Timeline

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1928
black and white image of a man and woman in formalwear sitting at a dining table.
1928

Liebes receives her first commission to create a color scheme and draperies for the San Francisco Stock Exchange Building in California; Timothy Pflueger, architect

Teaches weaving and textile design at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West

1930
black and white image of a room filled with several looms. in the foreground Dorothy Liebes is seated at the loom.
1930

Opens Dorothy Liebes Studio at 526 Powell Street, San Francisco

1937
black and white photograph of a woman holding a large drapery. the drapery has metal scissors on it and a yardstick along the top
1937

Designs drapery and upholstery fabrics for the Ann and Jack Warner residence, Beverly Hills, California; William Haines, interior designer

Awarded the gold medal at the Paris International Exhibition for her panel, Schiaparelli

1937
black and white photograph of a man and woman. the woman is seated and wearing a hat and her lapel has a large brooche on it. she has blueprints on the table and is poised with a pencil in hand.
1937

Designs drapery and upholstery fabrics for the Ann and Jack Warner residence, Beverly Hills, California; William Haines, interior designer

Appointed director of the Decorative Arts Display at the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco

1940
Black and white photograph of a man and woman standing in front of an industrial loom; the man holds a shuttle and the woman holds a sketch.
1940

Begins work as a designer, colorist, and stylist for Goodall Worsted Company, Sanford, Maine

Designs custom draperies for the SS America ocean liner's ballroom and writing room; Smyth, Urquhart & Marckwald, interior designers

1942
black and white photograph a room with several looms. in the foreground a man is seated at the loom. Dorothy Liebes and a nurse look on as he weaves.
1942

Appointed national arts director of the Arts and Skills division of the American Red Cross

The Brooklyn Museum, New York City, presents the retrospective exhibition Twenty-Five Years of Dorothy Wright Liebes

1946
color image of a restaurant with open walls and large columns, at the top of the windows there are window blinds
1946

Begins work as a color stylist and brand ambassador for Lurex metallic yarns

Designs blinds and upholstery fabrics for the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, Honolulu, Hawaii; Gardner Daily, architect; Frances Adler Elkins, interior designer

1947
black and white photograph of a woman wearing a sparkly suit standing at a podium in front of a crowd
1947

Begins work with Jantzen Knitting Mills as a fashion fabric consultant and colorist

Designs drapery and upholstery fabric for the Raymond Loewy residence, Palm Springs, California; Albert Frey, architect

1948
black and white photograph of a man and woman dressed in formalwear. they are holding hands engaged in a dance and are gazing lovingly at each other.
1948

Marries Associated Press bureau chief Relman (Pat) Morin

1948
three women in a colorful studio space. two of the women are seated at looms while the third looks on. in the background there is a wall of shelves filled with colorful yarns.
1948

Opens a design studio in New York City

1949
Black-and-white film still of a nightclub entrance. Two men are in the foreground and a woman, standing between two sparkling textile panels and a velvet rope, is seen in the distance.
1949

Designs drapes, upholstery fabrics, and screens for the sets of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's films Adam's Rib and East Side, West Side; Cedric Gibbons, production designer

1950
Color photograph of a dark-haired woman smoking in a bright blue sweater and blue and green striped skirt.
1950

Begins creating hand-and power-loomed fabrics for Bonnie Cashin

1950
black and white photograph of a room with horizontal windows along the wall that are covered in glimmering blinds. the furniture in the room is upholstered in glimmering textiles as well.
1950

Designs handloomed fabrics commissioned by Spartan Aircraft Company for the traveling throne room of King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia

1951
Images of first-class state cabin showing a porthole and striped curtains with metallic accents and furniture in easy-to-maintain and durable fabrics.
1951

Designs handwoven draperies for the main lounges of the SS Constitution and SS Independence; Henry Dreyfuss, interior designer

1952
View of a large restaurant dining room with views of the East River through the floor-to-ceiling windows; handwoven screens are fully extended to create semiprivate dining areas in the large, open-plan space.
1952

Closes the Dorothy Liebes Studio in San Francisco, California, consolidating production and design at 305 East 63rd Street, New York City

Designs custom retractable room dividers for the United Nations Delegates Dining Room, New York City

1955
Color photograph of a room with shelves filled with colorful spools of yarn, fabrics, carpet samples, and pillows.
1955

Begins work as a design and color consultant with DuPont's Textile Fibers Department

1957
1957

Relocates studio to 767 Lexington Avenue, New York City

Begins work as a design and color consultant for Bigelow-Sanford, Inc., developing area rug lines

1958
1958

Dorothy Liebes Studio ends production weaving to focus on design for mass production and industrial consulting

Designs stage curtains for the American Pavilion at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair, Belgium; Edward Durrell Stone, architect

1961
1961

Travels to Hamamatsu, Japan, and Ahmedabad, India, to provide technical advice to textile mills, deliver public lectures, and consult on new materials

1962
1962

Designs Bigelow-Sanford Inc., carpets for the Banker's Trust Building, New York City; Henry Dreyfuss, architect

1963
1963

Serves on the board of directors of the New York World's Fair 1964 Corporation (one of 13 women among 300 men)

1964
1964

Exhibits work at the 13th Triennale di Milano, Milan, Italy

1966
1966

Appears in the 18-minute film Beauty by Design, giving a behind-the-scenes tour of her studios

Begins work with Sears, Roebuck and Co. as a color consultant and designer

1969
1969

Receives the American Institute of Interior Designers Recognition Award for her international influence as a colorist, innovation with manmade fibers, and outstanding achievement in quality and craftsmanship

1970
1970

Designs upholstery for the American Airlines flagship 747 aircraft; Henry Dreyfuss, interior designer

Receives the American Craft Council's first ever Award of Merit

From the 1930s through the 1960s, the textile designer and weaver Dorothy Liebes developed and popularized a distinctively American form of midcentury design—one that combined handcraft with newly developed materials and brilliant color.

Click through this timeline to explore the prolific career of Dorothy Liebes.