Quilts of Gee’s Bend Allegedly Stolen
Monday, June 25th, 2007The latest news coming out of Alabama is that yet another lawsuit has been filed, this one on behalf of Lucinda Pettway Franklin who is suing Matt Arnett, Gee’s Bend quilts promoter, saying that he took two valuable family quilts, made by slave ancestors, that are worth “as much as $100,000″ each.
If the quilt(s) did exist, or still currently exist, it seems that they should have a stronger sentimental value than a monetary one. At best, appraisal values are subjective and arbitrary, and values are based on the intrinsic quality of the quilt, its materials and condition, who made it, if it’s been published, and comparisons to “sold” price values within any given geographical area. As I have said before, the bottom line is this: A quilt is worth only as much as someone else will pay for it.
Stating that one “thinks” that a quilt is worth a million dollars will not make it so. To exclaim that one has/had an irreplaceable family heirloom is more likely a true statement, but of course that won’t get a huge money settlement in a court of law. Money, here, seems to be the name of the game.
According to the online Press-Register of June 23, 2007, in a story filed by Ben Raines, Staff Reporter, Arnett alternatively told Franklin that the quilts were burnt up in a fire, were on his desk ready to mail to her, were accidentally thrown away, or were lost in a flood.
Someone is being dishonest. Pardon me, but it seems as though someone is engaging in gradations of “untruths.”
The Brass Ring Has Tarnished
From the get-go, the general public cozied up to the idea of celebrating the quilts found in the remote and very impoverished area of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, a town with one main road, in and out, that was not even paved until 1967.
The quilts were given exhibit space at major museum venues in the U.S., including the prestigious Whitney Museum in New York City, thanks to the advocacy and marketing skills of Matt Arnett and his father, William Arnett. The quilters themselves were flown in to attend the gala openings at museums around the country, and by all accounts, they were happy to greet lines of people, sign the various books that have been written about Gee’s Bend Quilts, and talk about their work to “patrons of the arts.”
In recent weeks, the joy of discovery and promotion seems to have dissolved as one lawsuit against the Arnetts has followed another, generated by certain Gee’s Bend quilters. One of the allegations is that the Arnetts broke copyright law in licensing derivative products that contain images of the quilts. Some legal paperwork had been signed by the quilters, however, after the fact, they claimed that since they are illiterate, they did not know what they were signing.
The question remains as to who, if anyone, has been exploited. One figure cited is that the quilters were paid one million dollars for their quilts from money provided by Jane Fonda. I have no way of knowing if that is true, at the moment.
Divisiveness is occurring between the Gee’s Bend quilters. They are reportedly squabbling among themselves over these lawsuits. I would have to wonder if, in the end, the money they gained from their experience did them any good whatsoever, and I also have to wonder if fighting for more money from the Arnetts will help any of the quilters, or their community. It seems that the naivete that made their work so appealing in the first place, has been lost to the Money God.
While the debate is ongoing in certain circles in the quilt world, as to whether or not these quilters really produced “art,” or if we should better call what they did and do a “craft,” this whole situation leaves a bad taste in one’s mouth. For some reason, there is something that just doesn’t seem right about what is going on. I know none of the parties involved, nor am I affiliated with them, and I wish everyone well, knowing full well that in any lawsuit, somebody loses. In this case, in my humble opinion, everyone loses, and that loss will not just be money, but intangibles such as respect, pride, and a sense of well-being.
The attention given these quilts was supposed to have helped to increase the affluence of this little Black community that is dirt poor. Instead, and in spite of some people’s denial of this, there appears to be a certain kind of racism going on, but it is not what you think.
It is a reverse racism in which personal responsibility in signing legal documents is supposed to be overlooked under the guise of, “Oh, well, they are poor and stupid and easily taken advantage of by some slick business person.” As much as we’d like to deny it, racism is alive and well in the South, only this time, “Massa” is the man in the flannel shirt, with the deep pockets.
We do not have all the facts yet. We shall eagerly await the judgment of the courts, on these matters.
Your comments are welcome.
