Cotton Prints c. 1939

Editor: Albert Levone’s “Cotton Prints,” dating back to around 1939, feels like a sampler, doesn’t it? A study in color and rhythm with that repetitive patterning. It reminds me of old wallpaper. What's your read on it? Curator: I see echoes of a yearning for the handcrafted. Post-Depression era, perhaps, a reaching back to simpler times and more humanistic design. The recurring floral motifs, the concentric circles, and those little jewel-like droplets held within the grid, act almost like a visual mantra. It triggers a memory of how cultures throughout time and all over the world utilize patterns as protection, embellishment, and identity markers. Editor: Identity markers... in what way? Are these patterns symbolic of something specific? Curator: They might be. These repeated elements function almost like cultural codes. Think about how quilts or tapestries convey stories and communal histories through repeated symbols and motifs. How would you begin to decode them? Editor: I'm wondering if there is a deliberate use of domestic, familiar objects made 'exotic,' so they can be more easily 'consumed' by a wide array of people. Curator: Interesting idea, because Levone's patterns evoke a particular era but feel somewhat timeless, precisely for that exotic universality. It feels intimate yet mass produced...almost in opposition with itself. Editor: That makes me wonder about its relationship to commercialism at the time. Thanks for a new way to see this. Curator: And thank you. Thinking about art through your lens makes me realize the necessity of continuous re-evaluation of our collective cultural psyche and visual symbols.