Coverlet c. 1940

This is Florence Milto’s ‘Coverlet’. I love the term coverlet, and the fact that she lived to be 100 years old! Looking at this now, I see this artwork was probably made as a kind of study in colour and pattern. I think what is so nice about this work is the combination of the vertical stripes and the way the patterning seems almost to float on top. It’s like Milto is thinking about the surface of the cloth as a kind of ground. In the bottom corner, there is a close-up of one of the images on the coverlet: this reminds me that art is, at its heart, about seeing. The original coverlet was probably made as something useful, but in this study, Milto helps us see the different rhythms and patterns within its weave. This makes me think of the work of Anni Albers, another textile artist, who also explored weaving as a form of drawing.