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To Weave for the Sun: Ancient Andean Textiles in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
With 495 illustrations, 90 in color.
- GenresNonfictionArt
271 pages, Paperback
First published January 28, 1992
45 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 26, 2014
I began studying more closely Andean textiles because of Anni Albers; I had been looking at her weavings, and reading her own writings, as well as biographical material about both the Bauhaus and Black Mountain College. Her delight in the beauty and complexity produced by these artists proved contagious. Although I've always admired the colors and design, I never before explored their actual context and production.
"To Weave for the Sun" is a catalog of work drawn from the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The essays and illustrations give a detailed elaboration of both technique and historical and cultural context. These are time-consuming productions, highly valued by the people who produced, used, and wore them, and making them required a disciplined and collaborative effort by the entire society.
As Albers noted, the simple and local materials and looms were no impediment to the creation of intricate and elaborate thread manipulation and design. Textiles were sacred objects, symbolic works of art, whether intended for ritual or everyday use.
The abstracted iconic figures, combinations of patterns and textile techniques, and asymmetry in color and repeat produced an intentional and striking perceptual ambiguity. The dynamic essence was always more important than a reproduction of an actual image.
"The use of textiles for practical purposes did not contradict the artistic approach with which they were designed and produced." This too would have been compatible with the Bauhaus philosophy: that the useful can also, and should be, beautiful.
"To Weave for the Sun" is a catalog of work drawn from the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The essays and illustrations give a detailed elaboration of both technique and historical and cultural context. These are time-consuming productions, highly valued by the people who produced, used, and wore them, and making them required a disciplined and collaborative effort by the entire society.
As Albers noted, the simple and local materials and looms were no impediment to the creation of intricate and elaborate thread manipulation and design. Textiles were sacred objects, symbolic works of art, whether intended for ritual or everyday use.
The abstracted iconic figures, combinations of patterns and textile techniques, and asymmetry in color and repeat produced an intentional and striking perceptual ambiguity. The dynamic essence was always more important than a reproduction of an actual image.
"The use of textiles for practical purposes did not contradict the artistic approach with which they were designed and produced." This too would have been compatible with the Bauhaus philosophy: that the useful can also, and should be, beautiful.
July 17, 2016
Nice 1992 catalog of the extensive precolumbian textle holdings of the Boston Museum of Art. Good info and 80 color plates, which aren't up to current printing standards.
Unusually, the catalog includes 10 color plates of colonial weavings, from the 16th through 18th century. These aren't often seen, and are both interesting and beautiful.
Unusually, the catalog includes 10 color plates of colonial weavings, from the 16th through 18th century. These aren't often seen, and are both interesting and beautiful.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews