Principles of Modernism: Abstraction

Floral quilt

1840-1890

Day Lilies

Artists translate nature by abstracting what they see to the page or the cloth.

Day Lily

Watercolor by Jane Brackman

In her watercolors my sister knows just what to take out and what to leave in.

Quilt Block 1840-1890

Part of the appeal of patchwork quilts is the genius in the abstraction...

Quilt

1840-1865

...What to take out and what to leave in.

Color is left in so we can guess these are lilies.

Quilt

1840-1865

Quilt blocks

1890-1900

Basic flower shapes and stems are left in.

Here the leaves are left out

but it's still a lily.

Detail of a top

1880-1910

Some abstractions are more successful than others.

But then again, it may just be a matter of taste.

Quilt

Day Lily

Ruffled Red by Ruth B. McDowell

See Some of Ruth's recent quilts here:

http://www.ruthbmcdowell.com/clients/rbm/recent.cfm

Day Lilies

Water color by Jane Brackman

Lily from a mid-19th-century album quilt