Minimalism in Floral Abstractions

The traditional abstraction indicating a floral.

Minimalism in the 1940s

The flower can be abstracted further

and we still read it as a flower

In this quilt from the 1930s or '40s

the flower is abstracted and minimalized to two squares.

It seems to be a variation of this Hollyhock Wreath

from Coats & Clark in the 1940s.

Two circles---you know it's a flower and not a donut.

Here's an older simple floral---although we might see it as a fruit,

a pomegranate or love apple.

It's probably late 19th-century.

Even more abstract, but again is it a fruit or a flower?

The fancy border is a minor clue to mid-19th century.

We see a lot more of these abstracted florals in vintage prints than we do in vintage quilts.

"Riva" Fabric design by Josef Hoffmann

for the Wiener Werkstatte.

Hoffman's floral with 3 circles is an early modern print from about 1910

I went through my box of 1930s, 40's and 50's prints and found quite a few inspired by that print, pictured in Angela Volkers's book Textiles of the Wiener Werkstatte.

Hoffman's print was done a good twenty years before

this flower became a standard ditsy print.

Design evolved from avant-garde to run-of-the-mill

when feedsacks began following modernist principles.