The Family (In Memory of a Summer in the White Mountains), by Marguerite Zorach, 1917
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The Family (In Memory of a Summer in the White Mountains)

Marguerite Zorach (American, 1887–1968)

1917

Medium
plain weave silk; wool embroidery
Classification
Embroidery
Dimensions
object: 86.4 x 72.4 cm (34 x 28 1/2 in.); Framed: 91.4 x 77.8 cm (36 x 30 5/8 in.)
Culture
America
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art, Textiles
Credit line
Edwin R. and Harriet Pelton Perkins Memorial Fund
Rights
Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed

View at the Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

Marguerite Zorach conceived her large, complex embroideries as major artistic statements at a time when the medium was routinely considered “craft,” as opposed to “fine art.” In doing so, she helped to erase such distinctions. One of her most acclaimed works, this example celebrates humanity in harmony with nature, presenting the artist, her husband (a Cleveland-raised sculptor named William Zorach), and their son amid an evergreen tree and four pairs of animals. Very time consuming to create, Zorach’s embroideries are rare.