Irene Emery (1900–1981) was an American art historian, scholar, curator, textile anthropologist, sculptor, and modern dancer. She was known for her pioneering research in systematically describing global textiles, and was a leading authority on ancient fabrics and textiles, and for her published book ''The Primary Structures of Fabrics: An Illustrated Classification'' (1966). Emery had worked at the

Textile Museum A textile museum is a museum with exhibits relating to the history and art of textiles, including: * Textile industries and manufacturing, often located in former factories or buildings involved in the design and production of yarn, cloth, and cl ...

from 1954 until 1970. Additionally she had worked as a sculptor for the

Federal Art Project The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administratio ...

, and was a modern dancer in

Martha Graham Dance Company The Martha Graham Dance Company, founded by Martha Graham in 1926, is both the oldest dance company in the United States and the oldest integrated dance company. The company is critically acclaimed in the artistic world and has been recognized as " ...

Early life and early education

Irene Emery was born on February 1, 1900, in

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

, Michigan. She was a descent of industrialist William T. Powers on her maternal side. She trained in dancing at the Central School of Hygiene and Physical Education in New York City; followed by study at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

under

Margaret H'Doubler Margaret Newell H'Doubler (April 26, 1889, Beloit, Kansas – March 26, 1982, Springfield, Missouri) was a dance instructor who created the first dance major at the University of Wisconsin. Her dance pedagogy was a blend of expressing emotions and ...

Dance career

After graduating from the degree program at the University of Wisconsin, Emery moved to New York City to study under

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer, teacher and choreographer, whose style, the Graham technique, reshaped the dance world and is still taught in academies worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over s ...

and taught dance at the

Chapin School Chapin School is an single-sex education, all-girls independent day school on Manhattan's Upper East Side neighborhood in New York City. History Maria Bowen Chapin opened "Miss Chapin's School for Girls and Kindergarten for Boys and Girls" ...

. In 1930, she was roommates with dancer Kitty Reese. Emery was one of dancers in Graham's notable dance presentations, ''

Heretic Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Christianity, Judai ...

'' (1929); Martha Graham's '' Moment Rustica'' (1929); and in

Léonide Massine Leonid Fyodorovich Myasin (), better known in the West by the French transliteration as Léonide Massine (15 March 1979), was a Russian choreographer and ballet dancer. Massine created the world's first symphonic ballet, ''Les Présages'', and ...

's ''

The Rite of Spring ''The Rite of Spring'' () is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Vaslav Nijinsky ...

'' (1930). During ''The Rite of Spring'' rehearsals, she broke her ankle but continued to dance on the broken ankle, which caused permanent damage and forced her to leave dancing.

Sculpture career

She decided to return to college, studying sculpture at the

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a Private university, private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which gr ...

. After her studies she moved to New Mexico, where worked on local art commissions and worked for the

. Emery was diagnosed with

myasthenia gravis Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a long-term neuromuscular junction disease that leads to varying degrees of skeletal muscle weakness. The most commonly affected muscles are those of the eyes, face, and swallowing. It can result in double vision, ...

which causes muscle weakness, so she could no longer physically continue her sculpture work.

Textile historian and anthropology career

When Emery she was a dancer, she experienced constructing dance costumes. In order to make future costumes she had started collecting textiles in a box. When she could no longer be a sculptor, she started to create textiles with

embroidery Embroidery is the art of decorating Textile, fabric or other materials using a Sewing needle, needle to stitch Yarn, thread or yarn. It is one of the oldest forms of Textile arts, textile art, with origins dating back thousands of years across ...

, followed by

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...

. She experimented with different, untraditional textile techniques. In the winter of 1941, she attended the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

to further her knowledge of textiles. In the summer 1944, she had a temporary job appointment as a "government weaver" with the goal of conserving Navajo rug and blanket weaving traditions at the Southwestern Range and Sheep Breeding Laboratory in the

Cibola National Forest The Cibola National Forest (pronounced SEE-bo-lah) is a 1,633,783 acre (6,611.7 km2) United States National Forest in New Mexico, US. The name Cibola is thought to be the original Zuni Indian name for their pueblos or tribal lands. The name wa ...

. She worked alongside

Navajo The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (1 ...

weaver Lillian Brown for a month, engaging with both hand-spun and machined yarn. This role set her up for a new career path towards textile anthropology, where she observed disparity in the classification systems. In 1947, she was hired as a

research assistant A research assistant (RA) is a researcher employed, often on a temporary contract, by a university, research institute, or privately held organization to provide assistance in academic or private research endeavors. Research assistants work under ...

at the

Museum of Indian Arts and Culture The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture is a museum of Native American art and culture located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is one of eight museums in the state operated by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and is accredited by the Ame ...

(formerly named Laboratory of Anthropology and the Museum of New Mexico, which merged). In 1954, Emery was appointed "research curator of technical studies" at the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C., where she remained until 1970. Her work helped to define textiles (i.e.,

warp and weft In the manufacture of cloth, warp and weft are the two basic components in weaving to transform thread and yarn into textile fabrics. The vertical ''warp'' yarns are held stationary in tension on a loom (frame) while the horizontal ''weft'' ...

) from other types of fabrics (such as

felt Felt is a textile that is produced by matting, condensing, and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic fiber, acrylic or acrylonitrile or ...

or looping). Starting in 1973 after she retired from her position at the museum, Emery created an annual workshop for academics in the field of textiles, named the ''Irene Emery Roundtable on Museum Textiles.''

Awards

*1951– Anthropological Research grant,

Wenner-Gren Foundation Axel Lennart Wenner-Gren (5 June 1881 – 24 November 1961) was a Swedish entrepreneur and one of the wealthiest men in the world during the 1930s. Early life He was born on 5 June 1881 in Uddevalla, a town on the west coast of Sweden. He ...

*1953 – Fine Arts Research grant,

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

Publications

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emery, Irene 1900 births 1981 deaths 20th-century American women artists 20th-century American anthropologists 20th-century American historians 20th-century American dancers American women curators American curators Textile historians University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni American women sculptors American female dancers American women anthropologists American women art historians American art historians