Lenore Tawney exhibition

Lenore Tawney (1907-2007) was an American artist who lived near Agnes Martin in Coenties Slip, New York. She is mostly known for her development of fiber art.

To see new and original expression in a very old medium, and not just one new form but a complete new form in each piece of work, is wholly unlooked for, and is a wonderful and gratifying experience… With directness and clarity, with what appears to be complete certainty of image, beyond primitive determination or any other aggressiveness, sensitive and accurate down to the last thread, this work flows out without hesitation and with a consistent quality.

—Agnes Martin, Lenore Tawney, exhibition catalogue, Staten Island Museum, New York 1961–2.

That Enters From the End Into the Beginning

Lenore Tawney recalls studying Christian devotional texts with Martin. "We read 'The Lives of the Saints' together: St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa D'Avila," Tawney says. "Of course, we couldn't hope to emulate them, but we could be inspired."

—Benita Eisler, on her 1993 New Yorker profile of Agnes Martin

Lenore G. Tawney Foundation