Tibor Reich at the Whitworth Gallery

The Whitworth Gallery in Manchester currently has a very good exhibition on Tibor Reich. His name was not familiar either to me or my wife – essentially we stumbled upon the exhibition whilst exploring the Whitworth’s glorious £15m extension – but I think it’s fair to say that we both fell in love at first sight. 

Reich was a Hungarian immigrant moved to the UK prior to WWII and thereafter established himself as one of Britain’s greatest post-war textile designers. His striking fabrics were extremely popular in the 1950s and 1960s, to the extent that his designs were used to decorate Concorde (a small framed piece of the planes’ seating material was available for purchase in the gift shop, but at over £100 I gave it a miss). Reich’s focus was on ensuring that his designs were heavily textured, which led to rich fabrics that were full of colour and depth. Although the exhibition isn’t huge, you do get to see a wide range of materials – ceramic tiles, pottery, wallpaper, fabrics – as well as a brief video featuring the man himself explaining and demonstrating his fascinating design process. 

The exhibition was a fantastic, unexpected find, and is well worth a visit. It runs until August 2016, but if you’re not able to get to the Whitworth then I can recommend the brilliant book Tibor Reich: Art of Colour & Textures (Sue Prichard & Mary Schoeser, ISBN 9781526200006), which is available online at http://www.tibor.co.uk, https://www.margarethowell.co.uk, and possibly from other retailers.