The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles
Faith Ringgold
American
1991
My First Impressions:
This quilt looks like it illustrates slavery, possibly in the 1800's from the style of the houses in the background. 8 African-Americans are sewing a quilt with pictures of sunflowers like those in the field around them. A farmer watches them while holding a bouquet of sunflowers. These slaves look too old for farm work, so I think that their work involves things like quilt making (like in this artwork). The clothing however confuses me, especially with the woman on the far left, because slaves did not tend wear elaborate clothes. It's possible that these people are not slaves.
What I have learned:
This is a quilt showing a group of African-American women who are displaying their sunflower quilt in a field of sunflowers. The man on the right is Van Gogh, who stand holding his sunflowers (paintings of sunflowers like "Obscurity" by Van Gogh show us his love for them). The buildings in the background belong to the village of Arles. Ringgold uses many blues and yellows for this quilt because they were Van Gogh's favorite colors.
Sara,
ReplyDeleteHello! Thank you for sharing your notes about Faith Ringgold's quilt, Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles. This is a very fancy bedquilt, huh!
The ladies in the quilt were not all slaves. Faith Ringgold, the artist, painted on fabric the following women, starting from the left side:
Madame C. J. Walker, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, Fannie Lou Hamer, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Mary McLeod Bethune and Ella Baker.
What do you know about them?
Best, Kyra E. Hicks
author, "Martha Ann's Quilt for Queen Victoria"
www.BlackThreads.blogspot.com