Change of Art

Edited by Karen D. Singh, Text by Karen D. Singh and Mark McMenamin -- Interior Design, 2/1/2009

Some canvases aren't big enough to contain an artist's vision. Luckily, the loom always looms. Marcel Zelmanovitch intended to be a painter, training in France at the Université de Vincennes. Then he discovered the intricacies of Nepalese rugs in the '80's. Paint and palette were soon swapped for warp and weft. Joining artist Yolande de la Villeguérin to establish Galerie Diurne in Paris completed the transformation.

By 1990, the likes of Jacques Grange and Yves Saint Laurent were commissioning designs, which have since grown into more than a dozen collections. An infatuation with fiber fuels Zelmanovitch's process. He traces the genesis of the Kimono series to Japanese-inspired 19th-century engravings of Kabuki actors, seen in a blockbuster on the Nabis in 1993. Only many years later did the seed actually take root. "When I discovered a new, very thin quality wool that I could mix with silk, it brought me back to this exhibition," he says.

The collection also brings Galerie Diurne back to the U.S. after more than 20 years, via six David Sutherland Showroom locations. Handwoven in wool and silk, loop and cut-pile wool, pure silk, or mohair in his workshop, the nine patterns are available in five standard sizes in addition to custom dimensions. 214-7442-6501; davidsutherlandshowroom.com. circle 427