d e s i g n insider
Jack Lenor Larsen, who died in December at age 93, was invariably referred to as a weaver—a descriptor that’s totally apropos, yet only hints at his sweeping cultural influence and 360-degee creative purview. Yes, the interplay of warp and weft was Larsen’s operating system, his framework for making sense of the world. He held an MFA in fiber arts from Cranbrook Academy of Art, his designs sprang from the loom, and he birthed the American modernist textile movement, developing innovative, high-performance constructions that celebrated age-old techniques. “Jack always said textiles were the perfect blending of architecture, poetry, and painting,” says Lori Weitzner, his design director from 1993 to 1998. “He was a craftsman, an engineer who started with structure and built up from there to create something beautiful.” But over the course of his seven-decade career, Larsen’s professional contributions encompassed myriad Jack Lenor Larsen, 1927–2020.
PAUL GODWIN/COURTESY OF LONGHOUSE RESERVE
a complex tapestry At once progressive and timeless, textile legend Jack Lenor Larsen’s design vision is enduring
FEB.21
INTERIOR DESIGN
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