Heavenly Visions: Shaker Gift Drawings And Gift Songs [Hardcover]

France Morin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 29, 2001

“Offering both an extraordinary aesthetic experience and a reasoned account of these delicate ‘gift’ drawings, texts, and songs, Heavenly Visions demonstrates that the Shakers, best known for the austere functionalism of their crafts were, if briefly, extraordinary picture-makers, whose imagery is steeped in symbolism, rich in colour, and elegant in design.” —Art History

 

For many people, the art of the Shakers is thought to be the furniture, objects, and buildings for which their spiritual communities are perhaps most well known. But this is a misconception: during a spiritual revival in the early nineteenth century, Shakers throughout the eastern United States created some of our nation’s most exceptionally rich, visual, and beautiful artistic treasures. Heavenly Visions includes close to one hundred color plates of Shaker gift drawings and songs, providing a comprehensive overview to these stunning works.

 

Distributed for The Drawing Center

 

France Morin is curator of the exhibition Heavenly Visions: Shaker Gift Drawings and Gift Songs at The Drawing Center in New York City.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Press; 1 edition (October 29, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816640696
• ISBN-13: 978-0816640690
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #134,950 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #13 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Other Denominations & Sects
  • #64 in Books > Arts & Photography > Religious

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to understand, many never-before-seen pictures, November 26, 2003

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mianfei - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Heavenly Visions: Shaker Gift Drawings And Gift Songs (Hardcover)

"Heavenly Visions: Shaker Gift Drawings and Gift Songs" is a most impressive explanation and study of Shaker spirituality and the role of prophecy and gender within it.

Frances Moran manages in a simple and easily understood manner to see Shaker visions as a source of spiritual leadership and power for younger women within a community that was being increasingly hierarchical and bound up by the standards of "the world" (as Shakers referred to it). Frances explains easliy that gift drawings and gift songs gave Shaker women direct contact with the Spirit, which was characteristic of the earliest Believers but was lost during the early nineteenth century when Shakerism expanded. It is also show that the type of mediumship found in Shakerism is actually seen even today in native religions of the world.

The majority of "Heavenly Visions: Shaker Gift Drawings and Gift Songs", however, consists of some most beautiful pictures that show Shaker art of the period known as "Mother Ann's Work". The pictures are often much more beautiful and much more clearly laid out than those in less detailed studies of Shakerism and the book is made into an important purchase.

The actual pictures show there to be a great deal of structure and reason behind the gifts given to Shaker mediums during the 1840s and 1850s, as well as illustrating Shakerism's unique spiritual character. We find that there were many pictures of key Shaker leaders from the early period, and also a strong emphasis on the basic necessities of the natural world in the content of Shaker gift drawings. The written words on these drawings are beautifully written but I have not been able to read them.

A most important resource for the understanding of Shakerism.