Upholstery Material c. 1930

Curator: This piece, residing here at the Harvard Art Museums, is Anni Albers's Upholstery Material. Editor: It has such a calm, almost meditative quality. The grid-like pattern is so regular and ordered. Curator: Albers's work challenged the traditional hierarchy of art, elevating textiles from craft to fine art within the Bauhaus movement. We can observe how function and beauty are unified here. Editor: The grid itself is an ancient symbol, isn't it? Representing order, structure... but here, softened by the texture of the weave. It feels very human. Curator: Precisely. And given its designation as upholstery material, it raises the question of art's role within the domestic sphere. Editor: It certainly makes you rethink the art of the everyday, doesn't it? Finding beauty in the functional.