Enid marx biography of christopher powell

Her father was a paper-making engineer, and Marx would later describe his work as a major influence on her interest in mass-produced design and popular art. Her artistic inclinations were fostered from an early age, especially by her older sister Marguerite who lived in France for a period. Marx first attended South Hampstead High School, after which her parents transferred her to Roedean School for girls from until , and her artistic studies there included life drawing, printing, and carpentry.

Marx was a versatile artist whose work spanned industrial design and the visual arts.

The painter and designer Enid

She valued craft and folk art, and derived inspiration for her work from her collections of vernacular artwork and everyday objects. Although she is best known for her textile and book design, she also designed wrapping paper, stamps, and Christmas cards. In , after leaving school before finishing her degree, Marx went to work for the textile designers Phyllis Barron and Dorothy Larcher at their studio in Hampstead.

In she was selected by the London Passenger Transport Board to design the moquette seat fabrics for use on the seats of London buses and tube trains. During the design and production process for these fabrics, Marx expressed displeasure with the manufacturing firms, who took liberties with the designs to conform to manufacturing requirements.

Marx believed that time and effort could have been saved if the manufacturers had consulted with her before making the necessary modifications. The pattern used for the seats and interior backdrops was a geometric design in green and red. In , the furniture designer Gordon Russell invited her to become a member of the Board of Trade Utility furniture Design Advisory Panel, which was tasked with implementing wartime austerity standards in the field of interior and furniture design.

Marx worked within the restraints of a limited number of looms, four board-selected colours, and only two yarn types. She created patterned papers for the Curwen Press and received further commissions from Chatto and Windus. After the war Marx designed covers for Penguin Books.