CREATIVE TEXTILE ART AND THE AMERICAN MUSEUM 259 



transcends in significance the commer- 

 cial phases of the subject. The loom 

 and the printing frame, the embroidery 

 machine and the garment factory are 

 but the fluid mediums through which 

 the creative ability of American artists 

 is reaching the American nation. And 

 it is a matter of satisfaction to realize 

 that the diffusion of the new ideas has 

 been and will continue to be a profit- 

 able undertaking. 



It is perhaps of human interest that 

 through this movement and because of 

 it, an increasing number of young 

 American artists are receiving recogni- 

 tion and profitable employment, and it 

 is not too much to say that they are 

 developing a fine feeling of loyalty to- 

 ward this Museum for the cordial re- 

 ception they have received and the 

 unfailing assistance that has been ex- 

 tended to them. To have taught so 

 earnest a group to make use of the 

 original sources of design in Museum 

 material, is in itself an achievement. 

 The habits thus acquired, leading to 

 individual successes, will encourage art- 

 ists just beginning their career to fol- 

 low such examples, and the effects of 



such association must eventually be felt 

 in every branch of American decorative 

 art. This is the true significance of 

 the work. 



This movement is the result of the 

 unselfish and cooperative efforts of a 

 number of men. To give a list here 

 would occupy too much space. The 

 members of the Museum staff and rep- 

 resentatives of the industry who have 

 given their time unsparingly in lec- 

 tures and individual instruction have 

 contributed largely to its success. But 

 it must also be borne in mind that 

 many other men for a generation have 

 felt that some day such a movement 

 must come, and have built up these 

 wonderful collections so that the Amer- 

 ican Museum would be ready to give 

 the service when the time was ripe, — 

 these equally share the credit. 



In the future, the fact that the col- 

 lections of this Museum are of immense 

 value to the artists and to the industry 

 will be so obvious as to require no com- 

 ment, but this article and the illustra- 

 tions are intended to mark the first 

 success in the campaign for creative 

 design from New World inspiration. 



The two outer panels, representing bird and conventionalized fish designs, were inspired by Peru- 

 vian textiles in the collections of the American Museum. The middle design of conventionalized birds 

 was taken from the Peruvian, Amur River and Koryak collections of the Museum. They have been 

 brought out in silks manufactured by the Central Textile Company 



