This exhibition explores Armitage’s distinctive approach to pattern making in wallpaper and fabric design.
“The queen of wallpaper”
“What has made her designs so distinct and so covetable is their apparent freedom.”
RA Magazine
Overview
This exhibition explores Armitage’s distinctive approach to pattern making in wallpaper and fabric design. The child of Dutch parents, Marthe is renowned for her hand-drawn, hand-printed patterns created in her Chiswick studio. Now aged 95, she is one of Britain’s most beloved designers and is celebrated for the intricate and imaginative detail that still imbues her work, and the expert craftmanship of her practice.
As the title suggests, Pattern Maker traces Armitage’s artistic process — from initial sketches, tracings and lino blocks to finished wallpapers and textiles — revealing the journey behind each work.
Her designs are rooted in the landscapes, riverbanks, and architectural details of her local Chiswick surroundings — where she and her family have lived since 1939 — and translate the familiar, such as a chestnut tree or an angelica plant into the fantastical, transforming everyday scenes into immersive decorative worlds.
This focused exhibition brings together original drawings and tracings, prints, archival material, and large-scale installed wallpapers and fabric, offering an intimate insight into the life and work of an artist whose designs have quietly shaped British interiors for more than half a century. At Pitzhanger, Armitage’s celebration of craft and place finds an appropriate, resonant setting, echoing Sir John Soane’s own passion for pattern, narrative, and the handmade.
“A doyenne of wallpaper and fabric design.”
APOLLO Magazine
“A beloved British designer of nature-inspired, hand-drawn wallpapers and fabrics.”
“You need to see this”
“Pick of the spring”
Country Life
“An exceptional creator on our doorstep.”
Also recommended by
Date
19 March – 19 July 2026
Venue
Pitzhanger Manor & GalleryEaling Green, London W5 5EQ
Tickets
Access with general admission
Enjoy flexible admission during the following times:
Unlimited access for Members at all times.
Pay-what-you-can: Sundays 10am–noon and First Thursdays 5–8pm for Ealing Borough residents. Pre-booking required, subject to availability.
Book general admission tickets
Exhibition Events
Members’ Morning — Marthe Armitage and Phoebe Collings-James
1 April 2026, 9–10am
Family Clay Workshop with Annabel Johnson
8 and 9 April 2026, 10am–2pm (drop-in)
Marthe Armitage Printmaking Demonstration with Jo Broadhurst
7 May 2026, 4.40–5.30pm, and 6.30–7.30pm
Enquiries
+44 (0) 20 3985 8888, pitzhanger@pitzhanger.org.uk
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Visitor information
Address
Ealing Green, London, Greater London, W5 5EQ
020 3985 8888
Opening times
Monday: Closed (Bank Holidays: 10am–5pm)
Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday: 10am–5pm
Thursday: 10am–5pm (First Thursday of the month 10am–8pm)
Friday: 10am–5pm
Saturday: 10am–5pm
Sunday: 10am–5pm
