Disciplines: Visual Arts

Reco Capey

Disciplines: Visual Arts
Residencies: 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944
Reco Capey (1895–1961) was a visual artist and industrial designer. Capey studied at the Royal College of Art from 1919 to 1922 and explored design in France, Italy, and Sweden. Although he produced designs for pottery, glass, metal, textiles, and lacquer, Capey is best known for his work as the art director of the British cosmetics firm Yardley of London, where he worked from 1928 until his retirement in 1959. He was responsible for the elegantly designed cosmetic containers with their flower and honeybee motifs, as well as the firm’s advertising artwork, store fittings, and fixtures. In 1934, Capey was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) and appointed a royal designer for industry four years later. He designed a neon sign, display windows, and a number of interior architectural elements for the 1935 British Art in Industry exhibition. Some of his ceramic designs were among the exhibits. A plastic lipstick container for Yardley was Capey’s contribution to the RSA's Design at Work 1948 exhibition. Capey made an extensive study of Chinese lacquer and of designing and printing textiles, about which he wrote Lacquer (1928) and The Printing of Textiles (1930).

Studios

Alexander

Reco Capey worked in the Alexander studio.

Funded through the generous support of Elizabeth Alexander, this studio was built in memory of her late husband, the renowned portrait painter John White Alexander (1856-1915). Originally designed as a visual art gallery, Marian MacDowell persuaded Elizabeth that the space would better serve the arts if commissioned as a visual…

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