Lucy T. Pettway was known to be a keen observer of the world around her. She carried paper and pencil as she walked to and from her work in the fields each day and jotted down things that caught her eye, later using them as inspiration for her quilt designs. This extraordinary work is the only Gee’s Bend quilt in the collection that seems to be intentionally pictorial. Using the favored Housetop and Bricklayer pattern blocks, Pettway created an imaginary aerial view of the old Pettway plantation, with the large owner’s house at the top and four slave cabins below. The small printed calicos to the left of the houses represent the fields, while on the right, the blue Alabama River flows between red banks.
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the artist, Gee's Bend, Ala. (until 2001; in 2001 to Arnett); William S. Arnett, Atlanta (2001–2002; his gift in 2002 to Tinwood Alliance); Tinwood Alliance, Atlanta (2002–10; transfer in 2010 to Souls Grown Deep); Souls Grown Deep Foundation, Atlanta (2010–14; their gift to MMA)
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," September 8–November 10, 2002, unnumbered cat. (p. 325; lent by the William Arnett Collection of the Tinwood Alliance).
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," November 21, 2002–March 9, 2003, unnumbered cat.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt," June 4–September 4, 2006, unnumbered cat. (p. 47; lent by the Tinwood Alliance, Atlanta).
Indianapolis Museum of Art. "Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt," October 8–December 31, 2006, unnumbered cat.
Orlando Museum of Art. "Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt," January 28–April 22, 2007, unnumbered cat.
Baltimore. Walters Art Museum. "Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt," June 17–August 26, 2007, unnumbered cat.
Tacoma, Wash. Tacoma Art Museum. "Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt," September 25–December 9, 2007, unnumbered cat.
Louisville, Ky. Speed Art Museum. "Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt," December 23, 2007–March 16, 2008, unnumbered cat.
Denver Museum of Art. "Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt," April 13–July 6, 2008, unnumbered cat.
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt," August 2–October 2, 2008, unnumbered cat.
Nashville. Frist Center for the Visual Arts. "Creation Story: Gee's Bend Quilts and the Art of Thornton Dial," May 25–September 3, 2012, no. 6 (lent by the Souls Grown Deep Foundation).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "History Refused to Die: Highlights from the Souls Grown Deep Foundation Gift," May 22–September 23, 2018, unnumbered cat. (pl. 34).
John Beardsley inGee's Bend: The Women and Their Quilts. Ed. William Arnett and Paul Arnett. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Atlanta, 2002, p. 301, ill. p. 325 (color).
William Arnett inGee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt. Ed. Paul Arnett, Joanne Cubbs, and Eugene W. Metcalf Jr. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Atlanta, 2006, p. 46, ill. p. 47 (color).
William Arnett inCreation Story: Gee's Bend Quilts and the Art of Thornton Dial. Ed. Mark Scala. Exh. cat., Frist Center for the Visual Arts. Nashville, 2012, p. 34, no. 6, ill. p. 35 (color).
Cheryl Finley inMy Soul Has Grown Deep: Black Art from the American South. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2018, p. 14.
Amelia Peck inMy Soul Has Grown Deep: Black Art from the American South. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2018, pp. 70, 108, colorpl. 34, ill. back cover (color).
Roberta Smith. "A Testament to Those Once Neglected." New York Times (May 28, 2018), p. C16, ill. p. C13 (color).
Mario Naves. "History Refused to Die: Highlights from the Souls Grown Deep Foundation Gift." New Criterion 37 (September 2018), p. 38.
Karen Wilkin. "A Visual Equivalent of Jazz." Wall Street Journal (May 31, 2018), p. A13.
Karin E. Peterson and Leisa Rundquist. "Valorizing Gee’s Bend Quilts: Affinity, Adjacency, and the Modern Eye." A Companion to Textile Culture. Ed. Jennifer Harris. Newark, 2020, p. 445, fig. 23.1 (color).
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