Aberdeen Art Gallery is showing rare examples of textiles by leading 20th-century artists such as Alexander Calder, Sonia Delaunay, Raoul Dufy, Barbara Hepworth, Fernand Léger, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Henry Moore, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol, whose work has been brought together in this major touring exhibition to explore works on fabric as a popular art form. Also included is a special selection of works by contemporary artists and designers such as Damien Hirst, and Zandra Rhodes. 

Reflecting major art movements such as Cubism, Surrealism and Pop Art, the exhibition begins in the 1910s with the artists of Bloomsbury’s Omega Workshops, who wanted to change the ‘erroneous distinction between fine and applied art.’ After the second world war the movement to create ‘a masterpiece in every home’ flowered. 

Eventually, these art textiles were turned into commercial clothing such as a Joan Miró dress or a Salvador Dalí tie, and by the 1960s Pablo Picasso was allowing his pictures to be printed on almost any fabric – except upholstery. As the curators note, ‘Picassos may be leaned against, not sat on.’ 

Also showing is Process, Process, Process, in which members of Aberdeen Artists Society reveal their creative processes by showing, instead of finished works, preparatory sketches, tools, work surfaces and leftover materials (until 25th May.)