Label Text
Defined by vivid hues, sharp contrast, and geometric patterning, In the Heat of Winter brings together patterns drawn from ornamental handiwork such as lace, doilies, handkerchiefs, combined with piecework cut from floral cloth. Because textile production has historically been categorized as craft and closely associated with women's labor, it has often been positioned as inherently inferior to fine art. Schapiro sought to dismantle this hierarchy through her feminist collage work, coining the term "femmage" in the 1970s to describe her artistic approach. She integrated fabric, pattern, and ornament into this print to foreground their abstract, formal, and compositional properties. The fan belongs to what Schapiro identified as a "lexicon of forms": objects carrying deep historical associations with femininity that she sought to reclaim by aligning such forms with abstract artistic practice. A prominent member of the Pattern and Decoration and the Feminist Art movements, Schapiro argued that materials and designs associated with craft traditions and domestic space should receive equal consideration with other artistic styles.
DimensionsSheet: 33 x 62 in. (83.8 x 157.5 cm)
Accession Number 2026.19
Classificationsprint
CopyrightARS
SignedMiriam Schapiro ‘95 (l,l white pencil)
Inscriptions31/40 (l,l white pencil)
In the heat of Winter (l,l white pencil)
EditionEdition #31/40
Edition includes 3 artist's proofs, 1 printer's proof, 2 publisher's proofs, 1 Bon-A-Tirer
MarksBlindstamp (l,l)
ProvenanceLois Berghoff, Florida; Linda Berghoff [acquired from the previous]; Zane Bennett Gallery [purchased from the previous]; Jim and Ellen Hubbell, Santa Fe [purchased from the previous, 2026]; Des Moines Art Center [gift of the previous, 2026]
Oreste Cortazzo
ca. 1895
