Unveiling of the Statue of Liberty

Edward Moran, Katherine Westphal, Unveiling of the Statue of Liberty, 1964, cotton, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Katherine Westphal Rossbach, 1972.15
Katherine Westphal, Edward Moran, Unveiling of the Statue of Liberty, 1964, cotton, 92 3466 12 in. (235.5168.9 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Katherine Westphal Rossbach, 1972.15

Artwork Details

Title
Unveiling of the Statue of Liberty
Artists
Copy after Edward Moran
Date
1964
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
92 3466 12 in. (235.5168.9 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Katherine Westphal Rossbach
Mediums
Mediums Description
cotton
Classifications
Subjects
  • Monument — statue — Statue of Liberty
Object Number
1972.15

Artwork Description

For me the most important thing is the creativity, the invention, the imagination, not perfecting the thing and making it right.
--Katherine Westphal

Katherine Westphal assembled this patchwork quilt from snippets of fabric printed with designs she created for the commercial textile industry. The image is a riff on American artist Edward Moran's patriotic painting of the Statue of Liberty's 1886 dedication, in which the statue towers above a harbor crowded with boats and American flags. Westphal's Lady Liberty seems appalled as she gazes at the chaos below, a comment perhaps on the meaning of liberty at the height of the civil rights movement.
Westphal, who described herself as a "free spirit," spent eight years designing fabrics for the apparel industry and taught for over a decade at the University of California, Davis. In the late 1950s she began making quilts and was soon transferring images from her own photographs and mass media sources to fabric in clever transformations of conventional quiltmaking practice.

Works by this artist (731 items)

Joseph Cornell, Untitled (Juan Gris drawing), late 1960s, collage on masonite, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, 2002.58.20
Untitled (Juan Gris drawing)
Datelate 1960s
collage on masonite
Not on view
Joseph Cornell, Untitled (Rorschach drawing), n.d., drawing, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, 1991.155.408
Untitled (Rorschach drawing)
Daten.d.
drawing
Not on view
Joseph Cornell, Untitled (white cockatoo and other birds), 1969-1971, collage, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, 1991.155.297
Untitled (white cockatoo and other birds)
Date1969-1971
collage
Not on view

Exhibitions

Media - 2019.15 - SAAM-2019.15_1 - 137377
Subversive, Skilled, Sublime: Fiber Art by Women
May 31, 2024January 5, 2025
The artists in Subversive, Skilled, Sublime: Fiber Art by Women mastered and subverted the everyday materials of cotton, felt, and wool to create deeply personal artworks.

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Claire Falkenstein, City is Man, 1941-1952, linocut, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.14, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
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Date1941-1952
linocut
Not on view
Claire Falkenstein, Untitled, 1976, embossed paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.18, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
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Date1976
embossed paper
Not on view
Claire Falkenstein, Mandala, 1977, lithograph, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.19, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
Mandala
Date1977
lithograph
Not on view