Gloria F. Ross and Modern Tapestry

Gloria F. Ross (1923-1998) described her work as the translation of paint into wool. She was deeply committed to reinventing the centuries-old art of tapestry, particularly championing the handmade in contemporary art. This remarkable book, written by textile scholar Ann Lane Hedlund, draws from rare unpublished archives to unravel the evolution of Ross's modern tapestries and to illuminate the significance of her creative partnerships. Gloria F. Ross and Modern Tapestryfeatures the collaborative work of 28 acclaimed modernist painters and sculptors, including Helen Frankenthaler (Ross's sister), Kenneth Noland, and Louise Nevelson, with several dozen traditional-yet-innovative weavers in France, Scotland, and the Southwestern United States. Brief biographies of the artists, letters, notes, sketches, and photographs illustrate the practical and aesthetic challenges that occupied Gloria Ross for over three decades.

Ann Lane Hedlund is curator of ethnology at the Arizona State Museum and professor of anthropology at the University of Arizona, Tucson. She directs the University's Gloria F. Ross Tapestry Program.  Grace Glueck was an art reporter, editor, and critic in The New York Times Cultural News Department for more than three decades.