| Exhibition Dates: |
November 11, 2016–October 1, 2017 |
Exhibition Location:
|
The Met Fifth Avenue, Floor 1,
Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries, Gallery 302
|
Artists and designers often look to the past to find inspiration
for their own work. Opening November 11 at The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, the exhibition
Late Antique Textiles and Modern
Design compares foliate patterns and roundels that are found on
textiles from the Late Roman, Byzantine, and Early Islamic periods
in Egypt to similar motifs in postcards by the Wiener Werkstätte
and on garments designed by Mariano Fortuny (1871–1949). nbsp;All works are from The Met collection.
Created in Egypt between about 200 and 600, the textiles on view include a child’s dress; elements from a sleeve, tunic, blanket or
cover, and others whose original use is not known. Variations of the scrolling vines and stylized motifs that adorn these textiles can be
seen on works created nearly 1500 years later.
The renowned Spanish-born designer Mariano Fortuny was active
in Venice, where he founded a textile workshop and commercial silk printing factory. His exquisite designs fuse the ancient and the
modern, the local and the exotic. Three different Fortuny-designed
silk coats from the first three decades of the 20th century are shown over the course of the exhibition. In cut and ornament, these items harken back to Late Antique historical sources.
Founded in 1903 in reaction both to the neoclassical academies of Vienna and increasing industrialization, the Wiener Werkstätte
collective sought to incorporate arts and crafts into all aspects of
daily life and placed a premium on the handmade. Eight color
lithographs created between 1907 and 1912 by various artists and designers affiliated with the group are also on view. Motifs similar
to those found on Late Antique textiles were used as graphic elements in these cards and postcards.
The exhibition was organized by Constance Alchermes, intern for Byzantine art, with Helen C. Evans, the Mary and Michael Jaharis Curator of Byzantine Art, Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters.
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November 15, 2016
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