A swatch of Lucienne Day's fabric called "Calyx," from 1951. One of the most successful and influential of modern textiles, it was itself influenced by the works of painters such as Paul Klee and Joan Miro.
Courtesy of Jill A. Wiltse; The Textile Museum-Courtesy of H. Kirk Brown III Collection of British Textiles
Lucienne Day's "Small Hours," from 1952, is screen-printed linen with more than a touch of scary surrealism. Quite a change from the tea roses typical of English textiles.
Courtesy of Jill A. Wiltse; The Textile Museum-Courtesy of H. Kirk Brown III Collection of British Textiles
Lucienne Day's "Fall," 1952, as shown at the "Art by the Yard" exhibit at The Textile Museum. A lovely contrast between abstract geometry and botanical drawing.
Courtesy of Jill A. Wiltse; The Textile Museum-Courtesy of H. Kirk Brown III Collection of British Textiles
Lucienne Day's "Lapis," 1953, is more fully abstract than most of her work.
Courtesy of Jill A. Wiltse; The Textile Museum-Courtesy of H. Kirk Brown III Collection of British Textiles
Lucienne Day's "Herb Anthony," 1956: Figures float free across the textile, helping to hide the pattern's repeats.
Courtesy of Jill A. Wiltse; The Textile Museum-Courtesy of H. Kirk Brown III Collection of British Textiles
Lucienne Day's "Apollo," late 1950s. A bold acknowledgment of the repeats in manufactured textile patterns, softened by the hand-drawn look of its forms.
Courtesy of Jill A. Wiltse; The Textile Museum-Courtesy of H. Kirk Brown III Collection of British Textiles
Lucienne Day's "Sequoia," 1959. Day's strong verticals would have been perfectly suited as window treatments in the new cathedral-ceilinged spaces of post-war housing.
Courtesy of Jill A. Wiltse; The Textile Museum-Courtesy of H. Kirk Brown III Collection of British Textiles
Lucienne Day's "Ducatoon," 1959. A tremendously successful textile that would add life to any room -- perfect for a British nation shaking off the privations of war.
Courtesy of Jill A. Wiltse; The Textile Museum-Courtesy of H. Kirk Brown III Collection of British Textiles
Lucienne Day's "Runic," 1959: Conceptualist text-art in a fabric -- before it really hit in the fine arts.
Courtesy of Jill A. Wiltse; The Textile Museum-Courtesy H. Kirk Brown III Collection of British Textiles
Lucienne Day's "Larch," 1961. To emphasize the hand-drawn look of her patterns, Day contrasts them with large fields of crisp geometric color.
Courtesy of Jill A. Wiltse; The Textile Museum-Courtesy of H. Kirk Brown III Collection of British Textiles
Lucienne Day's "Causeway," 1967. A clear response to the textiles of the great designer Anni Albers, who'd worked at the Bauhaus 40 years before.
Courtesy of Jill A. Wiltse; The Textile Museum-Courtesy of H. Kirk Brown III Collection of British Textiles
Lucienne Day's "Parkland," 1974. One of Day's very last fabric designs, influenced by the cleaner, colder lines of op art and of 1970s object design.
Courtesy of Jill A. Wiltse; The Textile Museum-Courtesy of H. Kirk Brown III Collection of British Textiles
Gallery Credits:
Photo Editor, Producer Troy Witcher
Text Editor Blake Gopnik
