Bernat Klein: Design in Colour

4 stars

Marking the centenary of his birth, Bernat Klein: Design In Colour celebrates the work of a trailblazing Borders-based textile designer. Rachel Ashenden finds an exhibition that not only explores the Serbian-born artist’s creative ethos but also his fascinating personal journey

Constantly pushing his craft into new and uncharted directions across a 60-year career, Bernat Klein was a pioneer of modernist textile design. Born in Yugoslavia (in the part that is now Serbia) in 1922, Klein was displaced by the Second World War. At the age of 30, he set up a textile business in Galashiels. The National Museum Of Scotland has pulled off the difficult task of capturing Klein’s multitude of visions through an exhibition selected from a vast archival collection which was acquired 12 years ago. Brimming with colour, passion and innovation, Bernat Klein: Design In Colour radiates a homely warmth.

From the glimpse NMS offers us of Klein’s archive, we gain insight into his unyielding dedication to finding the perfect colour palette; this borders on obsessive in the best possible way. From the catwalk to carpets, perhaps the most Instagrammable part of the exhibition are the blue, brown and green sample boards from his colour box. These are taken from what Klein referred to as a ‘5000-piece colour dictionary’ and served to assist him in the process of balancing colours in his designs. Of the same ilk, a rather eccentrically detailed ‘Personal Colour Guide’ is available to view in a nearby glass vitrine. Its premise is that individuals should adhere to a palette which compliments their eyes when choosing clothing, rather than aimlessly following the latest fashions.

Curiously, one of the most engrossing aspects of the exhibition isn’t an object from this archive at all. It’s an informative video about High Sunderland, Klein’s incredible family home in the Scottish Borders, which he shared with Margaret Klein, his business partner, collaborator and wife. The modernist glass and timber house marks an unusual relinquishment of creative power for Klein, having commissioned architect Peter Womersley to design it in the 1950s. However, Klein’s personal and professional identity still permeates the light-filled space, as well as the great influence of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Most notably, we see Klein’s fruitful and deep connection with the surrounding Scottish landscape and its colour which changes with the seasons, as if its purpose was only to inform his design.

Beyond colour theory, this exhibition interestingly touches on the hypocrisy of the notoriously anti-Semitic Coco Chanel, who used Klein’s cloth throughout the 1960s. The pair never met and a label describes how Klein suspected this was the result of his Jewish heritage. Surrounded by a treasure trove of mood-lifting objects, it’s perhaps easy to neglect the nuances of Klein’s personal and physical journeys alongside his professional development. So, do spend time digesting the biographical timeline at the beginning of the exhibition which really sets the scene for such triumph.

Bernat Klein: Design In Colour, National Museum Of Scotland, Edinburgh, until Sunday 23 April.