Fourth Grade Art
To correlate with the study of our pioneer heritage, we are starting the year with the study of the quilt.
All of us probably have a quilt in our home or have seen one in the home of a friend or relative. But, have you thought of quilts as a work of art?
Each quilt made is unique. Not just beautiful, quilts act as both historical documents and personal diaries. They have been functional to many, gathered women together for the tradition of quilting bees, and have served as channels for women, and men, to express their opinions and bring about change in society through their quilted messages.
Beginning with the country's first settlers, who brought their unique colors, patterns, and styles from the Old World, quilts have developed into a rainbow of vivid colors, patterns, and techniques.
We studied the quilts of the Amish, a community who hold simplicity and symbolism in quilt making in highest regard.
Let's look at some of their simple geometric shape based designs.
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image borrowed from http://www.quiltstudy.org |
image borrowed from http://www.quiltstudy.org |
image borrowed from http://www.equiltpatterns.com |
Here are some of our works of art inspired by the geometric designs found in Amish quilts!
Our next project will compare and contrast the quilts of the Amish culture with those made by the women of Gee's Bend Alabama.
Gee’s Bend is a small rural community nestled into a curve in the Alabama River southwest of Selma, Alabama. It was the site of cotton plantations. After the Civil War, the freed slaves became tenant farmers for the Pettway family, and founded an all-black community nearly isolated from the surrounding world. During the Great Depression, the federal government stepped in to purchase land and homes for the community.
The town’s women developed a distinctive, bold, and sophisticated quilting style based on traditional American (and African American) quilts, but with a geometric simplicity reminiscent of Amish quilts and modern art. The women of Gee’s Bend passed their skills and aesthetic down through at least six generations to the present.
Art critics worldwide have compared the quilts to the works of important artists such as Henri Matisse and Paul Klee. The New York Times called the quilts "some of the most miraculous works of modern art America has produced."
Can you see some similarities between the two types of quilts we have studied?
Can you see some differences?
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image borrowed from http://www.quiltsofgeesbend.com |
image borrowed from http://www.quiltsofgeesbend.com |
image borrowed from http://www.quiltsofgeesbend.com |
Compare these quilts with some of the modern art pieces shown below. How are they the same? How are they different?
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Fire in the Evening, 1929 by Paul Klee image borrowed from http://www.moma.org |
The Gate, 1959-1960 by Hans Hofmann image borrowed from http://www.guggenheimcollection.org |
Vonal Ksz, by Victor Vasarely image borrowed from http://www. |
Here are some of the collage's we created inspired by the Gee's Bend quilts!
To discover more about the history, the quilts, the quiltmakers and more interesting facts of Gee's Bend click here
For more information about quilts click here
This link will take you to the International Quilt Study Center website which is actually located here in Lincoln Nebraska! Their mission is to collect, preserve, study, exhibit, and promote discovery of quilts and quiltmaking traditions from many cultures, countries, and time periods.
Our trip to the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery
