Summary
Kathleen Mann was head of embroidery at Glasgow School of Art, when she fell in love with and married a fellow teacher, Hugh Crawford. At a minutes of a meeting of the board of governors in 1935 it was decided "as a matter of principle it was not desirable that married women should be employed in the teaching staff". The decision was Glasgow's loss, Mann, was an inspired artist and teacher who had much to offer the school and who continued to work in embroidery, education and publishing. In 1932 one of her large machine-embroidered works had been shown at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The record notes that it had "drawn criticism from the board's wives".
Mann's legacy - she died in 2001 - is lovingly displayed in a small exhibition at Glasgow School of Art. She was an artist who bridged the gap between embroidery's arts and craft history and its emerging modernism. She was an expert in folk art and her illustration for her book, Peasant Costume in Europe, are charming, rich in detail and dynamic, and surely related to an interest in contemporary theatrical costume as much as history. Her painted tiles and plates, combine folk art with a freshness and lightness of touch and her illustrations for A &C Black, including a work on Scottish costume with some camp Scottish Highlanders, are beautifully detailed and stylish. Style, it seems was important to Mann. A personal letter on show includes a picture of an outfit for a particularly important night out.See the full content of this document
Extract
Sew Far, so Good: Embroidery Can Tell Its Own Story
These days GSA's female staff are allowed to stay on once they are married and many of th...
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