Cooper Hewitt

11/03/2023

Dorothy Liebes hired artist Emma Amos in 1961 for her color sensibility, and the two women maintained a warm relationship of mutual admiration. Amos’s talents shine in her designs for Bigelow Carpets, one of the studio’s most lucrative contracts during the 1960s. Her vibrant carpet designs for Liebes were featured in the pages of Vogue and celebrated for their colorful compositions (which you can see on slide 4). Liebes encouraged working mothers to bring their children to work, and Amos's firstborn, Nicholas, was a frequent face in the studio—he can be seen in these images with his mother and Liebes atop a worktable in the late 1960s.

After nearly a decade of working for Liebes, Amos left the studio in 1969. She then focused on printmaking and painting, becoming the youngest and sole female member of The Spiral, a New York-based collective of Black artists, and later became a member of the feminist group the Guerilla Girls. Amos's mixed-media paintings now reside in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Modern Art, and Wadsworth Atheneum.

Click the link to explore the digital exhibition of "A Dark, A Light, A Bright: The Designs of Dorothy Liebes": https://s.si.edu/49ok7zK

Smithsonian's Archives of American Art
__
📸 Credits:

Emma Amos in Dorothy Liebes Studio, 1964, Emma Amos Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

Emma Amos and Dorothy Liebes, circa 1963, Dorothy Liebes Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

Garden Path carpet made by Bigelow from an Emma Amos design, Dorothy Liebes Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

Bigelow Rugs by Amos for Liebes, Garden Path (green) and Queues des Fleurs (blue). “Fashions in Living: The More Rugs the Better: More to Look At,” Vogue New York 142, no. 7 (Oct 15, 1963): 132, Dorothy Liebes Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

Emma Amos in Dorothy Liebes Studio, 1964, Emma Amos Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

Emma Amos, Dorothy Liebes, and Nicholas Amos in the Dorothy Liebes Studio, circa 1969, courtesy of the Amos Family Collection

Emma Amos with a sample rug design, 1964, Emma Amos Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

11/02/2023

Artist Lia Cook’s creative process combines photographic media and computer-aided technologies with a mastery of hand and powered Jacquard looms. “Binary Traces: Kay” (pictured here) is woven in double-cloth, each pixel expressing the interlacing of either a black warp and weft or a white warp and weft.

Computer coded and hand-woven, the images are constructed rather than applied: the points of color that form the images and the crossing of threads that create the textiles are the same. The interaction between the binary coding and the physicality of the weaving leaves a distinctive surface pattern or trace.

Click the link to read more about Cook brings these works to life: https://s.si.edu/3skMEpl

__
“Hanging, Binary Traces: Kay,” designed by Lia Cook (American, b. 1942); USA.

11/01/2023

To mark the first day of + , we’re highlighting this stunning recent addition to Cooper Hewitt’s collection—"Ah Day: The Favorite One’s Chair."

This was the first collaboration between Native American bead artist Teri Greeves (Kiowa) and her husband, furniture designer and woodworker Dennis Esquivel (Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa). They created the chair in 2002, in honor of their first-born child, a son named Ahbedoh White Eagle. The chair’s title refers to his place as an ah-day, a favored child within a Kiowa family who receives all they desire, even at the expense of other family members. While the custom could seem unfair, Greeves believes the practice is related to the fragility of life and distress caused by colonization, since an ah-day child might have the greatest chance of survival. In this context, a favored child represents hope and family legacy for the Kiowa.

Click here to learn more about the design, materials, and history of this chair: https://s.si.edu/3Usy9Ic

10/31/2023

Happy Halloween from Herbert Bayer's friendly ghosts! 👻

10/30/2023

Spending our Monday daydreaming about the locations in E. McKnight Kauffer's American Airlines posters. ✈️

These posters represent one of the most successful campaigns of Kauffer's career. The subject of flight had long brought out the best in Kauffer—the writer Arnold Bennett had described him “as a bird, forever in flight, forever searching for a place to come to rest."

Click here to learn more about Kauffer: https://s.si.edu/40gtyxc

10/27/2023

Danish designer Matthias Bengtsson designed the Slice chair in 1998, while a student at the Royal College of Art in London. Exploring the relationship between high tech manufacturing methods and the hand-made, his creative process combined cutting-edge production techniques with craft. The result is a swooping form that resembles geographical strata or a topographical map, and blends the organic and mechanical.

Read more about Bengtsson's process: https://s.si.edu/46JZGMb

10/24/2023

From the 1950s through the 1970s, husband-and-wife designers D.D. and Leslie Tillett designed and printed custom fabric yardage in their studio on Manhattan’s Upper East Side under the name “House of T Fabrics.” Their fresh and original aesthetic, paired with Leslie’s technical innovations, earned them a loyal following and museum recognition.

Leslie learned textile printing from his father, George Tillett, who was a third-generation printer from England. One of George’s innovations was the drag box—a tool that pulled stripes of ink directly onto cloth without the use of a silkscreen. An acrylic box holds the ink, which is released through a narrow slot at one end. The printer has total control over the amount of ink released and the quality of the lines he draws with the box.

Leslie experimented with other effects, like overlapping bands of ink and irregular, curving stripes—seen here in this textile, “Drag Box Plaid,” a tour de force of the technique. 🧶

Read more: https://s.si.edu/3tD4Af2

10/19/2023

Back to basics. 🔲

Pared down to its basic components, this chair is a study in outline and form. Created by the design firm nendo as part of its “Thin Black Lines” series of bent tubular steel objects, this chair’s form has been simplified until only the outlines remained. The black steel resembles sketches drawn in the air—simple graphic elements that create and define volume and surface.

Read more: https://s.si.edu/402zXf7

__
Pictured: Thin Black Lines (21400 mm) Chair, 2010; Designed by Oki Sato (b. 1977) and nendo.

10/14/2023

Happy birthday to Dorothy Liebes, who was born in 1897! Liebes valued family and friends above all, so as a birthday gift to her, we are launching a new series celebrating the studio designers and weavers who were so important to her. Some she counted as personal friends, and all were inspiring creative colleagues. Most importantly, they never missed an opportunity to throw a party!

To learn more about the people who made up the Dorothy Liebes Studio, check out the exhibition on view now at Cooper Hewitt featuring materials from Smithsonian's Archives of American Art. If you can't make it to NYC, explore the digital exhibition platform and follow along with our Studio Series to get to know the talented and diverse "alumni." Click here: https://s.si.edu/3RWIUog

__
Image credits: Party at Dorothy Liebes’s Sutter Street Studio, San Francisco, CA. Photograph by Dean Stone and Huge Steccati, circa 1940s. Dorothy Liebes Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.

10/11/2023

The Casa Hermosa collection is the first-ever collection of wallcoverings and coordinated fabrics devoted entirely to authentic Mexican designs. These patterns combine the creative talents of artist Nancy Glenn-Nieto and textile and wallpaper designer Marcie Vesel Bronkar.

Nieto, an American-born painter of Mexican descent, draws on her Mexican heritage to create interpretations of Aztec images that show the forces of nature. She uses the legends, artifacts, artisans, and the fruits and flowers that create the cultural mystique of Mexico to inspire her colors and patterns. In her paintings, her major themes are mystical animals, colorful flowers, and powerful saints, and elements of these themes appear on the wallpapers. The beautiful flow of the designs and the seamless nature of the repeats show the artistic skill of pattern designer Bronkar.

Tap the link in our bio to read more about “Casa Hermosa” and explore a selection of wallpaper samples: https://s.si.edu/3FbABgX



__
Pictured: Sample Book, Casa Hermosa (Beautiful Home); Made by Imperial Wallcoverings Inc. (United States).

10/10/2023

American weaver Richard Landis’s w works are characterized by complex design systems that echo the logic of their construction with a limited vocabulary of materials, texture, geometric forms, and colors. From his earliest days at the loom, Landis decided he would work only in plain weave and within the opportunities offered by handwoven, loom-controlled design. He taught himself doubleweave to expand what could be achieved within his self-imposed boundaries.

“Nucleus” (1976), designed in collaboration with graphic artist Craig Fuller, is a superb example of Landis’s technically and aesthetically disciplined handwoven double-cloth. It is a diminutive piece, only eighteen and three-quarters inches high by seventeen inches wide, woven in very fine cotton thread.

Read more about this lively and energetic composition: https://s.si.edu/48Mxh9o 🧶

10/02/2023

kicks off today at Cooper Hewitt—enjoy talks, tours, and free museum admission all week! ✨ Here are all the can’t-miss events happening through October 8th: https://s.si.edu/3BZv6B9

Can’t wait to welcome you all. 👋

09/29/2023

In the event of a government shutdown on Oct. 1, Smithsonian museums, research centers and the National Zoo will remain OPEN through at least Oct. 7. The Smithsonian can use prior-year funds still available to us to remain open. Visit si.edu for updates.

09/26/2023

“Shell Chest” was Polish-born American painter, muralist and illustrator Witold Gordon’s only design for Associated American Artists (AAA), a collective whose founder, Reeves Lewenthal, believed in marketing fine art to the masses. In 1951, AAA collaborated with textile distributor Riverdale Fabrics on the “Pioneer Pathways” collection, which featured eight Americana-themed designs.

Gordon was chosen for his well-known renderings of American regional storefronts and signs—but uncharacteristically, he created this pattern of scattered seashells and corals instead. 🐚 Learn more: https://s.si.edu/3RntgSz

09/25/2023

A mural to start your Monday! 🌈 “Kinetics” is from the Kaleidoscope collection of murals and supergraphics by James Seeman. The pattern’s bold colors and large scale are representative of early 1970s design. While scenic wallpapers had been around since the early 19th century and were designed to envelop a room in a variety of landscapes, murals were designed with the modern home in mind—they were less of a commitment, usually composed of fewer panels and designed to accent just one wall.

Learn more: https://s.si.edu/3rq7zqu

__
Kaleidoscope sample book of mural designs, 1971; Designed by James Seeman Studios Inc.

09/22/2023

Time to play Cooper Hewitt's Dream Bedroom Makeover™️, featuring these five designs! Which one are you going to choose? 💤

__
1. Drawing, Interior with a Curtained Bed Alcove; Unknown; Thaw Collection.
2. Drawing, Drawing for Advertising, canopy bed and matching chair; Designed by Max Walter (1916–1988).
3. Drawing, Design for Bedroom; Designed by Tommi Parzinger (American, b. Germany, 1903–1981).
4. Drawing, Bedroom in a Country Dacha; Unknown; Thaw Collection.
5. Drawing, Design for Bedroom; Designed by Donald Deskey (1894–1989).

09/21/2023

When Milton Glaser began designing for Kevin Eggers’ record company in the 1960s, it was called Poppy Records. 18 years and multiple name changes later, it was known as Tomato Music Company, and, ultimately, Tomato Records. The independent label represented a number of eclectic artists, from jazz pianist Dave Brubeck to avant-garde composer John Cage.

Such a diverse roster called for a unique brand identity, so Glaser got to work, and this now-iconic poster was born. The presence of the tomato lends a surreal air to the scene. You can’t look away. You must know more. The tomato demands your consideration. 🍅

Read more: https://s.si.edu/3EOGErG

__
Poster, “Tomato: Something Unusual Is Going On Here,” 1978; Designed by Milton Glaser.

09/20/2023

Materials steered the course of Dorothy Liebes’s career. She opened her first studio in 1930, during the Great Depression, shortly after leaving her first marriage with nothing but her clothes and her loom; she wove with inexpensive or found materials out of financial necessity. The onset of World War II brought restrictions on nonmilitary use of priority materials, including many textile fibers and dyes. Undeterred by the lack of wool and silk, Liebes experimented with mohair, rayon tow yarn, jute, vinylite, and other unusual materials, leading her own company and her industry partner, the Goodall company, successfully through the war years with her inventive blended fabrics.

Click the link to learn more about Liebes’s approach to materials, and experience “A Dark, A Light, A Bright: The Designs of Dorothy Liebes” in person at Cooper Hewitt now through February 4, 2024: https://s.si.edu/4609qBx ✨

__
1. Sample card, ca. 1950.
2. Sample card, ca. 1945.
3. Sample card, ca. 1945.
4. Sample card, ca. 1949.
5. Sample card, ca. 1948.

09/19/2023

We're swapping for today! Author and illustrator Edward Gorey was a huge fan of choreographer George Balanchine, and a regular audience member at New York City Ballet, whose fall season kicks off this evening—so much so that he created posters that could be printed and sold in their gift store. An example is this eye-catching lithograph on paper, featuring a pair of pointe shoes ascending from first to fifth position. 🩰

Click hereto learn more: https://s.si.edu/3RuMDJw

__
Poster: New York City Ballet, 1974-75. Designed by Edward Gorey.

09/19/2023

“Shell Chest” was Polish-born American painter, muralist and illustrator Witold Gordon’s only design for Associated American Artists (AAA), a collective whose founder, Reeves Lewenthal, believed in marketing fine art to the masses. In 1951, AAA collaborated with textile distributor Riverdale Fabrics on the “Pioneer Pathways” collection, which featured eight Americana-themed designs.

Gordon was chosen for his well-known renderings of American regional storefronts and signs—but uncharacteristically, he created this pattern of scattered seashells and corals instead. 🐚

Learn more: https://s.si.edu/3RntgSz

09/18/2023

Almost every design begins with an idea and a piece of paper. Our collection includes many drawings that document the genesis of finished works of all kinds, including this painted porcelain wine cooler.

Want to see more sketches and their resulting products? Click here for some collection highlights: https://s.si.edu/3P4pdXJ

__
1. Drawing, 1765-75, Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory and possibly by Jacques-François Micaud.
2. Monteith and bottle cooler, 1772, manufactured by Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory and painted by Noël Guillaume.

09/15/2023

At first glance, Rebeca Méndez’s “The Will of the Potato” (1995) looks like charming wallpaper with delicate floral motifs. But if you look closely, you’ll notice a rectangular area that covers most of the work’s surface, black lines of obscured text—and a blimp-like shape at the center, which is actually a potato wrapped in latex. 🥔 According to Méndez, the potato serves as a symbol for mankind. It represents earth, the soil, energy, and strength. The latex is a protective “skin,” but also a choice: either grow roots and break through, or rot and die.

Méndez’s interest in symbolism and iconography began when she was a child. Her father worked as a chemical engineer, but had a passion for Mayan history and, with fellow enthusiasts, traced glyphs and icons throughout the Mexican landscape. His influence on Méndez can be seen in her invented iconography.

__

Learn about Latino history all year, beyond . Follow our fellow Smithsonian, the National Museum of the American Latino.

09/14/2023

An autumnal mood board, courtesy of American painter Frederic Edwin Church. 🍂

Explore more of Church's work through our online collection: https://s.si.edu/3PEWECC
__
1. Drawing, Autumn Foliage, 1867.
2. Drawing, Woodland Stream, possibly Mt. Desert, Maine, ca. 1845.
3. Drawing, Autumn Landscape in New England, October 1865.
4. Drawing, Hilly Landscape, Early Autumn, ca. 1870-80.
5. Drawing, Hudson, New York, at Twilight, 1867.

09/13/2023

Cooper Hewitt is on the hunt for a Deputy Director! This role works closely in concert with Cooper Hewitt’s Director and senior management to conduct all aspects of the museum’s mission. They also serve as a principal advisor to the Director on long and short-range planning and allocation of museum resources, as well as a liaison to the museum’s Board of Trustees, Executive Committee, and to all other Committees at Cooper Hewitt and the Smithsonian.

Does this sound like you? Click here for more information:

The Deputy Director works closely in concert with the Director and senior management of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (CHSDM) to conduct all aspects of the Museum's mission. The Deputy also serves as principal advisor to the Director on long and short-range planning and allocation of....

09/12/2023

: Bojagi cloths were staples in Korean households since the beginning of the Joseon Dynasty in the late 14th century up until the 1950s. Equally used and valued by Korean peasants, working classes, and royalty, these multipurpose textiles combined functionality, aesthetic, and craftsmanship, and were used for everything from wrapping gifts to covering and protecting food. Made from ramie, h**p, and silk, these textiles were split into two main groups: kung-bo for the royal court, and min-bo for the ordinary people.

Click here to learn more about the techniques and history behind these essential textiles: https://s.si.edu/3RmtwBk

__
Pictured: Wrapping Cloth (bojagi) (Korea), ca. 1900; silk; 85.1 x 101.6 cm (33 1/2 x 40 in.); Museum purchase from Roy and Niuta Titus Foundation Fund; 1994-22-2.

09/08/2023

This New York Fashion Week, we’re taking a style cue from Dorothy Liebes.

Liebes, a textile designer, also made waves with her personal wardrobe. Her carefully crafted look distinguished her and her brand over four decades, as seen in these photos from . Her looks often included pieces designed by friends and collaborators, including Adrian, Clare Potter, and Bonnie Cashin. She wore jewelry by Helen Hughes Dulany and Mathilde Poulat, and hats by Lily Daché or Mr. John.

Learn more in our digital exhibition: https://exhibitions.cooperhewitt.org/dorothy-liebes/

_
Image credits:
1️⃣ LIFE Picture Collection
3️⃣ Photo by Yousuf Karsch
4️⃣ Photo by Hans Geiger
5️⃣ Photo: George Platt Lynes
7️⃣ Dorothy Liebes Scrapbooks, Art Institute of Chicago

09/07/2023

What color iPod did you have—or want?

in 2005, released the iPod Nano, designed by the Apple Industrial Design Team under design director Jonathan Ive, who won our National Design Award for Product Design in 2007.

The original iPod Nano debuted in only black and white, but new colors were later introduced. These Nanos in our collection are from 2009, the colors reflecting a desire for greater personalization and self-expression.
_
Gift of Apple.

09/06/2023

Which of these pen or pencil holders do you most want on your desk?

1️⃣ Pen tray; 1910–20; designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany; favrile glass, bronze; Gift of Mrs. Eric Larrabee
2️⃣ Orchestra pencil holder; 1994; designed by Ayse Birsel and Bruch Hannah, manufactured by Knoll Group; polystyrene; Gift of The Knoll Group
3️⃣ Centobuchi Pencil Cup; 1980; designed by Studio Erre, manufactured by Rexite SpA (Italy); aluminum, abs; Gift of Arango Design Foundation
4️⃣ Pencil box; 19th century; Iran; papier mache, paint, gilding; Gift of Mrs. J. Insley Blair, 1941

08/31/2023

Shout out to a design classic.

Charles and Ray Eames designed the plywood LCW chair (Low Chair Wood) shortly after World War II, four years after designing an innovative leg splint for the US Navy, using a plywood-molding technique they invented in their Venice Beach apartment. The LCW’s plywood seat and back are contoured for the human body to offer maximum comfort. The Eames also designed a version of the chair with metal legs and back support, know as the LCM. Both the LCW and LCM include rubber shock mounts for even greater comfort and could be customized with different types of wood, dyes and lacquers, and leather or hide surface coverings.
_
Charles Eames and Ray Kaiser Eames; manufactured by Evans Products Company, Molded Plywood Division; around 1946; Gift of the David Teiger Trust.

08/29/2023

This 1960s textile by designer Althea McNish is said to be inspired by lengths of African beads. Her work is known for its vibrant color and tropical themes.

McNish, born in Trinidad, moved to London and became Britain’s first Black textile designer of international acclaim. She designed this work, entitled Tepeaca, for Liberty department store in 1962.

McNish went on to design some of her most popular textiles for Heals Fabrics and Hull Traders. She also designed fabric for fashion clients including Zika Ascher for Christian Dior, Biba, Pierre Cardin, and Mary Quant. Her lively textiles decorated the first embassy building for newly independent Trinidad and Tobago in Washington, D.C., which opened in 1962.

08/25/2023

When graphic design meets the National Park Service!

Today in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson created the National Park Service when he signed the National Park Service Organic Act. Art director and graphic designer Paul Rand created this poster in 1975 to promote the Boston National Historical Park, which includes several stops on the city’s Freedom Trail.

___
Designed by Paul Rand for National Park Service; 1975; Offset lithograph on white paper; gift of Ken Friedman.

08/24/2023

Trying to soak up the last few days of summer…

___
Sunlight and Shadow; Winslow Homer; 1872

08/15/2023

Today we are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2023 National Design Awards!

These winners are recognized for the innovation and impact of their work across the design fields:

◼️ Seymour Chwast, Design Visionary
◼️ Biocement Tiles by Biomason, Climate Action
◼️ Beatriz Lozano, Emerging Designer
◼️ nARCHITECTS, Architecture
◼️ Arem Duplessis, Communication Design
◼️ Clement Mok, Digital Design
◼️ Naeem Khan, Fashion Design
◼️ The Archers, Interior Design
◼️ Kongjian Yu, Landscape Architecture
◼️ Atlason, Product Design
_
Special thanks to our jurors Dung Ngo (chair), Tiffany Chu, Carla Fernández Tena, Noah Schwarz, and Sara Zwede.

Meet the winners: https://www.cooperhewitt.org/national-design-awards/2023-national-design-award-winners/

08/03/2023

This wallpaper is for the farmers’ market fans!

“Summer Stock” sidewall was manufactured by Katzenbach and Warren, Inc. in 1956.

07/31/2023

One more week to see this hopeful exhibition about peace. 🕊️

“Designing Peace” highlights creative solutions to urgent social, environmental, and economic crises from designers, activists, and artists working together.

Reserve museum admission online at cooperhewitt.org for a discount!
_
Photo by Matt Flynn © Smithsonian Institution

07/26/2023

How can symbols change our ideas about disability?

Designers Sara Hendren, Brian Glenney, and Tim Ferguson-Sauder created this icon that shows wheelchair users as decision-makers. Today it is free for use by anyone.

Their icon design began as street art. Before partnering with Ferguson-Sauder, Hendren and Glenney altered wheelchair-accessible parking signs in the Boston area with decals depicting wheelchair users actively moving through the world.

See a large-scale parking lot stencil of the icon and learn more in our exhibition, “Give Me a Sign: The Language of Symbols.”
_
Courtesy of Tim Ferguson-Sauder

07/21/2023

What foods and drinks are must-haves for your ideal summer picnic?

For 20 years graphic designer Stephen Frykholm created posters for the Herman Miller Furniture Company’s summer picnics. Here's his design for summer 1980. 🍋

07/17/2023

What emoji are missing from your keyboard?

This , see how emoji have expanded to reflect and represent the diversity of our world.

This video is part of "Give Me a Sign: The Language of Symbols," on view at Cooper Hewitt. The exhibition examines the fascinating histories behind many of the symbols that instruct, protect, entertain, empower, and connect people.

07/14/2023

New exhibition coming this fall! ✨

“An Atlas of Es Devlin” opens November 18, 2023 and runs through August 11, 2024. The genre-defying British contemporary artist and designer Es Devlin (born 1971) is globally renowned for her large-scale, illuminated installations and sculptures for performances. Her wide-ranging practice, which began in small-scale theater, has been experienced by millions in some of the world’s most prominent museums, galleries, opera houses, arena, and stadia. Her highly collaborative work is at once deeply personal and inherently collective. Devlin views the audience as a temporary society and invites public participation in communal works to encourage profound cognitive shifts.

For her first monographic museum exhibition, Devlin will install her 30-year archive across the third floor of the museum. “An Atlas of Es Devlin” will feature over 300 sketches, paintings, illuminated paper cuts, and projection-mapped rotating miniature sculptures that form the seeds of some of the most iconic, cultural congregations of music, poetry, art, and activism in recent times.
_
Photo by Andrea Mora

07/11/2023

How can play support peace?

In 2019, three oversized teeter-totters allowed children and adults to interact between the wall separating the US-Mexico border. At this small section of the wall between Anapra, Chihuahua and Sunland Park, New Mexico, this interactive work showed how actions taken on one side of the wall directly affected the other. Designers Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello created the teeter-totters with Collectivo Chopeke.

One of the teeter-totters is on display in our exhibition “Designing Peace,” open now through August 6.
_
Photo by Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello