The Quilts of Gee's Bend; by John Beardsley [and three others] ; introduction by Alvia Wardlaw ; foreword by Peter Marzio

Atlanta, GA: Tinwood Books in association with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2006. First edition, sixth impression. Hardcover. Very fine in very fine jacket; as new. A lovely copy. Please see photos./as new. Large folio in dark blue cloth-backed blind-stamped boards and full-color, predominantly dark blue illus dust jacket; 190 pages : illustrations (chiefly color photos of quilt and b&w photos of their makers) ; 33 cm; bibliographical references (pages 182-183) and index. A beautiful book. The quilt-work is simply stunning. "Published in conjunction with the exhibition The Quilts of Gee's Bend organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston"--Title page verso. "The quilts reproduced in this book are from the William Arnett Collection of the Tinwood Alliance"--Title page verso. / ."Relates the lives of the women of Gee's Bend, Alabama, who for more than 150 years have made quilts reflecting their history and daily lives. Having worked in isolation for generations and continuing to inhabit the remote plantation land their parents once slaved, they have received unexpected attention from the artistic world. "The women of Gee's Bend--a small, remote, black community in Alabama--have created hundreds of quilt masterpieces dating from the early twentieth century to the present. The Quilts of Gee's Bend tells the story of this town and its art. Gee's Bend quilts carry forward an old and proud tradition of textiles made for home and family. They represent only a part of the rich body of African American quilts. But they are in a league by themselves. Few other places can boast the extent of Gee's Bend's artistic achievement, the result of both geographical isolation and an unusual degree of cultural continuity. In few places elsewhere have works been found by three and sometimes four generations of women in the same family, or works that bear witness to visual conversations among community quilting groups and lineages. Gee's Bend's art also stands out for its flair--quilts composed boldly and improvisationally, in geometries that transform recycled work clothes and dresses, feed sacks, and fabric remnants. Resembling an inland island, Gee's Bend is surrounded on three sides by the Alabama River. The residents' ancestors worked the cotton plantations there, first as slaves, then for several generations as tenant farmers. In the 1930s Gee's Bend was identified, perhaps wishfully, as 'an Alabama Africa' and 'another civilization. Because the tightly knit society had remained mostly isolated from the surrounding world, the people of Gee's Bend were considered living relics of nineteenth-century life. During the depths of the Great Depression, the federal government intervened to lift up Gee's Bend--and photograph the 'before' and 'after.' Those images, by Arthur Rothstein and Marion Post Wolcott, have become icons of prewar America, and are filled with the women whose quilts the book features. Together with the exhibition organized jointly by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Tinwood Alliance, the book illuminates three themes in American quilts: quilts as sophisticated design, quilts as vessels of cultural survival and continuity, and quilts as portraits of women's identities. These women brought a uniquely local flavor to the one visual tradition widely practiced by Americans of every social class, ethnicity, and region. They made an American pastime the literal fabric of their lives--an art that binds the individual's imagination to family, friends, neighborhood, and the greater community. The quiltmakers' narratives brim with humor and resilience. Whether recalling their enslaved ancestors forced to walk from North Carolina to Alabama, a great-grandmother born in Africa, living off the land after their property was foreclosed, or crossing their river to march for the right to vote, the memories of these remarkable women match the eloquence and power of their quilts." -- Book jacket / Contents: Introduction : The Quilts of Gee's Bend / Alvia Wardlaw -- River Island / John Beardsley -- On the map / William Arnett and Paul Arnett -- Reflections on the art of Gee's Bend / Jane Livingston -- (Quilt portfolios) Work clothes -- My way -- Annie Mae Young -- Housetop -- Family -- Triangles -- Patterns -- Sears corduroy. / African American quilts -- Alabama -- Gee's Bend -- Exhibitions. African American quiltmakers -- Alabama -- Gee's Bend -- Exhibitions. Quilts -- Alabama -- Gee's Bend -- History -- Exhibitions. African American women -- Alabama -- Gee's Bend -- Exhibitions. African American quiltmakers. African American quilts. African American women. Art -- Private collections. Quilts. Arnett, William -- Art collections -- Exhibitions. Arnett, William. Tinwood Alliance -- Exhibitions. Tinwood Alliance. exhibition catalogs. Exhibition catalogs. History. Exhibition catalogs. Catalogues d'exposition. Alabama -- Wilcox County. / **A very large, somewhat heavy book. Weighs 4 lbs 3 ounces before packing. Extra shipping charges apply for international & expedited orders. Please inquire.**.