Bernat Klein: A Lasting Legacy in
Design
17:00 to 20:15 | Winchester School of Art (Lecture Theatre A) |Â Book your ticket here
Influential on a global scale, Bernat Klein not only transformed 20th century fashion, interior design and architecture, but also embodied a philosophy of design that has relevance today. Each speaker will offer unique perspectives and insights into the energy and focus he brought to his work, as well as to his commitment to the exploration of new possibilities, as maintained through the many activities of the Bernat Klein Foundation.
Introduction
Professor Alison Harley
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Established in 2017, Alison will introduce the work of the Bernat Klein Foundation in promoting and developing his legacy through education, research and publication. She will also describe more recent events in forming a partnership with National Trust Scotland and Scottish Historic Buildings Trust in acquiring Klein’s design studio designed in 1972 by modernist architect Peter Womersley. Together these will provide the context for our set of talks that focus on Bernat Klein, and why his legacy continues to inspire contemporary practice in design, architecture and the visual arts.
Alison Harley met and interviewed Bernat Klein in 2012. Since then, she has worked to develop an understanding of his legacy and his significant creative and cultural contribution to Scotland. Her background in textile design and continuing creative practice has shaped and influenced the Bernat Klein Foundation established in 2017. With a career in senior academic leadership roles in Design Higher Education in Scotland and Singapore, Alison brings her professional academic knowledge to the role of Chair and Creative Director for the Foundation. She has studied studio-based printed textiles at The Glasgow School of Art and also holds a history-based MLitt in Dress & Textile Histories, School of Culture & Creative Arts, University of Glasgow.
‘Bernat Klein: Design in Colour’
Lisa Mason
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Bernat Klein (1922–2014) was a leading force in 20th century design who had a profound influence on the interrelated spheres of fashion, interior design, and architecture during a career spanning six decades. Drawing upon the vast archive of his work held by National Museums Scotland, Lisa’s presentation will chart the various incarnations of Klein’s illustrious career and explore his inspirations and design process. It will situate his work within the wider context of émigré designers practicing in post-war Britain.
Lisa Mason is Assistant Curator of Modern & Contemporary Design at National Museums Scotland, where her research interests include the contribution of émigrés from the Jewish diaspora to British visual culture, interior design and politics in the Cold War, and site-specific architectural tapestry in post-war Scotland. Previous exhibitions include Archie Brennan: Tapestry Goes Pop! (co- curated with Kate Grenyer) at the Dovecot Studios in 2021 and Bernat Klein: Design in Colour at the National Museum of Scotland in 2022. She is chair of the Dress & Textile Specialists.
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‘Living with an Eye for Colour’
Dr Jonathan H. Klein
In Jonathan’s presentation he will talk about what he recollects as Bernat Klein’s principles and philosophy of design as frequently expounded to his family and others. Jonathan will try to show how these principles link together to form a coherent framework, though he will also be pointing out one or two of the implicit contradictions within it. Holding, as he did, such a framework as central to his life has practical implications for the way life is lived. Jonathan will be recounting some of the more notable features of life at High Sunderland (designed by Peter Womersley, a close friend), the family home since the late 1950s, which epitomised his father’s view of how design should be integrated into everyday life. He will try to disentangle the pluses and minuses of living with an Eye for Colour.
Jonathan H. Klein is the eldest of Bernat and Margaret Klein’s three children (he has two sisters). He has spent his working life as an academic and currently teaches management science at the University of Southampton Business School. He is a keen folk musician. He lives in Hampshire with his wife Linda and a retired racing greyhound. He and Linda have one daughter.
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‘Nature is Everything’
Mary Schoeser, MA FRSA
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Mary’s presentation focuses on the significance of Klein’s acute perceptions of nature. It looks especially at his handling of colour and texture, illustrating how his sensory skills capture the haptic qualities of his environment. His yarns, dyes, cloths and architecture are all considered, and links are made to other great minds who have recorded an equal reverence for nature. As a predominantly freelance historian since 1991, Mary Schoeser has written and edited some 200 books, essays and articles.Â
Extensive academic experience included a research position at Central Saint Martins (2000-2011), and an Honorary Senior Research Fellowship from the V&A Museum (2016). Her restoration work with English Heritage, the National Trust and other historic estates has informed the more than 44 curatorial projects most recently a William Morris wallpaper exhibition at York Art Gallery (2024-5), and ‘Textiles’ at the Fashion Textile Museum (2025). She is Patron of the Bernat Klein Foundation, and the School of Textiles, Coggeshall, Essex.
Organised by the Bernat Klein Foundation and supported by Creative Scotland
