Coverlet (Section) c. 1937

This section of a coverlet was made by Cornelius Christoffels, who lived from 1879 to 1960. Look at the even distribution of blue and red – the whole thing has such a strong structure, it’s almost architectural. I can imagine Christoffels meticulously planning this textile, patiently interlacing each thread, each color, to build up this intricate design. I’m sure he was thinking about the tradition of weaving, about geometry, but also about how color and pattern can change a room. He may have known the contemporary abstract painters who were also working with grids, like Agnes Martin, and maybe he wasn’t so different from them. Look at how the alternating blocks of color and texture create a rhythm – a back-and-forth, a push and pull, that keeps your eye moving across the surface. Each little square is a microcosm of a bigger idea. And the whole thing makes you want to cozy up! I'm sure Christoffels knew that what he was making would be part of an ongoing conversation with other artists, with the domestic, and with abstraction itself.