About the French Fabric Designs (1930-1960)…
The French Fabric Designs come from two sources: Louis Lang and the Bianchini Ferier Archive.
Louis Lang
The designs are hand-drawn and painted in gouache or coloured inks on paper, in the period 1925-1960. They are small in scale, perfectly worked, and each one unique. They can be seen as a record of period design and as little works of art standing in their own right. The artist Louis Lang (1901-1980), was a freelance designer living in Paris. Part of a designing trade which still exists today, he would make a small number of designs each morning, then visit the fabric manufacturers with his designs. The son of an art-dealer, he kept his archive in excellent condition. We acquired our selection directly from his son, each bears his studio stamp.
The Bianchini Ferier Archive
The silk weaving house of Bianchini Ferier was founded in Lyon in 1888, and embarked on a century of textile designs and supply for fashion houses worldwide. The designs are anonymous, however Bianchini Ferier employed only the finest artists, and several have individual characteristics. The archives from the firm were sold through Christies auction house in 2001. They are now available to a wider public and can be hung as highly decorative artworks. Our selection, c. 1930-1960, is briefly representative of the history of 20th century design, from Art Nouveau and Art Deco, through Modernism and psychedelic abstraction.
