Styled by Design 2023

Styled by Design

Modern Artist Textiles

Styled by Design

Modern Artist Textiles

‘Styled by Design – Modern Artist Textiles is in many ways a tribute to a small radical and rebellious exhibition of Modern Art held in London in the early 1950s For most of the early 20th Century it was rare for artists who considered themselves painters to work with textiles other than on the very canvas they used to make their paintings Yet, the post war era and rise of Modernism challenged these taboos and allowed artists to experiment and collaborate, working with a new, versatile, and exciting medium: Textiles Through the vision of Alistair Morton of Edinburgh Weavers, the Modernist painters William Scott and Alan Reynolds would produce rich textures as dramatic as any oil painting Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth’s silkscreen designs for Zika and Lida Ascher of Ascher Ltd would hold the same subtle delicate beauty as any watercolour St Ives artist Patrick Heron s earliest vivid works were designs for his father Tom’s celebrated Cresta Silks The time was right for a fusion of modern art and textile design

The 1953 Painting into Textiles exhibition held at the Institute of Contemporary Art (I C A) at its Dover Street base in London was a dramatic moment in the history of textile design Sponsored by Hans and Elsbeth Juda’s The Ambassador magazine, it broke new ground even for an institution that had already earned a reputation for its innovative and cuttingedge exhibitions Many of the artists in the Styled by Design exhibition were featured including Moore, Piper, Sutherland, Scott and Vaughan

Artist Desmond Morris, the I C A s former Director interviewed on its 70th anniversary, recalled that institutions like the Royal Academy were still hostile to Modern Art in the early 1950s “ The I C A kept alive a physical place for the experimentation and rebellion that had been abandoned during the war ” It was at this rare and brave citadel of Modernism that twenty five artists were awarded commissions and paid 25 guineas to exhibit paintings that might be suitable for conversion into textiles

In her forward to the Painting into Textiles catalogue, Lady Clark encourages a shift to using artists in industry A subject close to the heart of one of the key founders of the I C A celebrated modernist Herbert Read Clark throws down a serious challenge “Our textile manufacturers are sometimes accused of lack of enterprise in using new designs, no one can accuse the I C A of lack of enterprise” Hans Juda understood the vital role of enterprise and innovation as his catalogue essay for the exhibition made clear “In a world increasingly critical and increasingly alive to design, all of us are conscious of the need to provide new sources of inspiration which will refresh our ability to produce and sell ” The Yorkshire Post concluded in its review: “ The exhibition proves that pure art can effectively help commercial production It also suggests that textiles will serve modern artists well, since people looking at a textile design do not usually ask, as people constantly do of pictures: ‘Now what is it supposed to represent?’ “ In October and November 1953 artists and converters were brought together as Juda’s ambition to ensure “trade will be enriched, kept fresh and active” was realised through the prism of Modern Art

Tom Heron, Alastair Morton and Zika Asher were no strangers to commissioning modern artist textiles but following the 1953 Painting into Textiles exhibition, Whitehead, Sanderson, Warner and Horrockses were amongst those who swiftly followed suit It is a great tribute to Hans Juda and the post war textile visionaries that these now rare and powerful mid 20th century textiles are sought worldwide by collectors as beautiful and historically important works of Modern Art in their own right Styled by Design celebrates an age of innovation and seeks to demonstrate the power, splendour, and atmosphere of these wider works of the modern artists of the last century These magnificent textiles have earned the right to be considered a vital creative pillar in the story of Modern and Contemporary Art

Ashley Gray Gray M C A

Styled by Design

Modern Artist Textiles

AN INTRODUCTION BY ALAN POWERS

The early twentieth century suffered a crisis of identity with regard to art and design Could designers be better artists and could artists be better designers? Were they the same thing or different?

The question was answered more by expediency than by any rigorous theory Modernism released the inhibitions of convention and by virtue of the trend towards abstraction, it was decorative From the artist’s viewpoint, a commission from a textile or fashion company was tempting, not only for its earning opportunity but also as a means to proselytise for modernism at the same time Awareness of French, German and Austrian textiles before the First World War sparked emulation and a more general attempt to root the aesthetic and technical standards of the Arts and Crafts Movement in industrial production

Paul Nash was among the first British artists to take up this cause, setting an example through collaboration with block printing workshops such as Cresta Silks He liked to encourage a younger generation and his example will have stimulated Henry Moore, Graham Sutherland, John Piper and Ben Nicholson among others to cross the frontier By the 1940s an example was set by some of the most celebrated modern artists in France, who, with their reputations established, enjoyed using more craft-based media – none more than Picasso with his excursion into ceramics at Vallauris, while nearby Henri Matisse was designing his convent chapel at St Paul-de-Vence, with tile murals, stained glass and vestments In textiles, Raoul Dufy had excelled in this field long before it became a fashionable pursuit for artists, and his optimistic vision and calligraphic style were well suited to the purpose

In 1943, Sutherland consulted Kenneth Clark, the Director of the National Gallery, fearing that if he did too much design work ‘too much adulteration may be a bad financial and spiritual policy ’ Clark agreed, replying that ‘ you know I am not much in sympathy with the modern notion that the artist must be in closer touch with the common man ’ Sutherland had closer connections to design than most of the other artists of his generation, working as a freelance with his fellow student from Goldsmith’s, Milner Gray, during the 1930s, and later with the Czech émigré Zika Ascher and German émigré Hans Juda, both of whom commissioned a range of British artists. Ascher specialised in scarves by notable artistdesigners, while Juda and his photographer wife Elspeth took over a Dutch trade magazine, International Textiles during the war and renamed it The Ambassador The name was appropriate, because it received support from the British government to boost exports of textiles one of the most potentially profitable ways of selling to the USA for precious dollars Whether the engagement of famous artists boosted export sales is questionable, but the Judas were tireless in their promotion and generosity towards their artists

For the producer seeking novelty to employ a ‘fine’ artist with a recognised name to design fabrics if it did not necessarily generate sales, at least acted as a loss leader by drawing attention to other designs in the same range Doing this for printed textiles became a more practical proposition with the rise of screen printing, an ancient concept that became more economical than block printing or roller printing through technical advances by the 1930s With the freedom of graphic gesture it afforded, screen printing perfectly suited the broad loose brushwork and broad areas of colour

favoured by mid-century painters Indeed, screen printing entered the spheres of fashion and artist printmaking at much the same time The headscarf square was the perfect vehicle for showing off an artist’s talent, since it could be sold as a luxury product, with greater added value than a dress or furnishing fabric, and did not require an inexperienced artist to grapple with the complexities of a pattern repeat

One of the eye- opening aspects of this exhibition is the work of Irish artists from both sides of the border including George Campbell, Louis le Brocquy and William Scott Only the latter, born in Scotland, trained in Belfast but based in England for the rest of his career, remains a well-known name Le Brocquy gained a reputation for tapestries that were transcriptions of his paintings (as indeed were others by Piper, Moore and Sutherland) The flatness of his mature paintings with their floating shapes is suggestive of textile patterns, and the 1959 jacquard-woven Skaill is a good demonstration of how a woven pattern could achieve a subtle translation of form at times better than a screen print, although it might require optimism about the market on the part of the producer It should be remembered that for many mills making yardage of modern textiles the chief market was in bulk contract work for government offices or corporations rather than in the retail trade

The question raised at the beginning about the relative merits of designers and artists has no definitive answer, but the examples on show do suggest some of the differences Edward Bawden trained in the Design School at the Royal College of Arts in the 1920s, although it was focused more on illustration than on design for industry Still, despite achieving a reputation as a watercolour painter, his work always showed a strong design discipline with a strong linear basis and his group of college friends, including Eric Ravilious and Enid Marx learnt early on how to make repeat patterns for Curwen Pattern Papers

Among the designs here are many that could as easily have been artists’ prints on paper, with a single image within a background field One such is Elisabeth Frink’s Warrior, but her Snowy Owl has a definite visual relationship to the edge of the piece – easier to achieve with a headscarf than a length of fabric. Managing to create a convincing and seamless pattern repeat is perhaps the main difference, since professional textile designers cannot avoid achieving this, while for the fine artist, it goes against everything that represents an independent composition That said the trend of abstraction in the 1930s already suggested an elision between art and design, and the looser visual vocabulary of abstract expressionism with its vibrating fields of contrasting shape and colour lent itself to rhythmic repetition George Campbell’s pieces demonstrate this well, although in all cases, one might wonder how far an artist’s original proposal was adapted in the studio at the manufacturers

There is no single standard for textile art to be applied here It is a rich field representing a special moment in time unlike anything that has happened before or since

Alan Powers Writer and lecturer on mid-century art, architecture and design

February 2023

‘Palazzo’ was commissioned by Sir Hugh Casson to be included in a new range of designs first exhibited at the exhibition ‘Decorama’ in 1956 Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd produced the design from 1956 onwards, both as a wallpaper and a textile ‘Palazzo’ was seen in Sanderson advertising along with textiles designed by Sir Hugh Casson and Humphrey Spender The Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture at Middlesex University records that ‘Palazzo’ was selected by the late Queen Elizabeth II for an interior at Windsor castle It is also understood to have featured on board the Cunard RMS Queen Elizabeth in the 1950’s as part of a small set of panels for the interiors of the master cabins

COLLECTIONS

Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture, Middlesex University

Edward Bawden (1903 - 1989)

Palazzo

1956 Screen print on cotton

Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd

53 x 56 cms

Corot Éditeur, Paris commissioned Bernard Buffet to create a small number of limited edition designs specifically for large scale textile panels from the 1950s to 70s These were produced under the watchful eye of what was to become, in 1977, Buffet’s exclusive gallery Galerie Maurice Garnier in Paris The textiles included the titles Venise, Le Grand Canal (1957), Notre Dame (1960), Nemours, Le Château et les Bords du Loing’ (1971). ‘ Tréboul, Le Port à Marée Basse’ (1979) was based on a 1972 painting of a similar subject The Buffet textiles were produced in a combination of screen print on cotton and a wool effect tapestry Of these, ‘Les Champs Élysées’, with its sweeping view of the Arc de Triomphe is the most dynamic It is poignant also for the lack of cars in the scene Buffet’s childhood memories during the occupation of Paris was of a city without cars

Bernard Buffet (1928 - 1999)

Les Champs Élysées

1957 Screen print on cotton wall hanging

Numbered limited edition, signed & dated in print

Corot Éditeur, Paris

110 x 162 cms

Calder first designed textiles in 1929, and began creating abstract mobiles in the spirit of Duchamp from 1932 Calder and his wife Louise met Zika and Lida Ascher whilst Calder was living and working in Saché, France in 1947 The Ascher ’ s became regular visitors to the Calder ’ s home in Roxbury, Connecticut and in Saché, on their holidays after the Paris couture shows Calder was the only American artist to participate in the Ascher Squares project. He created ‘Splotchy ’ an abstract handprinted on linen work for Erwin and Estelle Laverne who specialised in hand-printed fabrics in the 1950s Like Graham Sutherland, Calder also worked with the weavers at Pinton Frères near Aubusson, France from the early 1960’s producing an impressive collection of designs In the 1970s he was commissioned by The Whitney Museum of Art, New York for a screen-print on cotton textile titled ‘Acrobats’ This was to commemorate Calder ’ s retrospective exhibition ‘Calder ’ s Universe’ held at The Whitney in 1976 It was to be his last textile as he died just five weeks after the exhibition opened

LITERATURE

Ascher Fabric Art Fashion, The Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A Publishing) 1987

Textile Design: Artists Textiles 1940 - 1976, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (Antique Collectors Club Ltd) 2012

The Mad Silkman, Zika & Lida Asher, Textiles & Fashion, Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague (Slovart Publishing Ltd, Prague) 2019

EXHIBITIONS

Lefevre Gallery, London, 1947

Galerie Doucet, Paris, 1950

The Ascher Squares, Neiman Marcus, Dallas, 1975

Redfern Gallery London 1983

Ascher Fabric Art Fashion, The Victoria & Albert Museum, 1987

Ascher Artists Scarves, Comme des Garçons, Tokyo, 1990

Styling the Modern: Fine Art Meets Fashion Fine Art Centre Colorado Springs 2008

Designing the Everyday: From Bloomsbury & Ravilious to the Present Day, Towner Museum, Eastbourne, 2014

The Mad Silkman, Zika & Lida Asher, Textiles & Fashion, Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague, 2019

Alexander Calder (1898 - 1976)

La Mer

Designed 1947 Screen print on silk twill

Ascher Studio signed in print

88 x 88 cms

Described as ‘the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century ’ by influential art critic Robert Hughes Chagall is also considered the last survivor of the first generation of European Modernists He worked in stained glass, tapestries, murals, theatre sets and costume, ceramics, and sculpture

Many of his works took the title Les Amoureux including this 1956 textile American model Ivy Nicholson was photographed in the artist’s studio in Vence, France by Life magazine in 1955. She wore a dinner dress designed by McCardell and posed alongside Chagall’s painting ‘Le Soleil Rouge’ American Fabrics and Fashions also celebrated the collection in its Winter 1955/56 issue The Modern Masters series by Fuller Fabrics is considered the best know joint project between artist and textile manufacturer in the US and featured in the documentary film ‘Fabrics for Modern Artists’ in 1955 A traveling exhibition of the textiles was launched at the Brooklyn Museum in 1955 A second edition was launched by the Decorama division of Fuller Fabrics in 1956

LITERATURE

Life Magazine ‘New Fabrics Put Modern Art in Fashion’ 1955

Claire McCardell: Redefining Modernism, Kohle Yohannan & Nancy Nolf, (Harry N Abrahams, Inc )

1998

EXHIBITIONS

Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, 1955

Textiles USA, MoMA, 1956

COLLECTIONS

Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Cooper Hewitt Museum New York

Marc Chagall (1887 - 1985)

Les Amoureux

1956 Screen print on cotton

Fuller Fabrics New York

67 x 91 cms

Cecil Collins and his position outside the mainstream was popular with Edinburgh Weavers’s artistic director Alistair Morton who is likely to have been introduced to the artist in the 1930s by friend and art critic Herbert Read Morton commissioned several key textiles from Collins including ‘Avon’, ‘ The Fools and The Herdsman , all of which were initially screen-printed on heavy linen The Herdsmen sits well within Collin’s visionary subjects, inspired by nature and by the writings of William Blake. He was associated briefly with the Surrealist group, exhibiting with them in the 1936 International Surrealist Exhibition in London Collins broke away from the Surrealists after 1938 to pursue his own artistic agenda and exhibited throughout the 1940s with his work becoming increasingly recognised for its visionary neo -romanticism In the 1980s the Tate Gallery held two important retrospectives of his work

LITERATURE

Alistair Morton and Edinburgh Weavers Lesley Jackson (V&A Publishing) 2012

COLLECTIONS

Victoria & Albert Museum London

The Tate Archive, London

Cecil Collins (1908 - 1989)

The Herdsman

1956 Screen print on cotton

Edinburgh Weavers

71 x 121 cms

From her earliest drawings and sculpture, birds figured prominently in Frinks work Owls in particular were a frequent subject in her lithographs and etchings in aquatint during the 1960s and 70s A Curwen lithograph of ‘Owl’ (1967) is held in the permanent collection of the Tate Gallery, London and at least ten of Frinks Owls are also held in the Government Art Collection including an etching in aquatint edition of ‘Snowy Owl’ dated 1977. Frink also produced a bird of prey jumper design in the early 1970s as wearable art for Mike and Ritva Ross’s ‘Ritva Man’ in a limited edition of two hundred

COLLECTIONS

National Gallery of Art, Washington DC Government Art Collection, London

Elisabeth Frink (1930 - 1993)

Snowy Owl

1983 Screen print on silk

Edition 142/225, signed & edition number in print

Christies Contemporary Art

88 x 88 cms

The original drawing for ‘ Warriors’, ‘Sketch for Warriors’ was exhibited alongside the textile itself at The Whitworth Art Gallery Manchester in 1962 ‘ Warriors’ was also exhibited and included in the catalogue of the ‘Alastair Morton Memorial Exhibition’ at Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal in 1964 This impressive and thick jacquard weave was one of the most expensive of the artist textiles produced by Edinburgh Weavers. The ‘ Warriors’ themselves herald the arrival of the powerful Goggle Head sculptures that were to become a hallmark of Frinks later work

LITERATURE

British Textile Design from 1940 to the Present, Ngozi Ikoku, The Victoria & Albert Museum’s Textile Collection, (V&A Publications) 1999

British Textiles: 1700 to the Present, Linda Parry (V&A Publishing) 2010

The Ambassador Magazine ‘Promoting Post War British Textiles’, Christopher Brewer & Claire Wilcox (V&A Publishing) 2012

Textile Design: Artists’ Textiles 1940 - 1976, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (Antique Collectors Club Ltd) 2012

EXHIBITIONS

The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, 1962

Alastair Morton Memorial Exhibition, Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal, 1964

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970, The Fine Art Society, London, 2003

Elisabeth Frink (1930 - 1993)

Warriors

1960 Jacquard weave wool panel

Edinburgh Weavers

110 x 112 cms

Hamilton Fraser ’ s painting was deeply textural in a similar manner to his compatriots at St Martin’s which included both Frank Auerbach and Leon Kossoff His work is often also compared with Nicholas de Staël in his use of colour and palette knife Leading art critics considered him one of the best well-regarded young modernist painters of the post-war generation and he was invited by de Staël’s New York dealer, Paul Rosenberg, to exhibit in Manhattan between 1958 - 1978. ‘Cyclades’ was based on a painting originally painted in the early 1950s and exhibited at the historic ‘Painting into Textiles’ exhibition held at the Institute of Contemporary Art, London in 1953 - the same year as his first solo exhibition at Gimpel Fils Gallery In 1957, Carel Weight invited him to teach at the Royal College of Art where he would remain for the following twenty five years

LITERATURE

The New Look: Design in the Fifties, Lesley Jackson (Thames & Hudson) 1991

David Whitehead Ltd: Artist Designed Textiles 1952 - 1960 Alan Peat (Oldham Leisure Services) 1993

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (The Fine Art Society, London)

2003

Post War British Textiles (Francesca Galloway) 2006

Textile Design: Artists’ Textiles 1940 - 1976, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (Antique Collectors Club Ltd) 2012

EXHIBITIONS

David Whitehead Ltd: Artist Designed Textiles 1952 - 1960, Oldham Museum & Art Gallery, 1993

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970, The Fine Art Society, London, 2003

Material: Textile, Messums Wiltshire, 2019

COLLECTIONS

Art Institute of Chicago, USA

Donald Hamilton Fraser (1929 - 2009)

Cyclades

1962 Screen print on cotton

David Whitehead Ltd

64 x 53 cms

Barbara Hepworth was particularly rigorous in her approach to creating a design for an Ascher Square The practice of working in sculpture and in three dimensions is an interesting lens through which to view her scarf design ‘Landscape Structure’ A scarf is a two-dimensional work which, when worn, is transformed into a three dimensional object and Hepworth appears keenly aware of this in the structure of her composition. Her work has one symmetrical plane which gives it structure, yet it is textured throughout with an irregular scratching pattern which assures a different impression from each side

Extract from The Ascher Archive

Textile designing is more than patterning Colours and form go hand in hand – brown fields and green hills cannot be divorced from the earth’s shape – a square becomes a triangle a triangle becomes a circle, a circle an oval by the continuous curve of folding: and we return, always, to the essential human form – the human form in landscape

Letter to Zika Ascher from Barbara Hepworth 1947

LITERATURE

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (The Fine Art Society, London) 2003

Textile Design: Artists’ Textiles 1940 - 1976 Rayner Chamberlain & Stapleton (Antique Collectors Club Ltd) 2012

The Mad Silkman, Zika & Lida Asher, Textiles & Fashion, Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague (Slovart Publishing Ltd Prague) 2019

EXHIBITIONS

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970, The Fine Art Society, London, 2003

Material: Textile, Messums Wiltshire, 2019

The Mad Silkman, Zika & Lida Asher, Textiles & Fashion, Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague, 2019

Barbara Hepworth (1903 - 1975)

Landscape Sculpture

1947 Screen print on silk

Edition 49/175, signed in print

Ascher Ltd

90 x 90 cms

On his brother ’ s designs for Cresta Silks, Patrick Heron’s brother wrote - ‘It was my dad’s suggestion that he should do a design for Cresta At the age of fourteen he produced ‘Melon’ (1934) and then two years later, ‘Amaryllis’, which was his first repeat pattern, block-printed design Our father would explain to him: If you have a square scarf, you don t wear it as a square, you wear it folded up and therefore you must think of it as two or four triangles – always getting different results”. You can see this was taken on board in this design Pat was also very keen on Paul Nash’s designs, such as ‘Cherry Orchard’ (1931) He was inevitably aware of the artist-commissioned designs being produced for Cresta and would sometimes look to those artists for inspiration As his paintings got more and more influenced by the likes of Cubism, so his designs got more outrageously modern ‘Aztec’ (1945), for instance, is designed by somebody who’s deeply immersed in Modern art The most extraordinary squiggles as motifs, scattered over the surface Each informed the other, though he was developing and learning as a painter when he began to produce designs’

Giles Heron Tate Etc Issue 28: Summer 2013

LITERATURE & EXHIBITIONS

Artists Textiles in Britain

2003

1945 - 1970 Rayner Chamberlain & Stapleton (The Fine Art Society London)

Material: Textile, Messums Wiltshire, 2019

Patrick Heron (1920 - 1999)

Nude

1947 Screen print on silk

Signed & dated in print

Cresta Silks

79 x 75 cms

‘St Ives’ perfectly captures Heron’s freestyle evident in his early paintings of the late 1940s and early 50s It was originally drawn whist Heron worked for his father at Cresta Silks in the 1940s It was later printed in 1985 in blue and black with Heron’s signature and date (1948) by Alexander MacIntyre for the Tate Gallery s exhibition St Ives 1939-64: Twenty-Five years of Painting, Sculpture & Pottery

Tom Heron, Patrick’s father, was a towering figure, active in both politics and the Arts He met Ruskin as a child and counted Herbert Read and T S Elliot as close friends Prior to Cresta Silks, Tom Heron ran a shirt manufacturing business in Leeds It was in these early days in Leeds that he met Paul and John Nash, Stanley and Gilbert Spencer, C R W Nevinson and many more His active interest in Socialism and The Leeds Arts Club ensured that he had a wide circle of friends in the avant-garde He ran Cresta Silks to exacting and at the same time unorthodox standards that reflected ‘guild socialism’ Paul Nash, Stanley Spencer and his son Patrick were among his designers Based in Welwyn Garden City there was also a shop on Bond Street with McKnight Kauffer ’ s modernist lettering over the door The shop itself was designed by a young Wells Coates in the art deco style During World War II, Tom Heron was the driving force behind the Utility Clothing Scheme and in his egalitarian way commissioned both Norman Hartnell and Hardy Amies to design clothes ‘for the people’

LITERATURE & EXHIBITIONS

Material: Textile, Messums Wiltshire, 2019

Patrick Heron (1920 - 1999)

St Ives

1948 Screen print on silk

Signed & dated in print

Cresta Silks

1985 Edition Alexander MacIntyre

85 x 79 cms

Textiles played a significant role in Louis Le Brocquy ’ s career as an artist and few modern artists had as much experience in tapestry design From 1948 Le Brocquy worked closely with Edinburgh Tapestry Weavers (later Dovecote Studio) who selected him along with Jakel Adler, Graham Sutherland and Stanley Spencer to create designs for tapestries He also designed tapestries for Tabard Frères et Soeurs Aubusson, France. Le Brocquy and architect Michael Scott formed the Signa Design Company in 1953, with Scott acting as general design consultant Their mission was to be contemporary with an Irish flavour with influences from the Bauhaus John McGuire Ltd of Dublin (Brown Thomas) commissioned ‘Flight’ in 1954 and it was exhibited in the Société des Artistes Décorateurs, Grand Palais, Paris in May 1954 Le Brocquy ’ s other textile designs included the celebrated 20 Táin Aubusson tapestries made from the late 1960s to the mid 1970s, a complete set of which is held in the collection of the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin

LITERATURE & EXHIBITIONS

Textile Design: Artists’ Textiles 1940 - 1976, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (Antique Collectors Club Ltd) 2012

Société des Artistes Décorateurs Grand Palais Paris 1954

Louis Le Brocquy (1916 - 2012)

Flight

1954 Hand printed on linen

John McGuire Ltd, Dublin

35 x 60 5 cms

The ‘Parade Sauvage’ design by Léger was created as a dress fabric produced by the American textile manufacturer Fuller Fabrics for their ‘Modern Masters’ series Two weeks before his death Léger was photographed in his Paris studio by Life magazine alongside the British model and Life magazine 1953 Cover Girl Anne Gunning who wore a dinner dress with high neck in the Parade Sauvage’ print. Gunning herself was introduced to America by Harper ’ s Bazaar editor Carmel Snow. Dan Fuller, the founder of Fuller Fabrics, and Léger were also photographed for American Fabrics magazine standing alongside the ‘Parade Sauvage’ fabric Claire McCardell, the American fashion designer selected the textile ‘Parade Sauvage’ print for two of her elegant designs in the 1950s with further commercial success

LITERATURE

Life magazine ‘New Fabrics Put Modern Art in Fashion’, 1956

American Fabrics no 35 ‘Fine Arts and Textiles Come To Terms’ January 4 1955

Claire McCardell: Redefining Modernism, Kohle Yohannan & Nancy Nolf, (Harry N Abrahams, Inc )

1998

Textile Design: Artists’ Textiles 1940 - 1976 Rayner Chamberlain & Stapleton (Antique Collectors Club Ltd) 2012

EXHIBITIONS

Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, USA, 1955

Artist Textiles: Picasso to Warhol, Fashion & Textile Museum, London, 2014

COLLECTIONS

Los Angeles County Museum of Art CA

Cooper Hewitt, New York

Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Fernand Léger (1881 - 1955)

Parade Sauvage

1955 Screen print on cotton

Fuller Fabrics Modern Masters

83 x 89 cms

The original inspiration for Léger ’ s ‘ Vitrail’ fabric was his commission for the stained-glass windows at L’Église du Sacré- Cœur, d’Audincourt, France in 1950 in which he designed an almost continuous strip of celestory windows that represented the Passion of Christ The stained glass so impressed the architect Basil Spence that he unsuccessfully approached Léger for a stained-glass design for the new Coventry Cathedral The commission ultimately went to Modern British artist John Piper Christian Dior produced leisurewear in ‘ Vitrail’ for Cole of California in 1957 as did the innovative Jack Horwitz for his Horwitz and Duberman line of clothing in the 1950s for a young American market

LITERATURE

Life Magazine ‘New Fabrics Put Modern Art in Fashion’ 1956

American Fabrics Winter 1955/56

EXHIBITIONS

Brooklyn Museum Brooklyn USA 1955

COLLECTIONS

Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York

Fernand Léger (1881 - 1955)

Vitrail

1955 Screen print on cotton

Fuller Fabrics Modern Masters

40 x 56 cms

More’s ‘Head of Man’ was first produced in the 1940s as a printer ’ s proof on linen alongside ‘ Two Standing Figures’ as evidenced in a magnificent set of photographs documenting Zika & Lida Ascher with Moore on a visit to their studio ‘Head of Man’ was later released in 1989 as a limited edition textile panel The original drawing in pencil, wax crayon, coloured crayon and watercolour from Moore’s sketch book ‘ Textile Design Sketchbook 2’ along with an edition of the 1989 textile was acquired by The Henry Moore Foundation in 1990

LITERATURE

Henry Moore Textiles, Anita Feldman (Lund Humphries) 2008

The Mad Silkman, Zika & Lida Asher, Textiles & Fashion, Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague (Slovart Publishing Ltd, Prague) 2019

EXHIBITIONS

The Mad Silkman, Zika & Lida Asher, Textiles & Fashion, Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague, 2019

Material: Textile, Messums Wiltshire, 2019

COLLECTIONS

Henry Moore Foundation, UK

Henry Moore (1898 - 1986)

Head of Man

1943/1947 Screen print on woven cotton

Edition 39/65, signed in print

Issued 1989 Ascher Ltd

Ascher Archive, USA

168 x 117 cms

Stylistically ‘ Three Seated Figures’ is an interesting blend between Moore’s typical studies of the human form and his somewhat more whimsical designs for textiles Ascher introduced many modern artists to new audiences worldwide by commissioning them for textile designs for the home Zika and Lida Ascher worked particularly closely with Henry Moore and many of these original fabric designs are now held in the permanent collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum and The Henry Moore Foundation Moore designed only four large scale wall panels for Ascher between 1943 and 1949 Unlike the repeat fabric patterns, the panels were produced as limited edition works of art

They were shown first in 1948 at the Lefevre Gallery, alongside textiles by Henri Matisse and later shown ‘ on tour ’ across the USA by the Museum of Modern Art, New York Ascher produced ‘ Three Seated Figures’ posthumously in 1989 as an edition of 65

LITERATURE

Henry Moore Textiles Anita Feldman (Lund Humphries) 2008

The Mad Silkman: Zika & Lida Asher, Textiles & Fashion, Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague (Slovart Publishing Ltd, Prague) 2019

EXHIBITIONS

Henry Moore at Pallant House, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, 2009/10

The Mad Silkman: Zika & Lida Asher, Textiles & Fashion, Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague, 2019

Material: Textile, Messums Wiltshire, 2019

Common Thread, New Art Centre, 2020

COLLECTIONS

Henry Moore Foundation UK

Henry Moore (1898 - 1986)

Three Seated Figures

1943/1947 Screen print on cotton

Edition 43/65, signed in print

Issued 1989 Ascher Ltd

Ascher Archive, USA

163 x 122 cms

‘ Two Standing Figures’ was first shown alongside Matisse’s ‘Océanie - Le Ciel & La Mer ’ also commissioned by Ascher and exhibited at the Lefevre Gallery in 1949 ‘ Two Standing Figures’ is a monumental work by Moore, originally produced at the height of the second World War The production of such large screen prints was an extremely time consuming and skilled process as separate colours and blocks were applied to the fabric. Ascher welcomed Moore to witness the entire production process and the editions were signed and editioned by Moore himself The task was a major test for Ascher and his team as they had never before attempted to produce on such an epic scale Moore would have to wait a further 20 years for the West Dean Tapestries to see his work once again on such a vast scale Moore never tired of the excitement of seeing his works translated into textiles

“If it were just going to be a colour reproduction I wouldn’t be interested It is because of the translation from one medium to another and has to be different that you get a surprise It is not like a bronze caster who has to produce an absolutely exact copy or it is thrown away it is different, an interpretation, and that to me is the excitement and the pleasure

Henry Moore

LITERATURE

Ascher Fabric Art Fashion The Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A Publications) 1987

Henry Moore Textiles, Anita Feldman (Lund Humphries) 2008

Henry Moore Foundation Catalogue Tex 20

EXHIBITIONS

Lefevre Gallery, London, 1949

Ascher Fabric Art Fashion, The Victoria & Albert Museum, 1987

Henry Moore at Pallant House, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, 2009/10

The Mad Silkman: Zika & Lida Asher, Textiles & Fashion, Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague, 2019

Material: Textile, Messums Wiltshire, 2019

COLLECTIONS

MoMA, New York

Henry Moore Foundation, UK

Henry Moore (1898 - 1986)

Two Standing Figures

1949 Serigraphy on Irish linen

Edition 7/30, signed by Artist

Ascher Ltd

256 5 x 178 cms

‘ Triangles & Lines’ was the first selection of the Henry Moore designs by John Murry, the company director of David Whitehead Ltd ’ s successor Tom Mellor Mellor had seen the original Moore artworks at the ‘Paintings into Textiles’ exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art in 1953 and consequently produced Triangles and Lines alongside Zigzag which featured on the cover of the exhibition catalogue as textiles for interiors.

LITERATURE

The New Look: Design in the Fifties, Lesley Jackson (Thames & Hudson) 1991

David Whitehead Ltd: Artist Designed Textiles 1952 - 1960, Alan Peat (Oldham Leisure Services) 1993

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (The Fine Art Society, London)

2003

Henry Moore Textiles Anita Feldman (Lund Humphries) 2008

Textile Design: Artists’ Textiles 1940 - 1976, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (Antique Collectors Club Ltd) 2012

EXHIBITIONS

The New Look: Design in the Fifties, Manchester City Art Galleries, 1991

The New Look: Design in the Fifties, Glasgow Art Gallery, 1992

David Whitehead Ltd: Artist Designed Textiles 1952 - 1960, Oldham Museum & Art Gallery, 1993

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970, The Fine Art Society, London, 2003

Henry Moore at Pallant House, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, 2009/10

COLLECTIONS

Victoria & Albert Museum, London

The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester Henry Moore Foundation UK

Henry Moore (1898 - 1986)

Triangles & Lines

1954 Screen print on cotton

David Whitehead Ltd

40 x 30 cms

‘ Vertical’ was a key part of the Edinburgh Weavers ‘Constructivist Collection’ The subtle low relief effects were created through a careful selection of yarns and by variations in the weave Nicholson produced his first geometric and abstract reliefs in 1933 whist still a member of the Seven and Five Society In the same year he joined Unit One, founded by Paul Nash and a key moment for the modernist movement. In 1937 when ‘ Vertical’ was produced, Nicholson joined Naum Gabo and the architect Leslie Martin to edit Circle: International Survey of Constructive Art This identified Nicholson with a group of like-minded artists and architects who wanted to apply ‘constructivist’ principles to public and private art, advocating mathematical precision, clean lines and an absence of ornament

LITERATURE

20th Century Pattern Design, Lesley Jackson (Mitchell Beazley UK) 2002 / 2011

Twentieth- Century Pattern Design Lesley Jackson (Princeton Architectural Press USA) 2002

20th Century Pattern Design, Lesley Jackson (Octopus Publishing) 2011

Alistair Morton & Edinburgh Weavers, Lesley Jackson (V&A Publishing) 2012

Studio Lives Architect Art & Artist in 20th- Century Britain Louise Campbell (Lund Humphries) 2019

EXHIBITIONS

Common Thread, New Art Centre, 2020

COLLECTIONS

Victoria & Albert Museum, London

The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester

Ben Nicholson (1894 - 1982)

Vertical

1937 Jacquard woven rayon & cotton

Edinburgh Weavers

70 5 x 120 cms

The ‘Arundel’ design for Sanderson draws on Pipers collaboration with Patrick Reyntiens for the stained glass windows of Oundle School Chapel (1954) It is also believed the design was influenced by the carved figures on the base of the tomb of Thomas, 5th Earl of Arundel in the Fitzalan Chapel of Arundel Castle and the 10th Earls tomb at Chichester Cathedral The textile itself draws deeply from the imagery of stained glass. ‘Arundel’ was one of five designs used to celebrate Sanderson’s centenary in 1960 Each design was screen printed on Sanderlin: a cotton fabric with a permanent glaze finish developed at Sanderson’s Uxbridge print works as well as in linen

LITERATURE

Austerity to Affluence: British Art & Design 1945 -1962, (Merrell Holberton Publishers) 1997

20th Century Pattern Design, Lesley Jackson (Mitchell Beazley UK) 2002 / 2011

Twenty- Century Pattern Design, Lesley Jackson (Princeton Architectural Press, USA) 2002

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970 Rayner Chamberlain & Stapleton (The Fine Art Society London) 2003

Post War British Textiles, (Francesca Galloway), 2006

Piper in Print Alan Powers (Artists’ Choice Editions) 2010

Textile Design: Artists’ Textiles 1940 - 1976, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (Antique Collectors Club Ltd) 2012

EXHIBITIONS

John Piper: The Fabric of Modernism, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, 2016

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970, The Fine Art Society, London, 2003

Material: Textile, Messums Wiltshire, 2019

Common Thread New Art Centre 2020

COLLECTIONS

Art Institute of Chicago USA

John Piper (1903 - 1992)

Arundel

1960, Woven linen

Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd

91 x 114 cms

Piper knew Blenheim Palace well, originally visiting in the 1930s as part of his research for the original Oxfordshire Shell Guide edited by both Piper and John Betjeman It is interesting to note the development of his style on each of his visits to Blenheim Betjeman was often seen as a strong influence in leading Piper away from abstraction to the neo -romantic and architectural style of his later work. The 11th Duke of Marlborough commissioned Piper to paint Blenheim Palace and the surrounding parkland in 1980 in a series of paintings that Jeri Bapasola, the archivist at Blenheim Palace, ‘considered the most striking 20th-century images of the house’ These works and the 1983 screen prints brought a new colour palate to Blenheim that was to contrast with Piper ’ s moody and atmospheric earlier work

LITERATURE

David Whitehead Ltd: Artist Designed Textiles 1952 - 1969 (Oldham Leisure Services) 1993

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970 Rayner Chamberlain & Stapleton (The Fine Art Society London) 2003

Textile Design: Artists Textiles 1940 - 1976, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (Antique Collectors Club Ltd) 2012

John Piper: The Fabric of Modernism (Pallant House Gallery) 2016

The Art of John Piper, David Fraser Jenkins & Hugh Fowler Wright (Unicorn/Portland Gallery) 2016

EXHIBITIONS

David Whitehead Ltd: Artist Designed Textiles 1952 - 1969, Oldham Museum & Art Gallery, 1993

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970, The Fine Art Society, London, 2003

John Piper: The Fabric of Modernism, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, 2016

John Piper (1903 - 1992)

Blenheim Gate

1956 Screen print on rayon

David Whitehead Ltd

43 x 60 cms

The abstract motifs of the rich coloured textile ‘Brittany ’ can be seen clearly in the original gouache, cut marbled paper collage works by Piper on which ‘Brittany ’ was based Piper stayed in Finisterre in Brittany in 1960 and ‘61 where he repeatedly drew the rocky beachscapes Piper at the time was working in collage as he prepared the designs for the stained-glass windows at the new Coventry Cathedral. The Tate, London holds in its permanent collection ‘Coast of Brittany II’ (1961), a collage in paper and watercolour which was a significant inspiration for the David Whitehead textile ‘Poelfoen’ (1960) and ‘Brittany Beach’ were 1961-2 lithograph works that were also completed during this time The textiles made up an important section of David Whitehead’s ‘Living Art Collection’ which launched to great acclaim in the late 1960s

LITERATURE

David Whitehead Ltd: Artist Designed Textiles 1952 - 1969 (Oldham Leisure Services) 1993

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970 Rayner Chamberlain & Stapleton (The Fine Art Society London) 2003

Textile Design: Artists Textiles 1940 - 1976, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (Antique Collectors Club Ltd) 2012

The Art of John Piper, David Fraser Jenkins & Hugh Fowler Wright (Unicorn/Portland Gallery) 2016

EXHIBITIONS

David Whitehead Ltd: Artist Designed Textiles 1952 - 1969, Oldham Museum & Art Gallery, 1993

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970, The Fine Art Society, London, 2003

John Piper: The Fabric of Modernism, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, 2016

Styled by Design, Gray M C A, London, 2017

Material: Textile Messums Wiltshire 2019

John Piper (1903 - 1992)

Brittany

1969 Screen print on cotton

David Whitehead Ltd

110 x 112 cms

‘Cotswold’ was one of the second set of textiles produced for David Whitehead Ltd and echoed Piper ’ s recent work on abstract landscapes with hints of his stained-glass work also visible within the design

Tom Mellor from David Whitehead, would regularly visit Piper at Fawley Bottom Farmhouse, Buckinghamshire which had been home for John and Myfanwy since 1930 They would discuss in detail the repeats and colourways that might suit each textile design. Process was of particular interest to Piper in his collaboration with textile designers such as Mellor and Ascher

LITERATURE

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (The Fine Art Society, London) 2003

Piper in Print, Alan Powers, Artists’ Choice Editions) 2010

Textile Design: Artists’ Textiles 1940 -1976, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (Antique Collectors Club Ltd) 2012

The Art of John Piper, David Fraser Jenkins & Hugh Fowler Wright (Unicorn/Portland Gallery) 2016

EXHIBITIONS

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970, The Fine Art Society, London, 2003

John Piper: The Fabric of Modernism, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, 2016

Material: Textile, Messums Wiltshire, 2019

COLLECTIONS

Art Institute of Chicago, USA

John Piper (1903 - 1992)

Cotswold

1960 Screen print on cotton

David Whitehead Ltd

115 x 107 cms

The inspiration for Piper ’ s ‘Church Monuments, Exton’ was the Baroque monument by the 17th century Anglo -Dutch sculptor Grinling Gibbons to Baptist Noel 3rd Viscount Camden (c1612-83) for his four wives and nineteen children Situated in the Church of St Peter and St Paul in Exton, Rutland, the monument is considered to be the finest carving in stone by Gibbons whose work can also be seen at Windsor Castle, St Paul’s Cathedral and Trinity College, Cambridge.

LITERATURE

David Whitehead Ltd: Artist Designed Textiles 1952 - 1969 (Oldham Leisure Services) 1993

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (The Fine Art Society, London) 2003

Piper in Print Alan Powers (Artists’ Choice Editions) 2010

Textile Design: Artists’ Textiles 1940 - 1976, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (Antique Collectors Club Ltd) 2012

John Piper: The Fabric of Modernism (Pallant House Gallery) 2016

The Art of John Piper, David Fraser Jenkins & Hugh Fowler Wright (Unicorn/Portland Gallery) 2016

EXHIBITIONS

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970, The Fine Art Society, London, 2003

John Piper: The Fabric of Modernism, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, 2016

John Piper (1903 - 1992)

Church Monument Exton

1954 Screen print on cotton

David Whitehead Ltd

110 x 112 cms

‘Foliate Head’ is one of the earliest textiles produced for David Whitehead Ltd and one of Piper ’ s most distinctive motifs It is loosely based on the ‘ green man ’ sculptures and carvings found in many medieval and 19th Century buildings The textile is also loosely based on a reworking of a watercolour and chalk work that had been exhibited at the Painting into Textiles exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art in 1953. The watercolour was inspired by an earlier 1935 oil painting by Piper held in the private collection of The Ambassador publishers Hans & Elsbeth Juda A version of the ‘Foliate Head’ image was published by Faber & Faber in 1954 in their Ariel Poem Series: Prometheus by Edwin Muir The ‘Foliate Head’ motif also featured in a limited edition silk scarf released by Christies

Contemporary Art in 1984

LITERATURE

An Ariel Poem: Prometheus (Farer & Gwyer) 1954

The New Look: Design in the Fifties Lesley Jackson (Thames & Hudson) 1991

David Whitehead Ltd: Artist Designed Textiles 1952 - 1969 (Oldham Leisure Services) 1993

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (The Fine Art Society, London) 2003

20th Century Pattern Design, Lesley Jackson (Mitchell Beazley UK) 2002 / 2011, Twenty- Century Pattern Design, Lesley Jackson (Princeton Architectural Press USA) 2002

Post War British Textiles (Francesca Galloway) 2006

Piper in Print, Alan Powers (Artists’ Choice Editions) 2010

Textile Design: Artists’ Textiles 1940 - 1976, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (Antique Collectors Club Ltd) 2012

The Art of John Piper, David Fraser Jenkins & Hugh Fowler Wright (Unicorn / Portland Gallery) 2016

John Piper: The Fabric of Modernism (Pallant House Gallery) 2016

EXHIBITIONS

The New Look: Design in the Fifties Manchester City Art Galleries 1991

The New Look: Design in the Fifties, Glasgow Art Gallery, 1992

David Whitehead Ltd: Artist Designed Textiles 1952-1969, Oldham Museum & Art Gallery, 1993

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970, The Fine Art Society, London 2003

John Piper: The Fabric of Modernism, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, 2016

John Piper (1903 - 1992)

Foliate Head

1954 Screen print on cotton

David Whitehead Ltd

46 x 117 cms

‘Carnet II’ is based on a series of paintings and drawings by Picasso of his second wife and muse Jacqueline Roque Picasso of whom he painted more frequently than any other muse during his lifetime The textile image of Jacqueline depicts her, as a mirror image, atop a rearing horse stoically confronting her own visage in a whirlwind of dust and smoke Carnet II was the first Picasso fabric released by Bloomcraft Fabrics and was featured as part of a wide publicity campaign to announce the debut of the ‘Picasso Collection’ signed fabrics in the 1960s

LITERATURE

Textile Design: Artists’ Textiles 1940 - 1976, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (Antique Collectors Club Ltd) 2012

EXHIBITIONS

Artist Textiles from Picasso to Warhol Fashion and Textile Museum London 2014

COLLECTIONS

American Textile History Museum Osborne Library Collection Cornell University USA

Cooper Hewitt, New York, USA

Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973)

Carnet II

1963 Screen print on cotton

Signed & dated in print

Bloomcraft Fabrics USA

75 x 121 cms

‘Frontispiece’ was an exception to the rule for Picasso’s work in textiles as it was initially produced as a furnishing fabric previously Picasso had famously only agreed for his work being produced in textile on the basis that

‘ no one should sit on a Picasso’! The image of ‘Frontispiece’ can be found to have a link with the early Pop Art movement The fabric was produced by Bloomcraft and later used as a summer shift dress for Alice Polynesian Fashions.

LITERATURE

Textile Design: Artists’ Textiles 1940 - 1976, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (Antique Collectors Club Ltd) 2012

EXHIBITIONS

Artist Textiles from Picasso to Warhol, Fashion and Textile Museum, London, 2014

Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973)

Frontispiece

1963 Screen print on cotton

Signed in print

Bloomcraft Fabrics USA

90 x 62 cms

‘Picador ’ was celebrated in a Montreal Gazette article dated June 13, 1963 that announced the debut of the ‘Picasso Collection’ of signed fabrics Several of Picasso’s original artworks were screen printed onto fabric and widely advertised and promoted in the USA to great acclaim What ‘Picador ’ lacks in colour is more than gained from the subtle textural nature of the linen in varying shades of grey which highlights the atmospheric characters within the work.

LITERATURE & EXHIBITIONS

Material: Textile, Messums Wiltshire, 2019

Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973)

Picador

1963 Screen print on linen

Signed & dated 1959 in print

Bloomcraft Fabrics USA

75 x 56 cms

Originally published in 1962 in the book Toros y Toteros, the image of ‘ Toros y Toteros’ was also used on the cover of a book with the same name published in New York in the 1960s with a text by the Spanish bull fighter Luis Miguel Dominguín which included many of Picasso’s bullfighting images Dominguín was a popular figure in artists circles and featured alongside Picasso in Jean Cocteau s 1960 film ‘ Testament of Orpheus’. Picasso, who had been brought up in Málaga and taken to bullfights as a child believed bullfighting to be a true expression of his birth country The Gagosian Galley in 2017 included Picasso’s earliest surviving painting, a small portrait of a picador on a horse made when he was just eight years old

LITERATURE

Textile Design, Artists’ Textiles 1940 - 1976, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (Antique Collectors Club

Ltd) 2012

EXHIBITIONS

Artist Textiles from Picasso to Warhol, Fashion and Textile Museum, London, 2014

Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973)

Toros y Toteros

1963 Screen print on cotton

Signed in print

Bloomcraft Fabrics, USA

121 x 112 cms

‘Crystalline Image’ is heavily influenced by the Festival Pattern Group (1951), which Barbara Hepworth had encouraged Alistair Morton to join at the time of The Festival of Britain It builds on the groups interest in atomic structures for pattern design The Group was conceived by Dr Helen Megaw, a leading Cambridge crystallographer The jewel-like composition of Crystalline is based on a watercolour by Reynolds called ‘August Image – Crystalline’, from a series dating from 1958-9, which was transformed by Alastair Morton into a spectacular jacquard weave The textile displays an astonishing variety of weave structures, colours and textures of yarn and was one of the costliest textiles in the Edinburgh Weavers range

LITERATURE

Edinburgh Weavers Autumn Catalogue 1961

Austerity to Affluence: British Art & Design 1945 - 1962 (Merrell Holberton Publishers) 1997

British Textile Design from 1940 to the Present The Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A Publishing) 1999

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (The Fine Art Society, London)

2003

British Textiles: 1700 to the Present Linda Parry (V&A Publishing) 2010

Textile Design: Artists’ Textiles 1940 - 1976, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (Antique Collectors Club

Ltd) 2012

Alistair Morton & Edinburgh Weavers, Lesley Jackson, The Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A Publishing)

2012

Material: Textile, (Messums Wiltshire) 2019

EXHIBITIONS

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970 The Fine Art Society London 2003

Material: Textile, Messums Wiltshire, 2019

Common Thread, New Art Centre, 2020

Alan Reynolds (1926 - 2014)

Crystalline Image

1961 Jacquard woven cotton & rayon

Edinburgh Weavers

60 x 120 cms

Referencing the painting by Reynolds’s ‘Black Ovoid’ (1962) purchased by Alastair Morton from The Redfern Gallery in the same year Reynolds had moved on from his more organic forms to a more geometric form by 1963 ‘Legend’, based on landscape and archaeology, reflected the large circular forms of his painting Under Morton s direction the dark and powerful textile was made in just one colourway as a screen print. ‘Legend’ broke new ground for design in textiles and won the Design of the Year award in 1965

LITERATURE

Design of the Year Award 1965

All things Bright & Beautiful: Design in Britain 1830 to Today, Fiona MacCarthy (George Allen & Unwin)

1972

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (The Fine Art Society, London)

2003

Twentieth Century Textiles, Francesca Galloway (Antique Collectors Club) 2007

Textile Design: Artists Textiles 1940 - 1976, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (Antique Collectors Club Ltd) 2012

Alistair Morton & Edinburgh Weavers, Lesley Jackson, The Victoria & Albert Museum, (V&A Publishing)

2012

Material: Textile (Messums Wiltshire) 2019

EXHIBITIONS

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970, The Fine Art Society, London, 2003

Material: Textile, Messums Wiltshire, 2019

Common Thread New Art Centre 2020

Alan Reynolds (1926 - 2014)

Legend

1963-64 Screen print on cotton

Edinburgh Weavers

61 x 121 cms

Reynolds ‘ Weald’ was produced on textured cotton that allowed what was described as ‘ one of his most romantic watercolours’ to acquire considerable atmosphere as a textile The original watercolours of 1958 included ‘Rocky Headland’ and others similar in style A strong geological and organic form that, though horizontal, also draws the eye to the vertical The art critic J P Hodin writing on Reynolds in the 1960’s wrote: ‘ The horizontal and the vertical remain in Alan Reynold’s pictures the elemental structures They are always emphasised It is the horizontal that defines the horizon The horizontal makes for stability; the vertical expresses growth and direction towards life’

LITERATURE

Design Magazine, February 1960

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (The Fine Art Society, London) 2003

Alistair Morton & Edinburgh Weavers Lesley Jackson (V&A Publishing) 2012

Textile Design: Artists’ Textiles 1940 - 1976, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (Antique Collectors Club Ltd) 2012

EXHIBITIONS

Modern Art in Textile Design, The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, 1962

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970, The Fine Art Society, London, 2003 Post War British Textiles, Francesca Galloway Gallery, 2006

Alan Reynolds (1926 - 2014)

Weald

1959 Screen print on cotton

Edinburgh Weavers

86 x 112 cms

‘Skaill’, as with all of Scott’s textiles designs, was to receive considerable acclaim The textile was exhibited alongside Scott’s paintings on at least two occasions during the 1960s; including the Modern Art in Textile Design exhibition at the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester in 1962 The design artwork was painted to scale and executed in gouache and wax resist - the wax producing the contrasts that show so clearly in the final textile. ‘Skaill’ was produced in four colourways - black, yellow, dark green and flame orange The use of a thick jacquard weave perfectly matched that of Scott’s textured painting The contrasting colours symbolise the rocky cliffs, sea and sky of the Bay of Skaill on the west coast of mainland Orkney close to the Neolithic settlement of Skara Brae on which Scott also based a screen print of the same name for Edinburgh Weavers during this period

LITERATURE

20th Century Pattern Design, Lesley Jackson, (Mitchell Beazley UK) 2002 / 2011

Twenty- Century Pattern Design Lesley Jackson (Princeton Architectural Press USA) 2002

Alistair Morton & Edinburgh Weavers, Lesley Jackson, The Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A Publishing)

2012

EXHIBITIONS

Material: Textile, Messums Wiltshire, 2019

Common Thread, New Art Centre, 2020

William Scott (1913 - 1989)

Skaill (Yellow)

1959 Jacquard woven wool

Edinburgh Weavers

104 x 104 cms

Victor Vasarely was one, if not the key originator of the Op Art Movement of which Kernoo is a superb example His art education was rooted deeply in the disciplines of Gropius’s Bauhaus He was also influenced by Kandinsky and the Constructivists Initially a graphic artist, Vasarely is considered to have created the first Op Art work ‘Zebra’ in the 1930s whilst in Paris It was later the basis of a tapestry produced by Atelier Tabard, Frères et Soeurs, Aubusson in 1959 and held in the collection of The Art Institute of Chicago Vasarely journeyed through surrealism and abstract expressionism before Op Art was recognised as a major development of painting in the 1960s It used geometric forms to create optical effects that could be both subtle and disorienting He also designed ‘Oeta’ in 1962, a Jacquard-woven ramie, wool and cotton fabric also for Edinburgh Weavers Vasarely also joined an impressive list of Modernist artists designing tapestries for Manufacture des Gobelins in Paris and Pinton Frères, Aubusson from the mid 1960s

LITERATURE

English and American Textiles, Mary Schoeser (Thames and Hudson) 1989

The Sixties, Lesley Jackson (Phaidon Press Ltd) 1998

The Victoria & Albert Museum’s Textile Collection, British Textile Design from 1940 to the Present, Ngozi Ikoku, (V&A Publishing) 1999

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (The Fine Art Society, London) 2003

Twentieth Century Textiles, Francesca Galloway (Antique Collectors Club Ltd) 2007

British Textiles: 1700 to the Present, Linda Parry (V&A Publishing) 2010

1950s Fashion Print, Marnie Fogg (Batsford) 2010

Alistair Morton & Edinburgh Weavers, Lesley Jackson (V&A Publishing) 2012

Textile Design: Artists’ Textiles 1940 - 1976, Rayner, Chamberlain & Stapleton (Antique Collectors Club Ltd) 2012

Pattern Design, Elizabeth Wilhide (Thames & Hudson) 2018

EXHIBITIONS

Inbox: British Printed Textiles, MoMA, New York, 2014 - 15

Artists Textiles in Britain 1945 - 1970, The Fine Art Society, London, 2003

COLLECTIONS

Victoria & Albert Museum, London MoMA, New York

Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA

Victor Vasarely (1906 - 1997)

Kernoo

1962 Screen print on cotton

Edinburgh Weavers

98 x 63 cms

Keith Vaughan is likely to have been introduced to Edinburgh Weavers Alastair Morton through Hans Tisdall and his wife Isabell Tisdall taught with Vaughan at the Central School of Arts & Crafts and Isabell worked for Morton on a number of textiles designs Both Tisdall and Vaughan were commissioned for the 1951 Festival of Britain in which Vaughan painted the magnificent mural ‘ Theseus’ in The Dome of Discovery. ‘Green Man’ was produced on a screen printed textured cotton which textile historian Lesley Jackson points out was ‘particularly selected as it heighted the textural quality of screen printed versions of paintings’ The design itself is particularly interesting for its modernist sculptural forms reminiscent of the early work of Skeaping or Moore

LITERATURE

Alistair Morton & Edinburgh Weavers, Lesley Jackson (V&A Publishing) 2012

COLLECTIONS

Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Keith Vaughan (1912 - 1977)

Green Man

1957 Screen print on cotton

Edinburgh Weavers Ltd

105 x 105 cms

‘Fisherman’ was based on a lithograph by Vaughan titled ‘ The Old Seaweed Hoist’ (1953) which depicts two men with lobster pots and a boat on shore This is likely to be set in Mevagissey on the south coast of Cornwall, a small fishing village that Vaughan visited and painted as a subject in 1948 Vaughan had taught at Camberwell prior to 1948 and moved in the same year to Central School of Arts & Crafts. He often used his friend John McGuinness as a model for such works in the late 1940s It is likely that Morton saw Vaughan’s design for textiles at the 1953 Institute of Contemporary Art exhibition sponsored by The Ambassador magazine

LITERATURE

Alistair Morton & Edinburgh Weavers, Lesley Jackson, The Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A Publishing)

2012

Material: Textile (Messums Wiltshire) 2019

EXHIBITIONS

Material: Textile, Messums Wiltshire, 2019

COLLECTIONS

Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Art Institute of Chicago, USA

Keith Vaughan (1912 - 1977)

Fisherman

1956 Screen print on cotton

Edinburgh Weavers Ltd

72 x 92 cms

Ascher Ltd

Ascher Ltd was founded in 1942 by Zika and Lida Ascher who settled in Britain after the annexation of Czechoslovakia at the beginning of World War II On arrival in Britain they immediately set to work with Modernist designs Ascher approached Henry Moore after seeing his drawings of Londoners taking refuge on the platforms of the underground during the Blitz The 1943 collaboration with Henry Moore for designs for couture and interiors led to ‘ The Ascher Collection’ being launched by James Laver of the V&A at The Dorchester Hotel in 1945 and work being included in the Britain Can Make It exhibition in 1946 The famous Ascher Silk Squares followed in 1947 including commissions from many of the great Modern artists of the period from Piper and Matisse to Cocteau and Beaton Silk Scarves framed as fine art caught the media’s attention and following their launch at The Leferve Gallery, London the entire exhibition went on tour worldwide Ascher continued to develop fabrics, particularly focused for the couture market with Ascher silks favoured by Dior and Schiaparelli during the 1950s Between 1955 and 1961 Asher had an exclusive room at Liberty ’ s for their designs in silks and wool In 1957 they became the creators of hand-tufted mohair that was used to huge effect in Balenciaga’s A/W 64 collection The 1960s saw the Lida Ascher Boutique open at Harvey Nichols and Ascher prints used by the French designer Pierre Cardin In 1966 ‘ The Ascher Award’ for the best work of art used in fabrics was held at London’s I C A The 1970s saw further new and innovative designs for flowing silks and floating organzas that caught the spirit of the age Within the industry, Ascher Ltd was known for exacting quality and innovative design and their creative legacy remains today

Bloomcraft Fabrics Inc.

Bloomcraft Fabrics Inc was a New York based textile business founded by Charles Bloom in 1918, initially based on East 26th Street in Manhattan During the 1930s it began to focus on interiors with a particular emphasis on stain and water proof textiles By 1942 it opened the entire 3rd floor of the Emmet Building on prestigious Madison Avenue In 1947 the Saison s Happily Married fabrics were launched and featured simple but dynamic modern designs Their 1950 ‘Happily Married’ range included fabrics designed by the painter and printmaker Rockwell Kent including ‘Deer Season’ and ‘Norway Pine’ In the early 1960s

Bloomcraft commissioned Picasso to create a series of screen printed textiles in a variety of fabrics and finishes, many based on his 1962 book Toros Y Toreros

They also commissioned his Cubist colleague Georges Braque The 1963 ‘Picasso Collection’ of eleven textiles drew on work from throughout the artist’s career on a variety of materials in sumptuous colourways Familiar motifs such as the dove of peace and bull fighters featured prominently Launched in a blaze of publicity the ‘Picasso Collection’ was a great success Under the tag line ‘Picasso Olé the posters stated: If the ordinary bores you then the imaginative fabric collection was designed for you As vital daring, and provocative as the Master himself ’ Bloomcraft also produced a Picasso design based on his 1926 series of drawings of lines and dots

Cresta Silks Ltd

Cresta Silks Ltd was founded in Welwyn Garden City in 1929 by Tom Heron (18901983), a descendent of a family of weavers Heron had worked as Managing Director for Alex Walker at Cryséde Textiles in Newlyn, Cornwall from 1926 to 1933 He set up his own company following a disagreement with Walker A follower of the Leeds Art Club, Heron was close to the avant-garde artists of the time such as Nash, Spencer, Nevinson and Gore After World War II his son Patrick became principal designer for the firm which produced both fashion and fabrics for interiors His textile designs featured in the Britain Can Make It exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1946 Graham Sutherland also produced designs for Cresta Silks When Cryséde closed, Cresta Silks purchased many of their blocks which they continued to use Tom Heron was appointed to the Board of Trade and played a key role in the wartime development of the Utility Clothing Scheme He brought in designers such as Hardy Amies and Edward Molyneaux Cresta Silks was sold in the 1950s Tom Heron’s son Patrick went on to become one of the most celebrated artist’s of the St Ives School with work held in international collections

David Whitehead Ltd

Established in 1927 as a subsidiary of the Whitehead Group, the studio initially produced more conservative textiles Post World War II Whitehead became fully modernised and able to produce contemporary fabrics in volume Under the guidance of architect John Murray, the company rebranded itself and commissioned the latest contemporary designers and artists from a young Terrance Conran, Marian Mahler and Jacqueline Groag to artists such as John Piper and Peter Kinley Murray ’ s commissions were particularly celebrated at the 1951 Festival of Britain with twenty fabrics being selected - more than any of its competitors Tom Mellor succeeded Murray and built on his legacy commissioning Henry Moore, Paule Vézelay Donald Hamilton Fraser

s Contemporary Furnishings’ in 1955 Louis le Brocquy joined the stable in the late 1950s for their ‘Iberia’ range The 60s saw a move away from artist’s textiles to more technical designs by the in-house studio designers aimed for the mass market The 1969 ‘Living Art Exhibition’ would be David Whitehead Ltd’s final exhibition which notably returned to Modern artists such as John Pakenham, Edward Paolozzi, Sandra Blow, George Campbell and John Piper for their inspiration The Company was finally taken over by Lonrho in 1971

Edinburgh Weavers

Established in Edinburgh by James Morton in 1928 as an experimental branch of Morton Sundour Fabrics, Edinburgh

Weavers relocated to Carlisle in 1930 Morton’s son Alastair, a painter himself, took the helm and commissioned some of the greatest Modern artists to produce drawings for textile production Alistair had studied weaving alongside fellow Modernist Ethel Mairet and therefore had first-hand experience of the complexities of hand weaving Under his creative eye the firm established itself as a leading manufacturer of avant-garde, Modernist rugs and fabrics The Edinburgh Weavers ‘Constructivist’ range launched in October 1937 fused artists and textiles to dramatic effect with works by Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson, Winifred Nicholson and the visionary designer Ashley Havinden In the 1940s Morton also produced designs for Horrockses Fashion Ltd for their ready to wear collection With the ‘Paintings into Textiles’ exhibition of 1953, fresh and innovative textile design continued throughout the 1950s with Alan Reynolds, Elizabeth Frink, Cecil Collins and many more contributing to the creative genius that was the hallmark of the firm From the 1930s to the 1960s Morton’s Edinburgh Weavers continued to commission the great Modern artists and designers of the day No one played a more central role in the development of Artist Textiles With Morton’s death in 1963 and the sale of Morton Sundour to Courtaulds Plc a thrilling chapter of design was over

Fuller Fabrics

Fuller Fabrics launched their ‘Modern Masters Print collection in 1955 A two-year collaboration with artists including Léger, Picasso Miro Chagall and the Dufy estate led to the selection of key motifs from existing paintings The result was sixty modern artists textile designs that were used for both fashion and interiors all produced under the watchful eye of the artists A film was made by Fuller Fabrics to document the process of this new and creative approach to textiles and taking a page from the Asher Squares in London, the textiles were taken on tour across the United States after previewing at the Brooklyn Museum They featured in the November 1955 Life magazine under the title New Fabrics Put Modern Art in Fashion ’ The magazine photographed international models of the day including American Ivy Nicholson and British model Anne Gunning in Claire McCardell resort wear in the artists studios Other top American designers such as Adele Simpson Mollie Parnisand and Tina Leser ensured that these fabrics were seen being worn in American society The fabrics were additionally marketed to the teenage market A second edition was launched in 1956 by the Decorama division of Fuller Fabrics Braque and Klee also joined the stable of Fuller Fabrics modern artists A selection of the Picasso and Chagall textiles were included in the Museum of Modern Art’s Textiles USA exhibition in 1956

Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd

Sanderson was founded in 1860 by Chiswick based Arthur Sanderson, an importer and manufacturer of wallpaper In 1881 his three sons Harold John and Arthur Bengough joined the business naming it Arthur Sanderson & Sons In the 1890s, a further four storey factory in Chiswick was built Soon after, freelance designers launched the ‘Sanderson Bloomsbury Canvas Wallpaper Collection , inspired by the creative output of talented artists and designers of the time From 1919, Sanderson produced its own range of fabrics known as ‘Eton Rural Fabrics’, followed by ‘Sanderson, A Painters Garden Wallpaper ’ The second World War resulted in paper shortages and a need to redirect production to the war effort, thus halting any new collections until 1950 Sanderson famously bought the design archives and existing wallpaper stock from Morris & Co which had gone into voluntary liquidation In 1946, Sanderson was represented in the Victoria & Albert Museum at the ‘Britain Can Make It’ exhibition Post war artists such as Edward Bawden and Humphrey Spender were commissioned although predominantly designs came from their in-house design studio The 1950s saw the firm develop its tradition as an importer of foreign manufacturers textiles by commissioning work from artists such as Frank Lloyd Wright and Picasso Its base at Berners Street in London closed in 1992 and was converted to a luxury hotel

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Gray M C A would like thank the following for their contributions and research:

Jo Andrews, Haptic & Hue

Jo Baring, Director Ingram Collection

Nicola Beauman, Persephone Books

Prof Louise Campbell, Warwick University, Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow 2023-4

Sebastian Conway, Collections & House Manager, National Trust, Basildon Park

Rev William Howard, Secretary, The Friends of Coventry Cathedral

Alison Lister ACR, Director, Textile Conservation Ltd, Bristol

Alan Powers, Writer & Lecturer on Mid Century Art, Architecture and Design

Mary Schoeser FRSA, Honorary Sr Research Fellow, V&A, Patron, School of Textiles, Patron, Bernat Klein Foundation

Martin Williams, Chairman, The Friends of Coventry Cathedral

The Decorative Arts Society

The Costume Society

The Art s Society

Textile Society of America

British Institute of Interior Design

Goldmark Gallery

Front & Back Cover: Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973) Carnet II 1963 screen print on cotton signed & dated in print Bloomcraft Fabrics USA

Inside Front Cover: Henry Moore (1898 - 1986) Triangles & Lines (detail), 1954 screen print on cotton, David Whitehead Ltd

Right: John Piper (1903 - 1992) Cotswold (detail) 1960 screen print on cotton David Whitehead Ltd