Ed Rossbach (Chicago, 1914 – Berkeley, California, October 7, 2002) was an American

fiber artist Fiber art (fibre art in British spelling) refers to fine art whose material consists of natural or synthetic fiber and other components, such as fabric or yarn. It focuses on the materials and on the manual labor on the part of the artist as ...

. He earned a BA in Painting and Design at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

in Seattle, Washington in 1940, an MA in art education from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in New York City in 1941, and an MFA in ceramics and weaving from the

Cranbrook Academy of Art The Cranbrook Educational Community is an education, research, and public museum complex in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. This National Historic Landmark was founded in the early 20th century by newspaper mogul George Gough Booth. It consists of Cr ...

in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in 1947. His career began in with ceramics and weaving in the 1940s, but evolved over the next decade into basket making. He is best known for his innovative and playful baskets made from nontraditional materials such as plastic and newspaper. He taught at Puyallup Jr. High School in

Puyallup, Washington Puyallup ( or ) is a city in Pierce County, Washington, United States, located about 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Tacoma and 35 miles (56 km) south of Seattle. It had a population of 42,973 at the 2020 census. The city's name comes from th ...

from 1941 to 1942, at the University of Washington School of Art, in Seattle, Washington from 1947 to 1950, and at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

from 1950 to 1979. In 1950 he married Katherine Westphal, a textile designer, and creator of art quilts and wearable art. He died at age 88 after a prolonged illness on October 7, 2002.

References

* McQueen, John, ''John McQueen, the language of containment, essays by Vicki Halper and Ed Rossbach'', Washington, D.C., Renwick Gallery, National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1991. * Rossbach, Ed, ''The art of Paisley'', New York, Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., 1980. * Rossbach, Ed, ''Ed Rossbach, 40 years of exploration and innovation in fiber art'', Asheville, N.C., Lark Books, 1990. * Rossbach, Ed, ''The nature of basketry'', West Chester, Pa., Schiffer Pub., 1986. * Rossbach, Ed., ''The new basketry'', New York, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1976. * Smith, Paul J., ''Ties that bind, fiber art by Ed Rossbach and Katherine Westphal from the Daphne Farago collection'', Providence, RI, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, 1997.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rossbach, Ed 1914 births University of Washington School of Art + Art History + Design alumni Teachers College, Columbia University alumni Cranbrook Academy of Art alumni American textile artists University of Washington faculty University of California, Berkeley faculty 2002 deaths Columbia University School of the Arts alumni