 – Viewing now at the Detroit Institute of Arts through June 15, 2025, “Painted with Silk” The Art of Early American Embroidery tells of the education of…){kind=link}
DETROIT, MI (AAPNW) – Viewing now at the Detroit Institute of Arts through June 15, 2025, “Painted with Silk” The Art of Early American Embroidery tells of the education of American girls emphasized reading, writing and embroidery. The works are from the 1600s until about 1830. Also included in the exhibit are contemporary embroideries by the artist Elaine Reichek who repurposed the form of the older embroideries in order to expose and criticize the assumptions about gender, class and race that they expressed and reinforced.
For girls whose families could afford to send them to school, a finely worked embroidery which was worthy of being framed for display in her home served as a kind of diploma. It evidenced both her mastery of an important practical skill and the diligence and self-discipline that society expected of its more privileged members.
The content and style of American schoolgirl embroideries varied across both time and place. Painted with Silk will feature unusually beautiful and well-preserved examples of this inherently fragile art in order to explore the cultural values and norms that schoolgirl embroidery was used to teach.
For more views of works, https://dia.org/events/exhibitions/painted-silk