Nationalmuseum has invited Helen W. Drutt English, pioneering craft educator and gallerist of American Modern and Contemporary Crafts since the 1960s, to assemble a collection of objects drawn from the field of “American Crafts”. The selection of 81 works from the 1950s until today will in future enrich Nationalmuseum’s collections and will provide a possibility to look at American Crafts in the Nordic context.
The collection includes objects by prominent American designers such as George Nakashima, Lenore Tawney, Nancy Carman, Michael Hurwitz and Howard Ben Tré, i.e. American artists, or artists who emigrated and formed their practice in America and date from the 1950s until today. The scale of the objects varies from small pieces of jewelry to chairs and impressive wall pieces and textiles.
The objects in the exhibition have been donated by artists, collectors, Helen W. Drutt English and her family to The American Friends of Nationalmuseum of Sweden, whose mission is to foster and support understanding and appreciation of art and design, and to support Nationalmuseum. They will in future become part of Nationalmuseum’s collections and provide a possibility to look at American crafts in the Nordic context.
About Helen W. Drutt English
Helen W. Drutt English is renowned for her significant contributions to the advancement of modern and contemporary craft in the USA. She was one of the founding members of the Philadelphia Council of Professional Craftsmen in 1967 and served as its Executive Director until 1973 when she founded Helen Drutt Gallery in Philadelphia and simultaneously developed the syllabus for the first college-level course in the history of modern craft. She has served as America’s ambassador for crafts, championing the work of American artists internationally, and including their work in museum collections worldwide.
