New Exhibition Featuring Navajo Textiles from the Thaw Collection Opens at Fenimore Art Museum October 7
Diné (Navajo) artist, Serape, c. 1875-1885, Arizona. Handspun white and indigo-dyed blue, all other colors 4-ply synthetic-dyed Germantown, 52 × 90 in. Gift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw, T0128. Photograph by Richard Walker.
Cooperstown, New York — Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown presents Following the Thread: Navajo Textiles from the Thaw Collection, a new exhibition on view October 7 – December 31, 2023. Following the Thread explores the history and transformation of Diné (Navajo) weaving through a selection of historic textiles from the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art. This exhibition examines how Diné creativity is expressed in different ways through practices of self-fashioning. In particular, it considers the dynamic and diverse qualities of Navajo blankets and wearing garments, with a focus on materials, patterns, and designs.
The extraordinary examples on display, drawn from one of most significant historic collections of Native American art, range from the mid-nineteenth century through the twentieth century. They were selected to emphasize the knowledge and skill found in each piece, showcasing the rich artistry, imagination, and vibrancy of Diné weaving. In addition to appreciating the interplay between design elements and color combinations, attention is given to the cultural knowledge these items embody, deepening our understanding of how Diné shape their own aesthetic identities through textiles and dress.
Fenimore Art Museum is located at 5798 State Route 80, less than one mile from the center of Cooperstown. For more information visit FenimoreArt.org.
About Fenimore Art Museum
Fenimore Art Museum, located on the shores of Otsego Lake—James Fenimore Cooper’s “Glimmerglass”—in historic Cooperstown, New York, features a wide-ranging collection of American art including folk art; important American 18th- and 19th-century landscape, genre, and portrait paintings; more than 125,000 historic photographs representing the technical developments made in photography and providing extensive visual documentation of the region’s unique history; and the renowned Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art comprised of nearly 900 art objects representative of a broad geographic range of North American Indian cultures, from the Northwest Coast, Eastern Woodlands, Plains, Southwest, Great Lakes, and Prairie regions. Visit FenimoreArt.org.
Museum Hours
Open daily 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. through October 9. Fall/Winter hours (October 10–December 31): 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday (closed Mondays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas). Museum admission is free for visitors 19 and under. Find more information at FenimoreArt.org.
