H74.113.1

Hand-printed silk. Description: Hand-printed piece of silk - designed and executed by Mary A. Dumas, 1952. Technique - batik. The piece is an arrangement of rectangular areas, some done in textural motifs, others with Picassoesque figures in them; colors are mostly rusts, browns, blues, and white. (It has seven registers, with three panes each.

History: Mary A. Dumas was a Professor of Design at the University of California at Berkeley. She was a painter and a textile artist, working mostly in batik and fold and dye (and tritik) techniques. She was particularly fond of the Southwest United States (where she had taken a sabbatical and numerous trips) and the color and feeling of that area is reflected in her work. She died suddenly in May 1971. Her work is also in the collection of the Cooper-Hewitt Museum.