Lili Blumenau

American fiber artist

Lili Blumenau

Born	(1912-11-28)November 28, 1912 Berlin, Germany
Died	September 6, 1976(1976-09-06) (aged 63) Bronx New York
Known for	Textile art

Lili Blumenau (1912–1976) was an American fiber artist. She 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 was born on November 28, 1912 in Berlin, Germany.^[1] Blumenau is a graduate of the Akademie der Künste (Berlin) [de], the Académie scandinave [fr] in Paris, and was the first woman to graduate from the New York School of Textile Technology.^[2] She also studied at Black Mountain College.^[3]

Work and career

After her education, Blumenau 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.^[2] 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.^[2]

In 1955 Blumenau authored the text The Art and Craft of Hand Weaving, Including Fabric Design,^[4] which had a 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".^[2] Her work provided inspiration to the Catholic Worker Movement, a collection of autonomous communities of Catholics to whom she taught weaving to several members at the Peter Maurin Farm.^[5] In 1975 Blumenau was awarded Fellow of the Council by the American Craft Council.^[6] Blumenau died on September 6, 1976 in the Bronx.^[1]

Collections

Lili Blumenau's works are in the permanent collection at the Cooper Hewitt Museum^[7] and the Museum of Arts and Design.^[8]

References

^ ^a ^b Falino, Jeannine (2011). Crafting modernism: midcentury American art and design: [exhibition Crafting modernism. Midcentury American art and design, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, October 11, 2011 - January 15, 2012; Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, February 27 - May 21, 2012]. New York: Abrams. p. 270. ISBN 978-0810984806.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "The Art and Craft of Hand Weaving--Lili Blumenau". Boreal Weaver: An Online Diary. March 11, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
^ Koplos, Janet; Metcalf, Bruce (2010). Makers: a history of American studio craft. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina press. p. 235. ISBN 9780807834138.
^ Blumenau, Lili (1956). The Art and Craft of Hand Weaving: Including Fabric Design. New York: Crowne Publishers.
^ "Rediscovering the Sacramentality of Things". Boreal Weaver. February 15, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
^ "College of Fellows". American Craft Council. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
^ Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. "Lili Blumenau". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
^ "Casement Cloth". The Museum of Arts and Design. Retrieved 5 December 2023.

Additional sources

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

American Craft Council College of Fellows

Honorary Fellows are listed in italics.

1975