“There must also be the ability to weld the single units into a homogenous whole, so that the pattern seems to be part of the cloth." It was their passion for design that drew the couple together and formed the basis of their personal and professional relationship. Meanwhile, the exhibition Lucienne Day: Living Design is touring the United Kingdom, celebrating the legacy of this one-of-a-kind artist with archival photographs documenting her life and work. They married in 1942. CIRC.205-1951. Lucienne Day's career in design spans 60 years and the freshness and originality of her work ensures that it is still relevant to contemporary interiors. As well as designing printed textiles, she responded to a flood of invitations from manufacturers to design carpets, wallpapers, tea towels, table linen and ceramics. Their partnership continues for 25 years, resulting in over 70 designs, Robin designs the furniture for the Royal Festival Hall and two room settings for the Homes and Gardens Pavilion at the Festival of Britain featuring his furniture and Lucienne’s textiles and wallpapers. Licensing. Glasgow School of Art, The Festival of Britain, the Days realised, was an opportunity not to be missed. “A good design must fulfil its purpose well, be soundly constructed, and should express in its design this purpose and construction," he stated in 1962. This explains the strength and maturity of their early post-war designs as they had been honing their ideas throughout the previous decade. See more ideas about lucienne day, textile design, textile prints. Lucienne Day: Living Design Curated by Professor Emma Hunt and Dr. Paula Day TheGallery, AUB A centenary celebration of the birth and design legacy of one of Britain’s most influential textile designers, Lucienne Day. Lucienne Day was, without doubt, the most influential and significant of all 1950's pattern designers. The ground floor served as the Days’ joint studio for almost five decades, although the couple rarely worked together, apart from their consultancy work for BOAC and the John Lewis Partnership. In collaboration with TheGallery, Arts University Bournemouth, the Robin and Lucienne Day Foundation announces Lucienne Day: Living Design, an exhibition that celebrates the life and work of one of most influential designers of the post-war generation, born 100 years ago on 5 th January 1917. In the interim, Lucienne designed dress fabrics, while Robin turned his hand to exhibition and poster design. His talents were also evident in the two room settings he designed for the House and Gardens Pavilion at the Festival: one low-cost, one high-cost, both equipped with his latest storage furniture and chairs. Robin Day, the son of a police constable in High Wycombe, and Désirée Lucienne Conradi, who grew up in Croydon, the daughter of Belgian reinsurance broker, met at a Royal College of Art dance in 1940. Significantly, the Days were already in their mid-thirties by the time of the Festival, having trained at the Royal College of Art in London before World War II. Lucienne Day in conversation with Jennifer Harris (author of Lucienne Day: A career in design Contrary to their fears, Lucienne Day's new design turned out to have great market appeal and became one of many commercial successes in a long-standing partnership between Heals and the designer. Robin also designed the furniture for the Royal Festival Hall. There are chairs designed by Robin everywhere, so many that we can't decide on a … Continuing on from yesterday’s post on the pattern designs of Mina Perhonen, I thought I would make a bit of a jump in time and tone! Lucienne discovered her métier for printed textiles at Croydon School of Art. The textile designer Lucienne Day in 1952 Lucienne Day, who has died aged 93, was the foremost British textile designer of her period. However, their working practice was quite different. Lucienne Day is best known for her furnishing fabrics, but in the decade 1959-1969 she devoted a lot of her time to the design of household goods: bathroom accoutrements (towels and bathmats) kitchenware (cheeseboards, plates, bowls), and these glass towels, which she made in collaboration with the Irish firm Thomas Somerset and their subsidiary Fragonard Ltd. Both towering figures in their own right. DCA/30/1/POR/D/DA/52-2103 These habits became deeply ingrained in his design psyche. They were both extremely talented and shared a passionate commitment to modern design. It also explains their astonishing productivity throughout the 1950s. Museum no. A pioneer of ergonomics long before the term was invented, his designs invariably combine practicality with durability. Glasgow, There will be events around the UK and a full list can be found at The Robin and Lucienne Day Foundation.. Visually stimulating, but not over-insistent, her patterns are sophisticated and multi-layered, with cleverly balanced assertive and recessive elements, thereby working both from a distance and close up. Today I will be focusing on the work of Lucienne Day – a mid-century textile designer who, along with her husband Robin Day, were the British answer to uber design couple Charles and Ray Eames!. But it is important not to blur their identity and achievements. Whereas pre-war furniture was solid and ponderous, Day’s designs were pared down and seemed to float above the ground, as with his 1952 Reclining chair. “Considerations of posture and anatomy largely determined the sections through the shell," he explained. She went on to the Royal College of Art from 1937-40, where, in her final year, she met the furniture designer Robin Day. Robin was the first designer to appreciate its potential for furniture and to overcome the technical and engineering problems involved in making the shell of a chair. Among her clients were the German manufacturers, Rasch for wallpaper and Rosenthal for ceramics. If you can, please donate, become a member or a patron - working together to inspire a new generation of designers and make the impact of design visible to all. But Tom Worthington, Heal’s design director, was not a fan. Tea towels, rugs, wallpaper the list goes on. Over the next 44 years he creates more than 150 designs for domestic and office furniture and public seating, Heals Fabrics commissions Lucienne to design Fluellin. Robin went on to create a whole ‘polyprop’ family — the 1967 Polypropylene armchair, the 1971 Series E school chairs and the 1975 jaunty indoor/outdoor Polo chair. Centre for Advanced Textiles Lucienne Day's career in design spans 60 years and the freshness and originality of her work ensures that it is still relevant to contemporary interiors. Lucienne herself has selected the 12 designs which she feels are the strongest most appropriate for revival. With the 1963 Polypropylene chair for Hille, he achieved his ultimate goal. In 1957 Lucienne reflected: “In the very few years since the end of the war, a new style of furnishing fabrics has emerged… I suppose the most noticeable thing about it has been the reduction in popularity of patterns based on floral motifs and the replacement of these by non-representational patterns — generally executed in clear bright colours, and inspired by the modern abstract school of painting… Probably everyone’s boredom with wartime dreariness and lack of variety helped the establishment of this new and gayer trend.". D esigners Lucienne and Robin Day are taking a turn round the Barbican's retrospective of their work. Lucienne Day: 3 exhibitions from Sep 1998 - Aug 2017, exhibition venues worldwide of artist Lucienne Day, Exhibition History, Summary of artist-info.com records, Solo/Group Exhibitions, Visualization, Biography, Artist-Portfolio, Artwork Offers, Artwork Requests, Exhibition Announcements Robin & Lucienne Day: Pioneers of Contemporary Design When I was 19 and studying in London, I went to see an exhibition of Robin & Lucienne Day’s work at the Barbican. Her work is typified often by bold geometric designs but also by more subtle abstract patterns such as those in the design 'Calyx'. G3 6RF. Lucienne Day has 4 works online. Lucienne was commissioned by a wide range of companies and extended her very particular vision to carpets, wallpapers, tea towels and ceramics as well as textiles. Lucienne Day is best known today for her pioneering textile designs from the 1950s and ’60s, particularly her iconic ‘Calyx’ pattern, which was shown at the Festival of Britain in 1951. the post-war revival of design and manufacture and extended the boundaries of modern design, enjoying international recognition. There are 10,232 design works online. They were married in 1942 and made a very striking couple. Lucienne Day - A Sense of Growth Best-known for her textiles, Lucienne Day (1917 – 2010) is recognised as a virtuoso pattern designer and colourist. They collaborate on a series of exhibitions, mainly for the Central Office of Information. Colour relationships were the key feature of her one-off ‘silk mosaics’, a new medium that she developed during the late 1970s. Désirée Lucienne Lisbeth Dulcie Conradi was born in Surrey, England, in 1917. “It is not enough to ‘choose a motif’, nor enough to ‘have ideas’ and be able to draw," she observed. After a series of textural patterns during the early 1960s, her designs became bolder, simpler and flatter, as in 1966’s Pennycress. Lucienne Day’s fresh and progressive textile designs were revolutionary, epitomised by her most famous 1951 Calyx design which was showcased at the 1951 Festival of Britain. ISBN: 0903261294 9780903261296: OCLC Number: 29919376: Notes: Published to coincide with the exhibition by the same name held at the Whitmore Art Gallery, University of Manchester, 23 April-26 June 1993; the Royal College of Art, London, 20 Nov.-18 Dec. … “What one needs in today’s small rooms is to see over and under one’s furniture," he told a journalist in 1955. Jun 18, 2019 - Explore MaggieMoo Textiles Cushions & 's board "Lucienne Day", followed by 193 people on Pinterest. There are 647 textiles online. The collection launch contributes to a year-long centenary programme highlighting the different aspects of Lucienne Day’s life and work. These patterns have now come to define mid-century print design and remain wildly popular, and are being celebrated for her centenary today. Since that point I have been taken with Lucienne Day’s textile designs, and her spindly line design aesthetic has influenced my work so much, I am thinking of getting a tattoo of some of her work (not kidding). Right from the start of his career Robin was totally committed to the design of low-cost, mass-produced furniture. Initially her principal client, Heal Fabrics was sceptical about this avant-garde design, but Calyx was so widely praised, nationally and internationally, that the company enthusiastically embraced the ‘Contemporary’ style and championed Lucienne’s work. He had already left the college in 1938, having specialised in furniture and interior design. Lucienne Day's career in design spans 60 years and the freshness and originality of her work ensures that it is still relevant to contemporary interiors. Sep 6, 2017 - Explore Emma Print Pattern's board "Lucienne Day", followed by 528 people on Pinterest. See more ideas about lucienne day, textile patterns, textile design. A versatile and influential designer, Born Désirée Lucienne Conradi in 1917, Day was brought up in the south London suburbs by her English mother and Belgian father. Several of her later designs had full-width repeats, such as 1967’s Causeway designed specifically for the large floor-to-ceiling picture windows then in vogue. Anglepoise Original 1227 desk lamp - black. Reid Building, Lucienne Day: Textile designer whose work brightened up Fifties Britain It is rare for a textile designer to achieve a high public profile. Becoming Lucienne Day. This exhibition traces her design career through a photographic history, which unfolds in a sequence of images drawn from the Robin and Lucienne Day Foundation. Assessed individually, the Days are both towering figures in their own right. Her designs, which were used for fabric, carpet, wallpaper and ceramics, were inspired by the modern art of Wassily Kandinsky, Joan Miró and Alexander Calder, as … “I wanted to avoid seeing the frame fixings though the seat of the chair, and designed bosses integrally moulded with the underside of the seat. Creating repeat patterns for textiles is a laborious process, but Lucienne’s designs convey an impression of effortless spontaneity. Night and Day tea towel by Lucienne Day. An exhibition at TheGallery, Arts University Bournemouth Opens 12 January – 22 March, 2017. She also produced a large body of designs for three leading British carpet manufacturers: Tomkinson, Wilton Royal and Steele’s. Durability and comfort have always been key features of Robin Day’s designs, hence his interest in public seating. Furnished with examples of their work, the house was featured in several magazines. Her work is recognised through a multitude of awards and is an essential part of museums worldwide. The originality of Lucienne’s early patterns grew from her love of modern art, particularly the paintings of Joan Miró and Paul Klee. Lucienne Day’s career in design spans over 60 years. A role model for young designers and a consummate professional she was appointed OBE in 2004. Robin Day, the son of a police constable in High Wycombe, and Désirée Lucienne Conradi, who grew up in Croydon, the daughter of Belgian reinsurance broker, met at a Royal College of Art dance in 1940. Robin’s success brought him to the attention of a British manufacturer, Hille, which had specialised in period furniture, but was eager to modernise. The couple marry and set up home in a maisonette at 33 Markham Square, Chelsea. Much of his public seating was used for decades after its original installation, notably his 1960s Gatwick benches in Tate Britain, 1980s auditorium seating for the Barbican Art Centre in London and 1990s Toro and Woodro seating on London Underground. He experimented with new materials in inexpensive furniture for manufacturers like Hille and she revitalised textile design with vibrant patterns for Heals. They rose to prominence during the 1951 Festival of Britain, which provided an ideal showcase for their talents. The cabinets in their flexible, multi-functional storage system were fabricated from a tube of moulded plywood cut into sections — a radical innovation for the time. Robin’s inventive response to technology reflected the positive, forward-looking mood of the early post-war era. Lucienne Day was an enthusiastic gardener and plant forms inspired many of her textile designs. in 1951 and subsequently received the coveted International Design Award of the American Institute of Decorators. A worldwide hit, produced in the millions, it has spawned innumerable copies, although none can compare with the subtlety of the original. See more ideas about lucienne day, textile design, textile patterns. As Britain’s most celebrated designer couple of the post-war era, Robin and Lucienne Day were — and are still — often compared to their US contemporaries, Charles and Ray Eames. Acting as mutual catalysts, they spurred each other on to realise their ambitions and to produce their most original work. In 1948, he and Clive Latimer won first prize in the storage section of the International Competition for Low-Cost Furniture organised by the Museum of Modern Art, New York. By the end of the 1940s Lucienne Day had found work with Edinburgh Weavers, Cavendish Textiles (the John Lewis house brand) and Heals. In post-war Britain, a young Lucienne Day made her name in design conveying the buoyant national mood through jubilant, modernist textiles. The furniture designer Robin Day (1915–2010) and his textile designer wife Lucienne (1917–2010) transformed British design after World War II by pioneering a new modern idiom. The couple who transformed British design after World War II by pioneering a new modern idiom. Lucienne Day is Britain's most distinguished textile designer of the 20th Century. ... And true, her design – abstract, irregular forms resembling flower heads on slender stems – evoked the work of contemporary artists like Joan Miró and Alexander Calder. Why Lucienne Day loved the uplifting power of mustard yellow. With her husband Robin she pioneered Although understated, the Polypropylene chair is extremely refined. There is an exhibition of the Days' work at Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, East Sussex, until 26 June. Whereas the Eameses designed as a team, the Days mostly worked independently in separate fields. The war and its government-regulated aftermath delayed their careers, but made them even more determined to succeed. Seizing this opportunity, he designed a series of simple, functional chairs, tables, desks and storage units that harnessed the latest wood and metal-working techniques. She was in her final year studying printed textiles. Lucienne was also much sought after by other textile companies, including Edinburgh Weavers, Liberty and British Celanese. Lucienne Day (1917-2010) was a British textile designer whose vibrant and innovative work changed the industry. When she was eighty-nine years old Day supervised the Glasgow School of Art’s special exhibition of her work, Silk Mosaic and Early Textiles (2003). The 1950s and 1960s were a time of feverish activity for Lucienne. An inspired colourist, Lucienne was always meticulous about selecting the colourways for her patterns. From the outset Robin Day was a deeply moral and highly principled designer, who was not interested in making a design statement, but in solving practical problems in the most rigorous, efficient and cost-effective way. The Festival of Britain, the Days realised, was an opportunity not to be missed. Fresh and original and oh so relevant even now. The Design Museum needs you! Like many architects and designers during the optimistic post-war period, the Days believed in the transformative power of modern design to make the world a better place. Jun 11, 2012 - Design Archives ID no. After moving to 49 Cheyne Walk in Chelsea in 1952, Lucienne and Robin Day transformed the interiors of this Victorian house into a model of ‘Contemporary’ design. Lucienne’s arresting abstract-patterned textiles and wallpapers were displayed alongside Robin’s steel and plywood furniture in the Homes and Gardens Pavilion. Seen as the pioneer of of the post war revival of design, along with husband … Ground Floor, One of the few British-based fashion designers to combine commercial success with critical credibility, Paul Smith (1946-) is renowned for his idiosyncratic take on traditional British styling -'classics with a twist' - both in his fashion collections and his shops. Robin Day born at High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, Désirée Lucienne Conradi born at Coulsden, Surrey, Robin studies design at the Royal College of Art, specialising in furniture and interior design, Lucienne studies design at the Royal College of Art, specialising in printed textiles and meets Robin at an RCA dance in 1940. Lucienne’s Calyx printed furnishing fabric for Heals is created for this display, The Days move to 49 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, which they refurbish in the ‘Contemporary’ style, As well as designing up to six printed textiles a year for Heals, Lucienne creates furnishing and fashion fabrics, carpets, ceramics and table linen, as well as joining the Rosenthal international designers’ panel, Robin designs televisions, radios and stereograms for Pye, The Days act as design consultants to BOAC and develop an interior scheme for the Super VC10 and a refreshment tray for Boeing 707, The Days design furniture and furnishings for Churchill College, Cambridge, The John Lewis Partnership employs the Days as design consultants to develop a new house style and to design interiors for John Lewis stores and Waitrose supermarkets, Robin designs the Polypropylene chair for Hille, which becomes one of the best-selling chairs of all time, Employed as a consultant for the Barbican Arts Centre, London, Robin He designs the seating for the foyer, bar and five auditoria, Robin designs Series E school chairs for Hille, Lucienne produces over 144 silk mosaics, including 1990’s Aspects of the Sun for the John Lewis department store at Kingston-on-Thames, The exhibition Hille – 75 Years of British Furniture is held at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, After the sale of Hiller, Robin specialises in public seating for sports stadia and auditoria such as the 1984 RD seating for NHS waiting rooms and the 190-91 Toro and Woodro project for the London Underground, The exhibition Lucienne Day: A Career in Design is held at the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, Habitat reissues the Polypropylene chair in new colours, and a duvet featuring an enlarged version of Lucienne’s Black Leaf tea towel pattern, Robin is invited to design furniture for twentytwentyone and SCP, A retrospective exhibition, Robin and Lucienne Day – Pioneers of Contemporary Design, is held at the Barbican Art Gallery, London, Several of Lucienne’s early patterns are digitally reprinted by Glasgow School of Art, Polypropylene and tubular steel chair, manufactured by Hille, 1963, Painted plywood chair, 1999, from Childsply exhibition at Twentytwentyone. She sought to create a similar energy and vitality in her patterns through dynamic, ebullient compositions, as in 1953’s Spectators and Perpetua, and bold colour contrasts, as in the 1956 Herb Antony. She believed that good design should be affordable and her breakthrough print was 'Calyx', a brightly-coloured textile that she created for … Inspired by plant forms, composed of spindly lines and irregular cupped motifs in earthy and acid tones, the abstract design was initially viewed with scepticism by her principal client, Heal Fabrics. Day's furnishing fabrics, of … As part of the nationwide Lucienne Day centenary celebrations, this exhibition opens in spring 2017. Lucienne Day's work combined organic shapes with bright patterns inspired by contemporary abstract painters such as Kandisky and Miro. The brief was complex and demanding, including restaurant and foyer furniture, auditorium seating and orchestra chairs, each with specific functional demands. Her best known textile design 'Calyx' was launched at the Festival of Britain Light, strong, flexible, scratch-proof, heat-resistant and hard-wearing, polypropylene had numerous advantages over other materials in use at the time. She was in her final year studying printed textiles. Her designs and fabrics changed the look of modern interiors and brought a freshness and vitality to the decor of that era.