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Friday, July 11, 2014

Lucienne Day's silk mosaics

Lucienne Day, one of the first designers from the 1950s to become a celebrity, had a BBC Radio series on design, had her home featured in a 1954 issue of House & Garden, and starred, along with her furniture designer husband Robin Day, in a Smirnoff vodka ad campaign, but she is best known for her textile designs, such as the famous Calyx pattern, which was inspired by her love of Joan Miro and Paul Klee.

However, in her later career, she produced what she called "silk mosaics." These are typically at least 4' x 6' and comprised hundreds--and sometimes thousands--of separate pieces of Thai or Indian silk. She first made paper templates of the designs, and then the silk pieces were placed and sewn by a team of assistants.

Her first show of mosaics was in 1981 at the National Theatre, where she sold 3/4 of her pieces. They soon became highly sought after by private and public collectors. Perhaps her most famous mosaic is Aspects of the Sun, a spectacular 16' x 9' piece.

From independent.co.uk


The Window
gac.culture.gov.uk

Their Exits and Their Entrances
robinandluciennedayfoundation.org

Three Daughters of Mexico
taraleetowers.tumblr.com

Golden Tangram
robinandluciennedayfoundation.org

Aspects of the Sun
robinandluciennedayfoundation.org

11 comments:

  1. Aren't they spectacular? Those Days were something else. I love a fabric anything on a wall.

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    1. I love fabric wall hangings too, even the big, roughly textured ones. Someone made a comment about one of those the other day, calling it "too granola," He was entitled to his opinion, but I couldn't disagree more.

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  2. Just goes to show beautiful things never go out of style (even things designed and made in the much maligned 80's!)

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    1. Exactly! If you have good taste and talent, you have good taste and talent...no matter what the decade.

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  3. These are absolutely beautiful! I'd love any of them on my wall. :)

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    1. They're absolutely out-of-this-world beautiful to me too. I can't imagine what a delight it would be to own one.

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  4. The Golden Tangram is particularly attractive to me. I want one for my apartment!

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    1. I can see why that one would appeal to you. It's subdued but very interesting.

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  5. Aren't they divine! They were such a powerhouse couple those Days. One of my friends is a keen collector of Robin Day chairs. xx

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    1. I'm as big a fan of Robin Day as I am of Lucienne. I fall in love all over again when I see photos of his Royal Festival Hall chairs.

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  6. Wow! This combines my love of mosaic and of textiles! Gorgeous.

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