The Sultan’s Garden: The Blossoming of Ottoman Art Opens September 21

08/16/2012 — tmpressroom

Loom-width of ogival-layout kemha
Istanbul
Third quarter 16th century
TM 1.50
Acquired by George Hewitt Myers in 1951

A mighty Empire says it with flowers…

This September, The Textile Museum in Washington, D.C. will open The Sultan’s Garden: The Blossoming of Ottoman Art (September 21, 2012–March 10, 2013). The exhibition and its accompanying catalog chronicles how one of the world’s most powerful empires adopted a singular artistic style and how that style gained lasting influence in the region.  Just as the brands of today strive to do—from political candidates to consumer products—the Ottoman Empire represented itself at home and abroad through a single, instantly recognizable visual aesthetic.  The stylized tulips, roses, carnations, and other flowers came to embody the influence of the empire, and continue to epitomize the arts of Turkey. Through 58 works of art drawn from the best of The Textile Museum’s collections and private and institutional loans “The Sultan’s Garden”reveals the lasting impact of this stylistic revolution.

Debut of the “Floral Style”

Ottoman art reflects the wealth, abundance, and influence of an empire which spanned seven centuries and, at its height, three continents.  Ottoman court style developed during successions of sultans and changes in the court’s design workshop. Prior to 1550, Ottoman art had primarily employed an artistic language common to the greater Islamic world and frequently depicted geometrical designs, fantastical animals, and flora.  However, under Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent (r. 1520–1566), a single artist—Kara Memi—introduced a new design repertoire inspired by forms found in nature. The stylized tulips, carnations, hyacinths, honeysuckles, roses, and rosebuds immediately gained popularity across a broad range of media, carrying connotations of Ottoman court patronage, luxury, and high taste.

A Style which Blossomed Across the Empire

An age-old Turkish, and specifically Ottoman, fascination with flowers accounts in part for the widespread adoption of this new artistic style. Flowers and flower gardens were an important feature of Ottoman upper class and court culture. In the sultan’s palace, flowers embellished architectural tiles, opulent textiles (such as velvets), and monumental carpets. While abundant at court, trade also introduced nomadic communities in the far reaches of the empire to the floral style. Despite being far from the capital city, and far from ornamental gardens, artisans in small villages and nomadic encampments emulated these stylized blooms. The floral style continues to embody Turkish culture: Turkey’s tourism bureau markets the nation with a tulip logo.

Dish with a design of saz leaves and red carnations

Dish with a design of saz leaves and red carnations
Îznik, ca. 1600
Metropolitan Museum of Art 66.4.14
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1966

International Influence

The floral style on view in “The Sultan’s Garden”has had a lasting impact over the past four centuries on the later Ottoman Empire, modern Turkey, the broader Islamic world, and Europe. Court workshops exported luxury items to European customers whose own economies lacked either the technology, tradition, or access to materials to produce such goods themselves. For example, in Russia, there was no local capability to weave the complex patterned silks made popular by the Ottoman Empire, so fabric was imported and adapted. Included in the exhibition is a collar from a liturgical cope made in Russia, but embroidered with Ottoman flowers. Floral style patterns also appear on costumes in Italian Renaissance portraiture and influenced designers of the Arts and Crafts Movement in Great Britain, including William Morris.

About the Exhibition and Catalog

Visitors to the exhibition will be surrounded by some of the most opulent and beautiful works of art created in the Islamic world. “The Sultan’s Garden”includes court costume, horse adornment, vestments, carpets, brocaded silks, velvets, and furnishings from The Textile Museum. Additional exceptional pieces are drawn from private collections, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Saint Louis Art Museum. Two pieces of Iznik ceramics will be on view, demonstrating the cross-media impact of this movement. The exhibition is co-curated by Walter B. Denny, professor of art history at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Charles Grant Ellis research associate in oriental carpets at The Textile Museum, and Sumru Belger Krody, senior curator for Eastern Hemisphere Collections at The Textile Museum. A 192-page, full-color catalog titled “The Sultan’s Garden: The Blossoming of Ottoman Art”accompanies this exhibition. Starting in September, the catalog will be available for sale at The Textile Museum Shop or at www.textilemuseum.org.

Major support for “The Sultan’s Garden” is provided by The Coby Foundation, Ltd., Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne, and Bruce P. and Olive W. Baganz. Additional generous support is provided by Sylvia Bergstrom and Joe Rothstein, BHP Billiton Petroleum, Walter B. Denny and Alice Robbins, Alastair and Kathy Dunn, and Marshall and Marilyn R. Wolf.

Supporting Programs

Visit the museum Saturday, September 22 to enjoy a complimentary drink from a Turkish coffee truck! 

The 40th annual Textile Museum Fall Symposium will explore Ottoman art during October 12–14. Titled “Ottoman by Design: Branding an Empire,” this symposium features lectures by leading scholars including exhibition co-curator Prof. Walter B. Denny.

On October 11, The Textile Museum board of trustees will honor Denny with the 2012 George Hewitt Myers Award. Recognizing an individual’s lifetime achievements to furthering the field of the textile arts, the award celebrates Denny’s exceptional research in Islamic art and architecture and his efforts to include textiles alongside other artistic media.

The Sultan’s Garden is a participating event of Turkish Heritage Month (September 2012), organized by the American Turkish Association of Washington, DC.

PRESS PREVIEW: Tuesday, Sept. 18 at 9:30 a.m. RSVP to kclune@textilemuseum.org.

IMAGES: Preview high-resolution images. To request print-ready files, email kclune@textilemuseum.org.

DOWNLOAD A PRESS RELEASE

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What Does “Green” Mean to Artists, Past and Present?

03/28/2011 — tmpressroom

Green: the Color and the Cause exhibition opens at The Textile Museum on April 16

Maggy Rozycki Hiltner, Hothouse Flowers (detail), 2005. Cotton and found textiles; embroidered. Lent by the artist. Photo by Virginia Spragg.

The Textile Museum asked artists to respond to “green,” and this spring, their collective answers are on view. Today, the word “green” is as likely to refer to eco-consciousness as the color itself. Often incorporating recycled and sustainable materials, artists from around the world respond to these dual meanings of “green” in Green: the Color and the Cause, on view at The Textile Museum April 16 -September 11, 2011.

The exhibition will showcase the art of contemporary makers, including site-specific installations and a growing garden sculpture, alongside historical precedents from the museum’s collection. The objects on view may be united in concept, but the approaches and materials each artist, past and present, used vary greatly—visitors to the exhibition will see recycled tire strips and clothing, peacock feathers, paper and natural fibers in weavings, sculptures, clothing, installations and more.

On April 16, The Textile Museum will launch a paperless interactive web catalog at www.textilemuseum.org/green where visitors can learn more about the art on view in Green and participate in the ongoing “green” conversation, including posting their own green artwork in a continuous Flickr™ photo gallery. Visitors to The Textile Museum will have a chance to engage directly with the exhibiting artists during the “In Their Own Words: Artist Lecture Series” or at a hands-on summer arts workshop. For a full listing of related programs, please visit www.textilemuseum.org.

About the Exhibition

Shigeo Kubota

Shigeo Kubota, Shape of Green II, 2009. Nylon, stainless steel, sisal; assembled. Lent by the artist. Photo by Kouichi Nisimura.

Green: the Color and the Cause will feature original contemporary works by 32 international fiber artists, ranging from stitched canvas to sculpture. These works are presented in conjunction with 13 historical pieces from The Textile Museum’s permanent collection that explore how cultures across the world have captured and interpreted the color green through textile art. Although it is the most common color in nature, green is notoriously hard to reproduce with natural dyes.

“We are excited to inspire reflection on the environmental concerns facing us today through the artwork in Green,” says Textile Museum Director Maryclaire Ramsey. “This exhibition provides a forum for contemporary fiber artists to contribute to this global conversation, and for the public of Washington, D.C. add their own voices.”

To assemble the group of artists represented, The Textile Museum issued a call for entry to contemporary fiber artists across the country and around the globe. Exhibition co-curators Rebecca A.T. Stevens and Lee Talbot reviewed more than 1,000 works of art submitted by nearly 300 artists. From this group, the co-curators selected 32 contemporary artists—representing 18 U.S. states and 6 countries—to participate in the exhibition.

Green is the third in a series of exhibitions exploring the cultural and artistic significance of specific colors in textile art; it follows Red (2007) and Blue (2008). Because textiles reveal so much about a given culture’s tastes, technological advancements and rituals, The Textile Museum is in a unique position to help shed light on the symbolism of color.

For more information, please contact Katy Clune at (202) 667-0441, ext. 77, or by e-mail at kclune@textilemuseum.org.

Download the press release in PDF form.
View a page of interesting facts and trivia about Green.
View a list of upcoming workshops, lectures, and family programs related to Green. 

Request a link to a gallery of high-resolution exhibition images available for download.

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Museum-School Partnership Participants Announced

02/24/2011 — tmpressroom
Museum School Partnership

A banner created by students participating in the 2010 Museum-School Partnership is displayed at The Textile Museum during the month of June. Photo by Kevin Allen.

The Textile Museum is pleased to announce the participants of the 2011 Museum-School Partnership. The following teachers and their classes were selected from a competitive application process that was open to all District of Columbia Public and Public Charter Schools:

Sarah Burke
Marla McLean
Margaret Ricks
John Burst
School-Within-School at Peabody
Kindergarten

Ellen Saunders
Thomson Elementary School
Grades 3 & 4

Michelle D. Parker
LaSalle-Backus Educational Campus
Grade 6

The Museum-School partnership is a three-month-long collaboration between The Textile Museum and the selected schools as they explore a key theme of recycling and reusing textiles and other materials in conjunction with the exhibit Second Lives: The Age-Old Art of Recycling Textiles. Each of the selected classes will tour Second Lives at the museum and will be visited by a museum docent at their classrooms for a three-date series of engaging and ongoing classroom art activities. In addition, each of the schools will receive art materials to create a banner inspired by the theme of recycling that will be exhibited at The Textile Museum during the month of June. Participating schools will be recognized and their banner presented at The Textile Museum’s annual Celebration of Textiles on June 4, at 12:30 pm.

To receive information about other upcoming programs for schools at The Textile Museum, sign up for the Educators’ E-Newsletter.

To receive general updates about exhibitions and all programs at the museum, sign up for The Textile Museum’s monthly E-Friends Newsletter.

If you have any questions or would like any additional details about this news item or any other news item, please e-mail info@textilemuseum.org.

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“Colors of the Oasis” Closes March 13

02/18/2011 — tmpressroom
ColorsOfTheOasis

"Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats," on view through March 13, 2011. Photo by Kevin Allen.

Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats, an exhibition dubbed “overwhelming” with its boldness and color, closes at The Textile Museum on March 13.  This rich, jewel-toned exhibition of more than 60 ikat robes and hangings explores ikat fabrics from Central Asia through the lenses of beauty, technique, and culture.

What is ikat?
Ikat (pronounced ee-kat) cloth is made by dyeing individual silk threads before they are woven into fabric. The threads are resist-dyed in a process similar to tie-dyeing; threads are tied and bound tightly together so parts of the threads remain un-dyed. Upon weaving, the striking ikat pattern is revealed.

Story Ideas for Colors of the Oasis

  • The Ikat “Look” in Contemporary Design

    • Oscar de la Renta reproduced bright, graphic ikat patterns in his spring 2005 collection—and today, prints derived from the ikat technique are available at Pottery Barn, Target, Anthropologie, Chico’s, J Crew and more.  While mainstream designers have adopted this visual language, Colors of the Oasis reveals its undiluted source.

  • The Fabric of a Culture

    • Silk ikat garments were the height of fashion in 19th century Uzbekistan. The wealthy could afford more intricate patterns, and communicated their status through layering robe upon robe. In response to the popularity of the fabric, which quickly traversed the Silk Road, multiple ethnic groups became involved in the production process.

  • A Collector’s Legacy

    • All of the ikats in Colors of the Oasis were donated to The Textile Museum by the late cultural philanthropist and collector Murad Megalli (1957-2011), who set out to assemble the world’s most diverse collection of Central Asian ikat garments. This exhibit presents the finest articulation of a nation’s people that many know little about.

 

“Don’t think for a minute that the 19th-century equivalent of a Milan catwalk didn’t exist on the plains of Central Asia” – Washington Flyer Magazine

“Just go for the sheer purpose of being around style and grace.” – Ari C., Yelp.com

For more information, please contact Katy Clune at (202) 667-0441, ext. 77, or by e-mail at kclune@textilemuseum.org.

Download the press release in PDF form.

Request a link to a gallery of high-resolution exhibition images available for download.

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Find One-of-a-Kind Gifts in The TM Shop

11/17/2010 — tmpressroom

Silk Ikat scarves from Uzbekistan ($60)

The Textile Museum Shop is the perfect place to buy one-of-a-kind gifts this holiday season. Shoppers will find a colorful assortment of new ikat items to coincide with the exhibit Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats (on view through March 13, 2011) as well as other unique gift ideas. The shop provides museum visitors with a convenient holiday shopping opportunity and shares special holiday discounts with museum members.

In conjunction with the museum’s newest exhibit, Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats, visitors will find a variety of related products for sale in the shop that showcase the colorful and dramatic designs created using the specialized ikat dyeing process. Available for purchase are vibrant ikat scarves, handbags, bracelets, men’s ties, books and many beautiful ikat apparel items, such as original Uzbek coats and jackets, hand-painted silk robes and modern printed cotton robes.

From December 3 – 5, the shop offers museum members a 25% discount on all merchandise during “The TM Member VIP Weekend.” This is one of the shop’s most popular annual events, and members may also apply the discount to online purchases made during the VIP Weekend.

Recently named one of the “5 Best Museum Shops” in Washington, D.C. by Frommers.com and one of the 10 “Best U.S. Museum Gift Shops” by Apartment Therapy, The Textile Museum Shop offers a colorful selection of scarves, jewelry, books, fine fabrics and other handmade goods for sale year-round. The shop is always bringing in new items from artists around the globe. There are Peruvian hats, handbags, and scarves made by weavers of the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco, embellished handbags from Afghanistan, and embroidered suzani textiles from Central Asia.

Proceeds from shop sales support the museum and allow it to continue its mission to expand public knowledge and appreciation – locally, nationally, and internationally – of the artistic merits and cultural importance of the world’s textiles.

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The TM to Host an After-Hours “Mod Madness” Event on August 18

08/04/2010 — tmpressroom

The Textile Museum will host its second after-hours “PM @ The TM” event on Wednesday, August 18, 6-9 p.m.—this time titled “Mod Madness” and in the spirit of Mad Men to coincide with its current exhibit of textile designs from the ’50s and ’60s. Step into the museum’s garden for cool drinks, noshes and live jazz by the Pete Muldoon Quartet. Escape the heat with gallery tours led by WE ARE SCIENCE and music by DJ Jahsonic in the exhibition Art by the Yard: Women Design Mid-Century Britain and enter to win prizes from area businesses and restaurants. Silk screen your own t-shirt or bag to take home with the Washington Printmakers Gallery. D.C.’s most fashionable will be on hand to nominate the “best mid-century dressed” – so show us your best fedoras, swing skirts and mod shifts!

Fee: $10 (includes two drink tickets/Textile Museum members; one drink ticket/non-members). Advance tickets recommended; purchase online here.

Presented in partnership with The Pink Line Project. Bring your wristband to The Front Page after the event to receive $2.50 cocktails. Prizes donated by PS7, Teaism, Farmers & Fishers, Eat & Smile and FRESHFARM Markets. Furniture provided by Design Within Reach.

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The Textile Museum to Kick Off Summer with Annual Two-Day Festival

05/12/2010 — tmpressroom

Celebration of TextilesThe Textile Museum will hold its 32nd annual Celebration of Textiles on Saturday, June 5, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. and Sunday, June 6, 1-5 p.m. This free festival for all ages, held rain or shine, invites visitors to explore the textile arts and cultures of the world through hands-on activities and artist demonstrations in the museum’s gardens, historic buildings and current exhibitions.

Program highlights for this year’s Celebration of Textiles festival include:

  • Live musical performances by acoustic roots duo Herb & Hanson (Sat., 2-4 p.m. and Sunday, 3-5 p.m.) who have performed at the Kennedy Center and Strathmore Hall, among other Mid-Atlantic venues
  • Hands-on activities, including block printing and bracelet making
  • Spinning, weaving, knitting, embroidery and indigo dyeing demonstrations
  • Delicious Indian food from Fojol Bros. of Merlindia (available for purchase)
  • Drawings for gift certificates to Teaism, Restaurant Nora, Kramerbooks and other Dupont Circle area businesses
  • Live sheep-shearing demonstrations

Please note: Activities and demonstrations vary on Saturday and Sunday. For full program details, visit www.textilemuseum.org. ALL ACTIVITIES ARE FREE.

Celebrating Local Students’ Art

On Saturday from 12:30-1 p.m. a ceremony will be held recognizing the students participating in this year’s Museum-School Partnership: a 1st grade class from Lafayette Elementary School; a 3rd grade class from Horace Mann Elementary School; and a 3rd-5th mixed grade level class from Matthew G. Emery Educational Center. Through this annual program, the museum educates Washington, D.C. students about textiles and the cultures that produce them, and works with students in the creation and display of their own textile artwork. Their creations will be unveiled on June 5 and will remain on view at The Textile Museum through the month.

Current Exhibitions

Visitors can explore the colorful and whimsical textile designs of three groundbreaking women in the exhibit Art by the Yard: Women Design Mid-Century Britain, on view May 15-September 12, 2010. Also on view is the complementary exhibit The Art of Living: Textile Furnishings from the Permanent Collection, featuring furnishing fabrics from cultures around the world.

History of Celebration of Textiles

The Celebration of Textiles festival started with the goal of inviting people to come in casually and learn about the techniques and cultures represented in the museum’s exhibitions, drawing in new audiences and offering an opportunity for people of all ages to explore the wonder and variety of textile art. While The Textile Museum now provides a variety of opportunities for children to learn about textiles year-round through school programs and the hands-on Activity Gallery of The Textile Learning Center, the spirit of Celebration of Textiles has remained constant. It aims to build a greater appreciation of the textile arts through intergenerational activities that can be enjoyed by children, parents, grandparents and friends alike.

Celebration of Textiles is funded in part by the D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. The festival is part of the Dupont-Kalorama Museums Consortium’s Museum Walk Weekend. For more information about Walk Weekend, visit www.dkmuseums.com.

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Posted in Concerts and Special Events, Education, Exhibits, Free, HelloTxt, Press Releases, Public Programs, Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Mid-Century Design Comes to Washington, D.C.

03/25/2010 — tmpressroom
Mahler Bird Chair

Untitled (Bird Chair), ca. 1953. Marian Mahler.

The fresh, innovative work of Lucienne Day (1917-2010) transformed the post-war British home and made stylish design available for all. The upcoming Textile Museum exhibition Art by the Yard: Women Design Mid-Century Britain showcases the work of Day and two of her contemporary female British designers: Jacqueline Groag (1903-1985) and Marian Mahler (1911-1983). Turning their backs on the austerity of the wartime era, Day, Groag, and Mahler took inspiration from modernist painters and helped pioneer a colorful and playful mid-century aesthetic, forever transforming the interior design industry. Art by the Yard: Women Design Mid-Century Britain is on view at The Textile Museum May 15 – September 12, 2010. About the Exhibition Featuring more than 50 colorful textiles drawn from the private Jill A. Wiltse and H. Kirk Brown III Collection of British Textiles, as well as select pieces of mid-century furniture, Art by the Yard is the first exhibit of its kind in Washington, D.C.  Magazines from the era featuring advertisements and profiles of these celebrity designers add context to the pieces on display. Noted as “full of imaginative fabrics by women who deserve more recognition” by Washington Post art critic Blake Gopnik, the exhibition opens in a year when high quality design on a limited budget is especially relevant.

The majority of the pieces in the exhibit were created by Lucienne Day, one of Britian’s most prolific and successful female designers. Her patterns, used for wallpapers, fabrics and tea towels, contributed to a distinctive 1950s and ‘60s aesthetic. Yet her sophisticated color choices and inventive references to nature remain surprisingly fresh. In 2005 Converse launched a shoe with her design Magnetic (1957), featured in the Textile Museum exhibition. Day, who passed away January 30, 2010, launched her career at the 1951 Festival of Britain. Her furnishing fabric Calyx, with its floating forms and bright colors, resonated with consumers and launched her international career. Along with her husband, furniture designer Robin Day, Lucienne believed in modern design’s transformative power to shape a better world and sought to create beautiful, useful objects accessible to all. Britain’s answer to American designer-duo Charles and Ray Eames, the Days became the poster couple for young and stylish homeowners.   

Select designs by Mahler and Groag are featured in Art by the Yard along with Lucienne Day’s work. Groag, originally from Czechoslovakia, is considered one of Britain’s most versatile designers. Her bold patterns were used for fabrics (both for the home and dress), furniture, wallpaper, and even in subway and airplane design. Mahler is renowned for her whimsical designs, with motifs ranging from birds to abstract forms. Her affordable textiles were seen in fashionable homes throughout Britain and complemented contemporary decorating styles. 

Untitled (Pebbles), ca. 1952. Jacqueline Groag.

The Textile Museum will present a full slate of exhibition-related programs to recall the era of Sputnik and Twiggy and bring the designs in Art by the Yard to life. Visiting scholars include Jennifer Harris, deputy director of the Whitworth Art Gallery at the University of Manchester, England and Dr. Pat Kirkham, professor at the Bard Graduate Center for the Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design and Culture. Look forward to period films such as The Best of Everything (screening in June) and a mid-century themed PM @ The TM after-hours party later in the summer. As Britain’s design industry was regaining momentum, Lucienne Day, Jacqueline Groag and Marian Mahler dared to offer a fresh approach to textile design in an era dominated by male professional artists. Believing that “good design” should be available for everyone, their products shaped the national aesthetic and continue to offer artistic inspiration and delight today.   

Art by the Yard: Women Design Mid-Century Britain is curated by Shanna Shelby (Curator, Jill A. Wiltse and H. Kirk Brown III Collection of British Textiles) and coordinated by Lee Talbot (Associate Curator, The Textile Museum). For more information or images, please contact Cyndi Bohlin at (202) 667-0441, ext. 78, or by e-mail at cbohlin@textilemuseum.org.

To request images online, CLICK HERE 

For the press release, CLICK HERE (pdf)

For a complete press kit, CLICK HERE (pdf)

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This week’s programs at The TM postponed

02/10/2010 — tmpressroom

The Textile Museum remains closed today due to inclement weather. Please visit the museum’s website or call 202-667-0441 for the most current information on opening status.

The Textile Museum has also rescheduled the following programs originally planned for this week:

LUNCHTIME GALLERY TALK
Sourcing the West
POSTPONED TO WEDNESDAY, FEB. 17, 12 PM
Led by Rebecca A.T. Stevens, Consulting Curator, Contemporary Textiles. Free; no reservations required.

EVENINGS AT THE TM
Creative Impulses: Japanese Fashion and Textiles
POSTPONED TO FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 6 PM
Presented by Yoshiko Wada. Fee: $20/members; $25/non-members. Advance registration required; space is limited. SOLD OUT. To be added to the waiting list, call (202) 667-0441, ext. 64. Evenings at The TM is sponsored by Eleanor T. Rosenfeld.

MEMBERS’ GALLERY TALK AND TOUR
The Art of Living: Textile Furnishings from the Permanent Collection
POSTPONED TO SUNDAY, FEB. 21, 1 PM
Led by Associate Curator Lee Talbot. Free; reservations required. Call (202) 667-0441, ext. 64. Limited to 35 participants.

PUBLIC GALLERY TALK AND TOUR
The Art of Living: Textile Furnishings from the Permanent Collection
POSTPONED TO SUNDAY, FEB. 21, 2 PM
Led by Associate Curator Lee Talbot. Free; no reservations required. Limited to 35 participants.

MATSURI: A MIDWINTER JAPANESE FESTIVAL FOR FAMILIES
POSTPONED TO SUNDAY, MARCH 7, 1-5 PM
This free festival offers hands-on art activities, demonstrations and performances for all ages. Free; no reservations required. Presented in cooperation with the Japan-America Society of Washington, D.C.

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Work by designer Lucienne Day, who died Jan. 30, on view in upcoming TM exhibition

02/04/2010 — tmpressroom
Lucienne Day

Lucienne Day in 1952. Image courtesy the Whitworth Art Gallery, the University of Manchester.

The Textile Museum was saddened to learn that designer Lucienne Day, whose work will be featured in The Textile Museum’s 2010 spring/summer exhibition, Art by the Yard: Women Design Mid-Century Britain, passed away on January 30, 2010 at the age of 93. Britain’s best known textile designer in the post-World War II period, Day created award-winning designs for wallpapers, tea towels, carpets and ceramics. She was especially renowned for her lively, colorful furnishing fabric patterns.

“Lucienne Day’s career was unparalleled,” said Lee Talbot, The Textile Museum’s Associate Curator of Eastern Hemisphere Collections and Coordinating Curator of Art by the Yard. “Her remarkable body of textile art remains a fresh source of artistic inspiration and visual delight, even into the 21st century. I am pleased that we will be able to celebrate her creative designs with our Art by the Yard exhibition.”

A graduate of the Croydon School of Art (1934-7) and the Royal College of Art (1937-1940), Day’s commercial success began with her groundbreaking fabric Calyx, printed in 1951 by Heal Fabrics. Although the manufacturer was initially skeptical about Calyx’s avant-garde design, they decided to take a chance with the young designer’s refreshing and innovative ideas. This proved to be a brilliant choice for Heal, as Day soon became the star in the new era of British design. Her strengths as a textile designer stemmed from her sophisticated color choices, stylized references to nature, abstract forms and intriguing patterns inspired by Modernist painters such as Joan Miró and Paul Klee. Color was critical to the perfectionist and accomplished Day, so she worked closely with Heal Fabrics to ensure that her vision was properly executed in each “colourway” version of the final product. Although she worked for other furnishing fabric firms, it was Heal Fabrics for whom she produced over 70 textile designs.

Helix, 1970, Lucienne Day

Helix, 1970, Lucienne Day. Collection of Jill A. Wiltse and H. Kirk Brown, III.

Lucienne Day and her husband, furniture designer Robin Day (b. 1915), were key arbiters of taste as Britain’s most celebrated designer couple and together they popularized a sleek new aesthetic in British interiors. The couple was featured in a 1954 advertisement for a Hillman family car and a 1955 ad campaign for Smirnoff vodka. Magazine articles, such as one in the January 1954 issue of House and Garden spotlighting the Day’s London townhouse, allowed eager fans and consumers to peruse their choices in home décor. Lucienne and Robin Day came to personify the modern style in mid-century Britain, and consumers strove to emulate the lifestyle of this talented, successful, and attractive couple. Like many designers in the optimistic post-WWII period, they both believed in modern design’s transformative power to shape a better world, and sought to create beautiful, useful objects accessible to people of all income levels.

Art by the Yard: Women Design Mid-Century Britain, on view at The Textile Museum May 15, 2010 through September 12, 2010, illustrates the evolution of Day’s design style over the decades, from the playful linearity of her patterns in the early 1950s, to her experimentation with bold visual effects using black silk-screen patterns over fields of color in the late 1950s and early ‘60s, and finally her dynamic Pop style of the late 1960s and early ‘70s. Art by the Yard also includes textiles designed by two of Lucienne Day’s most accomplished contemporaries: Jacqueline Groag (1903-1985) and Marian Mahler (1911-1983).

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Posted in Exhibits, HelloTxt, Press Releases. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »
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