This article forms part of the Decorative and Applied Arts Encyclopedia, a master reference hub providing a structured overview of design history, materials, movements, and practitioners.
Jack Lenor Larsen (1927–2020) was an American textile designer, author and collector. His career connected woven fabrics with modern interiors, while his interests extended to traditional and contemporary crafts. Museum collections and his surviving papers offer ways to study both his designs and his working life.
Education
Born in Seattle, Larsen studied architecture at the University of Washington before pursuing weaving. He earned his MFA in weaving at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan in 1951. Cranbrook’s biographical record places the opening of his New York studio in the same year.
Jack Lenor Larsen’s New York Studio
One early commission was drapery for Lever House, the New York building designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. The Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art connects this project with the period immediately after his graduation and move to New York.
The studio’s opening should be distinguished from the formation of his company. Institutional accounts give different company dates: LongHouse records 1952, while Cranbrook gives 1953 for incorporation. The 1951 studio date is clearer than treating all three events as a single founding moment.
Textiles in Museum Collections
Remoulade, dated 1956, provides a specific example of Larsen’s work. The Smithsonian American Art Museum holds a textile of that name, accession 1983.103, given by the artist. Its catalogue lists linen, cotton, rayon, silk, wool, jute, nylon and metallic threads.
The Museum of Arts and Design holds a separate Remoulade panel, accession 1967.62. Its record describes power-loom weaving and a warp pattern weave. These are distinct museum objects: their dimensions, acquisition histories and material descriptions should not be combined.
Together, the records offer a more precise starting point than broad claims that Larsen invented an entire class of fabric. They also let readers compare how different museums document textiles bearing the same design name.
Exhibitions and Recognition
Cranbrook records exhibitions of Larsen’s work at institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. It also records a gold medal at the thirteenth Triennale in 1964. These documented examples establish recognition without relying on unverified award details.
LongHouse and Further Research
Larsen’s interests reached beyond textile production. LongHouse describes his home as a setting for exploring creative approaches to everyday life. His collecting and advocacy for craft form another part of that legacy.
For deeper research, the Smithsonian’s finding aid identifies correspondence, project files, photographs and writings among his papers. These records can support more detailed studies of individual commissions. They should be consulted before assigning precise dates or technical priority to projects not covered by the museum records cited here.
Sources
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Jack Lenor Larsen papers, circa 1941–2020, biographical note, printed page 2 (PDF page 4): https://sirismm.si.edu/EADpdfs/AAA.larsjack.pdf
Cranbrook. 100 Famous Cranbrook People, Larsen entry, printed page 16 (PDF page 16): https://www.cranbrookartmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/100-Famous-Cranbrook-People.pdf
LongHouse Reserve. Jack Lenor Larsen: https://longhouse.org/pages/jack-lenor-larsen
Smithsonian American Art Museum. Remoulade, 1983.103: https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/remoulade-14314
Museum of Arts and Design. Remoulade, 1967.62: https://collections.madmuseum.org/objects/119/remoulade
Existing further reading retained: Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing. https://amzn.to/3ElmSlL
