Irene Williams (1920–2015) was an American artist. She is associated with the Gee's Bend quilting collective, although she made her quilts "in solitude" and "uninfluenced."[1][2][3] Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Frist Art Museum, and is included in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art,[4] the Indianapolis Museum of Art,[5] the Museum of Fine Arts Boston,[6] and the National Gallery of Art.[7]

Life

Irene Williams was the daughter of Sandy and Tom Williams. She grew up on a farm with common crops like cotton, watermelon, etc. They also raised various livestock.[1]

She completed school until the ninth grade. At seventeen,[8] she married Cornelius Williams, a man whom she adored, and together they raised six children – three boys and three girls. One of her sons died young, trying to save a logging truck driver from his wrecked vehicle.[1]

Williams' sister-in-law was fellow quilter, Liza Jane Williams.[1]

Work

Williams did not begin making quilts until she was married and began to have children. Although members of her family and community made quilts, Williams always quilted alone in her house. having never participated in quilting bees, William's style developed on its own, uninfluenced by her peers.[1]

In "Strips,"[9] created around 1960, Williams deconstructed used basketball jerseys to form a quilt that mimics a street map, with a main street lined with houses with street numbers.[10]

Her "Vote" quilt,[6] a housetop-style quilt featuring red, white, and blue fabric strips with the word "vote" printed on them, was inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 1965 visit to Gee's Bend.[8]

Williams' "Blocks and Strips"[11] quilt features bright colors and irregular, geometric shapes. It is part of the permanent collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Irene Williams | Souls Grown Deep Foundation". www.soulsgrowndeep.org. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
  2. ↑ Beardsley, John; Arnett, William; Arnett, Paul; Livingston, Jane (2002). Gee's Bend: The Women and Their Quilts. Tinwood Books. p. 375. ISBN 9780971910409.
  3. ↑ Arnett, William; Herman, Bernard (2006). Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt. Tinwood Books. p. 27. ISBN 9780971910478.
  4. ↑ "Philadelphia Museum of Art Expands African American Art Collection". Art & Object. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
  5. ↑ "Gee's Bend quilt, "Housetop" variation with "Postage Stamp" center row". Indianapolis Museum of Art Online Collection.
  6. 1 2 "Vote Quilt". MFA Boston. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Blocks and Strips". www.nga.gov. 4 October 1980. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  8. 1 2 Scala, Mark, ed. (2012). Creation Story: Gee's Bend Quilts and the Art of Thornton Dial. Vanderbilt University Press. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-8265-1880-4.
  9. ↑ "Strips | Souls Grown Deep". www.soulsgrowndeep.org. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  10. ↑ History refused to die : the enduring legacy of the African American art of Alabama. William S. Arnett, Laura Bickford, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Alabama Contemporary Art Center, Printed by the Prolific Group. [Montgomery, Ala.] 2015. ISBN 978-0-692-36520-5. OCLC 909397263.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  11. ↑ "Blocks and Strips Quilt". philamuseum.org. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
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