Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft opens 2025 with Tadek Beutlich exhibition
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Spokeswoman Nicola Jeffs said: “Tadek Beutlich (1922-2011) was a visionary textile artist, printmaker and teacher, renowned for his extraordinary tapestries, textile constructions and large vivid relief prints from the 1960s and 1970s. In 2025, Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft will present the first institutional exhibition dedicated to his work in the UK for over 25 years.
“Strikingly large works created in his Ditchling studio in the late 1960s will take centre stage in this retrospective, including Dream Revealed (1968), an eight-foot-tall weaving created using unspun jute, mohair and horsehair, which has not been seen since it was shown in Switzerland at the Lausanne Textile Biennale in 1969.
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Hide Ad“Intricate freestanding off-loom pieces and vibrant relief prints made using tree sections, Lycra and foam rubber will also be exhibited, showcasing the breadth and variety of Beutlich’s extensive career.
“Polish-born Beutlich, who lived in Ditchling in the late 60s and early 70s, had a distinctive style and approach which challenges the usual definitions of craft categorisation. As an artist, weaver and tapestry maker he would sometimes make prints and textiles using the same imagery, yet he believed that to plan out a tapestry or weaving by sketching it with pencil on paper was to do a disservice to the material that he worked with. This complex relationship between fine arts and craft has much to do with his early years as a student. Beutlich was profoundly influenced by one of his teachers at art school in Poland who taught him ‘not to think just do it’, an ethos which resonated throughout his career.
“After the Second World War he enrolled as a student of painting and drawing at the Sir John Cass Institute in London, transferring later to Camberwell School of Art and Crafts and graduating with a degree in Textiles in 1950. Whilst Beutlich was studying he accompanied his teacher, weaver Barbara Sawyer (1919-1982), on a visit to Ethel Mairet (1872-1952) at Gospels, her home and workshop in Ditchling. Mairet’s imaginative treatment of yarns had a profound influence on Beutlich and his subsequent practice, although after initial experimentation with natural dyes he rejected the discipline as he felt they faded too quickly. He eventually moved into Gospels in 1967 after Mairet’s death. His years in Ditchling marked the height of his commercial and international success, solidifying his reputation as one of the world’s leading textile artists.
“Beutlich used natural materials for his weaving such as sisal and jute and, whilst living in Spain, he began working with esparto grass. His earlier work often contained pieces of organic material such as charred wood and in some cases celluloid film or x-ray film. Their size was largely limited by the space he worked in.
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Hide Ad“Beutlich approached printmaking with the same innovation and freedom as he did textiles, experimenting with techniques and using wood, metal and found objects in his prints. He would walk on his prints as a substitute for a press, stamping by foot to imprint the design. This approach came out of both necessity and choice, as he could not afford a press but he also liked the freedom that this method gave him.
“Beutlich’s skill as a printmaker was recognised early in his career when his prints were selected to be exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum. He went on to produce prints for publishers, Editions Alecto until 1974.
“Beutlich taught and sold work across the world. He said he had seven-year cycles of work and changes in practice can be seen across his career. From 1948-1967 he created traditional flat tapestries of wool and cotton originally influenced by work by Lurçat he saw in an exhibition at the V&A and later using similar abstracted imagery of natural forms and creatures to his printmaking. His style quickly evolved and went through rapid changes.”
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