eszter haraszty - textile designer, stitcher, style icon and lover of poppies

in new york last june we also checked out the knoll textiles 1945 - 2010 show at the bard graduate center. i knew i was going to love it and was excited to see some of the work of eszter haraszty (pictured above) who i have long admired.

on the left that's eszter circa early 50s wearing a killer alexander calder necklace and to the right that's her in the early 70s at her home in malibu, california (or coldwater canyon as my research also placed her as having a home there too). she's holding a copy of one of her embroidery books (more on that later). how much do i love that a woman in her 50s is so confidently rocking knee socks.

at the show i was especially drawn to her designs that were inspired by the heddles on a weaving loom. even though the fibra pattern was originally designed in 1953 (an example from 1965 shown below) i think it still looks totally fresh today and there is no hint that it was designed close to 60 years ago. it does not "vintage" or "retro" at all.

eszter, a native of hungary (she was jewish and had to escape the german occupation during world war 2), lived in new york and was employed by knoll from 1949 - 1956. during the majority of that time she served as design director. that in and of itself is quite an achievement but it's her "second act" that totally fascinates me. 

in 1960 she moved to los angeles to "indulge in her passion for gardening". she wrote about gardening for mc call's magazine and was very passionate about poppies - icelandic poppies to be exact. she became an avid stitcher and some of her designs were sold as kits. as you could imagine she did not shy away from bold and often large scale work (as you can see below). she even embellished modern furniture (examples also below) much in the same style as erica wilson. (as you may know i profile erica in my book and oh how i wish i had known more about eszter while i was writing it so that i could have included her too)

as you might expect upon learning about ezter's crafty side i immediately headed to ebay to find some of her books and kits. the books are very easy and inexpensive to track down but her kits are expensive and hard to come by (but i continue to look). i am now the proud owner of her 1974 book needlepainting a garden of stitches.

i got really excited when i saw who wrote the blurbs on the back cover - none other than mary tyler moore AND rudi gernreich!!!  here's what rudi had to say:

"i can hardly wait to 'walk into your book' when it is finished - and if it conveys only a tiny fraction of what it is to walk into your dreamflowernatureartenchantedgardenhouseworld - it will embroider itself into people's hearts and their lives will be better for it"

that's right he said "dreamflowernatureartenchantedgardenhouseworld".  of course that leads me to believe that they were good pals and wonder how much crazy fun was had at their cocktail parties.

i'll just shut up now and let you check out some of these highlights from the book:

"poppy-appliqued skylight shades the solarium protects plants, embroidery, and gros point rug from the midday sun" (i'm thinking that this is part of the "dreamflowernatureartenchantedgardenhouseworld" that rudi was referring to)

eszter's first commission in california that reflected her "wonderment at the profuse, bright flowers i saw blanketing the coutryside"

"the original corbusier lounge was covered with black pony skin. we, especially the dogs and cats, prefer it this way"

"does embroidery mix with contemporary? to find out i needlepainted these classic chairs designed by marcel breuer" (eszter lived with the breuer family after she first escaped from hungary)

as a matter of fact i do think that embroidery mixes with contemporary. thanks to eszter!

(images from knoll textiles - nineteenhundresfourtyfive - twothousandten published by the bard graduate center and yale, 2011 and needlepainting a garden of stitches by eszter haraszty and bruce david colen, 1974)

 

Comments

[Ellen B.]

Wow! Wow! Wow! Fantastic designer. Thanks so much, Cathy for bringing Eszter to my attention!

[Richmonde]

The poppy room is way over the top! but it does show how an open-plan space can be made homey - I like the room divider with the couch tucked behind it. We seem to have lost the art!

[Charlotte Chance]

Thank you so much for sharing this....how inspiring. I love your blog I came across it on Lena Corwin's blog. Thanks again. It's so great to learn about new people and what incredible embroidery!