Westside, Los Angeles
Group Exhibition
Navajo Blankets from the Collection of Tony Berlant
L.A. LouverL.A. Louver presents a selection of blankets by Navajo (Diné) weavers from the collection of artist Tony Berlant. Dating from approximately 1870 to 1885, these textiles are woven primarily from handspun wool, colored using a mix of natural and synthetic dyes. These blankets are from what is considered the "Transition period" in Navajo weaving, when increased associations between the Navajo and Euro-American settlers through trading posts and the railroad facilitated access to a wider variety of dyes, commercial yarns, and other textile influences. Blankets from this period are renowned for their experimental patterns in bright colors, including the well-known "eye dazzler" styles. These textiles are likely made by women, although both men and women in the Navajo community now practice the art form. Berlant began collecting Navajo textiles as a young art instructor at UCLA in the late 1960s. In 1972, collaborating with Mary Hunt Kahlenberg, then curator of textiles at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Berlant organized a significant exhibition of Navajo blankets that traveled across the United States and Europe.