- Screen painting
Screen painting is painting on
window screen s. It is afolk art form originating in immigrant working class neighborhoods in Baltimore,Maryland in the early 20th century.The wire screen section of a
screen door is typically painted with bucoliclandscapes ,still life 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 urbankitsch ,authentic examples can still be seen in Baltimore neighborhoods such as Hampden or Highlandtown.Screen painting was invented by the Czech immigrant William Oktavec to restrict the sunlight entering his produce store. He had studied commercial art and drawing before opening his Baltimore 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 rowhomes. [cite web| first = Stacey| title = Screen Painting - History| url = http://members.tripod.com/~Ruski88/| accessdate =2008-08-12] [cite web| last = Lipka| first = Tom| title = Baltimore Window Screen Painting - History Of Screen Painting| url = http://mysite.verizon.net/screenpainter/id1.html| accessdate =2008-08-12] [cite web| last = Lipka| first = Tom| title = Baltimore's Painted Window Screens| url=http://mywebpage.netscape.com/screenpainter/| accessdate=2008-08-12] cite web| title = The Busy Brush Decorative Art - The History of Screen Painting| date = 2005| url = http://www.busybrushart.com/historyofscreenpainting.htm| accessdate=2008-08-12]
ee also
*
Johnny Eck , a screen painterNotes
External links
* [http://www.paintedscreens.org/ The Painted Screen Society of Baltimore]
* [http://www.mdhs.org/kids/pscreens.html Maryland Historical Society's history of screen painting]
* [http://mywebpage.netscape.com/screenpainter/ Baltimore's Painted Window Screens by Tom Lipka]
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