What do Henry Moore, Lucian Freud, Sonia Delaunay, Matisse and Barbara Hepworth all have a common? They are some of the many famous figures who were commissioned to make fabrics for the Ascher company, whose textiles are currently on show at The Mad Silkman exhibition in Prague. The exhibition at the Museum of Decorative Arts presents Zika and Lida Ascher’s prolific work in design and production, from their collaborations with world-renowned artists to their work for European fashion houses including Dior, Cardin and Yves Saint Laurent. From Lida Ascher’s dresses made from parachute fabric after WW2 to examples of sumptuous wool and mohair, the exhibition demonstrates the huge impact the couple had on fashion in Britain and beyond.
Zika and Lida Ascher (husband and wife) left Czechoslovakia in 1939 and set up their fabrics business in London, from which they would pioneer both their own innovative designs and their artists’ fabrics. The four parts of the exhibition trace the trajectories of their work, from life before WW2, the beginnings of Ascher (London) Ltd. in 1942, their artists’ scarves and work for fashion houses. Upon entering the room of artists’ collaborations, I was met by floral fabrics designed by Cecil Beaton and then proceeded to walk through displays of designs by Matisse, Henry Moore, Picasso, Sonia Delaunay, countless other artists and of course Lida Ascher herself, whose patterns are strikingly playful.
Although renowned for their silk square scarves, the Aschers’ textile designs (both commissioned and by Lida) were also used for clothing, wall-hangings and more. They worked with the fabrics available during and following the Second World War, including parachute fabric and rayon; throughout their careers, they experimented with the possibilities of silk, wool, mohair and even disposable paper fabric. The Aschers worked with a huge range of original works of art that were often tricky to execute as fabrics. Henry Moore’s designs, for example, were often made in watercolour and wax crayons, which the exhibition highlights as particularly difficult to reproduce from a technical perspective.
Ascher-commissioned designs ranged from the abstract to the more figurative; this is also well-demonstrated by looking at the range of artist squares documented online, ranging from Andre Beaurepaire’s detailed and fantastic image of creatures battling amid ruins to the vivid abstraction of Keith Vaughan’s Moss Rose. In the exhibition, we see a number of the Ascher squares, including one by Picasso, who (despite not taking part in the initial squares initiative) commissioned a piece for the ICA in London. More recently in 2011, the Aschers’ grandson Sam commissioned new scarf designs by Zao Wou-Ki, one of the original artists involved.
The current exhibition is also linked to a project at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague; the Studio of Fashion Design undertook the Ascher Challenge, in which 25 young designers were provided with original textiles from the company that they could use for their own designs. The results can be seen both at the website and Instagram page.
The Mad Silkman guides you through the joyful tactility, colour and composition of Ascher London’s designs, offering insights into the numerous connections the Aschers forged with artists across borders. This impressive collection illustrates that they were not only vital to the textiles industry in Britain following the Second World War, but that this inventive duo conjured up a space where experimentation, technical skill and imagination produced timelessly vibrant work.
The show runs until 15th September 2019.
Gemma Cantlow
Arts Barca 