Artigianati.com

SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- The Amish have been referred to as plain people, but there is nothing plain about their quilts. The artistry of the Amish tradition will be on full display at the de Young when the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco presents Amish Abstractions: Quilts from the Collection of Faith and Stephen Brown in the Caroline and H. McCoy Jones Textile Gallery. The exhibition, which opens November 14, 2009, features 48 full-size and crib quilts that showcase the diversity of the Amish quilt tradition, as well as the connoisseurship of collectors Faith and Stephen Brown. 

Amish faith embodies principles of simplicity, humility, discipline, and community, yet Amish quilts are anything but humble. Using a rich color palette and bold patterns, the quilts are visual distillations of Amish culture and a truly unique contribution to American textile history. The works’ abstract patterns complement their craftsmanship and complexity. On first encountering Amish quilts, the Browns recall, “We were amazed by the bold graphics and striking colors, the very opposite of what we had expected. And we couldn’t get over the way some quilts seemed to anticipate abstract artists such as Josef Albers, Victor Vasarely, Frank Stella, Mark Rothko, Sol LeWitt, and Ellsworth Kelly, among others.” .....

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