Marion Dorn was born in Menlo Park, California, USA in 1896 and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Arts from Stanford University in 1916. In 1923 she moved from Paris to London with her future husband, the graphic and theatrical designer Edward McKnight Kauffer, where she became a significant figure in the promotion of Modernism in Britain. Best known for her carpet designs, in 1934 she established her own firm, which included many prominent manufacturers among its clients, as well as the London Underground, the liner 'Queen Mary' and the Savoy and Claridges hotels.
Textile designer Marion Dorn Kauffer was born on 25 December 1896 in Menlo Park, California. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Arts from Stanford University in 1916. In her early years as a designer she featured in the Women’s Wear textile design competition from 1916–20, alongside other notable women designers such Ruth Reeves. Dorn initially worked in batik but later became best known for her carpets, rugs, and wall hangings.
While visiting Paris with Reeves in 1923, Dorn met her future husband, graphic designer Edward McKnight Kauffer. Later that year she moved with him to London, where her career soon took off. Dorn became a significant figure in the promotion of Modernism in Britain and she was described by writer Dorothy Todd as ‘the architect of floors’ in an appreciation of her carpets published in Architectural Review in 1933. Dorn initially produced book illustrations, book jacket designs and batiks. In May 1925 five of her batiks, which demonstrated the range of her decorative inventiveness, featured in Vogue and were also selected for the 1927 International Exhibition of Arts and Crafts in Leipzig. She also participated in the London exhibitions Modern Textiles, at 46 Beauchamp Place (1926) and Modern Furniture at the progressive furnishings store, Heal's and Sons (1927); on both occasions her work was praised by the Times. Paul Nash, commenting on her textiles in Artwork in 1926, noted that '[...] in the Batiks [sic] of Miss Marion Dorn there is real beauty of arabesque and an unusual respect for her craft which she seems anxious to keep free of happy accident’ (Causey 2000, p. 51). Dorn was featured in The Studio Yearbook of Decorative Art, an annual review of some of the finest examples of contemporary architecture and applied art. From 1925–28 she was privately commissioned to design curtaining for fashionable interiors. These hangings, printed with large scale 'scenes', resembled theatrical backdrops rather than domestic drapery and were possibly influenced by her husband's theatrical designs (Mendes 1978, p. 24). Her hand-knotted wool rugs, manufactured by the Wilton Royal Carpet Factory, were exhibited by Arthur Tooth & Son Ltd (1927) and in the Room and Book Exhibition, held at the Zwemmer Gallery (1932). Dorn’s most impressive series of carpets were those for Claridges hotel in the rooms re-designed by Oswald P. Milne, completed in 1932.
In 1934 she established her own design firm, Marion Dorn Ltd., and through this business she received most of her high-profile commissions. She constantly experimented with ideas for weaves and was fascinated by textural contrasts, sometimes using the most unlikely yarns. Dorn designed carpets and rugs for London Underground (the 'Colindale moquette'), several public buildings, including the Savoy Hotel, London, and the Midland Hotel, Morecambe, as well as for staterooms on the liner, ‘Queen Mary’ and the lounge on the Orient liner ‘Orion’. Among her best known woven fabrics were 'Hasta', a simple leaf pattern made in linen, a best seller appearing in Betty Joel's Coronation Exhibition (1937), and in Prince Chirasakti of Siam's London flat, decorated by Gordon Russell Ltd. (1938); and 'Cyprus' for Donald Brothers, which combined stylised ivy trails, Ionic pillars and birds in flight. She also designed rugs for the public spaces at the Mount Royal, an art deco block of over 600 compact serviced flats, completed c. 1934, and briefly home to refugee composer, Karol Rathaus. Dorn’s work also featured in several prominent shows, including Exhibition of British Art in Industry at Burlington House in London (1935), and Rugs and Carpets: An International Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (1937). In 1939 she held an exhibition at her gallery in Lancashire Court (off Bond Street) featuring rugs and printed and woven materials for curtains and upholstery, which demonstrated her experimentation with a wide range of materials, including cottons, muslins, linen, wool, and sumptuous brocade. The Spectator review noted that ‘Marion Dorn has a delicious sense of touch; her feeling for crispness, for warmth, for lissomness is unequalled among present-day textile designers’ (Hinks 1939, p. 1129).
In 1940 Dorn and Kauffer returned to the USA. Dorn’s work in the prewar years was partly overshadowed by that of her husband, and it was not until their relocation across the Atlantic that she was able to achieve greater success. Dorn continued to work as an independent designer and produced pieces for several furniture and fabric companies. Her last major commission was the carpet for the Diplomatic Reception room at the White House in Washington D.C. In 1957 Dorn became an honorary fellow of the British Society of Industrial Artists. After Kauffer’s death Dorn moved to Morocco. Marion Dorn died in Tangier, Morocco on 28 January 1964. In 2015 a blue plaque was erected outside Dorn and Kauffer’s English home in London's Chelsea. In 1996 a major exhibition featuring over 83 items – ranging from rugs to textiles and from scarves to greeting cards – was held at the Heinz Gallery at RIBA in London. In 2016-17 Dorn's work featured in Revolutionary Textiles 1910-1939, at the Whitworth Gallery, Manchester. Dorn’s designs can be found in the UK in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Marion Dorn]
Publications related to [Marion Dorn] in the Ben Uri Library