Jacquard with Self-Figured Ground
This textile was made for use on men’s ties. It evokes a futuristic interior or cityscape, including what appear to be searchlights, or even flying saucers, projected from patterned boxes and tables. The imagery is cryptic and abstract, and would be even more so in the narrow width of a tie. The bold, acid colors strike the eye to elicit an immediate visceral response. For Sottsass, design is "a way of discussing life, sociality, politics, food, and even design."
Artwork Details
- Title: Jacquard with Self-Figured Ground
- Designer: Ettore Sottsass (Italian (born Austria), Innsbruck 1917–2007 Milan)
- Date: ca. 1984
- Medium: Silk
- Dimensions: 20 3/4 × 40 3/8 in. (52.7 × 102.6 cm)
- Classification: Textiles
- Credit Line: Purchase, Friends of Twentieth Century Decorative Arts Gifts, by exchange, 2017
- Object Number: 2017.181
- Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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