Literature

Tramp Art

Another Notch,

Folk Art from the Heart 

Clifford A. Wallach

In his second book on the subject, Tramp Art:

Another Notch, Folk Art from the Heart, Clifford A.

Wallach has captured the romance of these folk art

objects made layer by layer, one notch at a time by

untrained artists using simple tools and recycled

materials. Tramp art was a democratic art, with

artisans representing over 40 nationalities carving

tramp art in America and was practiced throughout

the world wherever men smoked cigars and the raw

materials for their projects were available. Creating

objects from the heart, the tramp artist was able

to transform discarded wooden cigar boxes into

pieces of utility and wonder.

Never before has the subject been studied in

such depth. Wallach brings a rich assemblage of

the history of the art form through the study of

the artists’ lives and work. Wallach also dispels the

misguided romantic mythologies long associated

with tramp art and for the first time we are left with

an accurate picture of who these noble notchers

were.

The origin of tramp art remains a mystery although

it does seem to have been passed throughout

the world as if it were a recipe passed from

family to family and neighbor to neighbor. In his

new book Wallach chronicles both newly uncovered

historic and contemporary makers with over 600

full color photographs and a value guide.

Clifford A. Wallach has been involved in the

study of tramp art in all it glory for over 20 years.

Since purchasing his first piece in a New York City

flea market he has strived to learn more about this

intriguing art form. Frustrated at the lack and reliability

of scholarship on the subject he began a five

year study into the artists and techniques of the art

form culminating in his first book Tramp Art One

Notch at a Time, published in 1998. This was the

first book to dispel the mythology long associated

with tramp art and gave an insight into how these

artifacts from our creative past were assembled and

who these noble notchers were.

Wallach has become the world’s leading authority

on the subject, writing numerous articles,

appearing on television and radio, giving lectures,

and exhibiting tramp art throughout the country.

He and his wife Nancy continue to devote their

lives to the study of the art form, surrounded by an

extensive collection of tramp art furniture, frames,

boxes and items of whimsy.

$99.99 (plus $5.00 S+H)