Navajo blankets, Navajo textile fabrics, Indigenous blankets, Indigenous textile fabrics, Navajo 

"The increasing awareness of the creative achievements of the American Indian peoples is one of the most encouraging developments to come out of this highly technological age. And with this revival of interest in native American arts has come renewed enthusiasm for the exquisite blankets produced by the Navajo women. Considered by the Navajos themselves as their highest form of art, Navajo blankets exhibit technical excellence, beauty of design, and high aesthetic qualities that combine to make them some of the most magnificent products of the Indian cultures.

Highly sought after by collectors— many of whom are contemporary artists —the blankets have not only influenced some contemporary art styles, but indeed, stylistic affinities and strong motifs can be seen in comparison with the work of such artists as Georgia O'Keeffe, Frank Stella, Kenneth Noland, and Jasper Johns. In this beautifully illustrated book, representing the work of eighty-one Navajo women in the nineteenth century, Mary Hunt Kahlenberg and Anthony Berland shed new light on the important stylistic developments in Navajo weaving in view of mid-twentieth-century interest in abstract design. Beginning with the earliest surviving specimens, which date from the first years of the nineteenth century, and proceeding through the classical period of the mid-1800's to the "eye dazzlers" of the late 1880's (a period hitherto ignored or overlooked in literature), when blankets broke away from traditional styles, the authors discuss the role of the blanket as the principal garment of the Navajo and also as an important expression of the individuality of both the wearer and the weaver.

In a brief history of the Navajo peoples that encompasses their arrival in the Southwest, their eighteenth-century development into a rich and powerful tribe, and their present status as the largest Indian group in the United States, the authors emphasize the changes in color, design, and materials as the Navajos came in touch with Indian, Spanish, and white American cultures.

Here, in sixteen beautiful color plates and eighty-one high-quality black-and-white illustrations, are the spectacular blankets of each period, running the gamut of color and design, each representing months of creative effort. A tribute to the Navajo culture, these blankets will no doubt add to the growing appreciation of a rich heritage."--Book jacket. 

112 pages : color illustrations ; 31 cm