Cooper Hewitt says...
Marion Dorn was a prolific and highly respected designer of carpets, textiles, and wallpapers, consistently lauded by the design press for her modern approach. “I have a vocation,” she was quoted in 1951, “I love designing.” [1]
Born in San Francisco in 1896, Dorn studied graphic design at Stanford University, completing her degree in 1916. She moved to New York, and was soon a noted member of the city’s industrial arts scene, producing hand-drawn batiks and hand-printed textiles. She participated in the Women’s Wear textile design competitions organized by M.D.C. Crawford from 1916 - 1920, along with Ruth Reeves, Ilonka Karasz, and Marguerite Zorach. Her work was included in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 1920 exhibition, American Industrial Art, and her batiks were featured in Vogue in 1926.
In 1923, she moved to London with her eventual husband, Edward McKnight Kauffer. She quickly became known for creating textiles and carpets that were compatible with the modern interior. She produced designs for a variety of manufacturers including Warner & Sons, and received commissions from prestigious private clients; she designed the train car presented to King George VI on his coronation in 1936. She designed carpets and textiles for luxury hotels like Claridges, Berkeley, and the Savoy, and cruise lines such as Orient Line and Cunard White Star. She also created moquettes for London Transport, for use in the Tube, in 1936-37.
At the urging of the American Embassy, the couple left London and returned to New York in 1940, where Dorn quickly re-established her career. Through the 1940s and 50s, she worked freelance, producing textile and wallpaper patterns for numerous manufacturers, including Jofa, F. Schumacher & Co., Katzenbach & Warren, Goodall Fabrics, and Greef. Her work consistently garnered attention in the interior design press. She designed the decorator collection of carpets for Edward Fields, and continued to receive important commissions for carpets, including the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House, in 1960.
Still active at 66, she set up a studio in Tangiers, Morocco in 1962, but died just two years later.
[1] Christian Science Monitor, December 26, 1951
