Ed Rossbach

(1914-2002)

Ed Rossbach completed his graduate studies at Cranbrook in 1946. He, along with Marianne Strengell worked within the narrow parameters of Euro-Bauhaus-Scandinavian weaving traditions for industry.  “In reaction to this tight definition of textiles," Jo Ann C. Stabb wrote in Retro/Prospective: 25+ Years of Art Textiles and Sculpture (vol. 37), “Rossbach became fascinated by indigenous textile processes and the use of found materials as he studied artifacts in the anthropology collection at University of California, Berkeley, as a faculty member from 1950 to 1979. Noted for creating three-dimensional, structural forms from unexpected, humble materials including plastic, reeds, newspaper, stapled cardboard, twigs,  Rossbach inspired a renaissance in basketry and vessel forms and influenced other artists, including his students Gyöngy Laky and Lia Cook."

Artist Statement: “Well, I love all this mixture of things that people might interpret in various ways that I didn't intend," said Ed Rossbach. “I think it's sort of amusing to have people misunderstand things and take things seriously that you mean not to be serious. Of course I don't persuade myself that people think much about these things at all; I think they just sort of pass before their eyes. May-be somebody will think a little bit about it, but I don't think anybody is very concerned about what the meaning is of what I'm doing. I think it's very unusual for people to look seriously at what someone else is offering as a work of art. You're very much doing it for yourself. And I suppose that's the essence of what I'm doing…."

Selected permanent collections and exhibition venues:

Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York (Wall Hangings and The New Classicism); Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York; Museum of Arts and Design, New York, New York; Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands (Structure in Textiles); Renwick Gallery, National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (The Object as Poet); Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin (Fiber R/Evolution); Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania; Racine Museum of Art, Wisconsin; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts; Textile Museum, Washington, D.C. (solo exhibition); Seattle Art Museum, Washington; Cooper Hewitt, National Museum of Design, Smithsonian Institution, New York, New York; Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut; the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence.