A collection of 40 Diné textiles from the 19th and 20th centuries assembled by Frank Stella is on public display for the first time in New York City ahead of a sale. Stella selected the weavings based on his personal taste for bold color palettes and dynamic geometric patterns, rather than following typical Diné textile scholarship benchmarks. The display at Arader Galleries runs through June 10 and is organized alongside early geometric drawings by Stella, linking Diné weaving history to his visual language. The collection was largely acquired in the mid-1960s through Tony Berlant, introduced by Donald Judd. Stella mostly kept the textiles at home, using them for warmth rather than exhibiting them publicly.
"Stella developed the selection of 40 weavings from the 19th and 20th centuries according to his personal taste for bold color palettes and dynamic geometric patterns, shirking the typical collecting benchmarks for Diné textile scholarship."
"Organized by antique rug and textile expert Peter Pap, Stella's collection is on display through June 10 at Arader Galleries on Madison Avenue alongside a rare selection of the artist's early geometric drawings, establishing the connection between Diné weaving history and Stella's own visual language."
"Harriet McGurk, the artist's wife, said in a phone call with Hyperallergic that Stella acquired the bulk of his collection in the mid-1960s through artist, dealer, and curator Tony Berlant, to whom he was introduced by fellow artist and Navajo textile collector Donald Judd."
""He would wrap himself up in one in the living room when it was cold, and we hung another up in our house, but they were not on display to other people," she said."
Read at Hyperallergic
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