A recent visit to Chichester drew us into the Pallant House Gallery to see the textile designs produced by John Piper. The exhibition is entitled ‘The FABRIC of MODERNISM’ and is curated by Simon Martin of Pallant House. The display runs to the 12th of June, 2016 and spreads through 3 of the intimate upstairs galleries providing an immersive and intense colour/pattern experience.
Piper’s terrific skill in managing motif and method comes across clearly as style and requirements evolve through the decades from the 1930s onward. In ‘Abstract Painting’ of 1935, below, it is such a rewarding experience to see the original oil painting alongside the subsequent fabric and to witness the skill and accuracy that the textile manufacturer, David Whitehead Ltd., employed when producing the screen printed cotton fabric in 1955.
The painting on the right below is a watercolour and collage work on paper called ‘Poelfoen’ was made by Piper in 1960 and further similar works were reproduced as limited edition lithographs. By 1968 David Whitehead Ltd had produced a screen print on cotton based on a similar artwork. The blue colour way ‘Brittany’, is illustrated on the left below with the motif reproduced twice across the 48in width of the cotton with a repeat of approx. 20ins so this fabric has the motif scaled to the same size as the watercolour it was modelled on.
One of the highlights of the installation is the cartoon for the St Luke panel of the Chichester Cathedral Tapestry executed in gouache and collage in 1965. It is shown here alongside the trial tapestry. Then, only a few hundred metres away in the cathedral, the whole Tapestry can be viewed in-situ where it is possible to reflect on the controversies which arose after it’s unveiling in 1966. An amusing anecdote noted in the excellent catalogue of the exhibition recalls one canon wearing dark glasses to the consecration service as a mark of his disapproval.
This a taste of what’s in store at Pallant House in this exhibition which matches paintings and original designs with the textile work they inspired. The fabrics and tapestries are familiar as they have been in the public domain for decades and in many cases, now, for over half a century. What is special here is the display of items from private collections that are matched to the more familiar fabrics. One of these is the oil painting ‘Sheffield Cathedral’ 1960 with the Sanderson curtain material entitled ‘Northern Cathedral’ 1962, here both of the pieces are from private collections.
It is noteworthy that a portion of the ‘Northern Cathedral’ screen print on fabric is being auctioned by Mallams of Oxford on Thursday the 19th of May, 2016. The sale is Modern British Post-War Art & Design and contains a further selection of Piper screen prints on fabric. Mallams expert on 20th Century design is Philip Smith and he can be contacted at philip.smith@mallams.co.uk