Easel Tapestries: The American Reception of the Marie Cuttoli Tapestries 1930s to 1950s

Abstract

The story of textiles in mid-century America was enriched by differing opinions about their multi-dimensional role as objects of art, design, and handcraft, and by the revival of pictorial tapestry, especially French imports. This paper examines the Cuttoli Tapestry edition of French-produced tapestries, named after its éditeur, Marie Cuttoli (1879–1973), and explores how these tapestries emerged as a middle ground between painting, mural, and textile, bringing to the forefront recurring tensions between fine and applied art hierarchies, third-party producers, and the concept of reproduction. While these pictorial tapestries, which varied in size from medium to large scale, functioned much as easel paintings did, earning the name “easel tapestries,” they were decidedly different from easel paintings due to the materials, production processes, and resemblances to the original design. The Cuttoli project gave artists the opportunity to explore alternatives to painting and to reach new patrons and methods of display; through the marketing of limited editions, the tapestries remained luxury art objects, although never as celebrated or expensive as “the original.” This paper documents the complicated chronology and provenance of a seminal twentieth-century pictorial tapestry project by exploring how the Cuttoli Tapestries were perceived and understood by critics and patrons during their debut and subsequent display in pre- and postwar America.