British textile designer Jacqueline Groag was an innovator of the mid-century modern era – she brought color and pattern to a post-war monochrome Europe, designing furnishings, textiles and fabrics for fashion houses such as Chanel, Lavin and Paul Poiret.
The Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center is introducing her with the exhibition Pattern Play: The Contemporary Designs of Jacqueline Groag, which features some of her groundbreaking designs.
The exhibition, which opened in May, runs through November 20 and was curated by Darrin Alfred, curator of architecture and design at the Denver Art Museum.
During a recent tour of the exhibition, the scent of vintage fabrics from the clothes and textiles permeated the gallery, past the brightly colored tulip pattern sign introducing the exhibition, featuring a mannequin wearing one of Groag’s dresses with a village house pattern.
Born in the Czech Republic in 1903, Groag is considered one of the most influential and versatile pattern designers of the post-war period. Her design work includes textiles and furnishings for British Rail and British Overseas Airways Corporation. She died in 1986.
After World War II, designers like Groag and their contemporaries celebrated a renewed sense of freedom that defined mid-century modern as we know it through creativity, bringing color and vibrant and dynamic patterns into home furnishings and fashion.
“This idea (was) out of restrictions related to war and rationing and lack of access to many textiles,” Alfred told The Desert Sun.
A 1946 British magazine cover showing Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, later Queen Elizabeth II, wearing a dress with Groag’s tulip design is included in the exhibition and speaks of the popularity pattern designers enjoyed at the time.
“(The designs) were well received,” Alfred said. “After the war there were printed textiles that were used for curtains, bedding and upholstery fabrics that were made with these very contemporary, bright and modern pattern designs that were very popular.”
Many of the patterns on things like a 1950’s yellow dress fabric with black crossing lines, shamrocks, hearts, and squiggly lines are abstract. A 1955 story featuring toy soldiers is repeated with the drum alternating from left to right.
Swiss-German abstract artist Paul Klee’s whimsical and cheerful artworks influenced many post-war designers, along with imagery from nature and new technologies such as X-rays and atomic energy. But as the optical illusion style of “op art” emerged along with the “pop art” of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, contemporary art continued to influence design.
“During the 1960s, someone like Groag was inspired by op art and pop art, as opposed to the art that Paul Klee made before that,” Alfred said. “(Designers) were also very interested or aware of trends and things that were prevalent and used those current imagery or inspirations to create relevant patterns for that period.”
Alfred said he chose Groag’s work to show part of her creative process, shown through some sketches of completed work alongside the final product.
“Some of these drawings break down how she created these patterns, starting with an underlying lattice structure and then applying patterns or visual motifs within that structure,” Alfred said. “Then she started thinking about adding color to the patterns and the different color variations that would be available for these particular textiles.”
when you go
What: “Pattern Play: The Contemporary Designs of Jacqueline Groag”
When: Now until 20.11
Where: Palm Springs Museum of Art Architecture and Design Center, 300 S. Palm Canyon Drive
How much: $5 for general admission and free for children under 18, museum members, and military/first responders
More information: psmuseum.org/art/exhibitions/pattern-play
Desert Sun reporter Brian Blueskye covers the arts and entertainment. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @bblueskye.