Painted with Silk: The Art of Early American Embroidery
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan
December 13, 2024–June 15, 2025
In early America, girls from well-off families were trained in embroidery, to instill diligence and self-discipline. “A finely worked embroidery,” write the organizers of this show, “served as a kind of diploma.” About 80 of these “diplomas” will be on display, juxtaposed with embroideries by artist Elaine Reichek that challenge the imagery and assumptions of the older works.
Photo courtesy of the Detroit Institute of Arts
A member of the Clarke family of Richmond, Massachusetts, embroidered Sacred to the Memory of Isabella Clarke (ca. 1795), which will appear in Painted with Silk.