Gift Drawing18194 7/8 × 2 7/8"Watercolor and ink on paperAnonymous gift2012.17.20fraktur1540512678P3.2000.2P3.202Johann Adam EyerDrawingsThe American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain.Pennsylvania GermanUnited StatesPennsylvaniaWorks on PaperWORKS ON PAPERwatercolorPAINTINGSJohann Adam Eyer was one of the most prolific Pennsylvania German fraktur artists. He served as a schoolmaster in several Mennonite schools and in many counties, including Bucks, Chester, Lancaster, Northampton, and Monroe. In addition to the primary forms of fraktur such as Taufscheine (birth records), Eyer continued a tradition, established by early Pennsylvania schoolmaster Christopher Dock (?–1771), of rewarding students with small gifts of fraktur. Although the imagery in fraktur is often unrelated to the text, the heart in this example refers to the German inscription, which translates as "Give Jesus your heart in joy and in pain."Among the various forms of fraktur, small gift drawings—or presentation pieces—are among the most appealing. Often they were the work of schoolteachers, who gave them as expressions of esteem to their students. Johann Adam Eyer, the gifted artist who created this drawing, was one of the most prolific and widely influential of the Pennsylvania German schoolteacher-artists. The German inscription reads "Give Jesus your heart in joy and in pain."
Gerard C. Wertkin, "Gift Drawing," in Stacy C. Hollander, American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 301.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgP3.2000.2P3.20218191819 2012 17 2 WORKS ON PAPERwatercolorPAINTINGSJohann Adam Eyer was one of the most prolific Pennsylvania German fraktur artists. He served as a schoolmaster in several Mennonite schools and in many counties, including Bucks, Chester, Lancaster, Northampton, and Monroe. In addition to the primary forms of fraktur such as Taufscheine (birth records), Eyer continued a tradition, established by early Pennsylvania schoolmaster Christopher Dock (?–1771), of rewarding students with small gifts of fraktur. Although the imagery in fraktur is often unrelated to the text, the heart in this example refers to the German inscription, which translates as "Give Jesus your heart in joy and in pain."Among the various forms of fraktur, small gift drawings—or presentation pieces—are among the most appealing. Often they were the work of schoolteachers, who gave them as expressions of esteem to their students. Johann Adam Eyer, the gifted artist who created this drawing, was one of the most prolific and widely influential of the Pennsylvania German schoolteacher-artists. The German inscription reads "Give Jesus your heart in joy and in pain."
Gerard C. Wertkin, "Gift Drawing," in Stacy C. Hollander, American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 301.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.org