Curtain Up

Shirley Craven’s Curtain Up (1970) imaginatively envisions the dramatic lifting of a theater curtain trimmed in fringe or possibly the swing of a beaded door curtain. The sharp rectilinear forms along the sides of the print suggest a proscenium or doorframe, while the curving lines visualize the raising of a tassel-trimmed, velvet drapery or the parting of long strands of beads. The vibrant and mind-bending pattern exemplifies the experimental and eclectic merging of aesthetic influences that characterized British design in the late 1960s and early 1970s. During her 20-year tenure as chief designer for Hull Traders, Craven commissioned and produced hundreds of designs, many of which won industry awards as well as sustained commercial success. The seasonal collections she built for the firm included work from artists such as Linda Harper, Althea McNish, and Peter McCulloch. In the early years of her leadership, design and architecture publications highlighted Hull Traders textiles, and in 1962 Official Architecture and Planning lauded the designs for their “complete swing over to the abstract.”