The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 23, 2024

Antscha - Yellow and Green

Antscha - Yellow and Green

c. 1925–30
designer
(Swedish, born Austria, 1885–1967)
manufacturer
(Austrian, est. 1925)
Overall: 72.4 x 128.9 cm (28 1/2 x 50 3/4 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

This textile was produced in at least two different colorways.

Description

With a title derived from a feminine Hungarian name, the Antscha pattern shows Josef Frank’s early use of long sinuous vines. Another example of the same textile (1937.181) exists in pink and blue, suggesting that pattern colors were customizable to fit the customer’s décor. These examples are likely the only surviving versions in an institutional collection.
  • Fiber microscopy was performed on this object and on 1937.181, a different colorway of the pattern. These textiles are from Josef Frank’s interior furnishing company, HAUS & GARTEN. They are plain weave and feature a paired warp which is not seen in any other Josef Frank textiles. Under magnification there is a noticeable color difference between the warp and the weft. A polarized light microscope can be used to identify fibers because each type has a unique structure that is visible under magnification; this requires a very small sample to be removed from the object. Through polarized light microscopy, the warp was identified as cotton because of the fiber’s collapsed, helical structure, and the weft was identified as a bast fiber, likely linen, because it has striations perpendicular to the length of the fiber, a characteristic of bast fibers.
  • 1937
    Likely purchased by Mrs. Ruth F. Ruggles in Vienna, Austria from "Haus & Garten"
  • See "December, 1937." Education Department Annual Report, 1937, CMA Archives.
  • Color and Comfort: Swedish Modern Design. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 11, 2019-February 10, 2020).
  • {{cite web|title=Antscha - Yellow and Green|url=false|author=Josef Frank, Haus & Garten|year=c. 1925–30|access-date=23 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1937.180