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“THE DECORATIVE DESIGNS OF FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT” includes two rugs
created for Karastan by the architect in 1955.
Karastan Reproduces Rugs
For Frank Lloyd Wright Exhibit
Two rugs designed for Karastan Rug Mills in 1955 by Frank Lloyd Wright are fea
tured in the first comprehensive exhibition of decorative objects and designs by the late
celebrated architect which opened at New York University’s Grey Art Gallery and Study
Center September 26.
Part of a special "Taliesin Collection” of furniture, fabrics, wall coverings and other
items designed by Wright in the mid-Fifties, the rugs are composed of classic geometric
patterns carved into thick wool plush fabrics. They were specially re-created for this
exhibit by Karastan from the original pattern templates discovered in Karastan’s de
sign archives.
One is a circular rug with a motif of a continuous border of angular shapes carved
into a “martini” beige wool plush. The other is an oblong shape with an overall grid
design carved into an ivory tone fabric. Karastan stylists checked with the original
palette of the collection in selecting these colors.
The exhibition was made possible with public funds from the National Endowment
for the Arts: a grant from the Joe and Emily Lowe Foundation, and gifts from Karastan,
F. Schumacher & Company and Harry Winston, Inc.
Commenting on Karastan’s representation in the exhibition, Francis X. Larkin, presi
dent of Karastan Marketing Division and a senior vice president of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.,
said, “This is a very significant exhibit, and we are honored to be part of it. These rugs
document once again that Karastan’s dedication to good design has been intrinsic to
our 50-year history.”
Karastan, which is currently celebrating its 50th Anniversary, recently introduced the
first collection of carpets by famous fashion designer Ralston.
“The Decorative Designs of Frank Lloyd Wright” is a traveling exhibition co
sponsored by the Grey Art Gallery and the Smithsonian Institution’s Renwick Gallery in
Washington, D.C. It will continue at the Grey Art Gallery through November 4 and then
move to the University of Chicago’s David and Alfred Smart Gallery on January 10.
It will later open at the High Museum in Atlanta.
The exhibit includes 64 pieces, among them chairs, tables, office furniture, lamps,
urns, windows, fabrics, building ornament, dinnerware and silver, and rugs all con
ceived as part of the architectural commissions that spanned Wright’s 70-year career
from the late 1880’s to his death in 1959 at the age of 92.
These objects, which Wright considered integral to his architecture, are shown
chronologically with interior and exterior photographs of the buildings for which they
were intended. Examples of book and graphic designs, as well as plans for the manu
facture of wallpaper, furniture and fabrics, are also shown.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1978
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Original oblong and circular rugs.