Hex Signs – Contemporary Folk Art – Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center

In the mid-20^th century, the Pennsylvania Dutch culture experienced a revitalization of the folk culture, arts, and vernacular language. Cultural celebrations, such as the Kutztown Folk Festival, provided new opportunities for local people to promote their culture to international audiences of visitors and tourists, and folk artists were among those in the forefront of these efforts. At the same time, the decorated barns of the region were focal points in the cultural landscape which drew national attention. Romanticized and exaggerated accounts in travel literature suggested erroneously that the barn star decorations were intended to protect farms from supernatural forces.

Local folk artists, many of whom never painted on barns, began to embrace a playful and contemporary view of geometric motifs used in traditional barn decoration, blending such designs with other organic and curvilinear patterns, and embracing the mythology of the hex sign.

The center of the hex sign features 8 overlapping lozenge shapes in blue. Surrounding this is a serious of 12-pointed lozenge shapes in shades of reds, blues, greens, yellow, orange, pink, and purple all sit on a white background white a yellow border. Surroundin those designs is an additional 12 lozenge shapes and a purple scalloped border.

A black and white drawn image of a large barn. The barn has seven hex sides on the barn siding. Cows can be seen undeer the forebay.

A rectangular side features the wor "Willkom" in black German script. Under the text is a set of three stylized tulips in shades of blues and greens, yellow, orange, and red. Above the text is a red heart outlined in a yellow and an orange border. On eitther side of the text is a stylized bird in orange, yellow, white, red, and shades of blue.

A bright yellow cover shows the title "1957 Tourist Guide through the Dutch County". The cover features an illustration of an elderly Amish couple outside a red barn, as well as two stylized birds in yellow, red, green, blue, and black, There are also stylized hearts and tulips in red and yellow, as well as green leaves.

On a white background sits a stylized bird perched on a leaf and two tulips emanating from a heart at the bottom. These designs are colored in red, yellow, white, green, blue, and black. The hex sign is bordered in blue.

A red cover features the title "Hex, No!" and a series of eight hex signs and the white outline of a barn. The designs are variations of rosette, star, and teardrop patterns in red, yellow, black, and white.

This hex sign features bi-layered flame patterns radiating from a central five-pointed star, with a series of hearts along the inside of the scalloped border. The sign is painted in shades of blue, green, red, yellow, orange, pink, and outlined in black and gray.

Six yellow and white raindrop shapes surround a black and white 6-pointed rosette on a red background. The border is a black and white scalloped border.

In the center of the bright yellow hex sign is a red star surrounded by twelve blue and green lozenge shapes and a blue ring border. Outside that is a set of twelve black and red lozenge shapes, green triangles and a green ring border. The final border is the outline of a blue scallop design.

The hex sign features a white background with a red 6-pointed rosette in the center surrounded by a black ring border and 18 green and yellow lozenge shapes on their side. Further out is six stylized tuplis in blue, black, yellow, green, orange, and brown with red hearts and green leaves in between. The outermost border is a yellow ring and green scallop design.

A 6-pointed star in shades of blues and oranges surround the center circle which features a blue and red stylized bird, a white and red heart, and white and green leaves. In between the star points are red hearts. There is a gold ring around these images, and a black and white scalloped border.

The hex sign is comprised of a three leaf clover in the center with two stylized birds in yellow, red, greens, and blues on either side. Below the clover are three stylized tulips in green, red, yellow, and blue. Above the clover is a red heart outlined in yellow and a lacey green border. The entire hex sign is bordered in a two-toned green scalloped border.

A center 6-pointed rosette in red and black is surrounded by nine stylized tulips emanating from the center. A stylized heart is at the top in the center. All of these designs are in red, yellow, blue, green, and black. The entire sign is encompassed by a black scalloped border.

To discover more of the history and development of the modern hex sign, here is a presentation Barn Stars and Hex Signs of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

To learn more about the impact of the Kutztown Folk Festival on the 20^th century development of hex sign art and its relation to traditional barn star painting, watch the presentation: Painter of the Stars: The Life and Work of Milton J. Hill (1887-1972).

Or, visit the studio of the prolific barn star and hex sign painter Eric Claypoole of Lenhartsville.