Anni Albers

Anonymous Photographer
Anni Albers
1964
gelatin silver print
Archives of American Art, Washington DC

Anni Albers
D
1969
screenprint
Hirshhorn Museum, Washington DC

Anni Albers
Dr IX
1973
ink and graphite on paper
Hirshhorn Museum, Washington DC

Anni Albers
Flyer for book On Weaving
ca. 1965
offset-print
Archives of American Art, Washington DC

Anni Albers
Under Way
1963
hand-woven cotton and linen
Hirshhorn Museum, Washington DC

Anni Albers
Fabric Sample of Bedspread
for Harvard Graduate Center Student Residence
1949
hand-woven cotton and linen
Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, New York

Anni Albers
Fabric Sample for Draperies
ca. 1945
hand-woven cotton and rayon
Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, New York

Anni Albers
Fabric Sample
ca. 1945
hand-woven wool
Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, New York

Anni Albers
Fabric Sample
ca. 1945
hand-woven cotton and rayon
Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, New York

Anni Albers
Fabric Sample for Draperies
ca. 1948
hand-woven cotton and silk
Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, New York

Anni Albers
Fabric Sample
ca. 1945
hand-woven wool
Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, New York

Anni Albers
Smyma-knuepfteppich
1984
screenprint
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Anni Albers
Study for Hooked Rug
1984
screenprint
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Anni Albers
Study for Nylon Rug
1984
screenprint
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Anni Albers
Study for Wall Hanging
1984
screenprint
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Anni Albers
Untitled
1983
screenprint
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Fragment

Short and dirty, is all the fun of it;

And done, it's done with, and it's done to death.

Blind beasts in rut thrust on the direct way,

But not so, love, with us. Want

Sickens, and dies at last another death.

But so, like this, lying down with you here,

And kissing for an everlasting Sunday,

No labour, and no shaming: only this

Pleased, pleases, long to pleasure,

So not to end, commencing constantly.  

– Petronius Arbiter (died AD 65), translated by Judy Spink (1963) 

Contrived in France

House of Worth
Evening Gown
ca. 1882
silk satin and silk chiffon
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

House of Worth
Evening Cloak
1889
embroidered silk with dyed and beaded lace
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

House of Worth
Evening Gown
ca. 1893
silk satin, silk chiffon and silk velvet
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Maison Goupy
Day Dress
1919
printed cotton and silk velvet
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Callot Soeurs
Evening Gown
1922
beaded and embroidered silk
National Museum of American History
Washington DC

Callot Soeurs
Evening Gown
ca. 1923-26
printed and beaded silk velvet and lace
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Christian Dior
Wedding Gown
1956
silk taffeta, silk tulle and lace
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Cristóbal Balenciaga
Cocktail Coat
1956
silk gros-de-Naples
Museo Cristóbal Balenciaga, Getaria, Spain

Cristóbal Balenciaga
Ensemble (Sweater and Skirt)
1957
wool knit
Museo Cristóbal Balenciaga, Getaria, Spain

Cristóbal Balenciaga
Coat
1960
wool
Museo Cristóbal Balenciaga, Getaria, Spain

Cristóbal Balenciaga
Evening Gown
1960
embroidered silk gros-de-Naples
Museo Cristóbal Balenciaga, Getaria, Spain

Cristóbal Balenciaga
Ensemble (Blouse and Skirt)
1961
silk crepe
Museo Cristóbal Balenciaga, Getaria, Spain

Cristóbal Balenciaga
Day Dress
1968
wool crepe
Museo Cristóbal Balenciaga, Getaria, Spain

Hubert de Givenchy
Evening Gown
1982
cotton knit with nylon tulle and plastic sequins
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Emanuel Ungaro
Evening Ensemble
1989
jacket: silk-cotton twill and rayon velvet
skirt: embroidered silk satin
Philadelphia Museum of Art

John Galliano for Dior
Suit
1998
wool and silk, with wool faux-fur
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Giambattista Valli
Two-Piece Dress
2014
silk taffeta and silk tulle
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

    They which forewent us did leave a room for us, and should we grieve to do the same to those which should come after us?  Who, being admitted to see the exquisite rarities of some antiquary's cabinet, is grieved, all viewed, to have the curtain drawn, and give place to new pilgrims?  And when the Lord of this universe hath showed us the various wonders of his amazing frame, should we take it to heart when he thinketh time to dislodge?  This is his unalterable and unevitable decree: as we had no part of our will in our entrance into this life, we should not presume of any on our leaving it, but soberly learn to will that which he wills, whose very willing giveth being to all that it wills; and adoring the Orderer, not repine at the order and laws, which all-where and all-ways are so perfectly established that who would essay to alter and amend any of them, he should either make them worse or desire things beyond the level of possibility.  All that is necessary and convenient for us they have bestowed upon us and freely granted; and what they have not bestowed nor granted us, neither is it necessary nor convenient that we should have it. 

– William Drummond of Hawthornden, from A Cypress Grove (London: Hawthornden Press, 1919, reprinting the original edition of 1623)

Pieces

Anonymous Italian Weavers
Orphrey Band with Dead Christ in the Tomb
16th century
silk and linen
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous Mexican Needleworker
Sampler
ca. 1820
silk embroidery on cotton
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous Spanish Needleworker
Shrine  to the Virgin
17th century
silk embroidery on silk-satin hanging
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous Spanish Weavers
Fabric Panel with Pomegranates and Blossoms
15th century
silk
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous Spanish Weavers
Fabric Panel
17th century
silk-satin damask
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous Spanish Weavers
Fabric Panel with Birds and Pomegranates
15th century
silk
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

F. Schumacher & Co., New York 
Sample Book for Waverly Wovens
1953
cottons and rayons
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous American Manufacturer
Fabric Panel with Constructivist Design
ca. 1925-30
screenprinted silk
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous American Manufacturer
Fabric Panel with Capitals Design
ca. 1950-60
screenprinted cotton
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous American Manufacturer
Fabric Panel with Deco Repeat
ca. 1920-30
printed silk
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Paul Poiret for Atelier Martine, licensed to Duplan Silk Corp.
Lizeron
1914
block-printed silk
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Paul Poiret for Atelier Martine, licensed to Duplan Silk Corp.
Bishop
1914
roller-printed silk
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Paul Poiret for Atelier Martine, licensed to Duplan Silk Corp.
Pekin
1914
roller-printed silk
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Paul Poiret for
F. Schumacher & Co., New York
Juin
1930
roller-printed cotton
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous Makers in India for the Dutch Market
Bed Hanging
ca. 1700-1725
painted and dyed cotton chintz
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Anonymous Persian Weavers
Fabric Panel with Botanical Repeat
18th century
silk brocade
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous French Makers
Scarf
ca. 1920-30
pieced rectangle of printed and solid-colored silks
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

    Death is the sad estranger of acquaintance, the eternal divorcer of marriage, the ravisher of the children from their parents, the stealer of parents from the children, the interrer of fame, the sole cause of forgetfulness, by which the living talk of those gone away as of so many shadows or fabulous Paladins.  All strength by it is enfeebled, beauty turned in deformity and rottenness, honour in contempt, glory into baseness: it is the unreasonable breaker-off of all the actions of virtue by which we enjoy no more the sweet pleasures on earth, neither contemplate the stately revolutions of the heavens.  The sun perpetually setteth, stars never rise unto us.  It in one moment depriveth us of what with so great toil and care in many years we have heaped together.  By this are successions of lineages cut short, kingdoms left heirless, and greatest states orphaned.  It is not overcome by pride, smoothed by flattery, tamed by entreaties, bribed by benefits, softened by lamentations, diverted by time.  Wisdom, save this, can alter and help anything.  By Death we are exiled from this fair city of the world; it is no more a world unto us nor we anymore people into it.  The ruins of fanes, palaces and other magnificent frames yield a sad prospect to the soul: and how should it consider the wrack of such a wonderful masterpiece as is the body, without horror?

– William Drummond of Hawthornden, from A Cypress Grove (London: Hawthornden Press, 1919, reprinting the original edition of 1623)