About

Lenore G. Tawney

 
Lenore Tawney was born in 1907 but her career as an artist did not begin in earnest until the age of fifty. Although she studied with various teachers including Bauhaus alumni during the 1940s and 50s, it was after her 1957 move to New York that she created the innovative woven work that challenged the boundaries between fine art and craft.

Biography
About

The
Foundation

The Lenore G. Tawney Foundation was established in 1989 by pioneer fiber artist Lenore Tawney (1907-2007) for charitable and educational purposes. She endowed the Foundation with her life’s resources, artistic and financial. Consistent with the artist’s philanthropic interests, the Foundation supports the visual arts with a focus on craft media, including fiber art. Its broad aim is to increase public access to and knowledge about the visual arts and to assist learning opportunities for emerging artists.

About the Foundation
About

The
Studio

An installation of Tawney’s studio environment is on view at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center’s Art Preserve, which opened in 2021 and provides the public and researchers year-round access to an unparalleled collection of art environments that now includes works by more than 30 artists.

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Mirror of the Universe

This short documentary on the life and work of Lenore Tawney is a companion to the exhibition series and publication Lenore Tawney: Mirror of the Universe, produced by the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in 2019. It includes interviews, archival photos, and exhibition footage.

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Movie poster for Lenore Tawney - Mirror of the Universe
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Time Trembling, 1969

Lenore Tawney: Time Trembling presented by Alison Jacques Gallery at the Independent 20th Century, New York, September 6-8, 2024

Description At this year’s Independent 20th Century, Alison Jacques presents Time Trembling, a solo exhibition of work spanning 1958-1970 by renowned American artist Lenore Tawney (1907-2007). Tawney is best known for her woven sculptural forms, however, this presentation will also showcase other consistent series of work Tawney made throughout her 50-year career, including drawings, collages […]
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Postcard from Lenore Tawney to Katherine Kuh

Correspondence Art: Postcards by Lenore Tawney at The Art Institute of Chicago

Tawney began creating postcard collages in the ’60s while she was moving between studios and traveling internationally. Though she left Chicago, the artist maintained a longstanding friendship with Katherine Kuh, who was the first woman curator of European art and sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago. The two exchanged mail art over the course […]
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Toshiko Takaezu with moons, 1979. Photo Hiro

Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within, presented by the Noguchi Museum

On display from March 20 – July 28, 2024, this exhibition will feature approximately 200 objects from public and private collections across the country, including a major weaving by Lenore Tawney, referencing Takaezu and Tawney’s important joint exhibitions and their many decades of friendship.
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Close up of knit weaving

Weaving Abstraction in Ancient and Modern Art, presented by the Met Fifth Ave

On display from March 5–June 16, 2024 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, explores the striking connections between artists of the ancient Andes and those of the 20th century. 
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