Study for the Ford Foundation Installation

1967

Sheila Hicks

(American, b. 1934)

Culture

America

Medium

linen ground with inset linen thread

Measurements

Overall: 45.7 x 38.1 x 2.5 cm (18 x 15 x 1 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mildred Constantine 1999.165

This artwork is known to be under copyright.

Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

Sheila Hicks studied textile traditions in South America, Mexico, Morocco, and India throughout her six-decade career, and combines Indigenous techniques with modernist ideals to create her fiber works.

Description

In 1967, fiber artist Sheila Hicks created a monumental tapestry for the Ford Foundation’s New York City headquarters. It consisted of a grid of repeated patterns over a large surface area, similar to the one shown on the Study here. The fiber works on display in this case are part of a large gift of nearly 50 works given by the Mildred Constantine (1913–2008), an American curator formerly at the Museum of Modern Art, which convey the breadth and originality of the contemporary fiber works movement.