Art and Museums

As Britain’s design industry was regaining momentum, Lucienne Day, Jacqueline Groag and Marian Mahler dared to offer a fresh approach to textile design in an era dominated by male professional artists. Believing that “good design” should be available for everyone, their products shaped the national aesthetic and continue to offer artistic inspiration and delight today.Explore the Museum's shop stylish items, including miniature quilt pins more »

Mamiko Otsubo's enigmatic masks collaged from the pages and covers of art history books, Donna Ruff's Rorschach-like patterns burned on the pages of Freud, Tom Burckhardt's re-purposed book covers used as grounds for his fanciful paintings, and Yohei Nishimura's kiln-fired de-accessioned books, shrunken and shriveled into fragile and lightweight wasp's nests of bound leaves and cover. more »

We are confronted by images of people who are making the most of clothes and jewels to reinforce their powerful presence. These bodily coverings and adornments are not always all that they seem, painters can easily invent the odd diamond, and records suggest that Elizabeth I had fake jewels on her clothes that were recycled with new clothes. more »

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901) was, in the words of one prominent critic, "the quintessential chronicler of Paris, as it is understood by those who come here seeking bright lights and wild pleasures." Over the course of twenty years, he produced works in a wide range of media depicting dance halls, theaters, circuses, and the celebrities who performed in them. more »