Jacqueline Groag: Textile & Pattern Design, Wiener Werkstätte to American Modern, Geoff Rayner

Playful, modern, and endlessly inventive, the textiles of Jacqueline Groag helped shape mid-century design on both sides of the Atlantic. Jacqueline Groag: Textile & Pattern Design, Wiener Werkstätte to American Modern traces the vibrant career of this influential designer, from her early training with the Wiener Werkstätte in Vienna to her bold, optimistic patterns that enlivened British and American interiors in the 1940s and ’50s.

Through archival sketches, fabric samples, and expert essays, the book celebrates Groag’s gift for combining whimsy with sophisticated composition—florals, abstracts, and graphic motifs that brought a fresh, modern spirit to everyday textiles. Both a visual delight and a vital study of design history, it restores Groag’s legacy as a bridge between European avant-garde traditions and cheerful postwar modernism.

Out thought on this book: read here.

About the Author
Geoff Rayner is a design historian and curator known for his work on mid-20th-century textiles and pattern design. As co-founder of Antique Collectors’ Club imprint, he has published influential studies on designers like Jacqueline Groag and Marian Mahler. His research highlights the playful modernism and bold optimism that defined postwar textile design, bringing renewed attention to overlooked figures and patterns that shaped everyday life.

Publication date: 2009
Publisher: ACC Art Books
Pages: 184
ISBN: 9781851495900