Textile art
Textile art is the collective term for artistic designs from and with textile material. Her main tasks include clothing as well as decorative and warming room textiles.
Techniques, materials, functions
The countless types of design begin with the use of different colored threads and the formation of reliefs according to the respective textile technique : crossing the threads during plaiting , weaving , knitting (old tapestries); Entangling loops when knitting (modern fabrics), knitting , crocheting ; Knotting the threads when knotting and net work as well as when making lace . Additional processing takes place through painting, printing (including batik ), embroidery and appliqué .
Wool and linen have been used as textile materials since ancient times ; Although silk was known in ancient Greece, it was only the Byzantines who succeeded in acquiring the secret of its manufacture from the Chinese. Since the 14th century, silk has also been made in Italy and, along with velvet, was the preferred material of the Renaissance and Baroque periods . The cotton gained in Europe only with imports in the 17th century meaning and was then cultivated in the Mediterranean region since the 19th century, it is an equal footing with the other materials.
Functional, decorative and social aspects of textile art reflects the portrait of Henry Frederick Stuart, Prince of Wales, from the time of James I resist. His hat is made of felt, one of the basic textile products. His clothes are made of woven fabric decorated with embroidery, and his stockings are knitted. He stands on an oriental carpet made of wool, which is soft and protects against the cold floor. The heavy curtains adorn the room on the one hand, and on the other hand block the cold drafts from the window. The embroidery on the tablecloth and the curtains announce the status and social status of the owner, as does the linen shirt with lace trimmings and the lush embroidery on the prince's clothes.
Textiles as a cultural asset
Artistic weaving, clothing and decorative fabrics made of silk, gold thread and less valuable material from ancient times have only come down to us through sculptures, decorative painting and descriptions by ancient writers. While pure white robes were considered elegant in ancient Rome, in Greek Byzantium the classic monochrome was abandoned in favor of brightly knitted, brocaded or even gold embroidered clothing.
Oriental original fabrics from the 1st millennium AD first came to Europe through the Crusades . Over the centuries the stocks of oriental fabrics in Catholic churches in Europe increased and were used for regalia .
Since the 1880s, the grave finds from Upper Egypt ( Coptic Art) brought to light late Egyptian and other oriental fabrics from the early Middle Ages . From the Coptic finds, a shirt-like garment, a so-called tunic, can be reconstructed as a dress form from the post-Christian era . A plain weave linen or wool fabric served as the base material, into which pattern elements of various types were woven.
East Asian textiles from countries like China or Japan impress with their astonishing wealth of textile manufacturing and design methods. However, garments worth collecting, for example, were difficult to obtain. The best, like the courtly robes , could hardly be acquired until the 20th century.
In medieval Europe, textile art was largely limited to women's convents. It was not until the Renaissance that there were knitters and embroiderers as separate professions, also performed by men. Centers of European textile art emerged in France, Switzerland and southern Germany; Finally, there was also Brussels . From 1650, France assumed the leading role in Europe, as evidenced by the famous Paris tapestry manufacture and the workshops in Beauvais , Aubusson , Felletin and Nancy . The popularity of the tapestries , which rivaled painting at the height of their development , finally declined in the late 18th century.
In the time of Art Nouveau or Jugendstil , hand-made textiles became important for the definition of "new art". Many designers discovered the traditional techniques such as tapestry and embroidery for the manufacture of the fabrics. Henry van de Velde , known for his interiors and furniture, designed some of the typical patterns of Art Nouveau.
Textile art played a major role in the Wiener Werkstätte . At the Bauhaus there was a master class for weaving, which was directed by Gunta Stölzl , then Anni Albers .
The German Textile Museum in the old town of Krefeld-Linn exhibits textiles, clothing and woven fabrics from various cultures . The conservation and restoration of textiles has become increasingly important there. According to today's understanding, it is not only their artistic value that counts, but also their expressiveness with regard to social and economic contexts in the epoch of their creation and use.
Current textile art
In modern textile art, functional aspects take a back seat. The artistic design of clothing and interior textiles plays a particularly important role in experimental textile art. Material and textile technology come to the fore as a self-reference. Accordingly, modern textile artists emphasize structure, material and color in two and three-dimensional creations. To the extent that functional aspects in modern textile art lose their importance and the term applied art no longer applies here, the overlap with other art forms increases, such as sculpture in the sense of a generic term for three-dimensional works of art .
literature
- Keyword "Oriental art weaving"; In: Meyers Großes Konversationslexikon , 6th edition. Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig and Vienna 1885–1908, Volume 15, p. 117.
- Keyword “textile art”; In: Meyers Enzyklopädisches Lexikon . Bibliographisches Institut, Mannheim / Vienna / Zurich 1973, Volume 23, p. 368.
- Erika Thiel: History of the Costume . Henschel-Verlag, Berlin, 8th edition 2004, ISBN 3-89487-260-8 .
- Luzia Fleisch, Renate Egger: Textiles Web - Textile Art and Culture in the World Wide Web , Salzburg, 2001
- Ruth Grönwoldt: Embroidery from prehistory to the present . Hirmer Verlag, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-7774-5840-6 .
- “Textiles” section; In: Judith Miller : Art nouveau . Dorling Kindersley, London 2004, ISBN 3-8310-0767-5 .
- Author collective: Museum - German Textile Museum Krefeld-Linn . Westermann Verlag, Braunschweig 1983, ISSN 0341-8634 .
