Marx, an English painter and designer, was the first female engraver to be designated a Royal Designer for Industry. She is remembered particularly for her industrial textile designs for the London Transport Board and the Utility Furniture Scheme.
As well as her textiles work, Marx was a book illustrator and designed postage stamps and patterns for laminates. Her ‘Popular Art’ collection, which she amassed with historian Margaret Lambert, remains a popular attraction at Compton Verney art gallery where it was bequeathed. The collction includes scrapbooks, paper peepshows, Staffordshire dog figurines and toys.
Enid Marx: Print, pattern and popular art was written by Alan Powers, who has also published books on Eric Ravillious and Edward Ardizzone. Priced at £30, it is released on March 5.
The exhibition at House of Illustration runs from May 25 - September 23 and chronicles the evolution of Marx’s style as well as her forays into various areas. In total, around 150 works will be exhibited, including the industrially produced weave used for London Transport in the 1930s.
