Impressive Textiles

From reproductions of Dürer copperplates to twenty-first-century apparel, this exhibition explores the history of images printed on fabric.

Printing images and texts on luxurious fabrics instead of paper once took portraits, devotional images, and other artworks to the next level, brokering powerful relationships and memorialising important events on resplendent broadsides and serviceable handkerchiefs alike. However, whether fancy or functional, these early imprints from Europe and the Americas and their modern-day equivalents remain understudied and unappreciated for their artistry and deep connections to global economies. Premodern Printing on Fabric, held at the Newberry Library in 2026, is the first exhibition to tell the story of these exceedingly rare objects, highlighting new research that bridges the gap between art and book history, textiles, and printmaking.

This exhibition catalogue delves into fabric printings from the medieval to the modern. Examples range from seventeenth-century marriage poems and portraits on silk and devotional printings on linen reproducing cult objects to the nostalgically reprinted Albrecht Dürer copperplates and George Washington-themed handkerchiefs. A flurry of proto-computerised Jacquard-loom activity during nineteenth-century world's fairs offered woven silk memorabilia in collectible sizes, while simultaneously recreating high-end medieval manuscripts. Many unable to afford printed silks could then incorporate swatches into family quilts long before the popularity of graphic t-shirts.