November 8, 2024–April 20, 2025
Carolyn C. and William A. McDonnell Gallery 100
Bolts of Color: Printed Textiles after World War II
Kaleidoscopic, blazing, and avant-garde are just a few of the adjectives postwar journalists used to describe the textiles in this gallery. A palpable excitement suffused the American and European textile industries after World War II (1939–45), when manufacturers engaged both established and emerging artists and designers for cutting-edge patterns.
Screenprinting, which first rose to prominence in the 1930s, fostered aesthetic and technical experimentation. A bridge between handcraft and industry, screenprinting was fast, inexpensive, and easy to set up, facilitating small print runs and customization. In 1951, Chicago-based designer Angelo Testa described his process to the Chicago Tribune:
“I would make a design and go sell it to an architect or decorator. Then I would hurry home, cut the stencils, silk screen it myself, steam it, and deliver it to the sewing house.”
From the late 1940s, textile designers explored pattern design from diverse vantage points. Painterly interpretations of nature and playful geometric abstractions informed by contemporary art and science dominated textiles for nearly two decades. In the 1960s huge, graphic designs influenced by Pop and Op Art movements reigned. Throughout, technological advances allowed designers to realize fabrics with an unparalleled depth of color, texture, and precision. Whether hand-printed in small studios or mass manufactured, textiles of this era bubble with a creative energy shared by a growing consumer base, who embraced bold interiors and fashions.
This exhibition is supported in part by the McDonnell Textile Endowment.
Lucio Fontana,
Italian (born Argentina), 1899–1968
made by Manifattura Jsa,
Busto Arsizio, Italy
Spatial Concept (Concetto spaziale), 1954
screenprinted cotton satin
Tactile and yet ethereal, the stippled pattern of this printed textile evokes the pockmarked surface of the moon. Spatial Concept is the first of four fabrics designed by Argentine-Italian artist Lucio Fontana for Manifattura Jsa.
Fontana began his career as a sculptor and ceramist before embarking in 1949 on his so-called Concetto spaziale, or Spatial Concept, series. Pushing painting into the realm of sculpture, he punctured and slashed his canvases. This textile translates Fontana’s pierced surfaces onto a smooth and glossy cotton satin. The print’s photographic source employed raking light, or bright light cast from the side, to enliven and dramatize the topography.
Saint Louis Art Museum, Marjorie Wyman Endowment Fund 39:2023
Giò Pomodoro,
Italian, 1930–2002
made by Manifattura Jsa,
Busto Arsizio, Italy
Cirrus Clouds (I Cirri), 1957
screenprinted cotton-rayon sateen
Textured slashes of luminous, shifting color evoke the wispy, irregular strands of cirrus clouds against a summer sky. Giò Pomodoro submitted this textile design to a 1957 Milan Triennale competition sponsored by the visionary Italian manufacturer Jsa, beating out some 5,000 competitors for first prize. A sculptor and metalsmith, Pomodoro rose to fame for his intricate and strongly organic jewelry. From 1953, he perfected the ancient technique of cuttlefish casting, which produced the same variegated surface textures seen in Cirrus Clouds (I Cirri).
Courtesy of Cora Ginsburg LLC 2024.275
Gretl Wollner, Austrian, 1920–2006
Leo Wollner, Austrian, 1925–1995
made by Pausa AG, Mössingen, Germany
distributed by Knoll International,
New York, New York
Rivers, about 1972
screenprinted cotton velvet
Ribbons of salmon pink, chocolate brown, sunny yellow, and dove gray slither down this architecturally scaled textile. Encouraged by Knoll International’s visionary textile leader Barbara Rodes-Segerer, designers Leo and Gretl Wollner created four gigantic floor-to-ceiling designs for the company’s “Three Meter Print Collection.” Produced by the innovative German printer Pausa AG, the dense velvet textile was specially printed using extra-long tables and oversized screens, which required additional staff to manipulate. Dyes were mixed during the print process to achieve Rivers’ subtle color gradations reminiscent of color field paintings.
Collection of Michaela and Thomas Wollner 2024.273
Althea McNish,
English (born Trinidad), 1924–2020
made by Hull Traders,
London, England
Golden Harvest, 1959
screenprinted cotton
Painted Desert, 1959
screenprinted cotton
These cotton lengths show two iconic prints by the acclaimed textile designer Althea McNish. Born in Trinidad, McNish was a close observer of nature, relishing the rare plants in London’s Kew Gardens, as well as her adopted country’s more common flora. The painterly strokes and intense orange and yellow of Golden Harvest were inspired by a walk through an Essex wheat field. Painted Desert was first called The Old Man, a common name for Cephalocereus senilis, a giant cactus native to Mexico. Layers of color create the vibrant backdrop for McNish’s loose drawing of a towering clump of spiny desert plants.
With a deep knowledge of printing and manufacturing, McNish assured her designs were realized with complexity and precision. She worked to dismantle the silos of fabric and fashion design and production, stating in a 1965 article: “Results can be so much better if we can all operate as a team. It enables us to get the very best out of the fabric and its design, and that in turn makes for much better garments in the shops.”
Saint Louis Art Museum, Richard Brumbaugh Trust in memory of Richard Irving Brumbaugh and Grace Lischer Brumbaugh 41:2021, 42:2021
Zandra Rhodes, British, born 1940
made by Heal Fabrics Ltd.,
London, England
Top Brass, 1964
screenprinted cotton
Military insignia become poppy, playful splotches of saturated color in this irreverent fabric by fashion and textile designer Zandra Rhodes. Inspired by a painting by fellow Royal College of Art student David Hockney (see image), Rhodes made a series of drawings and designs exploring the shapes and patterns of medals. Heal Fabrics Ltd., a manufacturer who aimed “to capture tomorrow today,” purchased Top Brass straight out of Rhodes’s graduation show. Rhodes went on to become one of Britain’s iconic designers, earning her own illustrious medal as Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2014.
Private Collection 2024.344
Barbara Brown, British, born 1932
made by Heal Fabrics Ltd.,
London, England
Automation, 1970
screenprinted cotton
Whether read as an enormous gear or a fantastical building worthy of a sci-fi cityscape, this towering textile captures the hard beauty of the machine. Inspired by technical drawings, designer Barbara Brown used subtle gradations of color to imitate the glint of light on faceted metal. Trained at London’s Royal College of Art, Brown began designing for Heal Fabrics Ltd. in 1958, forging a distinctive voice a decade later with her massively scaled precisionist patterns.
Private Collection 2024.343
A. Joel Robinson, American, 1915–2012
made by L. Anton Maix Fabrics,
New York, New York
Roman Candles, 1951–52
screenprinted linen
Fireworks—bursts of orange, yellow, and brown—shower this screenprinted linen designed by A. Joel Robinson. Roman Candles captures the painterly sensibility and architectural training of its multifaceted designer, who also worked as an advertising art director, painter, and children’s book author and illustrator.
Robinson was one of the first African American textile designers to gain national attention in the mid-century. A 1952 Ebony magazine article described the “youthful, multi-talented New Yorker” as “one of the most promising newcomers in the highly-competitive field of fabric design.” According to Ebony, Roman Candles was featured as chair upholstery in the 1951 Chicago Good Design show.
Saint Louis Art Museum, Marjorie Wyman Endowment Fund 12:2020
A. Joel Robinson, American, 1915–2012
Made by L. Anton Maix Fabrics,
New York, New York
Honeycomb, 1952
screenprinted linen
Glen Plaid, 1952
screenprinted linen
Designer A. Joel Robinson used sharp, ultrathin lines to form the ingenious cellular patterns of Honeycomb and Glen Plaid. Crisply printed on maker L. Anton Maix Fabric’s signature heavy linen, these rare showroom samples include their original tags. In 1948, Lawrence Anton Maix launched his textile firm devoted to high-quality manufacturing, advertising “bold, imaginative prints” by designers in fields ranging from architecture to engineering. Maix’s nimble production process allowed him to take creative risks and turn around custom orders in just a few weeks.
Saint Louis Art Museum, Marjorie Wyman Endowment Fund 104:2022, 105:2022
Angelo Testa, American, 1924–1984
made by Angelo Testa & Co.,
Chicago, Illinois
Sportsmen’s Blues, 1942
screenprinted cotton
Lines and loops rain down on the black and striated red stripes of this cotton textile. Designer Angelo Testa favored non-objective designs, creating complex patterns from simple, clear shapes. He cultivated this approach while studying under the former Bauhaus teacher and Hungarian artist László Moholy-Nagy at the Chicago Institute of Design. While he was still a newcomer, a forward-thinking retailer offered him studio space with rent he described in 1951 as “so low I doubt if it would have paid the light bill.” Buoyed by this early support, Testa went on to establish his own company, printing many of his student designs, including Sportsmen’s Blues.
Courtesy of Cora Ginsburg LLC 2024.274
Althea McNich; N15 Archive, The Althea McNish Collection [50]; Photo by Horace Tonge
Rockwell Kent, American, 1882–1971
made by Bloomcraft, Inc.,
New York, New York
Harvest Time, about 1950
printed cotton and rayon
This textile’s large sheaves of wheat and steepled white church evoke Asgaard, the Adirondack farm owned by the artist Rockwell Kent and his wife, Frances. Kent created over 30 drawings for textiles for Bloomcraft, Inc. around 1950. In a letter to the manufacturer, he confessed that he “discovered that things of this sort involve a tremendous amount of work” but that he enjoyed it and followed the production process closely. While many textiles of this period were screenprinted, Bloomcraft used photoengraved copper rollers to attain the crisp lines of Harvest Time.
Saint Louis Art Museum, Richard Brumbaugh Trust in memory of Richard Irving Brumbaugh and Grace Lischer Brumbaugh 28:2016
Oscar Saccorotti, Italian, 1898–1986
made by Manifattura Italiana Tappeti Artistici (MITA), Genoa, Italy
Goats (Capre), about 1948
printed cotton
A landscape specialist, painter Oscar Saccorotti used loose brushstrokes and subtle shading to describe the rocky, tree-freckled landscape repeated down this textile. Following World War II, Manifattura Italiana Tappeti Artistici, or MITA, sought collaborations with Italy’s most important modern artists and designers, including Gio Ponti, Arturo Martini, and Saccorotti. MITA textiles were first introduced to Americans in the exhibition Italy at Work: Her Renaissance in Design Today, which traveled to St. Louis in 1952. The Italian government gave Goats (Capre) to the Museum after the close of the exhibition.
Saint Louis Art Museum, Gift of the Italian Government 31:2019
Shirley Craven, British, born 1934
made by Hull Traders,
London, England
Curtain Up, 1970
screenprinted cotton and linen
The drama of a parting curtain is amplified by electric colors and swirling patterns in this exuberant textile called Curtain Up. Shirley Craven joined Hull Traders as a designer and color consultant in 1960, rising to lead the small company just three years later. Under her creative direction, Hull Traders collaborated with an impressive list of visionary artists and designers. All the while, Craven kept a close eye on production as described in a 1968 article: “controlling its [each pattern’s] progress through the factory to the showroom.”
Private Collection 2024.342