T aking place during the (Women) Artist’s Campaign from 31 Jan until summer 2023, the takeover will celebrate these two pioneers of modern design as well as the legacy of the Christopher Farr brand and its dedication to preserving weaving traditions from all over the world.
Sotheby’s has enjoyed a long relationship with the brand, with pieces most recently featured in the Auction of the Estate of the Late Karl Lagerfeld, the Made in Britain sale series and through two collaborations raising funds for WWF’s Tomorrow’s Tigers which saw new designs by Ai Weiwei and Peter Doig displayed in Sotheby’s galleries.
Since it was founded in 1988, Christopher Farr has been bringing together specialist craftspeople with contemporary designers with the aim of recognising and celebrating textiles within the category of fine art. Working with artists and artist estates ranging from Louise Bourgeois to Cecily Brown to Makoto Kagoshima, the brand revolutionised contemporary rug design and its work with the estates of Albers and Stölzl highlight the importance of collaboration with artists and creatives through the ages.
Despite being the only female master of the Bauhaus, Gunta Stölzl’s name was not widely known when Christopher Farr was first introduced to her work, but she is arguably the most influential figure in the modern history of Western textile art. In realising some of her unmade rug designs and exhibiting them to an international audience, her undeniable contribution to the medium finally gained some the recognition it deserved.
During her tenure at the Bauhaus she transformed its textiles department into one of its most celebrated, introducing ideas from the world of modern art to textile production, just as Christopher Farr does today. Inspired by her teachers Paul Klee, Johannes Itten and Wassily Kandinsky, she welcomed radical ideas and approaches to the ancient art of weaving.
The second female pioneer whose work will feature at Sotheby’s was a student of Stölzl and later succeeded her as head of the school’s weaving workshop. Anni Albers was heavily inspired by pre-Columbian textiles and reinterpreting ancient techniques to create modern designs.
After she and her husband, fellow artist Josef Albers, fled to America after the closure of the Bauhaus in 1933, they taught at experimental North Carolina art school, Black Mountain College, before Anni became the first textile artist to have a solo exhibition at MoMA in 1949. When she later began exploring printmaking, her work was still informed by intricate patterns, lines and textures of textiles.
Additionally, Christopher Farr will partner with Sotheby's Classic Design Week, that will showcase over 500 years of craftsmanship in a series of sales.
All of the rugs and textiles on display are available to purchase directly from Christopher Farr: info@cfarr.co.uk / +44 (0)20 7349 0888
christopherfarr.com
christopherfarrcloth.com
albersfoundation.org
