Fabric Coverings with Patterns of Gillyflowers and Water Lilies c. 1911 - 1915

This fabric covering, made by Chris Lebeau, features patterns of gillyflowers and water lilies. It’s not paint on canvas, but I still think about the making. How it comes into being. All those tiny squares – were they built up slowly, intuitively? I wonder what Chris was thinking when he made it. Maybe how the surface feels to the touch? Is it soft, coarse, or something in between? Imagine him handling the fabric, feeling its weight and texture as he worked on the design. I think of Agnes Martin and her very pale paintings. I see the patterns repeated over and over, kind of like a mantra. The covering becomes a surface for meditation, a quiet space for contemplation and dreaming. So you can see how artists are always in conversation, inspiring each other across time. Painting—and fabric design—is a way of thinking, feeling, and figuring things out.