Introduction
A craft is an occupation that requires specific skills based on an individual’s creativity and interest. The word crafts depict the group of creative activities within the domain of ornamental arts, which are expressed by their link to useful or handy items such as statues in the vessel custom or by their application (Turnau 1-14). In Europe, craftwork began during the ancient period especially during the middle ages, and has over the years evolved systematically. Manual craft commonly known as the handicraft is the primary segment of crafts. It involves making functional and attractive items by hand.
1960s Textile designers
Zika Ascher is one of the most popular manual textile designers in the history of European manually textile craft. In 1939, he emigrated from Paraguay to England and created a small textile workshop in London. In the 1940s, Zika collaborated with skilled artists like Matisse and Moore and they produced a wide range of beautiful headscarves. In the 1960s, Ascher expanded his business frontier by establishing print works, which produced screen-printed designs.
Literature Review on Craft textiles
One of the remarkable developments in 1960s Europe was the revitalization of the textile craft industry. This process involved the production of batik fabrics, manually dyed textiles, and weaving. The production of these handmade textiles was spurred by a unique philosophy in the 1960s that manual production of a few textile items was better than commercial overproduction because the latter would lead to duplication of the techniques (Keller 71-73).
The Dutch who conquered Indonesia introduced Batik techniques in Europe, which became fashionable in the 1960s as a result of the regeneration of interest in textile production. Susan Bosence was among the leading producers of batik and block-printed textiles in Europe. She also made resist-dyed fabrics. She borrowed these techniques from a craft artisan known as Barron. Later, the Hull enterprise commercially produced dyed fabrics.
Edinburgh Weavers was another group of artisans that made remarkable fabric designs in the 1960s (Williams 45-88). They made a profound contribution to the textile industry by introducing cutting-edge design. Victor Vasarely was among the graphic designers that worked for the company in the 1960s. Edinburgh Weavers prepared fabrics for a more customary market and were regularly given contracts by the designer to produce textiles for particular interiors (Victoria and Albert Museum).
De Stijl Art Movement
For a long time, many graphic designers in Europe demonstrated limited skills in their work since they could only paint straight lines and sometimes squares. Luckily, a unique art movement is known as Del Stijl that emerged around 1917 greatly transformed European artistic designs. “De Stijl or “The Style” was founded in Holland during the Great War, and the desire for harmony and balance expressed by the artists in this group certainly reflected their abhorrence of the chaos and conflict raging around them” (Cauman 158). De Stijl is believed to have evolved from Cubism, but the period when movement was created is associated with the De Stijl periodical that was established in 1917. Theo van Doesburg led this great group of artisans and architects. The group intended to create the theoretical concrete and transform the world through this manifestation (Art History Unstuffed).
Cubic Art
Pablo Picasso who was assisted by Georges Braque introduced cubism in 1907 in France particularly in Paris (John 2-7). Cubism was the initial abstract method of contemporary art. A Cubist painting overlooks the traditions of standpoint sketching and demonstrates several views of a theme at a given time (Cauman 14-90). The Cubists adopted patchwork into painting. The Cubists embraced some aspects of African arts and borrowed some artistic techniques from other cultures. The first stage of Cubism called Analytical Cubism began before 1912 and the second stage of its development known as Synthetic Cubism took place in post-1912. “Cubism influenced many other styles of modern art including Orphism, Futurism, Vorticism, Suprematism, Constructivism and Expressionism” (Barr 123). Juan Gris is among the best artists that embraced Cubism and successfully used the concept in his works. “Other notable artists associated with Cubism were Fernand Leger, Robert Delaunay, Albert Gleizes, Jean Metzinger, Louis Marcoussis, Marie Laurencin and Roger de La Fresnaye” (Bolin 1-5).
Piet Mondrian Art
In the Netherlands, Piet Mondrian became a legendary conceptual painter. His most renowned crafts are conceptual paintings of dyed quadrangles, and broad black lines (EmptyEasel). When Mondrian began painting, he emotively used colors and created distinct Post-impressionist. This technique enabled him to produce distinct paints. As he increasingly interacted with nature, he progressively simplified and conceptualized the colors and items that he observed. With the emergence of Cubism, Mondrian was able to segment and minimize various items to their simple forms. He then started to make most of his images with a crisscross-like design, and mainly painted squares of more often than not firm colors (Barr 123-189). With time, his paintings became more visible and simplified. Most of his crafts comprised sturdy fields of dye divided by thick dark lines and segments of pure white.
Works Cited
Art History Unstuffed. De Stijl architecture. 2011. Web.
Barr, Alfred. Cubism and Abstract Art, New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1936. Print.
Bolin, Liu. Cubism – The First Style of Abstract Art. 2012. Web.
Cauman, John. Inheriting Cubism: The Impact of Cubism on American Art, 1909-1936, New York: Hollis Taggart Galleries, 2001. Print.
EmptyEasel. Piet Mondrian: The Evolution of Pure Abstract Paintings. 2007. Web.
John, Richardson. A Life of Picasso, The Cubist Rebel 1907-1916, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1991. Print.
Keller, Ila. Batik: The Art and Craft, New York: C. E. Tuttle, 1966. Print.
Turnau, Irena. The Knitting Handicrafts in Europe in Fifteenth to Eighteenth Centuries, New York: Wiley, 1979. Print.
Victoria and Albert Museum. 1960s Textile Designers. 2009. Web.
Williams, Sheila. The History Of Knitting Pin Gauges, London: Melrose Press, 2006. Print.