Black Arts & Culture Feature:
- The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles consists of a canvas and a pieced fabric frame with narrative text detailing the scene.
- The border text narrates lives of women as hard workers engaged in social change, positioning them collectively against an outsider figure.
- Quilting was historically dismissed as craft, taught at home, not in art academies, and mainly practiced by women.
- Ringgold deliberately uses quilting as both medium and subject to elevate it into recognized art.
- Ringgold asserts art preserves histories and insists Black Feminists and Activists should and will be remembered.
They are joined by the famous painter Vincent van Gogh holding a vase with sunflowers, an allusion to one of his most famous works. One could say that the flowers are also, in a way, characters. They appear not only on the quilt and in the vase but also surround the whole scene.
They also indicate the changes in art and society that have occurred since the time of Van Gogh. The sunflowers held by the painter represent the Impressionist style. However, the flowers on the quilt look modernist and geometrical. It seems that Ringgold wanted to show us that these women are part of a new contemporary society, while Van Gogh, the white male painter, belongs to a different period.
The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles consists of two elements: the canvas and the frame. The border is created from a pieced fabric on which the artist placed a text telling the story of the represented scene. This way, we can learn about the lives of the characters. The artist described the women as hard workers engaged in social change, in opposition to Van Gogh, who is situated as an outcast. This sentiment is also conveyed through the composition. The women are sitting all together, whereas the painter is standing behind them, looking at the scene but not participating.
Arts or Crafts?
Quilting is a technique that had not been considered a proper art form for decades. Historically, it was mainly a female occupation. Mothers would teach their daughters how to create quilts at home. It was not a technique taught at the art academies, and people would associate it with crafts rather than “high art.”
In The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles, Faith Ringgold brings our attention to the importance of this medium in two ways. Firstly, she chose it to execute her artwork. Secondly, she made it the main topic of the composition. This is not the only topic she has undertaken in this work. Ringgold also discusses what really matters in society. In the text, she writes:
Ringgold discusses the significant role of art in society. Art can preserve the histories, cultures, and practices of people. This is why she chose to convene these women at a quilting bee. She wants to present what is important to her as an artist. What is more, by portraying these Black Feminists and Activists, Ringgold asserts they should and will be remembered in history.
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