All The News That's Fit To Blockprint!

Issue # 5, September, 2014

David Skinner has authored "Wallpaper in Ireland 1700-1900". The book was edited by William Laffan and published by Churchill House Press. All proceeds benefit the Irish Georgian Society. Folks, take my word for it, this is an outstanding book. Distribution is being sought for the US, and a list is being kept for a group order. All are welcome to join the group order by emailing to:

<wscom@roadrunner.com>

"This lavishly illustrated book is the first devoted to the subject of the manufacture and use of wallpaper in Ireland. Drawing on his extensive experience both as a maker and a researcher of historic wallpapers, David Skinner has compiled a detailed survey of the patterns used to decorate Irish houses

from the early eighteenth century until the demise of the Irish ‘paper-staining’ trade at the close of the nineteenth century. Journals, letters, invoices and newspaper advertisements are among the sources explored to chart the history of wallpaper in Ireland, the role of emigrant Irish artisans in developing wallpaper manufacture in France and

North America, the tax on wallpaper, and the trade in smuggled wallpaper between Ireland and Victorian England. The book will provide an invaluable guide to researchers, architects and those involved in the study of historic interiors."

<http://www.churchillhousepress.com/books/wallpaper-in-ireland.html>

The world has lost a great historic preservationist. Don Carpentier, 62, succumbed to ALS on August 26, 2014. An appreciation: <http://wallpaperscholarblog.blogspot.com/2014/08/in-memoriam-don-carpentier-master-of.html> The ABC Bulletin from Great Britain is a terrific quarterly newsletter. Published by the National Trust, it shares news about the Art, Buildings and Collections (A-B-C, get it?) of Trust properties, which number more than 500. The digital publication is free; to subscribe:

<http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/article-1356393817247/>

Another newsletter about archival discoveries is from the Winterthur Library. Also free. To gaze at past issues and subscribe:

<http://www.winterthur.org/?p=1147>

A wallpaper exhibition — Artist's Interior Worlds — opens at London Print Studio on Sept. 13 as part of the London Design Festival and will run until Nov. 1. Co-curated by Matthew Meadows, the 30 contemporary artists and designers include Timorous Beasties, Marthe Armitage, and Jocelyn Warner:

<http://www.londonprintstudio.org.uk/carouselitem/forthcoming-exhibition-wallpaper-artists-interior-worlds-london-design-festival/>

An introduction to the Chinese wallpaper at Abbotsford House, the home of Sir Walter Scott, via a pair of touchscreen interactive displays, has been posted at Vimeo. "The Abbotsford drawing room is home to an exotic display of hand-painted Chinese wallpaper, dating from 1822... every detail of the imagery is invested with meaning. Our interactive piece aims to explain these meanings, as well as show areas of the wallpaper in greater detail. The illustrations are brought startlingly to life with animation from motion designer Ant Dinham."

<http://vimeo.com/78350115>

Kadri Kallaste, conservator of historic wallpapers at the German Wallpaper Museum, announces that the new exhibition "Wandlust" takes place in the West Pavilion at the Orangerie in Karlsaue from July 17, 2014 - June 28, 2015. A

selection of wallpapers and pattern books from the internationally acclaimed collection in Kassel are shown. These range from Rococo to today's latest trends and are combined with contemporary furniture.

In addition to chinoiserie panels (18th c.) and a panoramic wallpaper (19th c.) from France, Kassel’s own Biedermeier

decor from the former Arnold Wallpaper Factory and the "Nana" wallpaper designed for documenta 5 by Niki de Saint Phalle will be on display. Vorsicht!: link to German text below!

<http://www.museum-kassel.de/index_navi.php?parent=11391>

A review of the paperback "Chinese Wallpaper in National Trust Houses" has been published:

<http://wallpaperscholarblog.blogspot.com/2014/09/review-chinese-wallpaper-in-national.html>

The Wallpaper History Discussion Group on LinkedIn continues to grow, standing at over 670 members: join! It's free and easy:

<http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Wallpaper-History-Group-4248838/about>

Greg Herringshaw of the Cooper-Hewitt Wallpaper Dept. has published information on the Smithsonian web site about a c. 1935 landscape view sidewall ("The Livingston") from Birge. The 1935 version was the third incarnation of this almost frighteningly complicated design:

<http://www.cooperhewitt.org/2014/05/07/landscape-views/>

ONLY IF YOU HURRY...AND HAPPEN TO BE IN THE VICINITY OF THE NORTH SEA: Mette Humle, conservator at the National Museum of Denmark, announces that an exhibition of Danish wallpaper 1930-1965 at the museum is about to close on Sept. 14th. In the late 19th century the industrialization of wallpaper production had made wallpaper affordable to many, but mass-produced wallpaper was criticized for its poor technical and artistic quality and called “gravy with sawdust and gold dust”. In the 1930s Danish wallpaper manufacturers and artists came together to produce wallpaper patterns of a better quality and more up-to-date expression than those found in the mass market.

Meanwhile, the new architectural and design movement of functionalism strived for practical and styleless design, which could also be applied to wallpaper. Many functionalists designed patterns to raise the standard of ordinary homes. Artists’ Wallpapers were the result, combining quality with modern expression. These were designed by painters, sculptors, architects, craftsmen and illustrators. They included machine-printed and more expensive hand-printed wallpapers.

<http://natmus.dk/en/>

The William Cullen Bryant homestead in Cummington, Massachusetts has restored a wallpaper from the 1865-1872 period, when "Cullen" furnished his library, hub of his activities after his retirement from 50 years as a newspaper editor in New York:

<http://www.berkshireeagle.com/berkshirelifestyles/ci_26299522/restoring-wall-wall-treasure-at-bryant-s-homestead>

The internet is home to a growing number of web sites from museums showing off their wallpaper collections. For example:

Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna

http://sammlungen.mak.at/sdb/do/sammlung.state?id=17

Historic New England

http://www.historicnewengland.org/collections-archives-exhibitions/collections-access/wallpaper

The Digital Museum (Swedish)

http://digitaltmuseum.se/search?query=tapeter&js=1

"papier peint" (wallpaper) at the National Library of France

http://gallica.bnf.fr/Search?ArianeWireIndex=index&p=1&lang=EN&f_typedoc=images&q=papier+peint&x=21&y=13 ...please share this newsletter with your friend who loves wallpaper...