Lucienne Day-The Geometric

"Lines"-a pattern created for Heals, a fabric design house in Britian

 Non-objective is pure design. We are not associating the images with anything we think we know. Only The Elements of Art* are referenced. Lucienne Day was inspired by these basic elements. This post is devoted to some of these pieces .

Lapis, 1953

Miscellany, 1952

Cockaigne, 1961

Diablo, 1962

Lucienne Day had a long career with a huge portfolio. This is my fourth and probably not last post showcasing her work. She is hugely inspirational for me as a designer. 

*  The Elements of Art are like the ingredients that a cook uses to create a dish. Artists use these to create a works of art. The These elements are: line, shape, space, form, color, texture, and value.

Previous posts:

1. My first post and introduction of Lucienne Day. This post covers her groundbreaking design "Caylx".
2. The Orange Look-book has some of her orange hued inspired designs.  This post was in conjunction with the color Tangerine Tango, Pantone's color of the year.
3. Some of her work that was directly inspired by nature will be found in this post.

Lucienne Day and Nature

"Plants and the sense of growth was a very strong inspiration for me"-Lucienne Day

Today's post starts out with a quote from one of my favorite designers, Lucienne Day.  With this quote in mind, I have put together a Look Book of  some of her designs that definitely have a nature and growth influence.

I have to revisit Calyx, her breakout design first published in 1951

Tarn

Fall

Flowers

Climbing Trees

Perpetua

Larch

I have four posts about Lucienne Day.  My first post, which is a good introduction to her can be found here. The second post covers work that she created in orange. The last post talks about her pure non-objective works.

Lucienne Day-The Orange Lookbook

Apollo, (detail), late 1950s. Lucienne Day. Manufactured by Heal Fabrics. At the Textile Museum, Washington, D.C  Jill A. Wiltse and H. Kirk Brown III Collection of British Textiles. Courtesy the Textile Museum.

I was thinking about Pantone's color of the year Tangerine Tango and decided I wanted to feature fabric designs by Lucienne Day using orange tones.  I am
just a bit enthusiastic about Day's fabric designs.

Trio-not sure of the date

Foreshore, 1952-this probably leans a bit towards the red orange, but I decided to put it in anyway.

"Springboard furnishing fabric, for Heal's. Screen-printed linen. UK, 1954. "

My first article on Lucienne Day--I hope a decent introduction to her work--can be read here.


A small video clip featuring a recorded conversation with Lucienne Day by Wallpaper magazine can be watched here.

Helix - Manufactured by Thomas Somerset, 1970.

Lucienne Day's "Calyx"-A Ground Breaking Classic

Calyx, 1951

Lucienne Day rocked the design world in 1951.  She debuted her fabric design Calyx at the Festival of Britain.  This pattern was designed for a room that her husband, Robin Day, had created for the festival. Her ability to mix eye popping color contrasts with organic abstract shapes was a dose of good cheer that post-war Britain needed.

Calyx was the beginning of a career that would  expand into different types of textiles, working with numerous companies and winning many awards.

Designers are always telling us that they can get their ideas from the smallest things.  As an art teacher, I told my students to open their eyes up and really look at the world because a designer and artist will never know where the next inspiration lies. 

Starting from the top left: Joan Miro, Saul Steinberg, Wassily Kandinsky, Naum Gabo, and Paul Klee-possible influences for a young designer in the early 50s

 

Lucienne Day was no different.  That she looked to nature is obvious.  However, during her formative years, several wonderful artists experimented  in abstraction and color.  Some of these were Klee, Miró, Kandinsky, Gabo, and Calder.  I think these artists and their styles influenced Day. 

Lucienne Day had a great fifty years in design.  She  was a trail blazer in a world at that time dominated by men. This is the first of a few articles I want to write about her.  

Portrait of Lucienne Day