Sample (Drapery Fabric)

Dorothy Liebes was an American weaver whose hand-loomed textiles combined traditional craft with modernist abstraction, incorporating unconventional materials including metal threads, cellophane, and raffia alongside wool and silk. Working from her studio in Pasadena, California, she developed a distinctive approach to color and texture that treated the loom as a compositional instrument rather than a functional tool. Her work bridged studio craft and fine art during a period when weaving remained largely confined to decorative practice. Liebes taught extensively and influenced generations of textile artists to expand the material and conceptual possibilities of the medium.