Masters: Art Quilts: Major Works by Leading Artists (The Masters) (Paperback)

by Martha Sielman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Art quilts have long since moved from covering beds to hanging on walls, and this collection of 40 artists' works, gathered and introduced by Sielman—executive director of Studio Art Quilts Associates and an art quilter herself—is ample evidence why. Ranging from the United States and Canada through Europe to Israel, South Africa, Japan and New Zealand, these quilters show the beauty and imagination of fine art and a vast variety of styles and materials. Noriko Endo's forests look like pointillist paintings, while Susan Shie's pieces are reminiscent of Lynda Barry in the density of image and hand-lettered words. Pamela Allen recycles beads, safety pins and sewing machine bobbins in Crone of Crazy; Wendy Huhn's surrealist dreamscapes include vintage fabrics and stenciled images. Each artist is represented by 10 works, some with details, as well as the artist's comments on inspirations and the works' meaning; many refer to the layering of fabric as a form of layering time, the opposite of what archeologists do. While it's sometimes difficult to see all the texture of these quilts in flat photographs, the wealth of color and pattern is worthwhile in itself. Color photos throughout. (June)
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Review

"Art quilts have long since moved from covering beds to hanging on walls, and this collection of 40 artists' works...is ample evidence why. Ranging from the United States and Canada through Europe to Israel, South Africa, Japan and New Zealand, these quilters show the beauty and imagination of fine art and a vast variety of styles and materials....Each artist is represented by 10 works, some with details, as well as the artist's comments on inspirations and the works' meaning....the wealth of color and pattern is worthwhile "--Publishers Weekly 

"In this colorful and masterful survey, 40 outstanding contemporary artists from around the world exhibit their art and share their thoughts and themes. Photo spreads with up to a dozen quilts from each artist are artfully arranged on consecutive pages allowing an in-depth look at the quilts. Artists' photos and a short introduction begin each section, and materials and techniques are provided with each quilt image. This group of artists and their wonderful artwork is sure to impress."--Quilting Arts Magazine

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Lark Books (May 6, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1600591078
• ISBN-13: 978-1600591075
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.8 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #24,587 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A treasure and a bargain, May 22, 2008

By	Meg Cox "journalist/author/quilter" (Princeton, New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews

There are loads of books filled with gorgeous color photographs of quilts, but this one is so much more. Martha Sielman's curatorial eye has resulted in a portable exhibition of the most exciting art quilts of our time. By grouping them as she has, you get a sense of each textile artist's progression and depth, not just a repeat visit to iconic images seen over and over already. The quality of this solid effort coupled with the price make this one of the great bargain books around. A great gift for quilters, and a must for the libraries of all quilt-lovers, quilt-collectors and quiltmakers.

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review by Anne Copeland, May 16, 2008

By	Anne Copeland "anneappraiser" (Lomita, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I just got my copy of Masters: Art Quilts, by Martha Sielman, published by Lark Books and it is perhaps the most important book to come along since the first book on art quilts many years years ago.
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This is a great way for us to study the masters so that you all have the benefit of seeing what's good about the best of the best. Studying the work of the artists in this book should be a good exercise to help you with your own work, not in the sense of copying someone else, but in understanding the design elements each artist has used to get the results that have made him or her famous. It is also good to know the artists individually as this is the living history of our art heritage.

If you are a member of an art quilt group, you can use the book as the basis for study of each artist's unique style. As an individual artist, it is a great way to study art quilts without having to leave home. What I like too is that the writer doesn't use a lot of difficult to understand terms so even a beginning fiberartist can readily relate to whatis being discussed. Martha Sielman writes in a very comfortable and down-to-earth style.

I like this book as there are a wide variety of artists covered and each one is discussed in depth regarding the artists' backgrounds and lots of good notes about the artists' techniques and styles.

Aside from all of this, it is the most fantastic opportunity to see the works of artists whose works you might not otherwise have an opportuni'ty to see. We so seldom get an opportunity to see a number of each artists pieces . This book is definitely a visual feast. and one it is truly hard to put down. I think my only regret is that I didn't want the book to end!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Education and A Delight for Artists and Collectors, July 23, 2008

By	Virginia A. Spiegel - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Masters: Art Quilts is part of a series published by Lark Books under the premise of featuring major works by forty leading artists in a specific medium. To date, the series includes, in addition to this volume, Beadweaving, Gemstones, Glass Beads and Porcelain.

Having started this way to indicate that the emphasis is perhaps greater on craft than art in their selection of media, I must continue by saying this gorgeous, gorgeous book needs (yes, needs) to grace your desk, coffee table or bedside reading pile.

I guess that pretty much gives away the general tenor of this review, but, more specifically, this is a much-needed volume if you are an artist who tires of explaining the ART in art quilt or who enjoys reading about the why, rather than the how, of artists.

If you are a collector of art quilts or a general art aficionada, Masters: Art Quilts will help you understand this medium (why fabric???) and provide hours of delighted perusal.

The emphasis on only forty artists, dictated by the constraints of the series, was undoubtedly a cruel hardship to the editor and curator, Martha Sielman. Sielman is the Executive Director of Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA), an organization dedicated to the promotion of art quilts and their makers.

Each of the forty artists receives a small essay by Sielman, space for personal comments about their artwork, and, of course, several (up to ten or twelve, including details) photos of their artwork over eight pages.

The small essays by Sielman are sparkling. Nothing is harder than to study the work of a diverse cross-section of artists and render their work sensible and in a perceptive light in a very short essay.

Editor essays are usually the least valuable part of a survey, but Sielman has added to the considerable worth of this volume by sharing what is important about each artist, what themes the artist has explored and placing their work in the context of the art quilt movement.

The comments by the artists are necessarily short and, I assume, selected and edited by Sielman. Again, the comments are seldom gratuitous and often a revelation. I completely reassessed my viewpoint of the work of Jane Sassaman after reading this: Plants are my metaphor. A plant travels the same cycle as a human: fertility, birth, maturity, death and rebirth.

The format of the book is one of its strong points. There are 414 pages in a 9 x 8 inch format. Despite it's bulk, this book is user friendly - - easy to hold and it fits nicely in a tote bag. The photos are large, of excellent quality and unbelievable in number. If you have shopped for magazines lately at a newsstand, you will agree that it is somewhat mind-boggling that this huge book retails for $24.95.

I found it best to flip through the book until I saw a work that caught my eye and then to read the whole "chapter" about the artist and study the photos before moving on. Reading straight through is asking for sensory overload.

I have only two small quibbles about the book. The designation "Master" does imply those practitioners of an art that have labored long and hard in the field or have shown a mastery through an established style, regardless of their time in the field.

I personally could have seen a lot less of the art quilts which were the exciting New Thing of their time (some dating back to the 60's) and a lot more current work. Perhaps the focus on the series is to show the history as well as the current state of the medium, but it does beg the question if some of the artists chosen would be better identified as Master Emeritus or some other title that acknowledges the debt art quilters owe these pioneers in the field.

Also many of the chosen artists are very well-known in the art quilt exhibit circuit, but perhaps those artists who eschew that route for professional or personal reasons are less well-represented. However these are minor considerations when weighed against the greater service this book provides as a resource for artists and collectors.

Part of the joy of reading Art Quilts: Masters is having a fine argument with yourself about the inclusions and exclusions made necessary by the choice of forty artists and for the ranking of your own personal favorites among the artwork. I have found that argument to be an education in itself.