She died aged 70. Special thanks to the Department of Arkansas Heritage. For additional information: What Joseph Masheck dubbed ‘the carpet paradigm,’ identification of the artwork as “fundamentally a plane surface whose literal, concrete flatness properly demands an integral planarity of whatever forms are inscribed or…‘figured’ upon it,” certainly is a description of her quilts. More than 500 works by Tompkins reside at the Berkeley Art Museum Or, sign up for Kroger Rewards and a portion of your purchases at Kroger will be donated to the CALS Foundation. In addition to appliquéd crosses, embroidered citations from the Bible enlivened her later work, which included book holders, curtains, table and chair covers, clothing, purses, pillows, and wall hangings. [2] Despite the fact that she was a deeply private person and rarely sold her quilts, her work was discovered in 1985 by Eli Leon, an Oakland-based collector specializing in African-American quilts. She plays with the number “6.” Now and then, she incorporates images: one fabric shows Jesus and others depict Black Civil Rights heroes, including Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X, and Elijah Muhammad, and are printed with the colors of the Pan-African flag. This memorial exhibition presents part of his collection of her work. In one quilt, she frames the central composition. The oldest of fifteen half-siblings, she grew up picking cotton and helping her mother piece quilts in rural Gould (Lincoln County), where poverty forced the family to use every available scrap of cloth. In 2016, her quilts were featured in an exhibition of five quilt artists at the Oakland Museum of California.[5]. December 6, 2006. Davenport, IA: Figge Art Museum, 2006. Something Pertaining to God: The Patchwork Art of Rosie Lee Tompkins. The designs and the colors are extremely varied. [17], Rinder, Lawrence (1997). Little Rock, AR. Here are feelings of awe, elation, and sublimity; here is an absolute mastery of color, texture and composition; here is inventiveness and originality so palpable and intense that each work seems like a new and total risk, a risk so extreme that only utter faith in the power of the creative spirit could have engendered it. Major funding provided by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation. Howard never completed high school. There are what are called “yo-yo quilts,” small circular pieces of fabric with the edges threaded and pulled together to form rosettes that when joined form a decorative spread. Once her work was shown, everyone wanted to know who she was. “I wonder how I did that!” she once exclaimed in astonishment at her own work. "[14][1], She was married and divorced twice. Black Lives Matter. Her abstract, improvisational compositions often had a personal significance: one of her more well-known works, "Three Sixes," involves three relatives whose birthdays include the number 6. Howard pieced with particular family members in mind. A decade or so later, however, she was dismayed when her work was about to be exhibited. Rosie Lee Tompkins, 1936–2006. "[6], Critics were equal in their praise: "Tompkins' textile art [works] ... demolish the category";[7] "These quilts are works of such distinction and devotion that they supersede established art-historical categories, forcing reviewers to retreat to that dumbfounded admiration that attracted us to art in the first place". She moved to Richmond, California, in 1958 and took courses in nursing at various local institutions, eventually working as a practical nurse in convalescent homes—a job she loved. Her Three Sixes quilt, in which the units of design contain approximately six variable-sized rectangles per strip, honor three of her relatives whose birth dates include the number six. Rosie Lee Tompkins at BAMPFA. Thus, when considering why Pablo Picasso recycled a bicycle seat and handlebars to create Bull’s Head (1942), it’s natural to ask why he chose to weld together those two objects. And so the quilts of Tompkins have been compared with the paintings of Josef Albers, Paul Klee, and Piet Mondrian; and her improvisations related to those of jazz musicians. She said she believed God directed her hand and her art. In Half-squares Medallion, an alluring field of blues is surrounded by a gallery of complementary colors drawing on three families of pattern. Deeply religious, she felt that she was the instrument of God, who designed her patchworks. [15] Family included her mother; several children and stepchildren; and many siblings, grandchildren and great-grandchildren who survived her. Tompkins was a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church and some of her quilts have multiple crosses, but there are no stars of David or Islamic crescent moons. For several decades, he played an important role in her artistic life. Online at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/06/obituaries/06tompkins.html?fta=y (accessed December 1, 2008). http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/06/obituaries/06tompkins.html?fta=y, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/26/arts/design/rosie-lee-tompkins-quilts.html. [2][3], Tompkins, who had helped her mother make quilts as a child, began to quilt seriously about 1980, while making a living as a practical nurse. 100 Rock Street Bing, Alison (November 2003). 72201. [12][13] Drawing from the Eli Leon Collection, BAMPFA organized the exhibit Rosie Lee Tompkins: A Retrospective (opened February 19, 2020; closed due to COVID-19 shut-down; re-opens September through December 20, 2020); The New York Times called it "a triumphal retrospective" that "confirms her standing as one of the great American artists–transcending craft, challenging painting and reshaping the canon. We stand in solidarity with those affected by generations of structural violence. “It was the Lord that helped me.” In her later years, she covered her walls with patchwork appliquéd with sacred crosses to fend off intruders, and she continued to find solace in her special blend of prayer and needlework while further developing ways to infuse her patchworks with spirituality. 1 work in the Whitney’s collection. Give a donation in someone’s name to mark a special occasion, honor a friend or colleague or remember a beloved family member. Rosie Lee Tompkins was the assumed name of Effie Mae Howard, a widely acclaimed African-American quiltmaker whose prodigious talents catapulted her to the forefront of contemporary art. "[11], In 2019, as a bequest, the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) acquired the Eli Leon Collection of almost 3,000 works by African-American quilt makers, including more than 500 works by Tompkins, which will find a permanent home at the museum. Generally, she doesn’t give her works titles and so far as I can see, the dates given in the catalogue don’t reveal any obvious development. Rosie Lee Tompkins was the assumed name of Effie Mae Howard, a widely acclaimed African-American quiltmaker whose prodigious talents catapulted her to the forefront of contemporary art. Sometimes Tompkins creates all-over designs, but often she composes using a patchwork of smaller elements. ———. Accidentally on Purpose: The Management of Irregularities in African Textiles and African-American Quilts. All Rights Reserved. [8], Works pieced by Tompkins include Tents of Armageddon Four Patch (1986),[9] Three Sixes (1987), Half-Squares Put-Together (1988), Half-Squares Medallion (1986), Half-squares Four-patch (1986), and Put Together with Letter "F" (1985).
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