Pamela A. Parmal – författare

An introduction to the refined, spiritually significant, and often dazzling arts produced by the varied cultures of a cradle of world civilization The ancient cultures of the Americas comprise a vast array of societies, whose peoples spoke thousands of languages and dialects, developed distinctive political and economic systems, and followed myriad spiritual practices. The territory stretching from northern Mexico to Chile is one of six world regions where ancient civilizations arose – joining Egypt, the Near East and Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, North China and Southeast Asia. The intellectual, architectural and artistic accomplishments of the ancient American peoples rival those of the others, including fully developed writing systems, the tallest structures in the western hemisphere until the 20th century, and textiles and painted ceramics of unsurpassed complexity and refinement.The collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is particularly strong in Maya ceramics, early Andean textiles, and gold objects from Panama and Colombia, and throughout its history the Museum has been at the forefront in presenting pre- Columbian artifacts as part of art history rather than in the context of natural history or archaeology. The artworks featured in this volume exemplify the aesthetics and supreme craftsmanship of the peoples of the ancient Americas in pictorial pottery, sumptuous gold body adornments and luxury textiles. Together they introduce the sophistication, creativity and variety of the cultures of the Western Hemisphere’s cradle of civilization.

Quilts and Color presents more than sixty graphically bold American quilts from the Pilgrim/Roy Collection, one of the finest and largest collections of quilts in the world. These collectors recognized that quilt makers often grappled with the same concerns as many modern artists. Influenced by twentieth-century art developments such as Abstraction, Op Art and the Colour Field movement, Paul Pilgrim and Gerald Roy were among the first to appreciate quilts as more than simply decorative bedcovers, women’s fancy work, or symbols of a rustic past. Reproduced brilliantly and arranged by ideas based in colour theory – Vibrations, Mixtures, Gradation Harmonies, Contrasts, Variations, Optical Illusions and Singular Visions – each quilt in this book is celebrated as a unique work of art. The accompanying text also sheds light on the social and cultural history of the quilts as well as the practices and aspirations of their mostly anonymous makers, who created such works of enduring beauty and arresting visual impact.

A mother stitches a few lines of prayer into a bedcover for her son serving in the Union army during the Civil War. A formerly enslaved African American woman creates a quilt populated by Biblical figures alongside celestial events. A quilted Lady Liberty, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln mark the resignation of Richard Nixon. These are just a few of the diverse and sometimes hidden stories of the American experience told by quilts and bedcovers from the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Spanning more than four hundred years, the fifty-eight works of textile art in this book express the personal narratives of their makers and owners and connect to broader stories of global trade, immigration, industry, marginalisation, and territorial and cultural expansion. Made by Americans of European, African, Native, and Hispanic heritage, these engaging works of art range from family heirlooms to acts of political protest, each with its own story to tell.