Lili Blumenau
Born(1912-11-28)November 28, 1912
Berlin, Germany
DiedSeptember 6, 1976(1976-09-06) (aged 63)
Bronx New York
Known forTextile 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) [de], the Académie scandinave [fr] 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

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Koplos, Janet; Metcalf, Bruce (2010). Makers: a history of American studio craft. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina press. p. 235. ISBN 9780807834138.
  4. ^ Blumenau, Lili (1956). The Art and Craft of Hand Weaving: Including Fabric Design. New York: Crowne Publishers.
  5. ^ "Rediscovering the Sacramentality of Things". Boreal Weaver. February 15, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  6. ^ "College of Fellows". American Craft Council. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  7. ^ Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. "Lili Blumenau". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  8. ^ "Casement Cloth". The Museum of Arts and Design. Retrieved 5 December 2023.

Additional sources

  1. Adams, Alice. "Lili Blumenau." Craft Horizons v.22, no. 2 (March 1962) p.16-20.
  2. Blumenau, Lili. "Experiments in Sample Weaving." Craft Horizons v.17, no. 2 ( March 1957) p. 18-22.
  3. "Lili Blumenau, 1912-1976." Craft Horizons v.37, no.1 (February 1977) p. 10.
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