In the context of The French Collection, analyze the Part I, #4: Sunflowers Quilting Bee at Arles (1991) of the Descriptions and locations.
Sunflowers Quilting Bee at Arles depicts a group of famous African American women creating a quilt patterned with sunflowers, while sitting in a field of sunflowers in Arles. The women are being approached by the artist Vincent van Gogh holding a vase filled with flowers and seem disturbed by his arrival. The women portrayed are Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Madam C. J. Walker, Ida B. Wells, Mary McLeod Bethune, Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Ella Baker, who comprise the fictional National Sunflower Quilters Society of America. In the text, Willia Marie describes her conversations with the women, who are touring the world making quilts. They describe themselves as all artists and tell her that when they are finished quilting, they can move on to the "real art" of working toward a better world.Sunflowers Quilting Bee at Arles was originally made while Ringgold was creating other works commissioned by Oprah Winfrey. Ringgold included historical Black women in the painting that Winfrey admired and Winfrey subsequently purchased it. As of 2022, the work was still in Winfrey's private collection.
Madam C. J. Walker Oprah Winfrey quilt Arles Harriet Tubman Fannie Lou Hamer Mary McLeod Bethune Vincent van Gogh Sojourner Truth Rosa Parks Ida B. Wells Ella Baker