1998.209 Fannie B. Shaw (1892-1954), Prosperity Quilt


GENERAL DESCRIPTION 
The mood depicted in the Depression-era Prosperity Quilt is one of deliberate optimism, as artist Fannie B. Shaw has presented people from all walks of life looking around the corner for the prosperity promised by the president. In a 1988 interview she explained, “My inspiration came from Herbert Hoover. Every time you picked up the paper or heard the radio he would talk about good times around the corner. He would make it sound so good. I wondered if I could make a picture of what he said and what he meant. I went to bed one night and couldn’t get it off my mind.” Shaw and her neighbors would have to wait almost ten years for Uncle Sam to arrive at the lower right corner with “farm relief, legal beer, and aid."

Adapted from
DMA unpublished material.

NOTES
  • DMA unpublished material = TMS public notes, which was transcribed from audio content produced for the Art Everywhere US Blippar app
  • Provenance NoteJames P. Barrow is the anonymous donor. The main source for this provenance is Deed of Gift (dated December 25, 1998, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Documentation).
  • updated provenance and geo x refs in TMS (HAB, 2/16/17)


Artist/designers
Shaw_Fannie B.: ULAN: 500336582

Cultures

Geography 

Process/materials
piecing: AAT: 300231250, appliqué (technique): AAT: 300053646, embroidering: AAT: 300053653, embroidery (visual works): AAT: 300264024

Historical periods

Individuals

Subject terms
quilts: AAT: 300197990 
economics: AAT: 300054359
politics: AAT: 300055537
political art: AAT: 300256621
elephant (animal): AAT: 300250160
donkeys: AAT: 300265959
Great Depression: DMA
Prohibition: DMA 
beer: DMA 
Uncle Sam: DMA 
text (layout feature): AAT: 300250810
grids (layout feature): AAT: 300200010
figures
architecture
perspective 
farmer
farming 
horse 

RELATED OBJECTS 

PROVENANCE 
Until 1998: Private Collection, Dallas, Texas [1]

From 1998: Dallas Museum of Art, anonymous gift

[1] The main source for this provenance is Deed of Gift (dated December 25, 1998, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Documentation).

AUDIO ASSETS 

VIDEO ASSETS

IMAGE ASSETS

WEB RESOURCES 
  • Art Everywhere US~The Prosperity Quilt was one of 58 artworks selected for Art Everywhere US in 2014. 
  • LA Times~The article "These quilts with messages about gun violence and racial injustice issues aim to discomfort," published February 20, 2016, mentions the Prosperity Quilt as a predecessor of contemporary quilts that address social issues. 

ARCHIVAL RESOURCES

FUN FACTS
Fannie B. Shaw is a local artist, from Van Alstyne, Texas.

TEACHING IDEAS

RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1998.209


Category
rules_operator
AND
General Description
 
The mood depicted in the Depression-era Prosperity Quilt is one of deliberate optimism, as artist Fannie B. Shaw has presented people from all walks of life looking around the corner for the prosperity promised by the president. In a 1988 interview she explained, “My inspiration came from Herbert Hoover. Every time you picked up the paper or heard the radio he would talk about good times around the corner. He would make it sound so good. I wondered if I could make a picture of what he said and what he meant. I went to bed one night and couldn’t get it off my mind.” Shaw and her neighbors would have to wait almost ten years for Uncle Sam to arrive at the lower right corner with “farm relief, legal beer, and aid."

Adapted from
DMA unpublished material.

Fun Facts
Fannie B. Shaw is a local artist, from Van Alstyne, Texas.

Archival Resources

Web Resources
 
  • Art Everywhere US~The Prosperity Quilt was one of 58 artworks selected for Art Everywhere US in 2014. 
  • LA Times~The article "These quilts with messages about gun violence and racial injustice issues aim to discomfort," published February 20, 2016, mentions the Prosperity Quilt as a predecessor of contemporary quilts that address social issues. 

Notes
  • DMA unpublished material = TMS public notes, which was transcribed from audio content produced for the Art Everywhere US Blippar app
  • Provenance NoteJames P. Barrow is the anonymous donor. The main source for this provenance is Deed of Gift (dated December 25, 1998, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Documentation).
  • updated provenance and geo x refs in TMS (HAB, 2/16/17)


Artist/designers
Shaw_Fannie B.: ULAN: 500336582

Cultures

Geography 

Process/materials
piecing: AAT: 300231250, appliqué (technique): AAT: 300053646, embroidering: AAT: 300053653, embroidery (visual works): AAT: 300264024

Historical periods

Individuals

Subject terms
quilts: AAT: 300197990 
economics: AAT: 300054359
politics: AAT: 300055537
political art: AAT: 300256621
elephant (animal): AAT: 300250160
donkeys: AAT: 300265959
Great Depression: DMA
Prohibition: DMA 
beer: DMA 
Uncle Sam: DMA 
text (layout feature): AAT: 300250810
grids (layout feature): AAT: 300200010
figures
architecture
perspective 
farmer
farming 
horse 

RELATED OBJECTS 

PROVENANCE 
Until 1998: Private Collection, Dallas, Texas [1]

From 1998: Dallas Museum of Art, anonymous gift

[1] The main source for this provenance is Deed of Gift (dated December 25, 1998, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Documentation).

AUDIO ASSETS 

VIDEO ASSETS

rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1998.209
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1998.209
tags
#draft
#completed
%copyedited_Gail
@Bowling
figures (representations): AAT: 300189808
%Archived
.TeachingIdeas
Great Depression: DMA
*Decorative Arts and Design
decorative arts: AAT: 300054168
text (layout feature): AAT: 300250810
beer (food / alcoholic beverage): AAT: 300302722
donkeys: AAT: 300265959
@Robinson
horses (animals): AAT: 300250148
architecture (object genre): AAT: 300263552
politics: AAT: 300055537
economics: AAT: 300054359
embroidering: AAT: 300053653
Prohibition: DMA
perspective (technique): AAT: 300056340
embroidery (visual works): AAT: 300264024
appliqué (technique): AAT: 300053646
quilts: AAT: 300197990
elephant (animals/elephantidae family): AAT: 300250160
political art: AAT: 300256621
farming: AAT: 300192802
grids (layout features): AAT: 300200010
Shaw_Fannie B.: ULAN: 500336582
piecing: AAT: 300231250
Uncle Sam: DMA
source file
object_notes_2_d-0138.xml.nores