Smithsonian Libraries

Trude Guermonprez collection, 1950-1976

Summary

Collection ID:
SIL-CH.1993-121-118
Creators:
Guermonprez, Trude, 1910-1976
Dates:
1950-1976
Languages:
Undetermined
.
Physical Description:
3 Boxes
Repository:
This archive includes interesting documents related to Trude Guermonprez's life and work as a weaver. The archives are especially related to the designer's work for her major clients, like Holland America Line and Owens Corning Fiberglass; other pieces in this archive are related to Guermonprez's work for custom curtains made for major synagogues and her designs, interior fabrics, screens and rugs realized in conjunction with J.P. Oud, Architects Associated, New York; Eric Mendelsohn, Warren Callister, etc. The correspondence and the photographs in this collection provide insight into the designer's private life. Included in this collection are press articles, brochures, correspondence, postcards, photographs, color slides, notebooks, textiles, and textile wood patterns.

Arrangement note

Arrangement note
Unprocessed; Included in this collection are press articles, brochures, correspondence, postcards, photographs, color slides, notebooks, textiles, and textile wood patterns.

Biographical/Historical note

Biographical/Historical note
Trude Guermonprez is an experienced weaver as well as a designer, artist, craftsman and teacher. She has executed architectural commissions and has done interior design for industry. Her work is of great variety in character and form. Guermonprez started weaving in Halle, Germany at the Municipal School of Arts and Crafts. Six years of weaving in a Dutch rug shop preceded her coming to America, at the invitation of Anni Albers, to teach at Black Mountain College, and later to northern California to join her friend Marguerite Wildenhain, at Pond Farm Workshops in a producing-teaching cooperative. She served as Chairman of the Craft Department at The California College of Arts and Crafts. Though she designed fabrics for New York textile manufacturers, her works were mainly custom produced for architects and individuals. In 1970 she was honored the Craftsmanship Medal from the American Institute of Architects.
Guermonprez published works in Art and Architecture, 1949; Shuttlecraft Weaving Magazine, 1957; and Research in Crafts, 1961.
She also participated in the following exhibitions: de Young Museum; American Wallhangings, London; Oakland Art Museum; Pasadena Art Museum; U.S. Information Agency State Department Show, traveling Europe exhibition; "Craftsmen of the West", "Fabrics International" and "10 American Weavers" at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. In 2000 at Staatliche Galerie Moritzburg Halle Landeskunstmuseum, Halle (Salle), Germany: "From Bauhaus to the Pacific: The Impact of Emigration on Marguerite Wildenhain and Trude Guermonprez".

Administration

Immediate Source of Acquisition note
All materials were donated to the museum by Mr. Eric and Mrs. Sylvia Elsesser in 1993.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access note
Unprocessed; access is limited. Permission of Library Director required. Policy.

More Information

Location of Other Archival Materials Note

Location of Other Archival Materials Note
The North Carolina State Archives web site has material in its collection related to Guermonprez as a teacher and artist-in-residence at Black Mountain College.
Location of Other Archival Materials Note
The Archives of American Art hasoral history interviews of Merry Renk conducted 2001 Jan. 18-19 by Arline M. Fisch for Nanette L. Laitman's, Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America. Guermonprez is only mentioned.

Bibliography

Bibliography
The tapestries of Trude Guermonprez : The Oakland Art Museum, November 13-December 26, 1982. Oakland, Calif. : Oakland Museum, 1982.

Other Finding Aids note

Other Finding Aids note
No finding aid available.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Posters Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Textile designers -- United States Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Weavers -- United States Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Patterns (design elements) Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Designs (textile) Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Weaving -- History -- 20th century -- Sources Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Blueprints Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Awards Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Proposals Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Postcards Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Announcements Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Brochures Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Exhibition catalogs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Slides (photographs) Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Journals (periodicals) Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Clippings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Financial records Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lecture notes Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Articles Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business cards Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Correspondence Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Textiles Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sketches Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Guermonprez, Trude, 1910-1976 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Larson, Jack Lenor. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Municipal School of Arts and Crafts (Halle an der Saale, Germany) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mendelsohn, Erich, 1887-1953 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Oud, J. J. P. (Jacobus Johannes Pieter), 1890-1963 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Oakland Art Museum Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Johnson Wax -- Art collections Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pasadena Art Museum Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
San Francisco Folk Art Museum Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pond Farm Workshop Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wildenhain, Frans, 1905-1980 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Staatliche Galerie Moritzburg Halle, Landeskunstmuseum Sachsen-Anhalt Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wildenhain, Marguerite Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Akron Art Institute Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
American Crafts Council. Museum of Contemporary Crafts Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
American Institute of Architects Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
California College of Arts and Crafts Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cooper-Hewitt Design Archive Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Guermonprez, Paul. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Herr, Gordon. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Herr, Jane. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Holland Amerika Lijn Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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