Mertlene Perkins
Mertlene Perkins (1917–2015) was an American artist. She is associated with the Gee's Bend quilting collective. Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and is included in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Mertlene Perkins
- Born
- 1917 · Gastonburg.
- Died
- 2015
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- painter · quiltmaker
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q63252813 · wikipedia · Mertlene Perkins
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Institutions cited
Getty Union List of Artist Names
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Early life
Early life
Perkins' mother and father were Maggie Tripp and Isom Martin, respectively. Her mother was a farmer and her father worked on the railroad. She loved being with her mother, so she began to help on the farm the earliest that she could, around eight years old. They mostly raised cotton, corn peanuts, and potatoes. She attended school for nine years in Prairie, Alabama She married Herman Perkins when she was nineteen. They raised twelve children together, nine of which survived to adulthood.
Documentary record
Mertlene Perkins, an artist and quiltmaker, was born in 1917 in Gastonburg and died in 2015. Both events are recorded by the Getty Union List of Artist Names.
Work
Work
Perkins learned to quilt from her mother and grandmother. Quilting was a source of enjoyment for Perkins. Following the tradition of Gee's Bend improvisation style, she remarks that "I just make up my own quilts. I really don't follow nobody's ideas but mine."
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1917
Mertlene Perkins born at Gastonburg.
2015
Mertlene Perkins died.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Mertlene Perkins, revision 1316259709 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Beardsley, John. Gee's Bend: The Women and Their Quilts. Tinwood Books. 410. 2002. 9780971910409.
- 2.Arnett, William. Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt. Tinwood Books. 112. 2006. 9780971910478.
- 3.Mertlene Perkins Souls Grown Deep Foundation. www.soulsgrowndeep.org.
- 4.Mertlene Perkins Birds in Flight quilt. www.metmuseum.org.
References
Citations
References
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Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 26 August 2026.
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