Dorothea Rabkin, 87, Collector 9Folk Art) Dies N.Y. Times

[C. Dianne Zweig Editor's Desk]

Dorothea Rabkin, 87, Collector 9Folk Art) Dies N.Y. Times

Dorothea Rabkin, who with her husband built a collection of American folk art noted for the whirligigs and other sculptures made by anonymous carvers in the 19th and early 20th centuries, died on Nov. 25 at her
home in Manhattan. She was 87.

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Courtesy Sidney Mishking Gallery/Baruch College

Dorothea and Leo Rabkin among their treasures in 1978. More Photos »

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Collecting Folk Treasures

The cause was complications of Parkinson’s disease, her husband, Leo Rabkin, said.

Starting not long after their marriage in 1958, the Rabkins spent decades scouring flea markets and secondhand shops. They acquired some
traditional pieces like quilts and baskets, but they also bought objects
few people wanted then — the works by unschooled artisans that are
known today as outsider art. Their collection grew to more than 1,200
items, including paintings by self-taught black artists like Sam Doyle
and Mose Tolliver.

 

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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/05/arts/05rabkin.html