Lucienne Day
Encyclopedia
Désirée Lucienne Day RDI
(née Conradi, 5 January 191730 January 2010) was a British textile designer. Inspired by abstract art, she pioneered the use of bright, optimistic, abstract patterns in post-war England, and was eventually celebrated worldwide.
Born in Coulsdon
, Surrey, England, Day was daughter of an English mother and a Belgian father who worked as an insurance broker. She attended convent school in Worthing
, and at 17 enrolled in the Croydon School of Art, where she discovered a love of printed textiles. Later she attended the Royal College of Art
, where she was a top student.
Through her career, Day won many awards, including the International Design Award
of the American Institute of Decorators in 1952, and the Gran Premio prize at the Milan Triennale in 1954. In 1962, she was made a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI), an award which honours designers who have achieved "sustained excellence in aesthetic and efficient design for industry." She was the fifth woman to be made an RDI.
Day's work combined organic shapes with bright patterns inspired by contemporary abstract painters such as Wassily Kandinsky
and Joan Miró
. She believed that good design should be affordable, and in 2003 told the Scotsman newspaper that she had been "very interested in modern painting although I didn’t want to be a painter. I put my inspiration from painting into my textiles, partly, because I suppose I was very practical. I still am. I wanted the work I was doing to be seen by people and be used by people. They had been starved of interesting things for their homes in the war years, either textiles or furniture."
Her breakthrough print was 'Calyx', a brightly coloured textile that she created for the Festival of Britain
in 1951. She originated hundreds of colourful abstract prints for industry clients such as Heal's.
In the 1970s, Day ceased to design mass production fabrics, turning instead to creating what she called “mosaics”: large tapestries made of thousands of pieces of Thai and Indian silk. They currently hang in the Victoria and Albert Museum
, the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre
, and the coffee shop of a John Lewis
store in Kingston upon Thames.
Through a career spanning more than five decades, she stood out not just because she was a highly successful working woman during a time in which many women didn't work, but also due to her creative partnership with her husband, furniture designer Robin Day
. For 50 years they worked, together but independently, in a shared studio, and their house grew to be considered the epitome of 1950s sophistication.
The development of their styles can be traced in Lesley Jackson
's book Robin and Lucienne Day: Pioneers in Modern Design, published in 2001. An exhibition of Lucienne Day's textiles and Robin Day's furniture, "Robin and Lucienne Day: Design and the Modern Interior", will be held in Spring 2011 at Pallant House Gallery
in Chichester
— the city where the Days retired in 2000, in order to be closer to their Sussex cottage, where Day spent much of her time in the garden.
Royal Designers for Industry
Royal Designer for Industry is a distinction established by the British Royal Society of Arts in 1936, to encourage a high standard of industrial design and enhance the status of designers. It is awarded to people who have achieved "sustained excellence in aesthetic and efficient design for...
(née Conradi, 5 January 191730 January 2010) was a British textile designer. Inspired by abstract art, she pioneered the use of bright, optimistic, abstract patterns in post-war England, and was eventually celebrated worldwide.
Born in Coulsdon
Coulsdon
Coulsdon is a town on the southernmost boundary of the London Borough of Croydon. It is surrounded by the Metropolitan Green Belt of the Farthing Down, Coulsdon Common and Kenley Common...
, Surrey, England, Day was daughter of an English mother and a Belgian father who worked as an insurance broker. She attended convent school in Worthing
Worthing
Worthing is a large seaside town with borough status in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, forming part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation. It is situated at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester...
, and at 17 enrolled in the Croydon School of Art, where she discovered a love of printed textiles. Later she attended the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
, where she was a top student.
Through her career, Day won many awards, including the International Design Award
International Design Award
The International Design Award invites students all over the world to create forward-looking, innovative and unusual solutions in designing and making furniture for tomorrow.- Objective :...
of the American Institute of Decorators in 1952, and the Gran Premio prize at the Milan Triennale in 1954. In 1962, she was made a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI), an award which honours designers who have achieved "sustained excellence in aesthetic and efficient design for industry." She was the fifth woman to be made an RDI.
Day's work combined organic shapes with bright patterns inspired by contemporary abstract painters such as Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky was an influential Russian painter and art theorist. He is credited with painting the first purely-abstract works. Born in Moscow, Kandinsky spent his childhood in Odessa. He enrolled at the University of Moscow, studying law and economics...
and Joan Miró
Joan Miró
Joan Miró i Ferrà was a Spanish Catalan painter, sculptor, and ceramicist born in Barcelona.Earning international acclaim, his work has been interpreted as Surrealism, a sandbox for the subconscious mind, a re-creation of the childlike, and a manifestation of Catalan pride...
. She believed that good design should be affordable, and in 2003 told the Scotsman newspaper that she had been "very interested in modern painting although I didn’t want to be a painter. I put my inspiration from painting into my textiles, partly, because I suppose I was very practical. I still am. I wanted the work I was doing to be seen by people and be used by people. They had been starved of interesting things for their homes in the war years, either textiles or furniture."
Her breakthrough print was 'Calyx', a brightly coloured textile that she created for the Festival of Britain
Festival of Britain
The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition in Britain in the summer of 1951. It was organised by the government to give Britons a feeling of recovery in the aftermath of war and to promote good quality design in the rebuilding of British towns and cities. The Festival's centrepiece was in...
in 1951. She originated hundreds of colourful abstract prints for industry clients such as Heal's.
In the 1970s, Day ceased to design mass production fabrics, turning instead to creating what she called “mosaics”: large tapestries made of thousands of pieces of Thai and Indian silk. They currently hang in the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
, the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre
Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre
The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre is a conference centre in the City of Westminster, London. It is located in the heart of the city, a minute's walk from the Palace of Westminster, seat of the United Kingdom's Parliament...
, and the coffee shop of a John Lewis
John Lewis (department store)
-Recent developments:In June 2004, John Lewis announced plans to open its first store in Northern Ireland at the Sprucefield Park development, the province's largest out of town shopping centre, located outside Lisburn and from Belfast. The application was approved in June 2005 and the opening of...
store in Kingston upon Thames.
Through a career spanning more than five decades, she stood out not just because she was a highly successful working woman during a time in which many women didn't work, but also due to her creative partnership with her husband, furniture designer Robin Day
Robin Day (designer)
Robin Day, OBE, FCSD was a British chartered industrial and furniture designer, best-known for the injection moulded polypropylene stacking chair, more than 20 million of which have been manufactured...
. For 50 years they worked, together but independently, in a shared studio, and their house grew to be considered the epitome of 1950s sophistication.
The development of their styles can be traced in Lesley Jackson
Lesley Jackson
Lesley Jackson is a London-based design curator, historian and author specialising in twentieth century design. She has published at least eleven books to date, include Twentieth Century Pattern Design from Princeton Architectural Press , The Sixties: Decade of Design Revolution from Phaidon, The...
's book Robin and Lucienne Day: Pioneers in Modern Design, published in 2001. An exhibition of Lucienne Day's textiles and Robin Day's furniture, "Robin and Lucienne Day: Design and the Modern Interior", will be held in Spring 2011 at Pallant House Gallery
Pallant House Gallery
Pallant House Gallery is an art gallery in Chichester, West Sussex, England. It houses one of the best collections of 20th century British art in the world....
in Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
— the city where the Days retired in 2000, in order to be closer to their Sussex cottage, where Day spent much of her time in the garden.