As I study the wool open warp transparencies of Frida Hansen, I remain enchanted with her beautiful designs and technique. It’s no wonder that many of the weavers in her studio would be inspired to create new patterns of their own. The art of Frida Hansen led to several followers in Norway; they are an important part of my research, an indication of the significance of Frida Hansen as a designer and mentor.
I keep discovering transatlantic ties, too – transparencies by weavers in America who either saw Hansen’s transparencies in Norway, or who had studied in Norway before moving to this country. Two of these weavers have been written about already. Hilma Berglund (1886-1972), one of the founders of the Weavers Guild of Minnesota, studied weaving in Sweden and, as verified by a small sketch in her journal, saw Frida Hansen’s Hesteblomster [Dandelions] at the Arts and Crafts Museum in Copenhagen. She wove a beautiful set of open warp transparencies in cotton, which are in the collection of the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. Read my description in “Frida Hansen Influence in Minnesota.”
Elsie Siroky from St. Louis wove a stunning transparency that shared design aspects with Frida Hansen’s Sommernattsdrøm [Summer Night’s Dream]. Jane Olson Glidden wrote an article for the Norwegian Textile Letter, “A Connection to Frida Hansen in St. Louis.”
The American reach of Hansen’s influence grows with Ruthi Klever Lunde Clark (1900 or 1903-1981), a Norwegian-American weaver. When she traveled to Portland, Oregon, in 1947 to visit her brother, she met her husband Sam Clark and remained in the U.S. (Lila Nelson did marvelous detective work about her life for an article in the Norwegian Textile Letter, “The Story of Ruthi Clark.”) From an article in Handweaver & Craftsman, “Ruth Clark – Tapestry Weaver” (Winter 1957-1958), it’s clear that Clark wove transparencies in the style of Frida Hansen. “In making the transparent tapestries, openwork spaces are left by not covering the warp threads completely, thus leaving lacy stripes and other designs. Not all of Mrs. Clark’s tapestries are of the transparent kind. They will not, it is true, wear as well as if the weft were filled in completely.” Later she mentions Frida Hansen specifically. “Transparent portieres by Madame Frida Hansen, a Norwegian weaver, won awards at Paris Exposition of 1900, bringing that style of weaving before the notice of weavers of the world. Tapestries, moreover, need not be executed in wool; linen yarn will serve as well.”
And indeed, Ruthi Clark wove a transparency in linen. Laurann Gilbertson, Curator at Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, sent me a photo of this transparency in linen, in their collection.
I was surprised to see the design, because I was already familiar with it. There is an another copy in the collection of Maihaugen, woven in wool in a completely different color path. It is less common to see open warp tapestries of the period with a completely geometric pattern, reminiscent of Norwegian rutevev, or square weave.
Who designed this cartoon? Was it a pattern by one of Frida Hansen’s followers? Was it perhaps sold by Husflid, the national handcraft association? I have some ideas for further research.