A New American Art Movement
Autumn Winter 2023-24
by Artist Designer Cynthia Ivey Abitz
This collection of Ivey Abitz clothing is inspired by the first art movement in the United States, started by the Hudson River School. It began in New York in the early 1800’s with a group of painters who lived there. The bucolic and majestic landscapes of New York’s Hudson Valley that inspired these artists two hundred years ago is now the home of Ivey Abitz. We live and work within these landscapes.
For this new collection, I set out to examine what Hudson River School founder Thomas Cole, along with his contemporaries, found of value within the landscapes they painted. I painted landscapes of New York’s Hudson River Valley and the Great Lakes Region, just as they often painted. I set my brush to canvas within the actual landscapes, with my own visual language, to further connect with the ideals the Hudson River School conveyed in its own way.
I gave myself a timeframe for each painting I created, finishing each painting in the amount of time it takes us to create one Ivey Abitz garment from start to finish. It led me to ask questions: What is the difference between painting a landscape and creating a garment to wear? If they take the same amount of time to create, are they of the same value? Is one more valuable than the other, simply because it hangs on a wall? Or is a garment more valuable because of its everyday usefulness?
Pull the slider left to reveal the painting or right to reveal the artist at work.
In today’s culture of throwaway fast-fashion clothing, it’s easy to jump to the conclusion that a painting is far more valuable than a garment. As an artist who creates both, I challenge all of us to rethink the value of garments. Paintings, too, for that matter.
In a world where mass-production churns out so much substandard clothing and so many incidental images that it makes my head spin, it’s easy to overlook the specialness and profundity of something made by hand with thought, care, and time. In a world being overtaken by artificial intelligence, what does it mean to have someone’s spirit guide each and every stitch, or each and every brushstroke?
In addition to painting, these landscapes inspire me to create a collection of garments from all that it represents. The Hudson River School’s intent was to celebrate the idyllic qualities and hopefulness of a landscape. I connect with this purpose in such a deep way, as this is at the core of every collection of garments I create. I want to live within an idyll of peace each and every day, and each garment design strives to create such a place. This intent does not ignore the ills of the world. On the contrary, it looks human suffering straight in the eye, and each collection is created as a response to it.
At Ivey Abitz, we create from our ideals, as here is where we find joy and contentment to meet every day with confidence and grace. Our ideals guide us to envision a new American art movement and be at the forefront of it. The movement values things created by the human hand over mass-production machinery. We strive to create quality and meaningful things within a world that has become banal and saturated with mass-produced sameness. This new art movement values what is created by the human spirit and mind over computer algorithms and artificial intelligence.
I put this collection of ideals out into the world believing that there are others who seek to invest in something of quality, made by hand. I trust that it will find you, and you will find it. If you believe in this new art movement, too, I hope you will embrace yourself with a lifetime of Ivey Abitz garments.
About the artist: Cynthia Ivey Abitz has made a living as an artist since 1996. She and her husband, Joshua Ivey Abitz, sold the first collection of Ivey Abitz garments in 2006 through their gallery of fine art. The clothing was featured alongside her oil paintings and their handprinted silver gelatin photographs. In her own unique way, she continues a family tradition of creating art. Ancestors include well-regarded American painters, cousins Robert Cozad Henri and Mary Cassatt.
View the Autumn Winter Look Book.
