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Not currently on display at the V&A

Fred

Dress Fabric
1973 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This screen-printed silk entitled 'Fred' was made in the early 1970s. It shows the influence of Pop Art on textile design during this period. Pop Art took inspiration from commercial art and the mass media, using bold colours and repetition to create new and exciting patterns.

Pop Art's search for new sources of inspiration extended to iconic cinema figures. The designer of this textile, Lloyd Johnson, has used an image of Fred Astaire (1899-1987), the dancer, singer and actor. Astaire was immortalised in numerous Hollywood musical films of the 1930s to the 1950s, most notably in partnership with Ginger Rogers. While the vivid red splashes of colour and dense repetition of Astaire's head-shot shows the influence of Pop Art, Lloyd Johnson's choice of image (looking back to the golden age of the Hollywood musical) adds an element of nostalgia.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleFred (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Screen-printed shantung silk
Brief description
Dress fabric 'Fred' of screen-printed shantung silk, designed by Lloyd Johnson, made by Patrick Lloyd Ltd., Great Britain, 1973
Physical description
Dress fabric of screen-printed white shantung silk. With a repeating black and red pattern of actor, dancer and musical star Fred Astaire with a top hat.
Dimensions
  • Length: 108in
  • Diameter: 78mm
Subjects depicted
Summary
This screen-printed silk entitled 'Fred' was made in the early 1970s. It shows the influence of Pop Art on textile design during this period. Pop Art took inspiration from commercial art and the mass media, using bold colours and repetition to create new and exciting patterns.

Pop Art's search for new sources of inspiration extended to iconic cinema figures. The designer of this textile, Lloyd Johnson, has used an image of Fred Astaire (1899-1987), the dancer, singer and actor. Astaire was immortalised in numerous Hollywood musical films of the 1930s to the 1950s, most notably in partnership with Ginger Rogers. While the vivid red splashes of colour and dense repetition of Astaire's head-shot shows the influence of Pop Art, Lloyd Johnson's choice of image (looking back to the golden age of the Hollywood musical) adds an element of nostalgia.
Collection
Accession number
CIRC.303-1973

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Record createdJanuary 25, 2008
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