The Modernist Textile

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Review

American authors seem to have a more democratic understanding of (cultural) history. Virginia Gardner Troy, for one, an acclaimed Bauhaus connoisseur, approaches her discussion of textile history 1890 to 1940 with a great interest in the role of textiles as mediators between social classes, between art and the crafts, and between the crafts and industry. Her aim is to bring modern art textiles, which are not held in high regard, closer to her readers.
A professor of art history at Berry College, USA, Virginia Gardner Troy believes that contemporary textile design is inextricably linked to the history of modern art, life, and the zeitgeist. She approaches the subject of this publication from the perspective of the gesamtkunstwerk - a synthesis of the arts which involves all disciplines, from architects to weavers of wall hangings.
The book presents design examples ranging from William Morris, the revivalist, to 1920s Bauhaus artists, and places them into their historic context. Incidentally, the author is also well known for her 2002 publication, "Anni Albers and Ancient American Textiles: From Bauhaus to Black Mountain". Unusually for a historic overview, she takes into account fascist phenomena that used textiles for propaganda purposes, for instance the National Socialists and their forced recourse to regional craft clichés, and the Italian fascists, whose methods included establishment of a regulatory authority to control women's clothing in 1932.
It is natural that a North American author should focus on the almost forgotten New World designers. In addition, Virginia Gardner Troy's perception of recent textile art history is more optimistic than the views espoused by European publications. Her concluding sentence is: "Perhaps no artistic medium best embodies the dynamism of the age than textiles."

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