Quilts may at first glance seem old-fashioned, and collectible. Many collectors today however think of quilts as art, and not just any art. Quilts have a good deal in common with modern art. Yes, modern art.
“Quilt designs have parallels in works by 20th-century artists whose multi-million-dollar paintings are now revered and even iconic,” says Americana Dealer Laura Fisher “The compositions of Frank Stella, Sol LeWitt, Victor Vasarely, Josef Albers, Jasper Johns, Bridget Riley, Ellsworth Kelly, Andy Warhol and Sean Scully, for example, so resemble some antique pieced quilts in their geometry that we have to wonder whether this was merely the spontaneous generation of ideas, or whether 20th century artists were influenced by the works of anonymous quilt makers preceding them.”
Fisher says Amish quilts of the early 20th century, originating in a culture celebrated for minimalist icons such as Diamond in the Square and Bars, were among the first quilts to be collected by admirers of modern art.
The realm of quilts on display at shows today is also expanding. Categories such as rustic utilitarian quilts, African-American quilts, and quilts from various cultures have been largely ignored in antiques scholarship, but now are exhibited and studied worldwide. In days past, Fisher says a higher premium went only to quilts from the hands of a skilled or an identified maker, but now collectors’ dollars endorse edgier, linear, graphic, anonymous antique and vintage examples.
In many cases, they may also be a good investment, and in any case provide a lot of decorating bang for the buck. Fisher says graphic quilts offer wall coverage inch by inch that is visually compelling for a fraction of the money than paintings of similar size.
Graphic quilts are the focus of a special collection assembled by Laura Fisher of FISHER HERITAGE at the Hayes Fine Arts Storage Building during Americana Week.
