Fabric design: (aqua and tan)

For artist Kathleen Sauerbier, her practice was a constant reminder and extension of the modern life she pursued, ultimately highlighting how art and life are inextricably linked.  Although she is best known as a painter, she also worked with textiles creating fabric designs and making her own clothes. This group of textiles were in Sauerbier’s personal collection, and they include several important samples.

It is thought that Sauerbier's interest in textile design was piqued during her time as a student at the Central School of Art in London and her exposure to works by the Omega Workshop and the Bloomsbury artists. Sauerbier's textiles such as Fabric design: (aqua and tan) and Fabric design: (yellow and orange) with geometric patterns in bold combinations of colour are fine examples of this influence.

It is not known whether Sauerbier actively sold her textiles and there are no known records stating she exhibited them either however at one stage she was commissioned by friend Eileen Hoban to design the interior for her Melbourne city boutique Silhouette. The textile Fabric design: Silhouette is a linen fabric piece that showcases her furnishing designs. In an article from Women’s World dated 1939 it was reported that Sauerbier's design 'cunningly developed from the name Silhouette’ used ‘tomato and marine blue on a mushroom background’ and was printed by Francis Burke for the store.

Other designs such as Fabric design: nursery rhymes and Fabric design: Commedia dell'arte have narrative based imagery with detailed depictions. In the latter work, Sauerbier depicts Pierrot weeping against a dark building while Harlequin frolics with Colombina openly through a garden with birds in a lovers' tryst.

Born in 1903 in the suburb of Brighton, South Australia, Kathleen Sauerbier was known for her paintings of landscapes, streetscapes, still lifes and portraits. Her practice also extended to fabric and jewellery design. Through her studies and travels abroad, Sauerbier would be introduced to modernism and the movement would inform both her aesthetic and personal life.

Sauerbier undertook formal studies in art in 1922 at the School of Fine Arts in North Adelaide, South Australia under Frederick Britton and later Millward Grey before travelling abroad in1925. While in London she enrolled at the Central School of Art where she studied under the tutelage of Bernard Meninsky, Frederick J. Porter and James Ardern Grant.  Her time overseas also saw her travel to France.

Returning to Adelaide from Europe in January 1928, Sauerbier would find inspiration and solace in the south coast. The Fleurieu Peninsula, south of Adelaide, has long been an inspiration for artists and Kathleen Sauerbier was one of the first to respond to the area using a modernist approach including simplified forms, expressive lines and limited tones. Sauerbier was often seen outdoors battling the elements with her easel and paints and would paint the sights including built environs and the striking natural features, such as the cliffs, ocean and fields. Frequently Sauerbier invited fellow artist and friend Horace Trenerry to paint alongside her and it is around this time that Trenerry's palette embraced the muted mauve, pink and grey tones favoured by Sauerbier. It is also at this time that Sauerbier exhibited her work in Adelaide with the South Australia Society of Arts until 1935. She would later exhibit with the Group Twelve and the Melbourne branch of the Contemporary Art Society after moving to Melbourne in1937.

Living in South Yarra, Melbourne, Sauerbier was inspired by the dynamic city bursting with energy that was near her. Sauerbier’s paintings from this period, of streetscapes and rooftop views, recall the energy and fast pace of London which she’d painted ten years earlier while studying overseas.  

By the 1950s, Sauerbier moved to the quiter suburb of Donvale and she directed her artistic energy to fabric, jewellery and landscape design. However, although now permanently living in Melbourne, Sauerbier would continue to visit Port Willunga annually and paint, drawing inspiration from the south coast.

Sauerbier passed away in 1991.