Every year I vouch to take careful notes and send out responses to our Don Del Grande and Matt Garvey submissions shortly after the episode, but instead of being hours later I'm typically taking notes weeks later. Nonetheless, there's often a lot being missed!
The Springfield Art Museum
Not up enough on folk art to know how many other references I missed, but I did notice some obvious ones.
The muffler man is common as American folk art, don't know if there are any famous examples they're imitating. The quilts also looked too simple to be specific examples, but what do I know.
The art boxes however are obviously Joseph Cornell's work. Specifically;
Top Right, Untitled (The Hotel Eden) (featuring a caged parrot), 1945 Top Center, Untitled (Cockatoo With Watch Faces), 1949. Top Left, the bottom half is Untitled (Cockatoo and Corks), c. 1948, although top half doesn't quite match. Bottom Left, similar to Untitled (Woodpecker Habitat) 1946 The other two are similar but aren't any specific Joseph Cornell art work.
The next scene has paintings of butterfly woman, don't recognize them, but is also has wire art in front center which is too close not to be a model (or imitation?) of the Watts Towers, also known as Nuestro Pueblo, the original of which is over 100 feet tall. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watts_Towers Or maybe it's just me.
Bruce Gomes