Post-war female textile artists at Brafa Art Fair

At this year's Brafa Art Fair (28 January - 4 February 2024), the Richard Saltoun Gallery presents Textile Pioneers, a group stand of some of the most renowned Post-war female textile artists: Magdalena Abakanowicz (Poland 1930-2017, Olga de Amaral (Colombia, 1932), Jagoda Buić (Croatia, 1930-2022), Ewa Pachucka (Poland, 1936-2020) and Barbara Levittoux-Świderska (Poland, 1933-2019). Each of the featured artists is widely recognised for their contributions to elevating the tapestry tradition from a specifically feminine, decorative, and low art form to a fine art context in the Post-war period. Notably, Abakanowicz, Buić, Pachucka and de Amaral were all included in MoMA’s pivotal 1969 exhibition Wall Hangings, the first museum exhibition to contextualise textile works within the realm of visual art.


Image:Jagoda Buić (Croatia, Split 1930-2022 Venice, Italy), Dubrovnik, 1973, Wool, 80 x 64 cm. Image above: Magdalena Abakanowicz (Poland, Falenty 1930-2017 Warsaw). Relief sombre de Stefa (Dark relief of Stefa), 1975, Sisal, wool, wlosie, 105 x 130 cm, Label on the back: 'MAGDALENA | ABAKANOWICZ | "RELIEF SOMBRE | DE STEFA" | 105 x 130 1975 | M. Abakanowicz'.

Abakanowicz, Pachucka and Levittoux-Świderska were the most prominent members of the Polish Textile School, a generation of artists in the 1960s and 70s who incorporated locally sourced materials in their practice while also responding to repressive ideology of their country’s then-communist regime. De Amaral was one of the few artists from South America to receive international acclaim for her monumental textile works during the same period, for which she also draws on techniques, materials and influences from her local heritage.


Image: Olga de Amaral (Colombia, 1932), Encalado en Laca azul [Whitewashed in, Laca Azul], 1979, Wool and horsehair, 122 x 71 cm. Signed label on verso. 

All artists have received significant institutional recognition in recent years, notably Jagoda Buić at Maxxi, Rome (2017), Magdalena Abakanowicz at Tate Modern, London (2022/23), and Olga de Amaral at Fondation Cartier, Paris (upcoming; 2024).


Image: Jagoda Buic (Croatia, Split 1930-2022 Venice, Italy), White Reflections, 1970-1975, Wool and metallic thread, 163 x 224 x 10 cm. Woven signature to lower left ‘J Buić. 

Textile Pioneers is on show at the Brafa Art Fair is on from 28 January - 4 February 2024.

Find out more and plan your visit:
www.brafa.art/en/exhibitor-detail/672/richard-saltoun-gallery