Pattern Play: The Contemporary Designs of Jacqueline Groag

Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center presents Pattern Play: The Contemporary Designs of Jacqueline Groag May 12, 2022 -- November 20, 2022.

Jacqueline Groag was one of the most influential and versatile pattern designers of the post-war era. Whether abstract or representational, her avant-garde and naively charming patterns for textiles, dress fabrics, wallpaper, and laminates helped define the popular Contemporary style and exerted a far-reaching influence on British design.

A renewed appetite for decoration and color flourished throughout Britain following the prolonged trauma of World War II. Forward-looking and optimistic, post-war designers responded to the freedom of the 1950s by creating vibrantly patterned home furnishing fabrics and fashion textiles. These designers, inspired by abstract art, architecture, and nature, pioneered a progressive Contemporary style characterized by an imaginative use of color, innovative materials, and dynamic patterns. The new look offered a dramatic contrast to the dreary, monochromatic world of the war years.

Jacqueline Groag (British, born Prague, 1903–1986) was one of the most influential and versatile pattern designers of the post-war era. Whether abstract or representational, her avant-garde and naively charming patterns for textiles, dress fabrics, wallpaper, and laminates helped define the popular Contemporary style and exerted a far-reaching influence on British design.

Drawn from the collection of Jill A. Wiltse and H. Kirk Brown III, this exhibition displays Groag’s original drawings and collages alongside her lively, bold designs, providing a rare glimpse into her creative process.

The Museum is open Thursday - Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm / The Museum is open to 7:00 PM on Thursdays.

Free admission on Thursdays from 5:00-7:00 pm (funded by the City of Palm Springs).