The Textile Museum’s April 4 to September 6 exhibition, “Constructed Color: Amish Quilts,” will feature a selection from one of the finest group of Amish quilts in the world. Through the display of 30 pieces, the exhibition will illustrate the visual connections between Amish quilts and mid-Twentieth Century art and show how variations in the quilts reveal the choices of individual Amish communities. The quilts are drawn from collections at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, each representing distinct Amish communities.
Amish women, untrained as artists, have produced a distinguished body of visual art in the form of quilts. These fabric compositions resemble mid-Twentieth Century paintings †particularly because of their large single color areas †although the quilts have origins as early as the Eighteenth Century. The art world took note of the remarkable similarities between quilts and modern art in 1971 when an exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York exhibited pieced quilts on walls normally reserved for works by contemporary artists.
Each Amish community produces distinctive quilts, the variations depending upon a number of factors: the availability and choice of materials, the influence from non-Amish neighbors and the relative conservatism of the group as determined by its community guidelines, known as Ordnung.
Classic Lancaster County Amish quilts typically include flat planes of saturated colors. Rich blues, browns and tans are often used together in unusual combinations, creating striking visual compositions. Midwestern Amish quilts, in comparison, are usually distinguished by their dark backgrounds and the use of repeat patterns. These quilts often include brilliantly colored, polished cottons, giving the fabric a beautiful sheen.
Mifflin County, Penn., is home to three different Amish groups: Nebraska Amish, Byler Amish and Renno or Peachey Amish, each distinguished by its own quilt-making tradition.
Nebraska Amish quilts normally incorporate shades of brown, blue, purple and gray in named patters. Byler Amish quilts use many of the same patterns but also include bright shades of pink, yellow, orange and blue. Renno/Peachey Amish quilts are similar to Midwestern Amish quilts, but are distinguished by their black backgrounds juxtaposed with bright fabrics of golden yellow, blue, purple and green.
Quiltmakers from each of these distinct Amish groups join the quilt layers †front, inner padding and back †together with intricate stitched designs. These designs include cables, fans, feathered wreaths, roses and other flowers, and are often used in conjunction with one another.
The Textile is at 2320 S Street, NW. Admission is free with a suggested donation of $5 for nonmembers. For information, 202-667-0441 or www.textilemuseum.org .
