Panel c. 20th century

0:00

panel, silk, weaving, textile

organic

panel

silk

weaving

textile

geometric pattern

organic pattern

geometric

Dimensions: 35 1/2 x 61 in. (90.17 x 154.94 cm) (irregular)

This panel, which now lives at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, was made anonymously at an unknown time with unknown materials. But it is how these unknowns come together which makes the piece so interesting. There’s something about the contrast between the busy background and the stylized, geometric flowers that grabs me. It is this juxtaposition that feels like the work is trying to say something about control versus freedom, or maybe the natural versus the artificial. Look at the flower in the center. The petals are orange, blue, and outlined in purple, giving it a strange depth. The combination of a rigid geometric structure and this almost haphazard approach to colour creates a visual tension that is so lively. I am reminded of Hilma af Klint, who also saw the potential for art to be a portal, a place of multiple meanings.

Comments

minneapolisinstituteofart over 1 year ago

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A daring new concept of design emerged in Paris in 1925 at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industrieles Modernes (International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Art). The organizers of this exhibition stipulated that all submissions must reflect contemporary life and not have been directly copied from the past. The results were revolutionary; the new products not only utilized modern materials and industrial processes, they also reflected a radical new aesthetic. Art Deco, as this style came to be called by later historians, was influenced by early twentieth century avant-garde art movements, such as Cubism, Symbolism and Fauvism. This panel exemplifies the early characteristics of this new direction in design: brilliant, non-naturalistic color, highly simplified imagery, extreme stylization, and a pervasive use of geometrics, and rich, decorative surfaces.