Two days ago, I received an email from a reader. Laura had recently purchased this original textile design by John Little. (I’ve written several posts on Little, one on
his abstract art, the other on
his textile designs) When I first saw Little’s abstract paintings, I felt a connection to his work. I couldn’t place exactly what it was.
Then, I read his biography and discovered he had been a textile designer during the Great Depression and throughout his career as a painter. There is a vast difference between Little’s abstract paintings and textile designs. His textiles are more representational (i.e. they depict recognizable objects, figures, or have some sort of pattern). Laura’s purchase is a great example of this. Entitled “Personalities“, it seems like a chess set came to life, with each of the game pieces expressing a part of their character.
Personalities by John Little. Image courtesy of Laura Richardson.
All of Little’s textile designs that I’ve seen are gouache on paper. So, what does that mean? Gouache is a paint that is similar to watercolor, but is heavier and more opaque. It tends to dry in a slightly different value that when it is wet. So since the color can change, painting with gouache is usually done in one sitting. (If you tried to resume painting after gouache has dried, it can be difficult to match the color. You may think you have mixed a perfect match, only to find that the fresh paint will dry as a different value.)
In terms of art market value, works on paper are “worth” much less than oil paintings. This is because paper is extremely fragile. Paper tends to deteriorate rapidly over time, especially if the paper is exposed to an acidic environment or one that has a great variation in humidity. Think about old magazines and newspapers that have been stored carelessly in an attic or basement. They become fragile and damage easily. Oil paintings tend to be more durable. (Oil paint never really dries. This type of paint dries in layers. So even when the surface dries to the touch, the layers underneath are still wet. It takes over 20 years for the oil to fully solidify!)
Personalities by John Little. Image courtesy of Laura Richardson.
This is just an explanation of determining market value, and not the significance of the work. To me, Little’s textile designs are more interesting than his oil paintings. There were lots of abstract painters during the Post War period, doing similar things. And yes, there were a lot of artists crossing over to textile designs after World War II.
But somehow, the textile designs communicate more about the artist. As much as I like Little’s oil paintings, them seem to echo the abstract expressionist movement than reveal something about Little’s “personality”. Laura’s textile design shows so much about Little: he was creative; he had an active imagination; he could create stories out of common objects; and he had an interesting use of color, shape, and pattern. You might not get these ideas from his painting “Tropic of Cancer”
Tropic of Cancer by John Little. Image courtesy of AskArt.com
Of course, my curiosity got the best of me! I looked around a bit more, and found some more examples of John Little’s textile designs. They are currently being sold by the
Gordon Harrison Gallery.
Textile Design by John Little. Image courtesy of Gordon Harrison Gallery.
And if the textile excitement hadn’t been enough, I was contacted by another one of my readers, Linda, after writing about my own scarf by Wesley Simpson. My scarf is called “Downtown” and has a repeat of a furniture store and apartment building.
Downtown by Wesley Simpson.
John Little and Wesley Simpson had a lot in common. During the Great Depression, Simpson established his own business as a textile converter. This means that designs were produced in-house or via freelance artists, and then the actual printing was contracted to outside factories. Simpson was the chief stylist of his company, which came to be known as Wesley Simpson Custom Fabrics, Inc. The company operated from 1932 to 1950. (John Little started a wallpaper and textile printing company during the Great Depression. He ran the John Little Studios: Fabric and Wallpaper Design until 1950, and later collaborated with Greeff, an English textile company.)
Linda had owned these Wesley Simpson scarves for years, but was never able to find any information on him or his company. She reached out to me and showed me her BEAUTIFUL scarves, designed for Simpson by Marcel Vertes :
Images courtesy of Linda Chapple.
Image courtesy of Linda Chapple.
I’ll be writing a follow-up post this week about Marcel Vertes. He was just too important not to dedicate an entire post in his honor. Stay tuned!
A special thanks to Laura Richardson and Linda Chapple for reading and sharing their fantastic collections!
Linda also sells vintage online:
