Art by the Yard: Women Design Mid-Century Britain

May 15, 2010 – September 12, 2010

The art of textile design changed radically after World War II as Britain was transformed from a country devastated by war into an optimistic consumer society. Three women designers were pivotal in this artistic revolution: Lucienne Day (1917-2010), Jacqueline Groag (1903-1985) and Marian Mahler (1911-1983). Incorporating dramatic saturated colors and bold motifs inspired by artists like Alexander Calder and Joan Miró, these young designers transformed the market by inspiring elegant yet affordable product lines that brought the world of contemporary art into everyone’s homes.

Art by the Yard: Women Design Mid-Century Britain showcases the work of these groundbreaking women designers, highlighting the work of Lucienne Day, through the display of textiles together with preliminary drawings and collages, ceramics and period furniture, all drawn from the Jill A. Wiltse and H. Kirk Brown, III Collection of British Textiles.

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The Art of Living: Textile Furnishings from the Permanent Collection

February 12, 2010 – January 9, 2011

Homes and furnishings shape the human experience of everyday life. Each culture designs domestic environments that reflect its own social traditions, aesthetic preferences, political and economic circumstances, and local climate. The Art of Living highlights the historical and cultural breadth of The Textile Museum’s collection through the display of textile furnishings, including hangings, rugs, chair covers, cushions and other materials made in societies ranging from the late Roman Empire and colonial Peru to Edo-period Japan and Victorian Britain. The varied furnishing textiles in the exhibition, made to provide protection, comfort, color and pattern in homes from the ancient Mediterranean world to 20th-century America, document the lifestyles enjoyed by their original owners as well as the technical and artistic accomplishments of their creators. This exhibition provides a historical context for The Textile Museum’s second spring 2010 exhibition, Art by the Yard: Women Design Mid-Century Britain.

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