rose marie reid takes Op Art out of the gallery and gives it to every girl on the beach! What’s wilder yet is to mix these cotton prints in swimsuits, cover-ups and accessories…
It was 1965, and Op Art was going mainstream. Many people still did not “understand” modern art, but because of textiles, many were exposed to it and actually liked it.
It’s interesting that in the ad copy they are encouraging the mixing of prints, but in the photo the models are wearing only one print each. It was hard to go from the matchy 1950s and early 60s into mixing prints that were crazy to start with!
The beginnings of Op Art can be traced to Josef Albers, who left Germany in 1933 when the Nazis closed down the Bauhaus, where he was teaching. He immigrated to the US, and ended up here in Western North Carolina, at the new and experimental Black Mountain College. If you’ve never heard of Black Mountain, and you love modern art, you need to make its acquaintance. It’s an amazing story about how some of the best modernists ended up in the NC mountains.
There is a museum in Asheville, so maybe I ought to go and take photos.
Stunning! Eye-popping in fact! 🙂
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I love op art and this ad feeds my black and white pattern obsession!
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Fantastic! I especially love that (oxford?) shirt.
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I love this–and I am a big, big fan of Black Mountain College. It would be wonderful to see photos!
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I’ve got a visit on my list of things to do.
And oh-my-gosh, but Nicholas Sparks next “novel” takes place at Black Mountain College.
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Josef Albers was influential as a colour theorist. The Bauhaus was the basis for many art schools and my own formal training in the UK. A Foundation Course, the first year of graduate studies, focused on colour theory and the exploration of art disciplines. I’ve still got my own “Homage to the Square” exercises. I always think of Victor Vasarely and Bridget Riley as the exponents of Op Art. You couldn’t get more of the Op Art Movement in that ad if you tried. It’s great.
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Thanks for the info! I am at work on a 1960’s dress right now, and it has a Op Art pink and white fabric as the main component and then I am mixing a pink and white polka dot print as the contrast fabric. So timely to read your post on this, as I didn’t even really realize that’s what I was doing, I just saw the fabrics and thought they looked very 60’s to go along with the 60’s style of dress.
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