From the Dust Jacket

February 15, 2010

“One of the most ancient crafts, hand weaving is a method of forming a pliable plane of threads by interlacing them rectangularly. Invented in a preceramic age, it has remained essentially unchanged to this day. Even the final mechanization of the craft through introduction of power machinery has not changed the basic principle of weaving.”

The above quote is from “Anni Albers: On Weaving.” This is a name known to those of you who are familiar with the Bauhaus movement, which was founded ninety years ago in Germany by Walter Gropius. Young and enthusiastic, Anni Albers had a background in art, and joined the Bauhaus with the intention of becoming a painter – a full-fledged artist. However, that was not possible; the only choice for women was to become involved in the Weaving Workshop. From that rather reluctant beginning, Anni Albers went on to become well-known in the field of textiles as a designer, author and lecturer. She has had an enormous effect worldwide on the design of yard materials, the creation of singular weavings and wall hangings.

This book is a classic, and we are fortunate to have it as part of our library. I will bring it to the next NOBO meeting, in case one of you would like to take it home.

For further study of the Bauhaus Movement, please consider visiting Historic New England’s Gropius House in Lincoln, MA, which Walter Gropius designed and built after moving to this country. In addition, if you are planning to attend Convergence this summer, you might want to sit in on James Koehler’s Friday morning seminar entitled “Bauhaus Design Principles.”