Lili Blumenau

Lili Blumenau (1912–1976) was a pivotal figure in the development of fiber arts and textile arts, particularly weaving, in the United States during the mid-part of the 20th century.

Early life and education

Blumenau is a graduate of the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts, the Académie Scandinave in Paris, and was the first woman to graduate from the New York School of Textile Technology.[1]

Work and career

After her education, she went on to become an instructor in several schools in New York City, including Columbia University's Teacher's College where she started a weaving workshop. She founded the weaving department at the Fashion Institute of Technology and Design in 1952.[1] In addition to maintaining her own weaving studio on Tenth Street in Manhattan she served as the curator of textiles at Cooper Union Museum from 1944 to 1950.[1]

In 1955 Blumenau authored the text The Art and Craft of Hand Weaving, Including Fabric Design[2] that had significant impact on her field. This text provided technical details and patterns for loom weaving as well as a conceptual approach to the methodologies of hand weaving as "engaging, fully-human, and life-giving".[1] Her work provided inspiration to the Catholic Worker Movement to whom she taught weaving to several members at the Peter Maurin Farm.[3]

Collections

Lili Blumenau's works are in the permanent collection at the Cooper Hewitt Museum.[4]

Works
  1. "The Art and Craft of Hand Weaving--Lili Blumenau". Boreal Weaver: An Online Diary. March 11, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  2. Blumenau, Lili (1956). The Art and Craft of Hand Weaving: Including Fabric Design. New York: Crowne Publishers.
  3. "Rediscovering the Sacramentality of Things". Boreal Weaver. February 15, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  4. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. "Lili Blumenau". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 15 January 2020.

Additional sources
  1. Adams, Alice. "Lili Blumenau." Craft Horizons v.22, no. 2 (March 1962) p.16-20.
  2. Blumenau, Lili. "Experiments in Sample Weaving." Craft Horizons v.17, no. 2 ( March 1957) p. 18-22.
  3. "Lili Blumenau, 1912-1976." Craft Horizons v.37, no.1 (February 1977) p. 10.

References
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