and found object sculpture. This collection brings to the public an awareness of the merits of contemporary folk expression.
Mr. Hemphill was one of the founders of the Museum of American Folk Art in New York City. His guidance brought success to the Museum and contributed greatly to the recognition of folk art as a major form of American art.
This exhibiiton travelled to the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and the Oshkosh Public Museum, Oshkosh, Wisconsin.