Gee's Bend Art? Craft?

The word craft is defined in the merriam-webster dictionary as a “skill in planning, making, or executing” ( http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/craft), “dexterity” ( http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/craft), “ an occupation or trade requiring manual dexterity or artistic skill” ( http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/craft).   So according to this definition I would have to say that the difference between art and craft is one is a skill the other the product.  Craft is the skill needed to produce an art piece. 

So according to the above definition I would have to say that the Gee’s Bend Quilts are art.  This becomes problematic because generally an artist creates a piece of art to invoke some thought process to the viewer, or make a statement.   Though a quilt may require a skill and can present itself in an artist display of colors it does not invoke a thought process or make a statement, other than look how resourceful these women were.       

These woman created works that rival Matisse’s skill in that they paralleled his use of  “ startling palette of saturated, unmixed colors” (Hughes, 2012, p. 1) producing an “effect of spontaneity” (Hughes, 2012, p. 1)

The purpose of Matisse works differ to that of the Gee’s Bend Quilts.  The  “women transformed a necessity into a work of art’ (Conan, 2012, p. 1), with their innovative use of old clothing, or “whatever they could get a hold of” (Conan, 2012, p. 1) into quilts to warm themselves.  Matisse “produced images of comfort, refuge, and balanced satisfaction, thus creating an ideal place away from assaults and erosions of history” (Hughes, 2012, p. 1). 

HouseTop quilt by Linda Pettway
photo from http://www.auburn.edu/academic/other/geesbend/explore/catalog/slideshow/images/q032-08_jpg.jpg

The Open  Henrey Matisse
Phot from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Matisse-Open-Window.jpg

Matisse’s Open window painting “seems to deny a craft” (Hughes, 2012, p. 1,) his “eupeptic, take-it-or-leave-it quality brush strokes” (Hughes, 2012, p. 1) and “startling palette of saturated, unmixed colors” (Hughes, 2012, p. 1) give the piece an amateur appearance.  The ‘terracotta of flowerpots and the rusty red of masts and furled sails become a blazing Indian red: the reflections of the boats, turning at anchor through the dazzle of light on the water, are pink; the green of the left wall, reflected in the open glazed door on the right, is heightened beyond expectation and picked up in the sky's tints” (Hughes, 2012, p. 1). Linda Pettway,  HouseTop quilt seems to reflect Matisse’s Open window painting  rectangular shape outlines.

Courthouse Step quilt by Loretta PettwayPhoto from
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/other/geesbend/explore/catalog/slideshow/images/q002-10_jpg.jpg

Henri Matisse - View of Notre Dame
Photo from
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/40/Henri_Matisse_-_View_of_Notre_Dame._Paris%2C_quai_Saint-Michel%2C_spring_1914.jpg

Compairing Matisse, View from Notre Dame with Loretta Pettway, Courthouse Step we see the same light blue color scheme.  The courthose step quilt seems to have a central focus with an allureing tunneling affect  whereas the View from Notre Dame is more to the left to the window implying somthing is beyound in the distance.   

 

References

Conan, N. (2012). ’The Quilts of Gee’s Bend’A Showcase of Distinctive Work by African-American Artists. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=970364

Hughes, R. (2012). About the Art of Matisse. The Shock of the New . Retrieved from http://www.henri-matisse.net/artofmatisse.html