Sidewall, Rudolf

This lenticular printed wallcovering shows an image of a mounted deer head with brightly colored antlers. The pattern on the antlers changes as the viewing angle shifts. Lenticular printing is a technology in which a cylindrical lens is used to create the illusion of depth or movement in printed images as the viewing angle changes. The tiles have a self-adhesive back, so that the buyer can determine the arrangement.
The concept of lenticular technology goes back about 300 years when the French painter, G.A. Bois-Clair developed the barrier strip in 1692. The barrier strip was a grid of vertical slats through which one would view a pair of paintings. This technology is similar to lenticular printing as we know it today. Developments in plastics in the 1930s made it possible to create the ribbed sheet which sits on top of the printed image and acts as the lens; the cylindrical lens of the ribbed plastic replaced the barrier strip. Lenticular printing went mainstream in 1936 when the Vari-Vue Company began producing prints in a variety of forms. By the late 1940s Vari-Vue was producing millions of these images and they could be found on record album covers, Cracker Jack prizes, postcards, and political buttons.
To create a lenticular print two or more images are required. The different images are sliced then interlaced so the strips from the first image alternate with the other strips. This new image is then adhered to the verso of the plastic ribbed lens. The lens bends or refracts light to allow viewing of each image when viewed from different angles.
Rudolf is composed of three separate images which creates the illusion that the pattern on the antlers is changing. When viewed from the left the antlers appear with a tight blue framework enclosing orange circles. Viewed straight on the antlers appear white with a blue and orange floral pattern, and when viewed from the right the antlers look like red coral. The shadow created by the deer head also changes.

The Rudolf wallcovering is produced in a tile format with nine tiles to a kit. This gift would include two kits for a total of eighteen identical tiles.
Élitis was founded in Toulouse, France in 1988. They produce a very contemporary collection of fabrics and textiles that are available in over 100 countries. This would be the first wallcovering by Élitis in the Cooper Hewitt collection.
This is the first time lenticular printing has been used to create wallcoverings. Rudolf would add to the collection of novelty papers, do-it-yourself wallcoverings, as well as the collection of contemporary French designs. Collection wallpapers produced in France post 1930 number just over 100, with many of these being reproductions. The addition of this wallcovering will help fill this gap.

Sidewall, Rudolf; Manufactured by Elitis; lenticular print, ribbed plastic lens, self-adhesive back; H x W: 43.2 × 27.9 cm (17 × 11 in.); Gift of Elitis; 2016-55-1-a/i

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Acquired! Shaping the National Design Collection.