: The exhibition "White on White (and a little gray)," on view
March 28-September 17, highlights America's fascination with
neoclassicism, which represented a dramatic shift in the
decorative arts that was expressed in three distinct artforms -
whitework textiles, print work embroideries and marble dust
drawings. Dating from the Federal era through the end of the
Nineteenth Century, this exhibition explores female responses to
the classical aesthetic.
The American Folk Art Museum holds a collection of whitework
textiles, executed in a variety of embroidery and stuff work
techniques, that have never been shown together. Approximately
ten bedcovers, selected by senior curator Stacy C. Hollander, are
included - from the museum's earliest example (dated 1796) to
others made throughout the Nineteenth Century. They are augmented
by elaborate monochromatic needleworks, known as print works, and
18 evocative marble dust drawings, often with classical
references, from private and public collections. To accentuate
the feminine participation in neoclassicism, there is also an
intimate portrait by Ammi Phillips of a woman sitting at a table
covered by an ornate embroidered whitework, a piece of hand
stitched white lace wrapped around her finger.
Whitework bedcovers followed in a long tradition of whole-cloth
quilts whose single-color top provided an opportunity to
prominently display exquisite needlework. The term whitework
describes several methods such as stuffing, cording and
embroidered candlewicking, used to create elegant raised designs
in white thread on white fabric. The range of dates found on
whiteworks in the museum's collection - 1796 to 1897 - indicates
the enduring popularity of all-white bedcovers over the course of
a century, and the persistence of classicism as an inspiration in
the decorative arts.
Stuff work featured motifs that were outlined with quilting to
create a cell and filled with batting inserted through the back.
The raised motifs could be further accentuated by dense, flat
quilting that emphasized the sculptural effects, "especially when
viewed in the harsh and raking candlelight of the period," notes
Hollander.
Abigail Gardner, "View of the Park Fountain & City Hall
N.Y., (possibly Rochester, Monroe County, N.Y.)," 1853,
charcoal on marble dust paper; 17 1/2 by 25 1/2 inches,
unframed.
Candlewicking referred to a whitework bedcover that was
embroidered with a thick, cotton roving of the type similar to the
wicks of candles. The surface was embellished in a variety of
stitches, sometimes flat and others that left raised loops or knots
on the surface. These loops might be cut and fluffed in a technique
called tufting.
At the turn of the Nineteenth Century, neoclassicism was also
embraced in schoolgirl embroideries. A distinctive group of
monochromatic memorials known as print work was executed
exclusively in black or brown silk threads on white silk and
satin fabrics. These embroideries were intended to imitate
uncolored engravings using tiny seed stitches to simulate the
stippling of the engraver's tool. Underdrawings on the silk were
often provided by professional artists and then embroidered by
students.
In 1835, a new art known as Grecian painting (now referred to as
marble dust or sandpaper drawing) was introduced in the book
Artist, or Young Ladies' Instructor in Ornamental Painting,
Drawings, & c., by B.F. Gandee. The materials included
sooty lampblack drawings on a board prepared with iridescent
marble dust. By scratching through the charcoal with a sharp
blade, forms emerged out of the darkness. Because they relied
upon published images, multiple works have survived on such
themes as Mount Vernon and Washington's Tomb, Byron's Dream,
Ruins of Palmyra and The Magic Lake, examples of which are in the
exhibition. Engravings after well-known works of art, notably
Thomas Cole's series "Voyage of Life," also provided prototypes
for marble dust interpretations.
The three artforms illustrate the enduring influence of
vernacular interpretations of the classical ideal. The past
remained the touchstone of aesthetic refinement throughout the
Nineteenth Century and the female response was manifold. "The
whiteness of white invoked the transcendence, purity and
timelessness of classical antiquity. White became the perfect
metaphor for the Age of Enlightenment," comments Hollander.
The American Folk Art Museum is at 45 West 53rd Street. For
information, www.folkartmuseum.org or 212-265-1040.
