Lillian Grace Delevoryas (January 3, 1932 - March 6, 2018) was an American artist whose career spanned six decades. Trained in Fine Art, Calligraphy and

Woodblock printing Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of textile printing, printing on textiles and later paper. Each page o ...

she initially achieved recognition during the 1970s for her pioneering work in

appliqué Appliqué is ornamental needlework in which pieces or patches of fabric in different shapes and patterns are sewn or stuck onto a larger piece to form a picture or pattern. It is commonly used as decoration, especially on garments. The technique ...

and

tapestry Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads ma ...

for the

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion i ...

and

interior design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordi ...

industries. In the 1980s this recognition led to commissions for commercial applications over a range of consumer products, most notably pottery, textile and paper. Since the 1990s, Delevoryas returned to painting and continued to exhibit and promote her work. She lived in the UK since the early 1970s and was married to the writer and poet

Robin Amis Robin Amis (1932–2014) was a British author, poet, publisher, editor and translator. Although he had studied a wide range of spiritual traditions, including Kabbalah, the Fourth Way and Hindu teachings, it was his conversion to the Eastern Ort ...

Early life, education and early career

Delevoryas was born in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts on January 3, 1932 to Greek immigrant parents. She studied at the Pratt Institute and the Cooper Union in New York, where she gained her B.A. (Hons) in Fine Art. After graduation she spent some time in Japan, where she studied calligraphy and wood block printing with

Toshi Yoshida Toshi may refer to: * Toshi (given name), people with the given name ''Toshi'' * Toshihiko Tahara (born 1961), Japanese idol singer, a solo vocalist * Toshi (musician) (Toshimitsu Deyama, born 1965), a Japanese singer and musician * Toshi (comed ...

and Tomi Tokuriki (Tomikichirō Tokuriki). She also studied in France before settling in New York. Here, she created her earliest major works – the New York Studio Series – an exploration of structure and of light, both real and reflected. These early works explored naturistic and intimist art combining various influences including

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

and Picasso, revealing a love of colour and the strong graphic sense which informed her work ever since.

Fabric applique and tapestry

In the late 1960s, she turned from painting to textile art, and, at the suggestion of Kaffe Fassett and Judy Brittain of ''Vogue'', she came to London, where she was commissioned to design tapestries for private homes and costumes for celebrities and pop stars. Her work in fabric appliqué was featured widely, including in ''Vogue''. In 1972, she married writer

. The wedding dress she created was featured in ''Vogue'' magazine and latterly exhibited in the 2014 "Here Comes the Brides" Exhibition at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

. It is now in the Museum's permanent collection as an example of the spirit of the times. She and her husband moved to the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to ...

in Gloucestershire, where they founded the Weatherall Workshops, creating tapestry and needlepoint pieces. The work produced from their designs and stitched into tapestries won many awards and were exhibited widely, including the V & A Queens Jubilee exhibition, the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It o ...

and ‘Threads of History’ at

The Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...

Watercolour and design

Her time at Weatherall marked the beginning of her love affair with the English garden, whose profusion of colour reinforced her already strong love of pattern. The floral watercolours produced during this period quickly translated into designs. This design work which covered a variety of applications were featured by Divertimenti,

Burleigh Pottery Burleigh Pottery (also known as Burgess & Leigh) is the name of a pottery manufacturer in Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent. The business specialises in traditionally shaped and patterned domestic earthenware of high quality. The pottery occupies nin ...

and

Habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

; she also created fabric designs for

Designers Guild Designers Guild is an international home and lifestyle company with a flagship store and showrooms on Kings Road and Marylebone High Street in London, as well as offices in London, Paris, and Munich. Designers Guild designs and wholesales furni ...

and stationery products for Elgin Court.

Later years

In the 90s, she returned to her native Massachusetts, and during that period produced a series of landscapes inspired by the marshlands and tidal estuaries of the coastline. From the mid-90s onwards she was increasingly influenced by the landscape and religious art of Greece as a result of her husband's frequent visits to Mount Athos. She was particularly interested in icons of the Eastern Church and subsequently devoted herself to learning the techniques of iconography. This work eventually led to many paintings inspired by iconography and eventually the publication of her first book, ''Visual Contemplations'', the artist's visual meditation on the text ''The Life Of Moses'' by St Gregory of Nyssa. Delevoryas continued working into her eighties, and received attention in 2011 for her

iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating ...

paintings. Her exhibition, ‘Three Decades of Art’, was held at the Walton & Bovill Gallery, Suffolk, England, in the summer of 2016.

Death

Delevoryas died at her home in Bristol, U.K. on March 6, 2018.

Solo exhibitions

United States

* New York SIX Gallery, 1964-1966 * Robert Schoelkopf Gallery, New York, 1965-1968 * Royal Athena Gallery, New York, 1967 * Churchill Gallery, Newburyport, Massachusetts, 1990 * Maliotis Cultural Center, Hellenic College, Brookline, Massachusetts, 1991

United Kingdom

* Liberty's of London, 1975 * Gloucester Museum and Art Gallery 1976 * Copernican Connection, E. Yorkshire, 1982 * Gallery 10, London, 1985 * Hellenic Centre, London, 2000 * College of St. Mark and St. John, Plymouth, 2000 * University of Exeter, 2001 * Art Spaces, Totnes, 2009 * Rostra & Rooksmore Gallery, Bath, 2011 * Walton & Bovill Fine Art, 2016

Europe

* Designers Guild, Paris, France, 1982 * Amerika-Haus, Munich, Germany, 1985 * Kinsthandlung, Hanfstaengl, Munich, Germany, 1985

Group exhibitions

United States

* San Francisco Museum of Art, 1957 * deYoung Museum, San Francisco, 1958 * Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA, 2000

United Kingdom

* Revival of Art in Needlework, London, 1975 * V & A Museum, Queen's Jubilee Exhibition, 1977 * Royal College of Art, London, 1977 * British Genius, London, 1977 * Royal Academy Summer Show, 1978 * Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, 2000 * Print 86, The Barbican, London, 1986 * Delamore Gallery, Cornwood, Devon, 2007-2008 * V & A Museum ‘Here Come the Brides’ exhibition, 2014

Awards

* Louis Comfort Tiffany Award in painting, New York, 1965 * New York Art Directors Association Gold Award, 1977 *

Copley Society of Art The Copley Society of art is America's oldest non-profit art association. It was founded in 1879 by the first graduating class of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and continues to play an important role in promoting its member artists and th ...

– awarded Artist Member 1990

References

External links

lilliandelevoryas.com

Bridgeman Images
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delevoryas, Lillian 2018 deaths 1932 births American artists American people of Greek descent People from Chicopee, Massachusetts