Lenore Tawney
Encyclopedia
Lenore Tawney was an American
artist who became an influential figure in the development of fiber art
.
Born as Leonora Agnes Gallagher in Lorain, Ohio
, Tawney's introduction to the tenets of the German
Bauhaus
school and the artistic avant-garde
began in 1946 when she attended Laszlo Moholy-Nagy
's Chicago Institute of Design. She studied with Moholy-Nagy, cubist
sculptor Alexander Archipenko
and abstract expressionist painter Emerson Woelffer
, among others, and in 1949, she studied weaving
with Marli Ehrman.
In 1957, she moved to New York City
, where she became associated with a generation of artists including Ellsworth Kelly
, Robert Indiana
, Agnes Martin
and Jack Youngerman
. Since then, Tawney lived and worked mainly in New York City, where she died, aged 100
.
Widely known in the New York
art world and beyond, she was the veteran of more than two dozen solo exhibitions in leading galleries and museums and she participated in dozens of important group exhibitions. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
as well as many other museums, universities and private art collections.
Lenore Tawney's work has been exhibited at the Renwick Gallery
, The Smithsonian
, Washington, D.C.
; the Cleveland Museum of Art
, Cleveland, Ohio
; the Art Institute of Chicago
, Chicago
; the American Craft Museum, New York City; the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, New York
and the Stedelijk Museum
in Amsterdam
, Netherlands
, all of which have her works in their permanent collections. "Lenore Tawney, A Retrospective, American Craft Museum" was published in 1990 by Rizzoli. Lenore Tawney: Signs on the Wind, Postcard Collages" was published by Pomegranate in 2002.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
artist who became an influential figure in the development of fiber art
Fiber art
Fiber art is a style of fine art which uses textiles such as fabric, yarn, and natural and synthetic fibers. It focuses on the materials and on the manual labour involved as part of its significance.-Fiber:...
.
Born as Leonora Agnes Gallagher in Lorain, Ohio
Lorain, Ohio
Lorain is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Black River, about 30 miles west of Cleveland....
, Tawney's introduction to the tenets of the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Bauhaus
Bauhaus
', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...
school and the artistic avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
began in 1946 when she attended Laszlo Moholy-Nagy
László Moholy-Nagy
László Moholy-Nagy was a Hungarian painter and photographer as well as professor in the Bauhaus school. He was highly influenced by constructivism and a strong advocate of the integration of technology and industry into the arts.-Early life:...
's Chicago Institute of Design. She studied with Moholy-Nagy, cubist
Cubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
sculptor Alexander Archipenko
Alexander Archipenko
Alexander Porfyrovych Archipenko was a Ukrainian avant-garde artist, sculptor, and graphic artist.-Biography:...
and abstract expressionist painter Emerson Woelffer
Emerson Woelffer
Emerson Woelffer was a prominent abstract expressionism artist and painter born in Chicago. He studied Education at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago between 1935 and 1937. In 1938 he joined the WPA Arts Program. In 1949 he taught at Black Mountain College at the request of Buckminster...
, among others, and in 1949, she studied weaving
Weaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
with Marli Ehrman.
In 1957, she moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where she became associated with a generation of artists including Ellsworth Kelly
Ellsworth Kelly
Ellsworth Kelly is an American painter and sculptor associated with Hard-edge painting, Color Field painting and the Minimalist school. His works demonstrate unassuming techniques emphasizing the simplicity of form found similar to the work of John McLaughlin. Kelly often employs bright colors to...
, Robert Indiana
Robert Indiana
Robert Indiana is an American artist associated with the Pop Art movement.-Life and work:Robert Indiana was born Robert Clark in New Castle, Indiana. His family relocated to Indianapolis, where he graduated from Arsenal Technical High School...
, Agnes Martin
Agnes Martin
Agnes Bernice Martin was an American abstract painter, often referred to as a minimalist; Martin considered herself an abstract expressionist.She won a National Medal of Arts from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1998....
and Jack Youngerman
Jack Youngerman
-Biography:Jack Youngerman, was born 1926, St. Louis, MO, moved in Louisville, KY in 1929. He studied art at the University of North Carolina from 1944 to 1946 under a wartime navy training program, and graduated from the University of Missouri in 1947....
. Since then, Tawney lived and worked mainly in New York City, where she died, aged 100
Centenarian
A centenarian is a person who is or lives beyond the age of 100 years. Because current average life expectancies across the world are less than 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. Much rarer, a supercentenarian is a person who has lived to the age of 110 or more, something only...
.
Widely known in the New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
art world and beyond, she was the veteran of more than two dozen solo exhibitions in leading galleries and museums and she participated in dozens of important group exhibitions. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
as well as many other museums, universities and private art collections.
Lenore Tawney's work has been exhibited at the Renwick Gallery
Renwick Gallery
The Renwick Gallery is a branch of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, located in Washington, D.C., and focuses on American craft and decorative arts from the 19th century to the 21st century...
, The Smithsonian
Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is a museum in Washington, D.C. with an extensive collection of American art.Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum has a broad variety of American art that covers all regions and art movements found in the United States...
, Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
; the Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art is an art museum situated in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on Cleveland's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian art, the museum houses a diverse permanent collection of more than 43,000...
, Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
; the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
; the American Craft Museum, New York City; the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, New York
Purchase, New York
Purchase, New York is a hamlet of the town of Harrison, in Westchester County. Its ZIP code is 10577. Its name is derived from Harrison's purchase, for Harrison could have as much land as he could ride in one day...
and the Stedelijk Museum
Stedelijk Museum
Founded in 1874, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam is a museum for classic modern and contemporary art in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. It has been housed on the Paulus Potterstraat, next to Museum Square Museumplein and to the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum and the Concertgebouw, in Amsterdam Zuid...
in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, all of which have her works in their permanent collections. "Lenore Tawney, A Retrospective, American Craft Museum" was published in 1990 by Rizzoli. Lenore Tawney: Signs on the Wind, Postcard Collages" was published by Pomegranate in 2002.
External links
- Biography
- Website
- http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/arts/28tawney.html?ex=1348718400&en=0da5ad6e91fd7ad5&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rssThe New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
obit, accessed September 30, 2007]