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Moscow Textile. Moscow’s Female Textile Artists and a Retrospective of Moscow Textile Design from 1880 to 1980
Museum of Moscow
2019
2019
From the mid–19th century to the end of the 20th century, Moscow was home to dozens of textile factories, producing what was arguably the most significant branch of the decorative arts. Traditional artisanal craftsmanship evolved into a complex, multi-stage technological process, involving a vast network of specialists—from carvers to flyer operators. Factory grounds were surrounded by worker settlements, complete with housing, clinics, and even theaters, serving tens of thousands of employees. Each factory had its golden age, and each employed talented, original artists who gained recognition both in Russia and abroad—from Iran to the United States.
Moscow’s textile industry serves as a rich field of research, not only for art historians but also for scholars of anthropology, social sciences, and political history. It attracted a new kind of urban dweller, characteristic of the late 19th and early 20th centuries—proactive women who, without the loud proclamations of suffragists, initiated a silent revolution in labor and society. This was the industry that welcomed the "Amazons of Russian Avant-garde", Lyubov Popova and Varvara Stepanova, followed by their students and successors, eager to revitalize everyday life with new lines, colors, and patterns.
Structurally, the exhibition was divided into five sections, each offering a different perspective on the history of Moscow’s textile industry.
The first section focused on the pre-revolutionary textile industry. In addition to never-before-exhibited fabric samples and design sketches, it featured factory models, documents, and photographs related to the early history of textile production in Moscow.
However, the true beginning of Russian textile design can be traced to the 1920s. This era was explored in the VHUTEMAS section, dedicated to the Higher Art and Technical Studios, where the first-ever textile department was established. The department’s primary goal was to overcome decorative "craftsmanship" and integrate technical disciplines into the curriculum. As a result, many of its instructors were directly involved in industrial production.
The Moscow Textile exhibition featured a reconstruction of the workspaces of three key artists and VHUTEMAS professors: Lyudmila Mayakovskaya, Varvara Stepanova, and Lyubov Popova. Mayakovskaya taught airbrushing techniques, while Stepanova taught artistic composition and worked alongside Popova at the First Printed Cotton Factory.
A 20-meter-long display, designed as a "conveyor", traced the evolution of textile design up to the 1980s, showcasing sketches, original fabrics, magazines, documents, photographs, and archival film footage.
The fourth section presented 12 individual micro-exhibitions, dedicated to female artists who worked throughout the 20th century, shaping the aesthetic of Moscow textiles yet remaining largely unknown to contemporary audiences. These included M. Anufrieva, N. Kiseleva, N. Kirsanova, A. Andreeva, V. Lotonina, N. Zhovtis, E. Shumyatskaya, N. Zyslina, T. Tikhomirova, I. Kulakova, L. Rubtsova, and A. Dzyubina.
The final section of the Moscow Textile exhibition was a massive floor-to-ceiling archive, containing hundreds of albums with historical textile pattern samples spanning from the late 19th to the late 20th century—a solemn yet grand testament to Moscow’s textile industry and the industrial era as a whole.
The dramatic and vibrant story of Moscow as a manufacturing city has come to an end, yet the textile industry remains one of the brightest chapters in its history. What remains from it today are the red-brick factory buildings, workshops, and workers' housing scattered along the Moskva River, and, of course, a century’s worth of exquisite textile designs.
Moscow’s textile industry serves as a rich field of research, not only for art historians but also for scholars of anthropology, social sciences, and political history. It attracted a new kind of urban dweller, characteristic of the late 19th and early 20th centuries—proactive women who, without the loud proclamations of suffragists, initiated a silent revolution in labor and society. This was the industry that welcomed the "Amazons of Russian Avant-garde", Lyubov Popova and Varvara Stepanova, followed by their students and successors, eager to revitalize everyday life with new lines, colors, and patterns.
Structurally, the exhibition was divided into five sections, each offering a different perspective on the history of Moscow’s textile industry.
The first section focused on the pre-revolutionary textile industry. In addition to never-before-exhibited fabric samples and design sketches, it featured factory models, documents, and photographs related to the early history of textile production in Moscow.
However, the true beginning of Russian textile design can be traced to the 1920s. This era was explored in the VHUTEMAS section, dedicated to the Higher Art and Technical Studios, where the first-ever textile department was established. The department’s primary goal was to overcome decorative "craftsmanship" and integrate technical disciplines into the curriculum. As a result, many of its instructors were directly involved in industrial production.
The Moscow Textile exhibition featured a reconstruction of the workspaces of three key artists and VHUTEMAS professors: Lyudmila Mayakovskaya, Varvara Stepanova, and Lyubov Popova. Mayakovskaya taught airbrushing techniques, while Stepanova taught artistic composition and worked alongside Popova at the First Printed Cotton Factory.
A 20-meter-long display, designed as a "conveyor", traced the evolution of textile design up to the 1980s, showcasing sketches, original fabrics, magazines, documents, photographs, and archival film footage.
The fourth section presented 12 individual micro-exhibitions, dedicated to female artists who worked throughout the 20th century, shaping the aesthetic of Moscow textiles yet remaining largely unknown to contemporary audiences. These included M. Anufrieva, N. Kiseleva, N. Kirsanova, A. Andreeva, V. Lotonina, N. Zhovtis, E. Shumyatskaya, N. Zyslina, T. Tikhomirova, I. Kulakova, L. Rubtsova, and A. Dzyubina.
The final section of the Moscow Textile exhibition was a massive floor-to-ceiling archive, containing hundreds of albums with historical textile pattern samples spanning from the late 19th to the late 20th century—a solemn yet grand testament to Moscow’s textile industry and the industrial era as a whole.
The dramatic and vibrant story of Moscow as a manufacturing city has come to an end, yet the textile industry remains one of the brightest chapters in its history. What remains from it today are the red-brick factory buildings, workshops, and workers' housing scattered along the Moskva River, and, of course, a century’s worth of exquisite textile designs.
Curators
Aleksandra Selivanova
Ksenia Guseva
Exhibition Architecture
Alexey Podkydyshev
Graphic Designer
Anastasia Yarullina
Fonts Provided by
Yuri Gordon
Photography
Museum of Moscow
Aleksandra Selivanova
Ksenia Guseva
Exhibition Architecture
Alexey Podkydyshev
Graphic Designer
Anastasia Yarullina
Fonts Provided by
Yuri Gordon
Photography
Museum of Moscow
From the mid-19th to the late 20th century, Moscow was home to dozens of textile factories that shaped not only the city’s industrial development but also its urban fabric. Contrary to the common perception of Ivanovo as Russia’s textile capital, it was in fact Moscow where the most innovative design work took place.
At the heart of this story are women artists—once celebrated in the Soviet Union and abroad—whose names are now almost forgotten. This book (based on the exhibition of the same name) restores their legacy through twelve sections, each dedicated to a particular artist. Featuring Trekhgornaya Manufactory, Krasnaya Roza, the First Printed Cotton Factory, and others, the book traces the stylistic evolution of Moscow textiles: from folk motifs and Art Nouveau to avant-garde prints, cosmic dreams of the Thaw, and the escapist abstractions of the late Soviet era.
At the heart of this story are women artists—once celebrated in the Soviet Union and abroad—whose names are now almost forgotten. This book (based on the exhibition of the same name) restores their legacy through twelve sections, each dedicated to a particular artist. Featuring Trekhgornaya Manufactory, Krasnaya Roza, the First Printed Cotton Factory, and others, the book traces the stylistic evolution of Moscow textiles: from folk motifs and Art Nouveau to avant-garde prints, cosmic dreams of the Thaw, and the escapist abstractions of the late Soviet era.
Moscow: Kuchkovo Pole
240 pp
2019
240 pp
2019
Moscow Textile
Aleksandra Selivanova, Ksenia Guseva
