Collect
The Eye of the Collector – Karl Lagerfeld
We cherish every order, however, not many arrive on heavy card personal stationery, handwritten by such distinctive fluidity of form in inked pen. The commission for rugs from Mr Lagerfeld have been kept safely tucked in a box at Christopher Farr London by Matthew Bourne.
The recent publication of ‘A Life in Houses’ by Thames and Hudson, co-authored by Patrick Mauries and Marie Kalt, brought about a memory jolt back to pre-internet and the joy of receiving letters..and to that memorable and elegant stationery.
Mr Lagerfeld placed the order as he was renovating three houses. It seems fitting that such an aesthete and a true original with an unparalleled eye commissioned rug designs from pioneering female designers and Bauhaus masters Gunta Stölzl and Anni Albers. The Bauhaus was established in 1919 and women’s place in society was seen through a different lens. At that time, women were encouraged to more manual and then perceived ‘female-oriented’ disciplines, such as textiles.
Stölzl picked up a neglected weaving department and completely turned it around and in doing so, through her practice introduced ideas of modern art to weaving. Despite being a less well-known name, it was in fact Stölzl who mentored Anni Albers. In the Tate exhibition ‘Anni Albers’ in 2018 – 2019, in the first room you encountered the work of Gunta Stölzl, before that of Albers.
Voracious in consuming knowledge and beautiful objects, Mr Lagerfeld left behind numerous worlds created from his own vision; the imprint of a lifetime of collecting and extraordinary insight into the man behind the myth.
See the Gunta Stölzl rugs produced by Christopher Farr.
