Artist Textiles at New Lanark

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Horrockses Fashions c1949

Horrockses Fashions epitomised the traditional cotton summer frock in the 1940s and 50s. They were considered affordable, but were also worn by celebrities including the Queen, Princess Margaret and Margot Fonteyn, and the fabric was often designed by well-known artists. The dress on the left uses fabric by Alastair Morton and the other two are by Graham Sutherland.

Aztec by Patrick Heron 1946

The dresses and fabrics in this post are part of the exhibition Artist Textiles: Picasso to Warhol which began life at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London in 2014. Since then, it has been to the Netherlands, the USA and Canada, and now it has arrived in Scotland where you can see it at New Lanark until 29th April. Follow the link for details – I highly recommend it. Three things amazed me – how many of the artists I had never associated with textiles, how different their designs were to their other work, and how many of the garments could be worn today without looking out of place. See what you think!

Henry Moore

Henry Moore: Standing Figures, 1946
Henry Moore: Triangles abd lines, 1954

Salvador Dalí

Salvador Dali, Number please? c1946/7
Salvador Dali: Dress in Flower Ballet, c1947

Pablo Picasso

Picasso: Screen printed silk, 1950
Picasso: Musical Faun, 1963
Picasso: parka in Toros, 1963
Picasso: Carnet II, 1963
Picasso: “Hostess cocktail culottes” in Musical Faun

Joan Miró

Joan Miro: Dancing Figures, 1955
Joan Miro: dress in Farmers Dinner, c1955
Joan Miro: Farmers Dinner, 1955

Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol: William Tell Apple and Melons
Andy Warhol: Ice Cream Sundaues, c1962
Andy Warhol: Happy Butterfly Day, mid-1950s
Andy Warhol: Buttons, c1960
Andy Warhol garments

A final selection

As with all the images, clicking to enlarge will reveal artist, title and date.

Virginia Lee Burton: Gossips, c1943
Ben Rose: Foliation, 1951
Kenneth Rowntree: Full Measure, 1957
Raoul Dufy: Les Maronniers, 1955
John Piper: Fawley, c1960
John Piper: Chiesa de la Salute, 1960
Eduardo Paolozzi and Nigel Henderson: Barkcloth, c1955

Do you have a favourite? Let me know in the comments. I would love to have that very first dress by Alastair Morton – and the waistline to carry it off!

Scotland, UK , , ,

82 Comments »

  1. Love the domain! Found your blog on a Glasgow page, looks good. I’m a freelance web developer from Glasgow, if you ever need a custom theme give me a shout!

    MHWEB

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  2. Now that you’ve mentioned it, it does make total sense that artists could and would design fabric patterns.

    Although I like many of these as pieces as art, I don’t think I would particularly like them as fabric – ie the Picasso Carnet – and I’m surprised by the Warhol designs. I would never have matched them as his work – ie butterflies – but I do like the buttons 🙂

    My favourite though would have to be the John Piper, Chiesa de la Salute.

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  3. Thanks for sharing these beautiful simple cotton prints. It was really interesting and inspiring. I’m a textile design and I love simple floral prints in mid 20 century.”Jade”

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  4. This is a great post Anabel. I love the concept of juxtaposing art and fashion in general, and love some of these dresses in particular. I am particularly drawn to the Henry Moore dress but that is probably because I lived in Kansas City for a few years, which has a wonderful collection of Henry Moore sculptures in a sculpture garden. I also love in your last batch of images, the very last black and white design/fabric. There is an African design feel to it, which feels both modern and remindful of traditional African patterns. Overall, lovely post.

    Ben

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  8. Pingback: Artist Textiles at New Lanark – Ellustar Fashion

  9. I had a framed section of the Piper Venice fabric for Sanderson. I bought it cheaply at a fair and had it framed up and enjoyed it for ten years.Then I saw the same thing in a gallery for £600. A woman came to my house to buy some garden pots I was selling. She wanted to buy the picture and gave me £500- so I took it!
    Also had Piper ‘The Stones of Bath’ curtains, but they are more common. Sold them too- but not so big a profit.

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  11. There is a fiber art exhibit going on right now at my local university and I thought about going and didn’t think I’d enjoy it. Now seeing your photos, Anabel, I can tell that is rubbish! And I must set out to see it. I like Andy Warhol’s section the best but I don’t think it’s a good thing for the skirt models to go topless. 😉

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  13. There is a popular lollipop in Australia – Chupa -Chups – the logo for this was designed by Salvador Dali. This is not a joke – look it up if you wish.

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  14. I think if I had noticed this exhibition when it was at the Fashion and Textile Museum, I probably wouldn’t have gone anyway because I would have found the title off-putting, not being a fan of Picasso or Warhol. However, actually seeing what was there makes me think I should have gone, because vintage-style dresses and skirts with unusual prints are what I wear to work like 90% of the time. I already have a chicken-print dress, and an ice cream dress, but I think I like the chicken and ice cream fabrics here even better! It looks like a fun exhibition!

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  15. This is so amazing, Anabel! I had no idea that these famous artists were into textiles as well. That being said, I only detect similarities between the paintings/sculptures and fabrics by Miro and Moore. Your three observations sound accurate to me. My favorite summer dress would be the middle one in your top photo. None of them seem out of place, indeed. Except maybe the brown tints towards the bottom of the post. 🙂

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    • The middle one you have chosen seems particularly contemporary. Yes, Moore you can see the familiar shapes – but in delicate material not hulking great sculptures. I’m so glad I saw this exhibition.

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  16. Hi, Anabel – It is so hard to choose…but as pure fabric goes, I think I like the first Joan Miro shot the best. Depending on what was made, I believe that any of these fabrics could be used today. They are quite stunning!

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  17. Hi Anabel – long time, no WordPress for me! I see you are still having interesting times in Glasgow and around. It seems I’ve seen some of these styles in current dress fashions. My favorites: Andy Warhol – William Tell Apple and Joan Miro Dancing Figures. Cheers – Susan

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  18. What fun! I am always attracted to textiles, and I love these. Funny there are some here by Andy Warhol. I love his work. We just visited the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh; he was a native Pittsburgh boy. I also love the Salvador Dalí fabrics. 🙂

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  19. What a fabulous exhibition Anabel. I’ve never had the right shape for those wonderful flared-skirt dresses, but can think of lots of other ways to wear any of the fabrics. The Eduardo Paolozzi and Nigel Henderson Barkcloth is probably my favourite. I’m a sucker for black & white 🙂

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  23. I just love love love retro dresses and the fabrics. If I had to pick it would be too hard, it would make me think I needed to pick the other. So I guess they are all my favorite 🙂

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  24. I remember that style of dress well from old Hollywood films then later on trips down the coast in the 1960s when they filtered down to the masses on the beaches. A period lovingly recreated on recent TV gems like Mad Men and Masters of Sex.

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  25. I have been looking forward to this post, and it was even better than expected! I think I would wear every single piece in this post. I’m already thinking about getting some fabric made with some similar patterns – it would get me back to sewing and get me some new (very fashionable) clothing!

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  26. What a great exhibit! I had no idea the artists created art for dresses and some are so nice…and some I would never wear:) my favourite is Picasso’s dress plus I love the fabric with the horses. In the first picture, I would love to wear the middle dress….when I was younger and had my hour glass figure. This is great to showcase right after the Oscars even though you didn’t mean to coincide with this event.

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    • It was quite an eye-opener for me too. I think I would have to get most of these styles specially made as my figure has largely gone south over the years. And no, it never struck me that it would coincide with the Oscars!

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  27. Some wonderful patterns here Anabel. My favourite is the Andy Warhol Melons. I’m not one for fussy patterns, but that would be perfect (if I had a waist still…). My 19 yr old granddaughter loves the ’40s and ’50s style of dresses. She would love the Alastair Morton one.

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  28. Hi Anabel – the shirtwaisters are lovely … just right – aren’t they amazing … I’d have loved to have seen this exhibition … cheers Hilary

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  31. That’s an echo from the past. I can’t remember if I ever wore anything in a Horrocks’ textile or design. It may have been on my mother’s wish-list for her daughter, along with patent leather hornpipe shoes and that awful straw hat I was forced to wear every summer! Looking at them today though, they look quite modern and if I wore frocks, I might even consider getting decked out in one!

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    • They are so elegant, aren’t they? Dresses seem to have made a bit of a comeback in the last few years and I can think of several youngish women I know whose wardrobes might look quite similar to this.

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  33. So many of the fabrics are gorgeous. I need to pay more attention. I completely missed the exhibition when it was in Canada. I think my favourite is probably Joan Miro’s Dancing Figures. It’s so fresh and lively. I also love Picasso’s Hostess cocktail culottes if I were 6 feet tall instead of 5’1″ and if I weighed 100 pounds instead of… well, more than that. Oh and I love Musical Faun and Happy Butterfly Day…

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    • I like Dancing Figures too. I found it hilarious that Picasso’s designs were used for “hostess cocktail culottes” (you mean you don’t have a pair?) and a pvc parka! So out of keeping somehow.

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  35. A great collection of fabrics and fashions there, I love the 1950 screen printed Picasso one 🙂

    It might interest you to know that Horrockses was originally started by John Horrocks, the son of a local millstone manufacturer, in 1791 using his father’s factory on the outskirts of my home town. I remember when I was a child one of our town centre department stores had a section dedicated to Horrockses fashions, my mum bought a few things from there over the years and was often said that if something was a Horrockses then it was good quality 🙂

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  36. Great post, I didn’t know these artist did textiles either. I love the Warhol I would wear that today.

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