Today I learned Laura Fisher passed away this week. She was a quilt dealer living in New York City, and I was never fortunate enough to meet her, but we'd been in touch for probably 20 years. We have two quilts that came from Laura.
The first one was made around the turn of the century and it is a red, white and blue one-patch in a blending zig-zag design reminiscent of Bargello. It is exceptionally modern for a quilt that's over 100 years old.
The second quilt is well known to quilt experts and anyone else who has seen Bob Shaw's memorable book. The quilt is on the cover. It is velvet and has a fan design arranged in a medallion style. Unique!
I met her in New York many years ago. She was an icon....xo RIP
ReplyDeleteI had a gallery in Manhattan Art & Antiques Center, 1992-2005, 15 feet from Laura. I saw her in the hallway, taking 1000s of Polaroids of quilts, to send to prospective customers. Polaroids! Snail mail!
ReplyDeleteIt was a gift to know her. She was vibrant, friendly and knowledgeable, every day all year --until a flood (January 2005) soaked the gallery, particularly affecting pieces she had held in reserve, for years or decades, as ultra-special. "Unique" is an overused word, but her gallery was the next closest thing.
The antiques trade flourished from the 1960s to the 9/11 attack, so Laura was riding high for decades and built quite a reputation -- totally deserved. Some may know her from frequent guest appearances on Martha Stewart's TV show.
I moved back into the antiques center, four years ago, and am in her old gallery. I feel a little guilt; my only quilts are a few African pieces; I have little Americana. The antiques center is now the best in the world, because the better ones in Europe have all gone under. Partly, it's market forces, including the internet, but Laura Fisher was a force herself, and the similarly smart and passionate dealers of her generation have mostly moved on.
It's always so hard to believe, when someone who embodied the word "lively" is no longer alive. And at only 76?
Farewell, my old friend.
--Paul J. Bosco