Textile, Gay Facade

Gay Façade, John Hull’s design featuring clusters of cheerful suns (5826.1.2016), was produced in multiple colorways. In this version, pink- and purple-dotted faces are clustered on a pale gray-green ground.

An illustrated preview of separates designed by Toni Owen in the Gay Façade print was highlighted in a Signature Fabrics advertisement in the December 29, 1952 issue of Women’s Wear Daily. The print appeared twice in the January 1953 issue of Harper’s Bazaar: the aforementioned Toni Owen separates and a coordinating blouse and skirt designed by Owen-Morgan were both fashioned from Hull’s textile design. (1) As Rebecca Blake wrote in a Boston Daily Globe article on January 4, 1953, “the fascinating ‘Gay Façade’ print features brilliant ‘Shock’ colors.”

This design in this colorway is represented in the museum’s collection (1994-38-8). There is currently one additional example of Hull’s work in the museum’s collection, a wallcovering entitled Speckled Diamond (1954-21-9).

(1) Karen J. Herbaugh, “Index of AAA Textile Designs,” in Art for Every Home: An Illustrated Index of Associated American Artists Prints, Ceramics, and Textile Designs (Manhattan: Marianna Kistler Beach Museum, Kansas State University, 2016), http://hdl.handle.net/2097/19686.

Textile, Gay Facade; Designed by John Hull; Produced by Associated American Artists (United States); cotton; H x W: 172.7 × 89.5 cm (5 ft. 8 in. × 35 1/4 in.); American Textile History Museum Collection, museum purchase through gift of anonymous donor; 2016-35-12