black folk artist to bend to the rigid structure of Anglo-American expectations. African ideals were maintained through the artists' integrity, courage and inventiveness. Regardless of which form of artistic expression one investigates, the ability of the black artist to intertwine different cultures, environments and emotions is a testimony to his status as a folk artist. Working with what was available in this country, the slave artisan brought his African traditions and European influences together with his emotional responses to his condition and gave birth to a black folk art tradition that still flourishes today.
Ellen D.Smith is a free-lance writer, and a graduate student in the Museum Studies Program at New York University. Ms. Smith's area of interest is costumes and textiles, and she currently is associated with the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Brass gold weight. Ashanti. Africa. Courtesy of The Brooklyn Museum. Note the similarity of the stylized animalform to the figures in Mrs. Powers' quilt.
FOOTNOTES I. Judith Wragg Chase, Afro-American Arts and Crafts (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1971), P. 15 2. Lewis Newton, The Other Slaves, W.E. DuBois, "Black Artisans',' p. 83 3. John M. Vlach, The Afro-American Tradition in Decorative Arts(Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978), p. 188 4. Vlach, P. 108 5. Vlach, p. 115
Applique Quilt. Harriet Powers (1837-1911). Athens, Georgia. 1895-1898. Cotton. H: 70 inches; W:105 inches. Courtesy. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. M. and M. Karolik Collection.
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