Collection Online as of September 24, 2023
Envelope for: Leaves from My Book of Feathers
Part of a set. See all set records
Lenore Tawney
(American, 1907–2007)
Pen and black and blue ink
Overall: 9.3 x 16.6 cm (3 11/16 x 6 9/16 in.)
Gift of Katharine Kuh 1981.166.2
© Lenore G. Tawney Foundation
Location
not on view
Description
This is one of 44 postcard collages in the CMA’s collection that the textile artist Lenore Tawney sent through the mail to her friend, the art dealer, curator, and critic Katherine Kuh between 1969 and 1981. Using natural objects and ephemera that she compiled over a lifetime, Tawney’s collages display the artist’s personal visual vocabulary and poetic response to materials. Recurring images—such as eggs, feathers, birds, baby animals, crosses, and circles—engage with universal themes such as vulnerability, resilience, infinity, and spirituality. The "book of feathers" here probably refers to one of many albums in which Tawney kept her collections of feathers, leaves, and other natural materials.
Lenore Tawney
Tawney was born Leonora Agnes Gallagher in Lorain, Ohio, in 1907. She studied drawing, sculpture, and weaving with well-known artists at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana (1943-45), the Institute of Design in Chicago (1946-48), and at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina where she became a weaver (1954). Throughout her prolific career, Tawney has had numerous one-person exhibitions and participated in many group exhibitions, including the renowned landmark international Fiberworks at the Cleveland Museum of Art in 1977. Her work is represented in many major museums, including four pieces in the Cleveland Museum of Art, and she has received numerous awards, including the American Craft Council's Gold Medal in 1987. Tawney's "flag" is one of the highlights of the museum's contemporary fiber art collection, which includes about 100 works.