Amish: The Art of the Quilt - Hardcover

Hughes, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0394587812 ISBN 13: 9780394587813

Publisher: Knopf, 1990

Synopsis

Presents eighty-two Amish masterpiece quilts from the Esprit Collection, with historical and interpretive commentaries

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

Deep, vibrant tones of plum, burgundy, teal and hunter green in patterns as starkly simple as Bars or as sprightly as Sunshine and Shadow sing forth from the 82 quilts, selected from San Francisco's Esprit collection, pictured on these large-format pages. Designed and stitched by Pennsylvania Amish women between 1870 and 1950, the quilts exemplify the values in a religious culture that, as art critic Hughes notes in the introduction, "puts tremendous premium on stable order and material adequacy." Pieced from unpatterned cloth and arranged in geometric patterns, the quilts are vivid and modern in effect, demonstrating, in Hughes's view, "how absurd the once jealously guarded hierarchical distinctions between 'folk' and 'high' art can be." Silber, curator of the collection, provides brief, informative commentaries. Most eloquent, however, are the quilts themselves.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist:

The 82 lovely colorplates of outstanding pieces in the Esprit quilt collection in San Francisco, in addition to an enjoyable introductory text by famous art critic Robert Hughes, ensure that this book's reader will appreciate Amish quilts as true works of art. All were made in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, between 1950 and 1970. They are prime examples of the power of the Amish quiltmaker. Special focus is given to the quilts' intricate stitching. Any school, public, or academic library will find this a wonderful addition to its crafts and art collections. Iva Freeman

About this edition

• Publisher: Knopf
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0394587812
• ISBN 13: 9780394587813
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 207