#textiles

Harriet Powers Women Artists

Harriet Powers: A Black Female Folk Artist Who Regained Her Glory

For much of the 20th century, the work of Harriet Powers, an enslaved and later emancipated Black folk artist, was erased from the art historical...

Kristin Urban 19 June 2026

Wang Ximeng, One Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, Song dynasty, 1113, ink and color on silk scroll, Palace Museum, Beijing, China. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: One Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains by Wang Ximeng

Wang Ximeng’s One Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains is a masterpiece of the Northern Song dynasty and of the larger history of traditional...

James W Singer 16 June 2026

Pieter van Aelst, Christ's Charge to Peter, from the Acts of the Apostles Renaissance

Renaissance Tapestries 101: Religious, Political, and Magical

Renaissance tapestries are the most underestimated subject in art history. As expensive and enormously large works of art, tapestries attributed to...

Anna Ingram 5 June 2026

Cats

Maneki Neko—Those Lucky Cats

We’ve all seen those jovial, happy cat figurines in Asian restaurants and shops. Sitting upright with their raised paw, smiling face, and trademark...

Nadine Waldmann 4 June 2026

masterpiece-story-phoebe-anna-traquair-progress-soul Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Progress of a Soul by Phoebe Anna Traquair

Luminous and larger than life, The Progress of a Soul by Phoebe Anna Traquair elevated embroidery into the modern era. It also helped put the...

Emily Snow, 22 May 2026

Women Artists

Anni Albers: The Artist Who Transformed Textiles

Anni Albers once referred to textile-making as “rather sissy”. Fortunately she later had a change of heart. From the Bauhaus in Germany...

Emily Snow 22 May 2026

"3. Marian Henel, Big Butts (excerpt), 1981, 240x480 cm, photo by A. Podstawka.jpg" Bizarre

Marian Henel—Tapestries and Madness

Marian Henel’s tapestries are huge. The largest one measures over 6 m in length and 3 m in width (19 ft. 8 in. by 9 ft. 10 in.). Created in the...

Zuzanna Stańska 22 May 2026

may-morris-embroidered-hanging-pomegranate Artist Stories

May Morris: A Remarkable Arts & Crafts Woman

May Morris (1862–1938) once described herself as a “remarkable woman… though none of you seemed to think so.” These words proved painfully...

Emily Snow 22 May 2026

History

The Timeless Persian Rug

The production of Persian rugs has traveled from ancient looms to modern living rooms. By blending artistry with science, weavers of antiquity...

Maya M. Tola 24 April 2026

Paid Partnership

A Pavilion Worth Slowing Down for at the Malta Biennale

At large international art biennials, it’s easy to move quickly—pavilion to pavilion, room to room—there is so much to see! Especially with the...

Zuzanna Stańska 8 April 2026

Women Artists

Małgorzata Mirga-Tas: Romani Artist Re-Enchanting the Venice Biennale

In an astonishing first for Roma and Traveller people, a Romani artist has represented a national pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2022. Małgorzata...

Candy Bedworth 8 April 2026

Masterpiece Stories

Faith Ringgold, Sunflowers, and Van Gogh

Faith Ringgold’s The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles is part of the artist’s series of mixed media works titled The French Collection, in which...

Aniela Rybak-Vaganay 23 March 2026