It's possibly the most successful example of a Tumbling Block quilt I've ever seen. The colors are so perfectly chosen, and the design so bold. A halfway decent quilt is a thing of beauty and a usable object.
A great quilt is, well, Art.
I came upon this quilt through the book "Treasury of American Quilts" It's my favorite book of quilts. It's full of quilts that transcend mere craftsmanship.
Don't get me wrong, I love craftsmanship. I'm utterly intrigued by the relationship between folk art and so called "real" art. I've also found it easier to sew, paint, and collage useful objects with people rather than cloistering myself away and making "high art." It's easier to get paid too.
Anyway, back to quilts
Some of my favorite quilts are color field quilts, mostly Amish. These women, forbidden from wearing bright colors, cover their beds with them instead.
The quilts, interestingly enough, pre-date color field paintings by as much as 100 years. The similarities in concept and color-play are startling.
It makes me wonder where artists really learn about color theory: whether it's the collegiate level science of Josef Albers and Hans Hoffman, or something learned much more fundamental, learned as we explore our natural world from a very young age.
This last quilt reminds me of the entire room of red Mark Rothkos at the National Gallery. I love those paintings. You'd think a room full of red paitings would be downright threatening. However, they're warm, and somehow soothing.
I couldn't find an image of them, so you'll just have to use your imagination.
I also love these Gee's Bend quilts. They were created by a family of women and their social circle starting in the 1930s. The put in mind Piet Mondrian, Joan Miro, and Hans Hoffman.
I could go on for a while about the historical context of these quilts, they've been written about fairly extensively, so I'll just include links to informative sites at the bottom of this post, rather than badly paraphrasing someone else's work.
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