Manhattan

This printed cotton furnishing fabric was designed by Ruth Reeves (1892-1966) for W. & J. Sloane in 1930. Reeves trained with Fernand Léger (1881-1955) during the 1920s and was influenced by his Cubist paintings. She produced a wide range of printed and woven fabrics, mainly depicting modern life in America. Her most widely acknowledged commission was for the carpets in Radio City Music Hall in New York. ‘Manhattan’ shows the high-rise New York cityscape at the beginning of the 1930s It includes the Empire State Building, the Brooklyn bridge and the Statue of Liberty as well as automobiles, factories, trains and biplanes and people typing in offices, taking photographs and enjoying the night

Hanging · New York (City) · 1930. Screen-printed cotton voile. By Reeves, Ruth. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.