Myth & Magic: Symbols of Tradition Part 6 - Turkmen Textile Art

by Thomas Cole, V.G. Moshkova, Michael Frances

Part 6 of six, which deals primarily with Turkmen textile art, with an elaborately illustrated version of an essay first written in the 1950s and reproduced in 1980 by Michael Frances and Robert Pinner (Turkmen Studies). Including color images in addition to Moshkova's b&w photos, the text, once considered arcane at best and obtuse at worst, suddenly comes alive with the color photographs of antique rugs provided by the author in addition to old photographs of Central Asia assisting the reader with understanding concepts that have not been accessible to either collectors of Turkmen rugs or the casual student. Additionally there are two articles that appeared in HALI examining Yomut Turkmen embroidery as well as another HALI article that examines what we know of the Turkmen and what we will probably never know at this point in time. Included also are the Afterword, Author's Notes and Acknowlegements

64 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 25, 2020

About the author

Thomas Cole was an English-born American artist and the founder of the Hudson River School art movement. Cole is widely regarded as the first significant American landscape painter. He was known for his romantic landscape and history paintings. Influenced by European painters, but with a strong American sensibility, he was prolific throughout his career and worked primarily with oil on canvas. His paintings are typically allegoric and often depict small figures or structures set against moody and evocative natural landscapes. They are usually escapist, framing the New World as a natural eden contrasting with the smog-filled cityscapes of Industrial Revolution-era Britain, in which he grew up. His works, often seen as conservative, criticize the contemporary trends of industrialism, urbanism, and westward expansion.