Sue Willie Seltzer
Sue Willie Seltzer (1922–2010) was an American artist. She is associated with the Gee's Bend quilting collective.[1][2] Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the National Gallery of Art, and is included in the collection of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.[3][4][5]
Life
Sue Willie Seltzer and her three siblings were raised by a single mother. Her mother needed the children to help support the family, so the children often went to Orrville to pick cotton for white families or their mother's brothers and sisters. Seltzer and her brother, being the oldest, were required to pick at least one hundred pounds of cotton per day. Being that Orrville was a twelve-mile walk away, or half a day's walk, this work would need to be completed very quickly.[3]
Seltzer had at least one son, Benjamin, who married the former Boykin Postmaster, Bettie Bendolph Seltzer.[3] Bettie Bendolph Seltzer was also a member of the Gee's Bend quilting collective and daughter of fellow quilt maker Annie Bendolph.[6]
Work
Seltzer began quilting later in life than some other members of the Gee's Bend quilting collective.[7] In a 2002 interview, she recalled starting to quilt with the collective when she was thirty or forty years old.[8] She learned by watching her peers join together and make quilts for one another. A true improvisational artist, Seltzer often borrowed other people's blocks, to piece together into one quilt. She would also take apart pillow-case sewing kits and use those materials for her quilts. She preferred large blocks and bold contrasts to small, meticulous pieces.[3]
Exhibitions
- The Quilts of Gee's Bend. 21 Nov. 2022- 9 Mar. 2003. Whitney Museum of American Art. New York, NY.[9]
- The Quilts of Gee's Bend. 14 June 2003- 31 Aug. 2003. Mobile Museum of Art. Mobile, AL.
- Called to Create: Black Artists of the American South. 18 Sept. 2022- 26 Mar. 2023. National Gallery of Art. Washington, DC.[10]
References
- ^ Arnett, William; Herman, Bernard (2006). Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt. Tinwood Books. p. 126. ISBN 9780971910478.
- ^ Beardsley, John; Arnett, William; Arnett, Paul; Livingston, Jane (2002). Gee's Bend: The Women and Their Quilts. Tinwood Books. p. 414. ISBN 9780971910409.
- ^ a b c d "Sue Willie Seltzer | Souls Grown Deep Foundation". www.soulsgrowndeep.org. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
- ^ "Nine-Block Housetop quilt, Sue Willie Seltzer". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
- ^ "Philadelphia Museum of Art Expands African American Art Collection". Art & Object. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
- ^ Beardsley, John; Arnett, William; Arnett, Paul (2002). Gee's Bend: The Women and Their Quilts. Tinwood Books. p. 227. ISBN 9780971910409.
- ^ "Sue Willie Seltzer | Souls Grown Deep". www.soulsgrowndeep.org. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
- ^ Beardsley, John; Arnett, William; Livingston, Jane (2002). Gee's Bend: The Women and Their Quilts. Tinwood Books. p. 414. ISBN 9780971910409.
- ^ "The Quilts of Gee's Bend". whitney.org. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
- ^ "Called to Create: Black Artists of the American South". www.nga.gov. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
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- Nellie Mae Abrams
- Willie Abrams
- Annie Bendolph
- Louisiana Bendolph
- Mary Lee Bendolph
- Agatha Bennett
- Amelia Bennett
- Delia Bennett
- Linda Diane Bennett
- Loretta Pettway Bennett
- Mary L. Bennett
- Polly Bennett
- Emma Lee Pettway Campbell
- Minder Coleman
- Minnie Sue Coleman
- Rachel Carey George
- Gloria Hoppins
- Ella Mae Irby
- Mary Elizabeth Kennedy
- Nettie Jane Kennedy
- Lucy Mingo
- Lottie Mooney
- Lucy Mooney
- Flora Moore
- Aolar Mosely
- Addie Pearl Nicholson
- Mertlene Perkins
- Arcola Pettway
- Annie Bell Pettway
- Annie E. Pettway
- Arlonzia Pettway
- Candis Pettway
- Edwina Pettway
- Henrietta Pettway
- Jessie T. Pettway
- Lola Pettway
- Loretta Pettway
- Louella Pettway
- Lucy T. Pettway
- Lutisha Pettway
- Martha Jane Pettway
- Mensie Lee Pettway
- Pearlie Kennedy Pettway
- Qunnie Pettway
- Sally Mae Pettway
- Bettie Bendolph Seltzer
- Sue Willie Seltzer
- Florine Smith
- Geraldine Westbrook
- Andrea Williams
- Irene Williams
- Nell Hall Williams
- Patty Ann Williams
- Magalene Wilson
- Estelle Witherspoon
- Annie Mae Young
- Deborah Pettway Young
- Nettie Young
- Stichin' and Pullin': A Gee's Bend Quilt by Patricia McKissack
- Leaving Gee's Bend by Irene Latham
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