Page 54 - Reside Magazine Briggs Freeman

Woven Style

Previous page: In interior designer Adam
T apestries are taking over our walls again. The focus of several tapestry from Aubusson, France, is paired
Charlap Hyman’s living room, an antique
high-profile exhibitions and a popular feature in stylish homes,
woven wall hangings—both antique and contemporary—
with modular seating by Klaus Uredat
are back in the carefully adjusted spotlight. This year has seen
Below: A large, minimalist tapestry brings
major shows of textile art, tapestries included, at MoMA in
New York and The Clark in Massachusetts. And interior warmth and depth to this Los Angeles home
designers are taking cues from the art world, making tapestry a central part Right: Design firm Charlap Hyman & Herrero
uses a monumental verdure tapestry
of their schemes for private homes. as a bedroom backdrop
“Tapestries provide a real sense of depth when worked into a space,
similar to the effect a mirror might have in a room—they play a trick on the
eye, as if the space might be architecturally grander than it is,” explains Adam
Charlap Hyman, co-principal of LA- and New York-based architecture
and design firm Charlap Hyman & Herrero (CHH).
Wall hangings feature regularly in CHH design schemes,
including the large-scale, paradise-like scene in Charlap Hyman’s
own eclectically designed apartment in Manhattan. “Tapestries are
different from a typical piece you might hang on the wall; they can
somehow blend in and feel as if they are a natural part of the
environment,” he says. “There is an incredible variety, whether in
origin, palette or means of production. My favorite finds are typically
of 17th- and 18th-century Aubusson and Flemish origin.”
Throughout history, weavers have depicted current events,
religious or mythical scenes, and imaginary idylls in tapestry form.
The medieval period saw a peak in production, especially in Europe,
when large works were made across France, Belgium and the
Netherlands for castles and palaces of royalty and nobility. The
capacity to showcase intricate artisanal skill combined with access
to fine materials, such as silk, meant tapestries continued to thrive
in the Renaissance, even as the art of painting blossomed. Tapestries
were able to cover larger areas than painting, often producing
a bigger impact—with the added benefit of insulating walls.
Woven works still fill the grand interiors of Château de
Fontainebleau, Villa Medici, Hampton Court Palace and Quirinale
Palace, to name a few across Europe. Others are now in museum
collections for the public to admire. “The Unicorn Tapestries,”
1495–1505, a much-feted series depicting a unicorn hunt, which
originally hung in the home of a noble French family, has been on
display at The Met Cloisters in New York since it opened in 1938.
In the 20th century, the bold work of artists such
as Joan Miró, Anni Albers and Sonia Delaunay introduced
experimental abstraction into the medium, pushing its potential.
Contemporary artists including Jeffrey Gibson, Julia Bland and
El Anatsui built on this experimentation, drawing from wider
global inf luences—woven works have long been a format
of creative expression in Indigenous communities across the