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Ceramics

Length
1956 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This printed cotton was one of a series of dress and furnishing textiles launched by Fuller Fabrics of the USA in the mid 1950s. The firm commissioned renowned artists such as Picasso, Miro, Chagall, Leger to make designs for their Modern Master Prints and worked closely with each artist on the choice of designs for reproduction, the final design, and the colourways, so that the end result reflected the artist's palette and technique. The quality of the printing was exceedingly high. In the title to this design, Picasso makes specific reference to his work in ceramics, a medium in which many of the artists among this group were experimenting at this time.

A film documented the project, and it received much publicity, via an exhibition opened at Brooklyn Museum in Autumn 1955, and a five-page article in Life magazine illustrated with photos taken in the artists's studios. In 1956 Fuller's Decorama Division introduced the series for home furnishings.They were directed at a more exclusive market than the dress textiles and were available only through decorators.

These textile collections were significant for American design at the time because of the collaboration of textile manufacturers, museums, commercial art galleries and artists in an attempt to raise the standard of American textile design and widen the market for contemporary art.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleCeramics
Materials and techniques
Screen-printed cotton
Brief description
Textile length 'Ceramics' of screen-printed cotton, designed by Pablo Picasso for Fuller Fabrics, New York, 1956
Physical description
Textile length of screen-printed cotton.
Dimensions
  • Width: 45in
  • Length: 36in
  • Width: 1012mm
  • Length: 927mm (Note: longest portion in centre)
Credit line
Given by Fuller Fabrics
Production
Attribution note: Sold only through decorators
Summary
This printed cotton was one of a series of dress and furnishing textiles launched by Fuller Fabrics of the USA in the mid 1950s. The firm commissioned renowned artists such as Picasso, Miro, Chagall, Leger to make designs for their Modern Master Prints and worked closely with each artist on the choice of designs for reproduction, the final design, and the colourways, so that the end result reflected the artist's palette and technique. The quality of the printing was exceedingly high. In the title to this design, Picasso makes specific reference to his work in ceramics, a medium in which many of the artists among this group were experimenting at this time.

A film documented the project, and it received much publicity, via an exhibition opened at Brooklyn Museum in Autumn 1955, and a five-page article in Life magazine illustrated with photos taken in the artists's studios. In 1956 Fuller's Decorama Division introduced the series for home furnishings.They were directed at a more exclusive market than the dress textiles and were available only through decorators.

These textile collections were significant for American design at the time because of the collaboration of textile manufacturers, museums, commercial art galleries and artists in an attempt to raise the standard of American textile design and widen the market for contemporary art.
Collection
Accession number
CIRC.457-1956

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Record createdMarch 14, 2008
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