The American Folk Art Museum
White on White Exhibit:
Wholecloth Quilts
Informative News Release, with photos, posted here on 2/14/06
"White on White" (and a little gray): Female Responses to the Classical Ideal in American Decorative Arts PREDICTION - White for Spring and Summer RESULT - Whitework quilts at the American Folk Art Museum The exhibition "White on White" (and a little gray), on view from March 28 - September 17, 2006, highlights America's fascination with Neoclassicism and underscores the importance of white as emblematic of the antique past. The neoclassic scheme represented a dramatic shift in the decorative arts that was beautifully expressed in three distinct art forms— whitework textiles, print work embroideries, and marble dust drawings. Dating from the Federal era through the end of the nineteenth century, the exhibition explores female responses to the classical aesthetic. The American Folk Art Museum holds a breathtaking collection of whitework textiles, executed in a variety of embroidery and stuff work techniques, that have never been shown together. Approximately, tten bedcovers, selected by senior curator Stacy C. Hollander, will be included, from the museum's earliest example (dated 1796) to others made throughout the nineteenth century. They will be augmented by elaborate monochromatic needlework, known as print works, and eighteen evocative marble dust drawings, often with classical references, from private and public collections. To accentuate the feminine participation in Neoclassicism, there is also an intimate portrait by Ammi Phillips of a woman sitting at a table covered by an ornate embroidered whitework, a piece of hand-stitched white lace wrapped around her finger. Whitework Whitework bedcovers followed in a long tradition of whole-cloth quilts whose single-color top provided an opportunity to prominently display exquisite needlework. The term whitework describes several methods such as stuffing, cording, and embroidered candlewicking, used to create elegant raised designs in white thread on white fabric. "The emphasis on white in the neoclassical concept was realized in snowy expanses of white cotton or bleached linen that turned beds into sculptural planes through raised floral and linear designs," comments Stacy Hollander. The range of dates found on whitework in the museum's collection — 1796 to 1897 — indicates the enduring popularity of all-white bedcovers over the course of a century, and the persistence of classicism as an inspiration in the decorative arts. The earliest example demonstrates a strong reliance upon the graceful "Tree of Life" motif introduced into quilts through imported painted Indian cottons called palampores. Its date of 1796 places it at the beginning of the fashion for whitework bedcovers and soon after Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin and the establishment of Samuel Slater's textile mill, industrial developments that revolutionized the production of cotton in America.
(detail) Cornucopia and Dots Whitework Quilt Artist unidentified United States; c. 1800–1820 Cotton 95 x 89" Collection American Folk Art Museum, New York Gift of Cyril Irwin Nelson 2005.11.1 Photo: Gavin Ashworth Stuff work featured motifs that were outlined with quilting to create a cell and filled with batting inserted through the back. The raised motifs could be further accentuated by dense, flat quilting that emphasized the sculptural effects, "especially when viewed in the harsh and raking candlelight of the period," notes Ms. Hollander. This technique is especially successful in the "Dots and Cornucopia" whitework that bears a further resemblance to European lace made around the same time. Cording could be used to create an overall pattern, or when combined with stuff work, confined to linear elements, such as stems. In this method a narrow channel was quilted and then cord or roving was threaded through the channel. The "Basket of Flowers" whitework is an example of the complexity and delicacy that could be achieved through this combination.
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Double Wedding Ring Candlewick Spread Artist unidentified United States; 1897 Cotton with clipped cotton roving embroidery 79 3/4 x 65" Collection American Folk Art Museum, New York Gift of Robert Bishop 1990.25.1 Candlewicking referred to a whitework bedcover that was embroidered with a thick, cotton roving of the type similar to the wicks of candles. The surface was embellished in a variety of stitches, sometimes flat and others that left raised loops or knots on the surface. These loops might be cut and fluffed in a technique called tufting. One example that incorporates both embroidery and tufting is the "Flowering Vines" candlewick whose crossed and twining flowers and stems are related to the composition of earlier bed rugs. An example, dated 1897, is an early use of the "Double Wedding Ring" pattern that became especially popular in the 1930s. Executed entirely in tufting, it anticipates chenille bedcovers that were the rage in the next century. Print Work At the turn of the 19th century Neoclassicism was also embraced in schoolgirl embroideries. Unlike earlier samplers that included alphabets, numbers, and verses, the new style of needlework was ornamental and the images often were memorials, based upon engravings that echoed classical themes. Plinths, steles, and urns were among the classical funerary motifs that were essential to the mourning convention, and, most importantly, the mourning figure, her head bowed in grief. A distinctive group of monochromatic memorials known as print work was executed exclusively in black or brown silk threads on shimmering white silk and satin fabrics. These embroideries were intended to imitate uncolored engravings using tiny seed stitches to simulate the stippling of the engraver's tool. Underdrawings on the silk were often provided by professional artists and then embroidered by students. One example on view is a memorial to William Powers attributed to the engraver Henry W. Snyder. Two schools that taught print work were Mary Balch's renowned academy in Providence, Rhode Island, and an unidentified school in Albany, New York where some of the finest print works were made. Included in the exhibition is the earliest dated print work from the Albany area, made by Margaret Fryer in 1800, still in its original eglomisé mat and gilded frame.
Fryer Family Mourning Piece Margaret Fryer (1785–1823) Albany, New York; 1800 Silk thread, ink, and graphite on silk; in original frame 19 3/4 x 24" framed Collection of Suzanne and Michael Payne Photo: Gavin Ashworth
Marble Dust Drawings In 1835, a new art known as Grecian Painting (now referred to as marble dust or sandpaper drawing) was introduced in the book, Artist, or Young Ladies' Instructor in Ornamental Painting, Drawings, & c., by B.F. Gandee. The materials included sooty lampblack drawings on a board prepared with iridescent marble dust. By scratching through the charcoal with a sharp blade, forms emerged out of the darkness. The use of crushed marble evoked an association with neoclassical sculpture, while the reflective quality of the fine grains glittering through charcoal was especially suited to sublime landscapes, architectural views, and moonlit scenes. Engravings of classical ruins, published illustrations of romantic poetry and prose, and compendiums of topographical views provided much of the source material for practitioners of the art and encouraged a widespread appreciation of historical themes. Because they relied upon published images, multiple works have survived on such themes as Mount Vernon and Washington's Tomb, Byron's Dream, Ruins of Palmyra and The Magic Lake, examples of which are in the exhibition. Engravings after well-known works of art, notably Thomas Cole's series Voyage of Life, also provided prototypes for marble dust interpretations. The contrasts of light and dark and impressive atmospheric effects achieved through this relatively simple technique led to its widespread popularity through the 1860s. Marble dust drawing was taught to young women in schools, learned at home from instruction manuals, and was also practiced by professional artists. The three art forms included in the exhibition illustrate the enduring influence of vernacular interpretations of the classical ideal. The past remained the touchstone of aesthetic refinement throughout the nineteenth century and the female response was manifold. "The whiteness of white invoked the transcendence, purity, and timelessness of classical antiquity. White became the perfect metaphor for the Age of Enlightenment," notes Ms. Hollander. The exhibition "Folk Art Revealed" is on continuous view, and "Concrete Kingdoms: Sculptures by Nek Chand" will be on exhibit from April 4 through September 24, 2006. ABOUT THE MUSEUM Since its founding in 1961, the American Folk Art Museum has been one of the nation's foremost resources for the exhibition, study, and preservation of folk art. It is home to one of the world's preeminent collections of folk art dating from the 18th century to the present, including paintings, sculpture, textiles, and other decorative arts, as well as the work of contemporary self-taught artists from the U.S. and abroad. In December 2001, the Museum opened its new building-and first permanent home-at 45 West 53rd Street. Designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, it has been hailed as "one of the most influential examples of modern architecture of the century." VISITOR INFORMATION American Folk Art Museum, 45 West 53 Street, New York 10019 Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 10:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.; Friday until 7:30 p.m.; Closed Monday. Admission $9; Students and Seniors $7; children 12 and under are free. Free admission on Friday evenings from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. There is a Museum Shop and Café. For further information: www.folkartmuseum.org or call (212) 265-1040. For press information please contact: Susan Flamm, 212/265-1040 ext. 113 sflamm@folkartmuseum.org