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Jack Lenor Larsen Textiles

American, 1927-2020

Jack Lenor Larsen was a celebrated American mid-century modern textile designer born in Seattle. He fostered connections throughout the design and architecture industries beginning in 1950, and today, his influential eponymous design company is widely recognized for its muted hand-spun textured textiles. Larsen manufactured fabrics all over the world for more than six decades, using both traditional and modern weaving techniques.

Larsen initially studied in the architecture program at the University of Washington before he quickly realized he was instead interested in furniture design and interiors. He earned his MFA in 1949 from the Cranbrook Academy of Art — the go-to art school for design stars of the mid-20th century. The following year he moved and opened a studio in New York City where he launched his career. 

For one of his first commissions, which was to design curtains for the Lever House — a New York City icon designed by Gordon Bunshaft and Natalie de Blois — Larsen created a linen and gold metal-themed weave to complement the building’s famed glass walls. He designed similarly magnificent textiles for the Phoenix Opera House, the Wolf Trap Theater and more.

Nowhere is Larsen’s profound impact on textile design more evident than at LongHouse Reserve, his house in East Hampton, New York. Modeled after a seventh-century Shinto Shrine, the home and its surrounding sculpture gardens opened to the public in 1992. 

Larsen built LongHouse Reserve in collaboration with Charles Forberg. The property features sliding panels that showcase the revered artisan’s fabrics as well as works by Lucie Rie, Wharton Esherick, and Edward Wormley. The gardens feature sculptures by Willem de Kooning, Sol LeWitt and Yoko Ono.

Larsen had a solo exhibit at the Louvre in 1981. His work is held in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. 

Find vintage Jack Lenor Larsen lounge chairs, sofas, and dining room chairs on 1stDibs.

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Creator: Jack Lenor Larsen
Mid-Century Modern Pair of Jack Lenor Larsen Curtains
By Jack Lenor Larsen
Located in Keego Harbor, MI
A pair of Jack Lenor Larsen pleated curtains. This pair of lovely beige colored curtains are designed by the great Jack Lenor Larsen, known for his amazing eye for design and use of unique fabric patterns. There are two different sizes in this pair of curtains, one smaller...
Category

Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Jack Lenor Larsen Textiles

Materials

Fabric

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Jack Lenor Larsen textiles for sale on 1stDibs.

Jack Lenor Larsen textiles are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of fabric and are designed with extraordinary care. Prices for Jack Lenor Larsen textiles can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $1,200 and can go as high as $1,200, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $1,200.

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