Rosie Lee Tompkins

Rosie Lee Tompkins (1936–2006) is the assumed name of a widely acclaimed Richmond, California quiltmaker. She was born Effie Mae Howard to a sharecropping family in Arkansas.[1] Ms. Tompkins said she believed God directed her hand and her art. One of her more well-known works, "Three Sixes," involves three relatives whose birthdays include the number 6.[1]. Tompkins' quilts have been shown at the National Museum for Women in the Arts in Washington, DC and one image is available on their web site.

'Tompkins' textile art [works] ... demolish the category' [2]

'These quilts are works of such distinction and devotion that they supersede established art-historical categories, forcing reviewers to retreat to that dumbfunded admiration that attracted us to art in the first place' [3]

References

  1. ^ a b Stewart, Jocelyn Y. (2006-12-11). "Rosie Lee Tompkins, 70; Quilter Dazzled, Mystified the Art World". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/11/AR2006121100083.html. Retrieved 2009-08-14. 
  2. ^ Roberta Smith, Art Guide, The New York Times, Nov. 29, 2002
  3. ^ Alison Bing, "Rosie Lee Tompkins at Anthony Meier Fine Arts." Artweek, November 2003, p.16-17