Abstract Design In American Quilts At 50

This work is a personal statement of Jonathan Holstein's development as a pioneer quilting connoisseur, a guide to the quilts of the Whitney exhibition, and a study of the effects of the consequent explosion of attention to this art form.

Companion to an International Quilt Museum (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) exhibition series, this catalog reexamines the half-century impact of the Whitney Museum of American Art's 1971 exhibition, Abstract Design in American Quilts, on the realms of fine art, craft, and the study of quilts and other forms of material culture.

Although they are commonplace in American homes, quilts are much more than simple patchwork bed coverings and wall adornments. While many of these beautiful and intricate works of art are rich in history and tradition, others reflect the cutting-edge talent and avant-garde mastery of contemporary quiltmakers. Kentucky Quilts and Quiltmakers: Three Centuries of Creativity, Community, and Commerce is the first comprehensive study to approach quilts as objects of material culture that have adorned homes throughout the history of the commonwealth and the country. Linda Elisabeth LaPinta highlights such topics as quiltmaking in women's history, the influence of early Black quiltmakers, popular Kentucky quilt patterns, types, and colors, and the continuing importance of preserving the commonwealth's quilt history and traditions. The author provides a panoramic view of Kentucky quiltmaking from colonial America through the American Revolution, the Civil War to the 1900s, to the new millennium and the dynamic quilting industry of today. LaPinta reveals Kentucky's pivotal role in shaping significant aspects of American quilt culture—Kentuckians founded the first statewide quilt documentation project, created important exhibits and major quilt organizations, and established the National Quilt Museum. Rounding out this all-encompassing volume is a collection of fascinating and intimate artistic commentaries by notable quiltmakers, as well as discussion of the key players who have conserved, celebrated, and showcased the commonwealth's extraordinary quilt culture.

Opening with a history of quiltmaking in America, this stunningly photographed book celebrates the versatility and beauty of 50 outstanding American quilts. Former Miss America Phyllis George convincingly demonstrates how any living space can benefit from the addition of a beautiful quilt. 150 photos.

Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich has remarked, “Much of the social history of early America has been lost to us precisely because women were expected to use needles rather than pens.” This book, part of the multivolume series of the International Quilt Study Center collections, recovers a swath of that lost history and shows us some of America’s treasured material culture as it was pieced and stitched into place. American Quilts in the Modern Age, 1870–1940 examines the period’s quilts from both an artistic and a historical perspective. From pieced block to Crazy style to Colonial Revival examples, as well as one-of-a-kind creations, the full array of style and design appears in this book covering seven decades of quiltmaking. The contributing authors provide critical information regarding the modern and anti-modern tensions that persisted throughout this era of America’s coming of age, from the Civil War to World War II. They also address the textile technology and cultural context of the times in which the quilts were created, with an eye to the role that industrialization and modernization played in the evolution of techniques, materials, and designs. With full-color photographs of over 587 quilts, American Quilts in the Modern Age, 1870-1940 offers a new visual and tactile understanding of American culture and society, bridging the transition from traditional folk culture to the age of mass production and consumption.

A lively and innovative collection of new and recent writings on the cultural contexts of textiles The study of textile culture is a dynamic field of scholarship which spans disciplines and crosses traditional academic boundaries. A Companion to Textile Culture is an expertly curated compendium of new scholarship on both the historical and contemporary cultural dimensions of textiles, bringing together the work of an interdisciplinary team of recognized experts in the field. The Companion provides an expansive examination of textiles within the broader area of visual and material culture, and addresses key issues central to the contemporary study of the subject. A wide range of methodological and theoretical approaches to the subject are explored—technological, anthropological, philosophical, and psychoanalytical, amongst others—and developments that have influenced academic writing about textiles over the past decade are discussed in detail. Uniquely, the text embraces archaeological textiles from the first millennium AD as well as contemporary art and performance work that is still ongoing. This authoritative volume: Offers a balanced presentation of writings from academics, artists, and curators Presents writings from disciplines including histories of art and design, world history, anthropology, archaeology, and literary studies Covers an exceptionally broad chronological and geographical range Provides diverse global, transnational, and narrative perspectives Included numerous images throughout the text to illustrate key concepts A Companion to Textile Culture is an essential resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students, instructors, and researchers of textile history, contemporary textiles, art and design, visual and material culture, textile crafts, and museology.

"As a blanket, a commemorative covering, and a work of art, the quilt is a nearly universal cultural artifact. In recent years it has been recognized as one of our most compelling symbols of cultural diversity and the power of women. In this collection, Cheryl B. Torsney and Judy Elsley bring together eleven provocative essays on the quilt as metaphor--in literature, history, politics, and philosophy. This interdisciplinary approach makes Quilt Culture an extraordinarily rich exploration of a cultural artifact whose meaning is far more complex than that of a simple bed covering."--Publishers website.