Lili Blumenau | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | November 28, 1912 Berlin, Germany |
| Died | September 6, 1976 (aged 63) Bronx New York |
| Known for | Textile art |
Lili Blumenau (1912–1976) was an American fiber artist. She was a pivotal figure in the development of fiber arts and textile arts, particularly weaving, in the United States during the mid-part of the 20th century.
Early life and education
Blumenau was born on November 28, 1912 in Berlin, Germany. [1] Blumenau is a graduate of the Akademie der Künste (Berlin), the Académie scandinave in Paris, and was the first woman to graduate from the New York School of Textile Technology. [2] She also studied at Black Mountain College. [3]
Work and career
After her education, Blumenau went on to become an instructor in several schools in New York City including Columbia University's Teacher's College, where she started a weaving workshop. She founded the weaving department at the Fashion Institute of Technology and Design in 1952. [2] In addition to maintaining her own weaving studio on Tenth Street in Manhattan, she served as the curator of textiles at Cooper Union Museum from 1944 to 1950. [2]
In 1955 Blumenau authored the text The Art and Craft of Hand Weaving, Including Fabric Design, [4] which had a significant impact on her field. This text provided technical details and patterns for loom weaving as well as a conceptual approach to the methodologies of hand weaving as "engaging, fully-human, and life-giving". [2] Her work provided inspiration to the Catholic Worker Movement, a collection of autonomous communities of Catholics to whom she taught weaving to several members at the Peter Maurin Farm. [5] In 1975 Blumenau was awarded Fellow of the Council by the American Craft Council. [6] Blumenau died on September 6, 1976 in the Bronx. [1]
Collections
Lili Blumenau's works are in the permanent collection at the Cooper Hewitt Museum [7] and the Museum of Arts and Design. [8]
References
- ^ a b Falino, Jeannine (2011). Crafting modernism: midcentury American art and design: [exhibition Crafting modernism. Midcentury American art and design, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, October 11, 2011 - January 15, 2012; Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, February 27 - May 21, 2012]. New York: Abrams. p. 270. ISBN 978-0810984806.
- ^ a b c d "The Art and Craft of Hand Weaving--Lili Blumenau". Boreal Weaver: An Online Diary. March 11, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
- ^ Koplos, Janet; Metcalf, Bruce (2010). Makers: a history of American studio craft. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina press. p. 235. ISBN 9780807834138.
- ^ Blumenau, Lili (1956). The Art and Craft of Hand Weaving: Including Fabric Design. New York: Crowne Publishers.
- ^ "Rediscovering the Sacramentality of Things". Boreal Weaver. February 15, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
- ^ "College of Fellows". American Craft Council. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
- ^ Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. "Lili Blumenau". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
- ^ "Casement Cloth". The Museum of Arts and Design. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
Additional sources
- Weavers from New York (state)
- 20th-century women textile artists
- 20th-century textile artists
- 1912 births
- 1976 deaths
- 20th-century American women artists
- 20th-century American artisans
- Fashion Institute of Technology faculty
- Cooper Union faculty
- 20th-century American women writers
- Artists from New York City
- 20th-century American writers
- American art educators
- American expatriates in Germany
- American expatriates in France
- Textile artists from New York (state)