An art movement was born in 1971 when quilts moved off the bed and onto the walls of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. The museum's milestone exhibit showed quilts to be artworks with strong visual connections to painting. Other exhibits and juried competitions followed and the art quilt movement sprung up around the country and spread outside the United States.

An art movement was born in 1971 when quilts moved off the bed and onto the walls of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. The museum's milestone exhibit showed quilts to be artworks with strong visual connections to painting. Other exhibits and juried competitions followed and the art quilt movement sprung up around the country and spread outside the United States.

While many artists have been influential in the development of the field, this sweeping survey is limited to forty outstanding contemporary masters from around the world. Up to a dozen quilts by each artist are shown on consecutive spreads that allow you to see their work in great depth.Alongside sumptuous color photographs, you'll find their thoughts about the themes they explore and the questions they return to time and again.

In Ita Ziv's brilliantly colored quilts, abstract appliqued shapes cascade across the surface of each piece, creating vibrant celebrations of life.Noriko Endo is inspired by her "deep feeling for trees" to depict places of wonder where nature reveals some of her secrets in an interplay of light,shadow, and leaves. The relationship between time, memory, and language is what fascinates Jette Clover. Indecipherable faded writing,fragments of maps and photos, and repeated X marks are collaged into her compositions. And in Pauline Burbidge's Reflections series, blocks are used to show how images on water move,disperse, and form again.

The extraordinary masters showcased in this collection will impress artists and collectors alike with the versatility and innovation displayed in their work.

Introduction

THE MASTERS

lane Sassaman

Michael A. Cummings

Ita Ziv

Cher Cartwright

Noriko Endo

Deidre Scherer

Carolyn L. Mazloomi

Hollis Chatelain

Linda Colsh

Charlotte Yde

Joan Schulze

Judith Content

Kyoung Ae Cho

Jette Clover

Eszter Bornemisza

Pauline Burbidge

Yvonne Porcella

M. Joan Lintault

Katie Pasquini Masopust

Nancy N. Erickson

Susan Shie

Caryl Bryer Fallert

Jeanette Gilks

Jane Burch Cochran

Pamela Allen

Therese May

John W. Lefelhocz

Miriam Nathan-Roberts

Jenny Hearn

Terrie Hancock Mangat

Wendy Huhn

B.J. Adams

Inge Mardal& Steen Hougs

Chiaki Dosho

Inge Hueber

Michael James

Velda 5. Newman

Anne Woringer

Clare Plug

Elizabeth Brimelow

About the Curator

Acknowledgments

Index of Contributing Artists