With this collection and the exhibition the artist wanted to highlight, in his own words, “traditional, handmade embroideries, which mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers and great-great-grandmothers (and sometimes men) of our country have made, anonymously, with much love and patience, in the few hours of spare time that they had…. The result of all these weeks, months and years of hard work is sold by their descendants for an euro.”
With the exhibition Scholte wanted to give embroideries, as he said, the respect that they deserve. What he did, surprisingly, was showing the back of the embroideries, together with all their fringes and loose hanging threads. He framed them backwards, signed them, and showed them as such to the public. It was the reverse of the embroideries, according to the artist, that shows the efforts and the character of the embroiderer. The exhibition showed the backside of the embroidered masterpieces of Dutch painting, by Rembrandt, Vermeer and many others.
For the backs of embroideries, see also the American painter and embroideress, Cayce Zavaglia.
Digital source of illustration (retrieved 22 February 2017)
WV