Herbert Woodman

Herbert Woodman was born in 1899 in Macclesfield, Cheshire. His parents were originally from Somersetshire and his father worked as a laundryman. He studied at the Macclesfield School of Art, one of the art schools which Frank Warner recruited designers from. From there in 1918 he went on to work at Josiah Smale & Son until 1920, when he moved to London to work for Warner & Sons. Woodman had a keen interest in historical textiles, he would often design using old documents as inspiration, sometimes from the V&A collections. He was also known to lecture on the history of silk and textiles. In 1925 he travelled to Paris for the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Art alongside Albert Swindells, Bertrand Whittaker and Charles Ebel. Warner & Sons had a small exhibition there but more importantly they took home new ideas and inspiration for modern geometric design. Woodman continued to work from the London studio, designing prints and woven textiles including ‘Wembley’ for the British Empire Exhibition in 1924-5, a brocatelle for the coronation of George VI in 1937, and designs for government offices. In 1962 he was appointed a director. He directed the design of woven fabrics by outside weavers until his death in 1963.