Items Similar to Vintage Handwoven Tapestry Wool Folk Art Rug Weaving Wall Hanging Olga Fisch
- Want more images or videos?Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 10
Olga FischVintage Handwoven Tapestry Wool Folk Art Rug Weaving Wall Hanging Olga Fisch
$1,800

About
Olga Fisch was born in Hungary, studied in Germany and lived in Morocco and Ethiopia before receiving asylum as a Jewish refugee in Ecuador in 1939. For her Indian-inspired designs, Mrs. Fisch uses natural black and white sheep's wool colored with vegetable dye. To make one of her 9 by 12 rugs requires four weavers working eight hours a day for six weeks. Desiring to furnish her home with Ecuadorian-inspired rugs, she adapted designs from Indian pottery and tapas, sheets of native bark cloth. Taking the designs to Indian rugmakers, she had them woven into deep pile.
Olga Fisch was respected both for her own art and for her collection of folk art. The folk art-inspired rugs she has designed can be admired, among other places, at the Museum of Modern Art, the United Nations Building, and the Metropolitan Opera House. Trained in the traditional German academic way in Dusseldorf in the 1920s, she is a painter of the realist school. Called the mother of Ecuadorian folk art, she discovered the beauty of Ecuadorian Indian textiles in the 1940s, when others regarded them as crude and worthless.
Largely because of the efforts of Olga Fisch the artifacts produced by Ecuador's 250 Indian tribes are now highly regarded. Over the decades she has helped thousands of Indian artists and craftsmen acquire the means of placing their wares in the world market. In so doing she introduced their beauty to a once skeptical public.
But when Mrs. Fisch first arrived in Quito as a Jewish refugee, she couldn't have guessed what direction her life would take. An artist who had studied painting in Dusseldorf, Germany, she managed to find work as a teacher in the Quito School of Art.
Despite a nearly lifelong interest in folk art, she had no intention of starting a new collection. "I had collected folk art since I was 12 or 13, possibly as a reaction against my father's fine china business," she says. "My first collection came from objects that I bought in Hungarian villages. Then, after my husband and I traveled to Morocco and Algiers, I started another collection of North African folk art." When Lincoln Kirstein, then director of the Museum of Modern Art, visited her home in 1940, he was enchanted with one of her rugs and promptly commissioned her to produce one for the museum. She has also made rugs for the UN headquarters. Fourteen of her luxurious, deep-pile wool rugs are on display at Washington's Textile Museum. Most are 6 x 8, with colors ranging from neutral earth tones to the vivid shades of Latin America.
All her life she has been a collector of objects made by villagers, and believes that similar conditions create similar folk art the world over. As a collector and critic, she encourages the preservation of the traditional forms; as an artist, she makes free use of them.
A tribute to the breadth of her artistry is that her rugs are exhibited in New York's Museum of Modern Art and Museum of Primitive Art. She has designed rugs for the Metropolitan Opera and the UN Headquarters; last year the Renwick Gallery featured her collection of Indian ritual garb.
Details
- CreatorOlga Fisch (1901 - 1990, Ecuadorian, Hungarian)
- DimensionsHeight: 61 in. (154.94 cm)Width: 37.5 in. (95.25 cm)
- Medium
- Movement & Style
- Period
- Conditiongood. minor wear commensurate with age.
- Gallery LocationSurfside, FL
- Reference Number1stDibs: LU3829009411
Shipping & Returns
- ShippingShips From: Surfside, FL
- Return Policy
A return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
1stDibs Buyer Protection Guaranteed
If your item arrives not as described, we’ll work with you and the seller to make it right. Learn More
About the Seller
4.9
Platinum Seller
These expertly vetted sellers are 1stDibs' most experienced sellers and are rated highest by our customers.
Established in 1995
1stDibs seller since 2014
1,192 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: 1 hour
More From This Seller
- Vintage Handwoven Tapestry Wool, Metal Folk Art Rug Weaving Wall HangingBy Olga FischLocated in Surfside, FLOlga Fisch was born in Hungary, studied in Germany and lived in Morocco and Ethiopia before receiving asylum as a Jewish refugee in Ecuador in 1939. For her Indian-inspired designs, ...Category
1950s Folk Art More Art
MaterialsWool
- Vintage Handwoven Tapestry Wool Folk Art Rug Weaving Pillow or Wall HangingBy Olga FischLocated in Surfside, FLOlga Fisch was born in Hungary, studied in Germany and lived in Morocco and Ethiopia before receiving asylum as a Jewish refugee in Ecuador in 1939. For her Indian-inspired designs, ...Category
1950s Folk Art More Art
MaterialsWool
- Vintage Handwoven Tapestry Wool Folk Art Rug Weaving Pillow or Wall HangingBy Olga FischLocated in Surfside, FLOlga Fisch was born in Hungary, studied in Germany and lived in Morocco and Ethiopia before receiving asylum as a Jewish refugee in Ecuador in 1939. For her Indian-inspired designs, ...Category
1950s Folk Art More Art
MaterialsWool
- Jerusalem Wall Hanging Hand Embroidered tapestry Israeli Craft Judaica Folk ArtBy Esther BenSimonLocated in Surfside, FLThis is an artistic weaving depicting the old city of Jerusalem. Signed in Hebrew and dated verso. it is all Hand Woven. Esther Bensimon is a native of Argentina. She graduated from ...Category
1980s Folk Art Mixed Media
MaterialsWool, Cotton
- Rare Vintage Hasidic Wedding Jerusalem Wood Judaica Art Sculpture Frank MeislerBy Frank MeislerLocated in Surfside, FLRare Vintage unusual piece. A cute couple, Chassidic bride and groom in their wedding best. Frank Meisler has sculpted the city of Jerusalem, its walls and buildings culminating in ...Category
20th Century Folk Art Sculptures
MaterialsFabric, Wood
- Large American Folk Art Handmade Copper Fishing Village Lighthouse Art SculptureLocated in Surfside, FLA vintage American folk art hand made sculpture architectural model of fishermen's village house and lighthouse tower. Made of copper with many unique parts (sailboat paddles, doors...Category
Mid-20th Century Folk Art Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsCopper
You May Also Like
Today
Located in Chicago, IL
To Chicago-based artist Patrick Fitzgerald, his sculptures are a means of traveling through time. Working from found materials, Fitzgerald constructs miniature soap box cars and the ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Outsider Art Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Metal
Yesterday
Located in Chicago, IL
To Chicago-based artist Patrick Fitzgerald, his sculptures are a means of traveling through time. Working from found materials, Fitzgerald constructs miniature soap box cars and the ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Outsider Art Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Metal
Pair Tiki Ceramic Figures
Located in San Diego, CA
Pair of Tiki ceramic figures by artist Howard Pierce (1912-1994). Howard Pierce's artistry is cherished among collectors, a following he gained in over 50 years. These figures are un...
Category
20th Century Folk Art Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Clay
$260 Sale Price
20% Off
twigs of hyssop triple stacked yellow smileys a naked pile of torque wrenches
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Manal Kara
twigs of hyssop triple stacked yellow smileys a naked pile of torque wrenches, 2018
Ceramic
16 x 14 x 3 inches
Manal Kara acknowledges the fluidity of self, and, in 2017,...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Outsider Art Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Ceramic
ARROW AND BULL ROARER, wood folk art orange brown white Charlie Willeto Navajo
By Charlie Willeto
Located in Santa Fe, NM
ARROW AND BULL ROARER, wood folk art orange brown white Charlie Willeto Navajo
Charlie Willetto
(Diné/Navajo 1897-1964)
ARROW AND BULL ROARER
wood, paint, unique
17.5” x 5.5” x 2”
...
Category
1960s Folk Art Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Wood, Paint
Mid Century Carved Figurative Girl and Kitten
By Rodney Winfield
Located in Soquel, CA
Mid century carved marble figurative girl and kitten by Rodney Marshall Winfield (American, b. 1925). Presented in rustic wood frame. Bio on verso. Image, 14"H x 10"W.
Rodney studie...
Category
1960s Folk Art More Art
Materials
Marble
$355 Sale Price
38% Off
African art tribal maternity figure, Lobi peoples Ghana - Ivory Coast
Located in Norwich, GB
A delightful African maternity figure from the Lobi peoples of the Ivory Coast/Ghana. With a serene yet feisty expression, the mother is carrying the baby on her hip. According to Da...
Category
Mid-20th Century Folk Art Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Wood
Vintage wood face mask, dark brown
Located in San Diego, CA
Vintage wood mask. The edge undulates and is lightweight. Date and artist unknown.
Category
20th Century Folk Art Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Wood
KAWS - BFF - Plush Pink_limited edition
By KAWS
Located in Dallas, TX
This is a brand new piece in perfect condition.
Several months after releasing the KAWS Share Figure in February, the artist released his long anticipated KAWS Take Figure. The fig...
Category
2010s Pop Art Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Fabric
Beautiful Elephant Framed Fabric Sculpture Perfect for Walls
By Arozarena De La Fuente
Located in Mexico City, MX
Unique elephant silhouette made with 22,540 black pins. One by one, the pins were carefully placed and were recycled from an antique textile factory.
This circular frame was handmad...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Metal
Recently Viewed
View MoreThe 1stDibs Promise
Learn MoreExpertly Vetted Sellers
Confidence at Checkout
Price-Match Guarantee
Exceptional Support
Buyer Protection
Insured Global Delivery