Warp and Woof of the Archive

Art History Professor, Dr. John Ott, has published “The Warp and Woof of the Archive: Anton Refregier, from Macy’s Showroom to Congressional Hearing,” in the latest, Spring 2016 issue of the Archives of American Art Journal.

Anton Refregier’s Pioneer Pathways textile design (1952) was one of the inaugural American Artist Fabrics commissioned by Associated American Artists, manufactured by the Riverdale Manufacturing Company, and sold at major department stores. These textiles not only illuminate various midcentury efforts to bring art to larger audiences, but also urge scholars examining the rich tapestry of American Art to follow not only the threads of its warp—the records of individual artists—but also the transverse picks of its woof—the innumerable collectors, consumers, dealers, critics, and audiences with which it comes into contact.