Diamonds and Bars: The Art of the Amish People
Flaming red diamonds and sky-blue bars against pulsing pink: the eye vibrates; the stringent composition, the generous arrangement of colours over wide spaces and geometric forms are reminiscent of Josef Albers, Victor Vasarely and Barnett Newman. Minimal art or Colour Field painting? Even though they date from the era of Queen Victoria, Jugendstil and Art Déco, Amish quilts reveal startlingly close affinities with 1960s Concrete art. Hence they are the diametrical opposite of the European and European-shaped American art of the day in that they anticipate Modernist design principles far ahead of their time.The "modern" appearance of these pieced quilts is, however, not the brainchild of a particularly progressive avant-garde. On the contrary, they reflect the ideas on domestic design entertained by the Amish people who had emigrated to America chiefly from Alsace-Lorraine, an Anabaptist group that deliberately chose an old-fashioned lifestyle, isolated from the rest of 19th-century America. Inspired by their non-Amish neighbours, however, they began to make quilts and soon arrived at the extraordinarily astringent language of colour and form that today not only permits instant identification of these works as Amish but also accurate attribution to specific Amish communities.The Amish quilt was, unsurprisingly, not discovered by Europeans until the 1960s. After all, the number of authentic Amish pieces is very limited indeed; there are far fewer Amish quilts from before the mid-20th century than there are patchwork quilts made by non-Amish in the US. No wonder that Amish quilts are by now changing hands at record prices.With consistency and passion, Maria Schlumberger - encouraged by the high-profile FER Collection amassed by her partner, Friedrich E. Rentschler (Conceptual art and 1960s Minimalism) - has built up one of the finest Amish quilt collections in the world. Arnoldsche Art Publishers are honouring this superlative collection on the occasion of a large-scale exhibition at the Neue Sammlung, Munich, and soon also at the ZKM, Karlsruhe, with a comprehensive and lavishly presented publication. A double-page colour illustration is devoted to each quilt and each catalogue entry is extensively annotated. Accompanying essays by distinguished experts - generously illustrated by stunning detail photos - place Amish quilts in the art historical and cultural context of their time and ours.A sumptuous book, that not only makes the hearts of collectors and art historians beat faster. Very simply, it makes for enthralling reading and is a feast for the eyes for all those who are fascinated by the power of colour in textiles and abstract art.