As part of her signature "woven-forms" started in the early 1960s as part of the fiber arts movement, Lenore Tawney used the open-warp technique to create this work, leaving vertical slits in the weave. The free-hanging display of the piece emphasizes its three-dimensionality and sculptural qualities, activated by the vertical openings that allow light to filter through. The width varies throughout, with the bottom and widest areas held in place with metal rods, and the warp ends knotted and braided. Many of Tawney’s weavings suggest the flow of water found in rivers, fountains, or cataracts. The title Shrouded River also alludes to ancient Andean cultures where fine textiles were used as shrouds in burial rituals.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Shrouded River
Artist:Lenore Tawney (American, Lorain, Ohio 1907–2007 New York)
Date:1966
Medium:Linen, wood, metal
Dimensions:13 ft. 6 in. × 22 1/4 in. (411.5 × 56.5 cm)
Classification:Textiles
Credit Line:Purchase, Lenore G. Tawney Foundation and Lila Acheson Wallace Gifts, 2023
Object Number:2023.644
Rights and Reproduction:Lenore G. Tawney Foundation – lenoretawney.org
the artist, New York (1966–d. 2007); Lenore G. Tawney Foundation, New York (2007–23; their partial gift and sale through Alison Jacques, London to MMA)
Art Gallery, California State University, Fullerton. "Lenore Tawney: An Exhibition of Weaving, Collage, Assemblage," November 14–December 11, 1975, no. 6 (as "The River," 1964).
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. "Lenore Tawney," May 11–June 30, 1996, no. 9 (dated about 1966–67, lent by the artist).
Wilton, Conn. browngrotta arts. "Lenore Tawney: Celebrating Five Decades of Work," October 1–30, 2001, unnumbered cat. (pp. 20–21; dated 1966–67).
Sheboygan, Wisc. John Michael Kohler Arts Center. "In Poetry and Silence: The Work and Studio of Lenore Tawney," October 6, 2019–March 7, 2020, checklist no. 30 (lent by the Collection of the Lenore G. Tawney Foundation, New York).
London. Alison Jacques. "Lenore Tawney: Part One," October 12–November 6, 2021, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Weaving Abstraction in Ancient and Modern Art," March 4–June 16, 2024, unnumbered cat. (fig. 43; published in MMA Bulletin 81, Fall 2023).
Bernard Kester inLenore Tawney: An Exhibition of Weaving, Collage, Assemblage. Exh. cat., Art Gallery, California State University, Fullerton. Fullerton, [1975], pp. 6, 43, no. 6.
Sigrid Wortmann Weltge inLenore Tawney: Celebrating Five Decades of Work. Exh. cat., browngrotta arts. [Wilton, Conn.], 2000, p. 11, ill. pp. 20–21 (color, overall and detail), dates it 1966–67 in text.
Karen Patterson inLenore Tawney: Mirror of the Universe. Exh. cat., John Michael Kohler Arts Center. Sheboygan, Wisc., 2019, p. 30.
Iria Candela. "Abstraction and Andean Textiles, from Anni Albers to the Fiber Arts Movement." Weaving Abstraction in Ancient and Modern Art: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 81 (Fall 2023), p. 39, fig. 43 (color).
Glenn Adamson. "2024 Was the Year of the Art World's High Fiber Diet." artnews.com. December 12, 2024.
Ilonka Karasz (American (born Hungary) Budapest 1896–1981 New York, New York)
ca. 1928
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