One of 17 children, she lived in a shack and devoted herself to needlework. Now her dazzling creations – showing everything from giant feet in Africa to the ‘fallen woman’ of Babylon – are being rediscovered
Elizabeth Allen lived at the end of a steep, muddy track in a dilapidated hut with a notice on the door that read: “Knock very loudly.” One day in the winter of 1965, the artist Patrick Heron did just that – and overnight Allen, then in her 80s, became lauded as a luminary of the art world. There were exhibitions across Britain, not to mention in New York, Los Angeles and Barcelona. The Guardian called her “a remarkable colourist”, adding that “Klee and Matisse would undoubtedly have been impressed”.
One of Allen’s pieces, 1966’s The Great Swan Song, reflects the surprise she felt at this flurry of fame after a life lived in total obscurity. This textile work features a black bird stitched into a cobalt-blue pond fringed by brown-leafed trees. The bird’s red eyes are gazing up at a vermilion sky, while a patchwork piece of bright green striped cloth seems to represent Allen’s hut.
Continue reading...from The Guardian https://ift.tt/KeMhP9G
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