High Art and Home Furnishings

Artist Textiles from Picasso to Warhol recalls a period in the 20^th Century when art could be accessed by the general public for the first time, through the purchasing of clothing and home furnishings.

Raoul Dufy, one of the exhibition’s main attractions, was one of the pioneers of producing art on textiles. Dufy first moved into textiles work when he collaborated with French fashion designer Paul Poiret who saw art and fashion as inseparable.

Producing art on textiles was the first step towards democratising art, presenting the possibility of there being a masterpiece in every home.

Andy Warhol’s work represents this journey’s final destination. His Pop Art movement sought to erase the divide between high art and popular art and make art indistinct from consumer object.

Many artists lament the commercialisation of art that Pop Art ushered in; regardless, this development was a turning point in modern culture and has informed all artistic movements and debates since.

Work from a disparate selection of key artistic movements feature in the exhibition including Vorticism, Fauvism and Surrealism.

The exhibition will display over 200 rare patterns by some of the biggest names in art including Dali, Matisse and Moore.

Some pieces, such as work by Miro, Dufy and Picasso, have only recently been discovered and have never been on public display before.

The exhibition shows how artists adapted their styles to suit the medium and conversely how working on textiles revealed brought out new facets of their work. The pieces on display present textiles as a vital component of modern art. 

Artist Textiles from Picasso to Warhol runs from 31 January ­ 17 May 2014 at the Fashion and Textiles Museum, 83 Bermondsey Street, London SE1.