Pattern Repeat: Wallpaper Then and Now November 17, 2013–March 30, 2014
Piet Hein Eek, Scrapwood Wallpaper, 2011, printed wallpaper, manufactured by NLXL, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum purchase funded by Michael Dale. © Scrapwood Wallpaper by Piet Hein Eek for NLXL
Morris & Co., Wallpaper Sample, 1873, block-printed, embossed, gilt brass, and lacquered machine-made paper, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of Mrs. Thomas Ellis.
Timorous Beasties, Glasgow Toile, 2005, printed wallpaper, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum purchase funded by Leo and Karin Shipman / photo © Timorous Beasties
Otto Künzli, Wallpaper Brooch, 1983, paper and hardfoam, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Helen Williams Drutt Collection, Museum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Foundation. © Otto Künzli, Munich
Dan Funderburgh, Elysian Fields, 2008, printed wallpaper, produced by Flavor Paper, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum purchase funded by Dena Woodall and Skip Fowler. © Flavor Paper by Dan Funderburgh / image © Flavor Paper
Deborah Bowness, Pattern Illusion 1, from the series Illusions of Grandeur, 2002, printed wallpaper, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum purchase funded by Michael Dale / photo © Deborah Bowness
Wallpaper elicits strong, almost visceral, emotions for many people, as evidenced by the reported last words of the great 19th-century Irish wit Oscar Wilde: “My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us has to go.”
At some point in the 20th century, this struggle with pattern gave way to the neutral walls within which so many people now live and work. However, wallpaper is seeing a resurgence in contemporary interiors and has become part of the design conversation again. Pattern Repeat: Wallpaper Then and Now presents, for the first time, masterly examples of 19th- and early-20th-century wallpaper design from the MFAH collection.
The exhibition includes French scenic paper, rare pieces of Japanese “leather” wallpaper, and English Arts and Crafts designs by William Morris. Pattern Repeat pairs these historic examples with pieces by contemporary designers, such as artist Dan Funderburgh and design studio Timorous Beasties, who are looking to the past and reinterpreting the meaning of pattern in the 21st century using beauty, sly wit, and pointed social commentary.
This exhibition is organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Generous funding is provided by:
