Home | Artists	Updated December 14, 2006
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

View Images USA East

Caribou, ME Karolina "Lola" Danek 1913- Drawing (pencil, pen, marker, etc.)

Information: Karolina "Lola" Danek was born in 1913 in Jaroslaw, Poland. She came to the United States in 1950 with her sons and husband. They had survived World War II and at its end had been living in a displaced persons camp in Germany. She took on the challenge of trying to acquire fame and fortune. Settling in Massachusetts, she worked in the Brown Shoe factory and unsatisfied with being just a worker there, sold jewelry from Mr. Bielawski's jewelry store to her coworkers on the side. Later she bought the jewelry business. When her son's rock and roll band piqued her interest, she opened a rock and roll club for teenagers. After that she converted the rock and roll business into a pool hall. None of these endeavors, however,were as satisfying or successful as the art she created. Nearing retirement, she took up oil painting with zeal, applying the same energy to it as she had applied to all the other things she'd ever done in her life. After a number of years of doing straight oil work, she incorporated the application of jewelry to it. Her "jeweled art" soon transformed her into a successful folk artist. In order to devote herself more completely to her art, she moved to Maine where she bought a house, largely to be used as a living museum to her art. Her work was included in the exhibition "Stories to Tell: The Narrative Impulse in Contemporary New England". They are also in the permanent collection of the New York State Historical Association. Her story has been recorded in a chapter of a book about Folk Art by Dan Prince "Passing in the Outsider Lane". Before her death in 1997 she had finally achieved the fame and to a much lesser extent, the fortune she always wanted. America Oh Yes

	Reference / Links:
	America Oh Yes! Gallery: "Karolina "Lola" Danek" FocalArt Gallery (under artists) Headfooters Gallery: "Karolina Danek" Slotin Folk Art Outsider Folk Art
	(Detour Art is not responsible for the content of external web sites.)

Bibliography: "20th Century American Folk, Self Taught, and Outsider Art" by Betty-Carol Sellen, Cynthia J. Johnson, Neal-Schuman Publishers, New York, 1993. "Passing in the Outsider Lane: Art from the Heart of Twenty-One Self-Taught Artists" by Dan Prince, Journey Editions, 1995. "Self Taught, Outsider, and Folk Art—A guide to American Artists, Locations and Resources" by Betty-Carol Sellen with Cynthia J. Johnson, 2000. "American Self-Taught Art: An Illustrated Analysis of 20th Century Artists and Trends with 1,319 Capsule Biographies" by Florence Laffal and Julius Laffal, 2003. Slotin Folk Art Auction Catalog, Masterpiece Sale, November 4, 2006.

	Credit:
**If you discover credit omissions or have additional information to add, please let us know at
(back to listing)	(top)
Home | Artists A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z