Monica D. Murgia

Where art, creativity, and fashion meet

October 4th, 2012

John Little & Wesley Simpson Textiles

Two days ago, I received an email from a reader. Laura had recently purchased this original textile design by John Little. (I’ve written several posts on Little, one on his abstract art, the other on his textile designs) When I first saw Little’s abstract paintings, I felt a connection to his work. I couldn’t place exactly what it was.

Then, I read his biography and discovered he had been a textile designer during the Great Depression and throughout his career as a painter. There is a vast difference between Little’s abstract paintings and textile designs. His textiles are more representational (i.e. they depict recognizable objects, figures, or have some sort of pattern). Laura’s purchase is a great example of this. Entitled “Personalities“, it seems like a chess set came to life, with each of the game pieces expressing a part of their character.

Personalities by John Little. Image courtesy of Laura Richardson.

All of Little’s textile designs that I’ve seen are gouache on paper. So, what does that mean? Gouache is a paint that is similar to watercolor, but is heavier and more opaque. It tends to dry in a slightly different value that when it is wet. So since the color can change, painting with gouache is usually done in one sitting. (If you tried to resume painting after gouache has dried, it can be difficult to match the color. You may think you have mixed a perfect match, only to find that the fresh paint will dry as a different value.)

In terms of art market value, works on paper are “worth” much less than oil paintings. This is because paper is extremely fragile. Paper tends to deteriorate rapidly over time, especially if the paper is exposed to an acidic environment or one that has a great variation in humidity. Think about old magazines and newspapers that have been stored carelessly in an attic or basement. They become fragile and damage easily. Oil paintings tend to be more durable. (Oil paint never really dries. This type of paint dries in layers. So even when the surface dries to the touch, the layers underneath are still wet. It takes over 20 years for the oil to fully solidify!)

Personalities by John Little. Image courtesy of Laura Richardson.

This is just an explanation of determining market value, and not the significance of the work. To me, Little’s textile designs are more interesting than his oil paintings. There were lots of abstract painters during the Post War period, doing similar things. And yes, there were a lot of artists crossing over to textile designs after World War II.

But somehow, the textile designs communicate more about the artist. As much as I like Little’s oil paintings, them seem to echo the abstract expressionist movement than reveal something about Little’s “personality”. Laura’s textile design shows so much about Little: he was creative; he had an active imagination; he could create stories out of common objects; and he had an interesting use of color, shape, and pattern. You might not get these ideas from his painting “Tropic of Cancer”

Tropic of Cancer by John Little. Image courtesy of AskArt.com

Of course, my curiosity got the best of me! I looked around a bit more, and found some more examples of John Little’s textile designs. They are currently being sold by the Gordon Harrison Gallery.

Textile Design by John Little. Image courtesy of Gordon Harrison Gallery.

Textile Design by John Little. Image courtesy of Gordon Harrison Gallery.

And if the textile excitement hadn’t been enough, I was contacted by another one of my readers, Linda, after writing about my own scarf by Wesley Simpson. My scarf is called “Downtown” and has a repeat of a furniture store and apartment building.

Downtown by Wesley Simpson.

John Little and Wesley Simpson had a lot in common. During the Great Depression, Simpson established his own business as a textile converter. This means that designs were produced in-house or via freelance artists, and then the actual printing was contracted to outside factories. Simpson was the chief stylist of his company, which came to be known as Wesley Simpson Custom Fabrics, Inc. The company operated from 1932 to 1950. (John Little started a wallpaper and textile printing company during the Great Depression. He ran the John Little Studios: Fabric and Wallpaper Design until 1950, and later collaborated with Greeff, an English textile company.)

Linda had owned these Wesley Simpson scarves for years, but was never able to find any information on him or his company. She reached out to me and showed me her BEAUTIFUL scarves, designed for Simpson by Marcel Vertes :

Images courtesy of Linda Chapple.

Image courtesy of Linda Chapple.

I’ll be writing a follow-up post this week about Marcel Vertes. He was just too important not to dedicate an entire post in his honor. Stay tuned!

A special thanks to Laura Richardson and Linda Chapple for reading and sharing their fantastic collections!

Linda also sells vintage online:

Etsy: Funky Grandma

eBay: Funky Grandma

Ruby Lane: Eclectic Grandma

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Tags: abstract expressionism, American art, american textiles, John Little, john little textiles, made in america, marcel vertes, painting, paintings, postwar america, scarf, scarves, textiles, Wesley Simpson, wesley simpson textiles
Posted in american fashion, art, artists, artists i love, entrepreneurship, fashion, Fashion as art, fashion history, fashion influenced by art, made in america, paintings, textiles, Vintage | 2 Comments »

June 30th, 2012

John Little’s Textile Designs

Hearing from my readers is always exciting! This morning, I received a message about two John Little original textile designs for sale on eBay. Little was an abstract expressionist painter in Postwar New York, but during the depression he operated a textile and wall paper studio to earn an income. (For more on Little’s painting, click here to read my previous post)

Here you can see examples of Little’s textile designs, which he painted with gouache on paper. It was not uncommon for artists to design textiles in the Postwar economy. Salvador Dali designed textiles, and did exclusive designs for Elsa Schiaparelli, Adele Simpson, and Gilbert Adrian. The Onondaga Silk Company also commissioned an American Artist series in the late 1940s.

There is a stark contrast between Little’s paintings and textile designs. The textile designs are much more traditional and in line with mid-century fashion.

Little also collaborated with Greeff, an English textile company now owned by F. Schumacher & Co:

Greeff had pioneered the introduction of elaborate themed colletions, intended for the high-end interior decorator trade since the 1940s, featuring patters by designers such as Marion Dorn, John Little, Dan Rasmassen, and Dagmar Wilson. These continued to form a key element of the company’s repertoire, along with period ranges, such as American Legacy. (Jackson, Lesley. Twentieth Century Pattern Design. New York: Princeton Architetural Press, 2002, 117.)

Judging from the markings on the back, Little must have offered textile designs directly from his studio for purchase.

All images courtesy of consign2you

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Tags: abstract expressionism, abstract expressionist, Hans Hoffmann, jackson pollock, John Little, Lisa N. Peters, Spanierman Modern, textile design, textiles
Posted in art, artists i love, Designers I love, Fashion as art, textiles | 12 Comments »

June 7th, 2012

John Little

Fashion and art are undeniably intertwined . Collaborations between artists and designers always fascinate me. My previous posts on Sonia Delaunay, Salvador Dali, and color field paintings explore this. But what really captivates me is an individual who can participate in both spheres on their own. Abstract expressionist artist John Little did exactly this.

John Little Untitled #1, 1948. Image courtesy of thomasmccormick.com/

John Little (1907-1984) was a student of Hans Hofmann and painted with Jackson Pollock in post-war New York. Lisa N. Peters of Spanierman Modern describes his work quite succinctly:

His canvases are characterized by dynamic and explosive movements, conveying the searching, restlessness of his era, yet he also brought them a sense of resolution and balance. For Little, the picture plane was akin to a magnetic field, and he contained opposing forces, of buoyancy and gravity, of varying densities of form and color, of splintering and fusion, and of pressure and release through a process of animated involvement that is evident in his charged surfaces.

John Little Cascading Forms, 1954. Image courtesy of thomasmccormick.com

Looking through Little’s paintings, I felt the sense of floating through color. Some invoked a sense of restlessness, and others, like Cascading Forms, seemed soothing. The different emotional responses made me want to read more of what Peters had written on Little. She explained in the catalog that Little had designed textiles in the late 1920s. This caught my attention.

John Little, Diver, 1983. Image courtesy of janeeckertfineart.com

In 1928, the John Little Studios: Fabric & Wallpaper Design was opened in New York. This studio grew to a staff of 12, and remained open through the early 1950s. Textile design allowed Little to survive the Great Depression. He was able to operate the business and paint in his spare time.

John Little (1907-1984) "Ominous Night," 1951. Image courtesy of Spanierman Modern.

Dressing is such an emotional process. Designers want to help clients feel a certain way in clothing. During the time that Little operated the textile studio, many women made their own dresses. Thus, Little had to be aware of how women wanted to present themselves. His time designing textiles must have made him sensitive to the psychological component of fashion. This also appears in Little’s paintings.

Now if only I could find examples of his textile designs! The search begins . . .

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