Althea McNish

Althea McNish
CM FSCD
Born
Althea Marjorie McNish

15 May 1924[1]
Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Died16 April 2020(2020-04-16) (aged 95)[2]
London
Education
Known forTextile design
SpouseJohn Weiss (1959–2018, his death)
WebsiteAlthea McNish & John Weiss at the Wayback Machine (archived 10 September 2019)

Althea McNish CM FSCD (15 May 1924 – 16 April 2020) was an artist from Trinidad who became the first Black British textile designer to earn an international reputation.[3]

Born in Trinidad, McNish moved to Britain in the 1950s. She was associated with the Caribbean Artists Movement (CAM) in the 1960s,[4] participating in CAM's exhibitions and seminars and helping to promote Caribbean arts to a British public.[5] Her work is represented in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Whitworth Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture and the Cooper-Hewitt (Smithsonian Design Museum), among other places.[6][7][8][9]

McNish was a Fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers.[10] She was married to the jewellery designer John Weiss (1933–2018).[11]

  1. ^ Sparke, Penny (4 May 2020), "Althea McNish obituary", The Guardian.
  2. ^ "Designer Althea McNish dies", Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, 17 April 2020. According to this newspaper report (which references a release from Courtney McNish, chairman of the Merikin Commission), she was 95 when she died; however, a date of birth is not given.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference HTC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference WIIiB was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Whitworth was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Art notes (review)", AJR, October 2011 Journal.
  7. ^ "Sample (England), 1962", Cooper Hewitt.
  8. ^ "Printed Textile 'Caribe'", Philadelphia Museum of Art.
  9. ^ "You searched for McNish". Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture (MoDA). Middlesex University. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference UoB was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Tessler, Gloria (13 December 2018), "Obituary: John Saul Weiss", Jewish Chronicle.