July 7, 2023 to February 4, 2024 | Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

American textile designer, weaver, and color authority Dorothy Liebes (1897–1972) had a profound influence across design fields, helping to shape American tastes in areas from interiors and transportation to industrial design, fashion, and film. The “Liebes Look”—which combined vivid color, lush texture, and often a glint of metallic—became inextricably linked with the American modern aesthetic.

Despite widespread recognition during Liebes’s lifetime, her powerful impact on 20th-century design remains largely unacknowledged. Featuring more than 175 works—including textiles, textile samples, fashion, furniture, documents, and photographs—this exhibition reveals the scope of her achievements and adds a new thread to the story of mid-century modernism.

Acknowledgments: A Dark, A Light, A Bright: The Designs of Dorothy Liebes was curated by Susan Brown, Associate Curator and Acting Head of Textiles at Cooper Hewitt, and Alexa Griffith Winton, Manager of Content and Interpretation at Cooper Hewitt. Carolyn Herrera-Perez curated the “Crafting Diplomacy” section of the exhibition, and the following interns and fellows assisted with the research: American Women’s History Initiative Research Assistant Charlotte von Hardenburgh; ArtTable Fellows Michelle Huynh Chu and Molly Hatesohl; Parsons School of Design and Curatorial Studies MA Fellows Greer Bateman, Erin Dowding, and Annabelle Oates. Exhibition and graphic design by Isometric Studio.