War and Pieced: A New Folk Art Exhibit

From Wednesday, September 6, 2017 - Sunday, January 7, 2018, the American Folk Art Museum will display War and Pieced: The Annette Gero Collection of Quilts from Military Fabrics. This is the first exhibition within the United States to showcase spectacularly complex geometric quilts made exclusively by men using richly dyed wools derived from British military and dress uniforms. Once termed "Soldiers'" or "Convalescent Quilts," the pieced textiles are most closely associated with the Crimean War as well as conflicts in India, South Africa, and other troubled regions of the British Empire during the 1800s. Viewing the quilts as works of wartime art reveals deeper emotional complexities which explore how war and its aftermath emotionally impact its participants. 

 

The quilts are drawn primarily from the unparalleled collection of internationally acclaimed quilt authority Dr. Annette Gero, with additional examples from public and private collections, many never before on view. The 240-page publication Wartime Quilts: Appliqués and Geometric Masterpieces from Military Fabrics (The Beagle Press, 2015) accompanies the exhibition and will be available through the American Folk Art Museum Shop beginning September 2017. Admission to the American Folk Art Museum is free.