Artists' textiles Artist designed textiles 1940-1976

Artists' Textiles focuses on fine artists' involvement with designing mass-produced textiles. After an introduction covering 1910-39, the book explores textiles by decade, including the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, with minimal references to the 1970s, when this type of collaboration diminished. The authors (independent scholars) draw on culture, art, exhibitions, and individual artist-designer influences to explain the accomplishments of each time period and the ideal of making art relevant to the lives of ordinary people. Unfortunately, no conclusion ties the ideas together. The book's strength lies in its beautiful, detailed images--mostly of prints, with the inclusion of a few wovens. The images are in text, full and double page, with a few foldout pages. The book concludes with a brief, helpful bibliography of the artist-designers represented, and information on additional reading, including magazines, newspapers, periodicals, and exhibition catalogues. This is an excellent resource for textiles, fashion, and interior design. Art history faculty interested in expanding their students' knowledge of 20th-century painters' and sculptors' accomplishments will find it useful as well. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through graduate students, two-year technical program students, and professionals/practitioners. L. L. Kriner Berea College

This stunning book offers a unique perspective on textile designs created by well-known painters and sculptors between 1940 and 1976. Rayner, Richard Chamberlain, and Annamarie Phelps (coauthors, Jacqueline Groag: Textile & Pattern Design: Wiener Werkstatte to American Modern) describe this prolific period of textile design in the United States and England, which was marked by frequent collaboration between fine artists and textile producers. Initially the couture market drove commissions and exhibitions; square scarves, issued as limited editions, served as blank canvases. In later decades artists' textiles were mass produced and integrated into fashion designs. Careful consideration of color and layout enhance the well-reproduced illustrations. The book also includes short biographies of participating artists and companies. VERDICT Though it complements Samantha Erin Safer's 2010 Zandra Rhodes: Textile Revolution: Medals, Wiggles and Pop 1961-1971 and the authors' own previous work, this book stands alone as a beautiful document of the partnership between artists and manufacturers. Those interested in textiles as well as students of design will find it refreshing and inspirational.-Shannon Marie Robinson, Univ. of the Arts Libs., Philadelphia (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.