Henry Moore Textiles at Pallant House Gallery on artrepublic.com
Exhibition running from Nov 14 2009
until Feb 21 2010
A major exhibition exploring Moore’s little-known designs for textiles and fabrics. The exhibition brings together over 100 fabrics, 26 textile drawings, four large-scale textile wall panels and two sketchbooks of textile designs, one of which only came to light in 2006. Best known for his large-scale reclining figures and wartime sketches of London Underground, Moore began working on designs for fabrics during the Second World War when the Czech textile manufacturer, Zika Ascher, commissioned Moore along with Henri Matisse and Jean Cocteau to create designs for fabric “squares” or scarves. Produced in cotton, rayon and parachute nylon, as well as silk, the scarves were intended to brighten up post-war wardrobes with bold colours and patterns. The Ascher commission inspired Moore to expand his designs for fabrics. He created a series of images, inspired by some of his better known iconography— family groups, standing figures and seated motherand- child—that could be exhibited on walls, like paintings. At the other end of the spectrum, he also began a series of designs for use on mass-produced dress and upholstery fabric. Textile design fitted Moore’s socialist aim of integrating modern art into daily life as a cohesive force in society. The fact that these materials had a practical purpose suited the post-war climate, as did his more hard-edged designs, which incorporated barbed wire and other images associated with the conflict. Elsewhere, his designs feature surrealist motifs, as well as whimsical subjects seen nowhere else in his work – sea creatures, twisting caterpillars and piano keys. From an artist who believed that colour was a distraction from appreciation of form, one of the most surprising elements of Moore’s textile designs is their vivid colour. In contrast to his usually subdued palette Moore employed shades of shocking pink and acid green to counter post war drabness, describing this unfamiliar foray as ‘a bit of a holiday’. The exhibition, includes an important 1943 drawing Textile Design for ‘Fruit and Flowers’ acquired by the Henry Moore Foundation at auction in December 2008. This drawing will be included in the displays alongside its only remaining fabric partner. OPENING HOURS: Tue – Sat: 10.00 – 17.00, Thur: 10.00 – 20.00, Sun: 12.30 – 17.00 Image Credits: Reclining Figure 1949 Four Standing Figures and one Reclining Figure Textile Design: Family Group 1943  |
