2011.33.2
The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles
Artist
Faith Ringgold (Faith Willi Jones)
(New York, N.Y., 10/8/1930 – )
Title
The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles
Creation Date
1996
Century
late 20th century
Dimensions
22 in. x 29 3/8 in. (55.88 cm x 74.61 cm)
Object Type
print
Creation Place
North America, United States
Medium and Support
lithograph on paper
Credit Line
Gift of Julie L. McGee, Class of 1982
Copyright
This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s
Copyright Terms and Conditions.
Accession Number
2011.33.2
Made after the quilt painting of the same name, The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles depicts several prominent African American women constructing a sunflower-patterned quilt. Standing among a field of sunflowers, the women who hold the quilt are relatively well known in American history—Madam CJ Walker, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, Fannie Lou Hamer, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Ella Baker. Willia Marie Simone, the fictional ninth figure in the lower left, is included as a young woman who journeys throughout Europe to become an artist. In this lithograph, artist Faith Ringgold celebrates the contributions of Black women to abolition, civil rights, and women’s rights while centering the collective, traditionally female art of quilting. Black women since the nineteenth century have participated in the tradition of quilting, resourcefully creating elaborate and abstract quilt compositions.