The thousands of textiles currently housed at the Brooklyn Museum are prime examples of the vast glo

The thousands of textiles currently housed at the Brooklyn Museum are prime examples of the vast global history of textile making and sewing traditions in New York City. In participation with New York Textile Month,we will be showcasing one textile per day for the month of September.  While difficult to narrow it down to only thirty textiles, we think these works are best at weaving narratives about topics such as innovations in the textile industry, craft and the beauty of the handmade, textiles from legendary designers like Frank Lloyd Wright and Anni Albers, as well as textiles with a sense of humor. Did you know that PeeWee’s Playhouse had a line of textiles made?Photomontage is as old as the medium of photography itself. As early as 1857, Oscar Rejlander produced “the Two Ways of Life,” and the next year Henry Peach Robinson composed “Fading Away.” Photomontage is the superimposition of one negative upon another and then printing them. Or it could be the juxtaposition of various photographs that are then re-photographed to produce one new image. Photomontage was of great interest to artist who wished to expand the aesthetic possibilities of photography as an art form. The photomontage on textile illustrated here includes various views of the Manhattan skyline and street scenes of New York: the Empire State Building; the Manhattan Bridge; Grand Central Station; New York Stock Exchange; Statue of Liberty; Grant’s Tomb; Penn Station; Castle Garden; Washington Square; Brooklyn Bridge; Sherman Monument; and New York Harbor. Although the designer and manufacturer are unknown, it has been suggested that by depicting America’s most famous and glamorous city through a conspicuously factual approach acted as a morale booster during the Great Depression of the 1930s, in a similar way to that of the cityscape murals produced by the Works Progress Administration. Emphasizing American accomplishments during the Great Depression was meant to inspire hope and pride. Last year a home-made shirt-waist dress made of this same textile was on the antiques’ market for $100,000; clearly this Depression era memento has reached new economic heights! Posted by Barry R. Harwood, Lark Morgenstern, and Caitlin Crews -- source link

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