Tammis Keefe (1913 – June 5, 1960) was an American
textile designer.
Biography
Keefe was born Margaret Thomas in 1913. She began her studies in mathematics at
Los Angeles Community College
The Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) is the community college district serving Los Angeles, California, and some of its neighboring cities and certain unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Its headquarters are in Downtown Los ...
. After a trip to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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to see the
1933-1934 World's Fair, she changed her major to art at the
Chouinard Art School in Los Angeles. After graduation, she became the Art Director of ''
Arts and Architecture
''Arts & Architecture'' (1929–1967) was an American design, architecture, landscape, and arts magazine. It was published and edited by John Entenza from 1938–1962 and David Travers 1962–1967. ''Arts & Architecture'' played a significant role ...
'' magazine during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
By 1948, Keefe was working as a textile designer for Dorothy Leibis Studio in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
which textile designs to the furnishings firm, Goodall Industries. She also created freelance designs for other home decorative lines and wallpaper for various firms. Later, she began designing handkerchiefs commissioned by J. H. Kimball for
Lord & Taylor in New York. Keefe was best known for her bright colors playful designs on handkerchiefs, kitchen towels and scarves.
On June 5, 1960, she died of cancer.
Her work can be found at
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the
Cooper Hewitt and the
Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
References
1913 births
1960 deaths
Los Angeles Community College alumni
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