Fraktur 1935 - 1942

This Fraktur by Albert Levone is a painted document. It’s hard to tell exactly when it was made, but Levone was active for quite a while – nearly a century! I can just imagine Levone carefully drawing the birds, tulips, and other decorative elements around the text. What was going through their mind as they worked? Were they thinking about the person the Fraktur was for? Look at the way Levone rendered the peacocks! There's such a naive charm to the drawing. Each feather on their long tails is carefully delineated. The limited color palette – mostly warm browns and creams – unifies the whole composition. The colors remind me of looking through an old photograph album. You know, artists like Levone were self-taught, making their own rules and finding their own ways of expressing their creativity. It’s like they're having a conversation across time, inspiring our own ideas about what painting can be. I’m really touched by the directness and the care in the work!