Pattern and Repetition in Art

I'm inspired by the paisley and floral pattern in my wife's checkbook cover by designer Vera Bradley. Repetition of line, shape or color can be decorative, add harmony, or create movement or rhythm in a composition. Artists use repetition and pattern to create interest in their paintings. Patterns can be natural or organic, geometric, regular vs. irregular, or man-made.  It's also fun to doodle using Zentangles to create your own unique patterns. And, yes, there is organized doodling!

Sunflower Center

Natural or organic patterns may be found in nature, including symmetries, spirals, and fractals, often explained by mathematical principles. Some examples are the spiral of the exterior or interior of a seashell, flowers or the center of a sunflower, and the fur of animals such as leopards' spots. A pineapple is a natural example of a tessellation.

Broadway Boogie-Woogie (1942-43), Mondrian

Irregular patterns are used in the abstract art of Dutch painter Piet Mondrian. I used this example in teaching an art lesson to kindergarteners in which we used colored paper strips to create randomly patterned compositions.

Mondrian-inspired LINE Compositions

Students were limited to the number of strips (5) they could use, but they were allowed to cut them into any number of smaller lengths. They were allowed to overlap to create depth and negative space on the black background. Our discussion was however limited to talking about the art element of LINE. See Kindergarten Art Projects for more ideas.

Diamonds by Victor Vasarely

I tend to use Victor Vasarely and Mark Rothko artwork when teaching about geometric patterns. See my Op & Pop Artists post for more geometric patterns. Such diamond shapes may also help students understand the perspective angles of cubic volumes.

My 5th-graders created their own Op Art using carefully woven strips of contrasting colored paper and wavy lines. These were my own examples.

Metamorphosis II (1939-40), Escher

Although more organic, Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher famously created patterns, tessellations and optical illusions. His tessellations are really impressive, such as Metamorphosis II. One direction has birds, while the other has fish.

I love Escher's staircases, which remind me of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I wonder if his work inspired J.K. Rowling. 

Another category of patterns is man-made, which may be found in brick walls (~tessellations), buildings, and other architectural elements. I also enjoy seeing wallpaper patterns, though it is a bygone style of interior design that is often considered old-school.

Shantavia Beale II (2012), Wiley

I am in awe of the portraits painted by African American artist Kehinde Wiley. He uses natural and floral patterns as backgrounds for his beautiful portraits. This portrait is from his New Republic Exhibition, which I visited at the Seattle Art Museum in 2016. He has also painted portraits of the Obamas.

Floral Study in Gold (1907), Klimt

Austrian Symbolist Gustav Klimt used pattern to decorate his canvases, often surrounding figures of women and couples like Wiley does today. The spiral symbols evoke the Zentangles of today. His golden phase lasted from 1901-09. His favorite model was Adele Bloch-Bauer, much like Helga Testorf was for Andrew Wyeth. 

Andy Warhol, American Pop and Visual Artist, began his portfolio series on the subject of Marilyn Monroe in 1967, in which he repeatedly used the same publicity photo image of the iconic actress. While visiting the Palm Springs Museum of Art (PSAM) in 2018, Warhol's work was being exhibited there. Only the color scheme was varied.

Dessert: Harmony in Red (1908), Matisse

My favorite artist who successfully used pattern is French Fauvist, Henri Matisse. See my 2020 post entitled, Top 15 Paintings that Use Primary Colors -- Red, Yellow, and Blue. Notice how the tablecloth blends into the wallpaper in the background. Now that's taking a decorative element too far! I like it, but imagine living with that red on the walls of your home. You'd always be hungry!

April Flowers in Art -- Daisies & Sweet Peas

Red April (1970), Sam Gilliam

In honor of my wife's birthday, let's pay tribute to April flowers in art. We can all appreciate the lively Spring colors in Red April (1970) by African American color field painter and abstract expressionist, Sam Gilliam (1933-2022). Often compared to Rothko and Pollock, Gilliam experimented with sculptural 3D elements in his paintings by using stretched, draped, and wrapped canvases. Another of my favorite abstract expressionists and color field painters is Helen Frankenthaler. Both Frankenthaler and Gilliam are known as lyrical abstractionists.

Daisies (1919), Matisse

Going back to the early 20th century, French artist and Fauvist, Henri Matisse painted Daisies (1919). Considered to be a double flower, the daisy is our first April flower. Matisse's vaseful of flowers contains Shasta daisies. His later 1939 version, The Daisies, depicts the more traditional wild white and yellow flowers, and there's a nude in the upper left corner, but you are free to access the link.

Girl with a Bouquet of Daisies (1897),
Jules-Cyrille Cavé

Girl with a Bouquet of Daisies (1897) by Jules-Cyrille Cavé (1859-1949) shows a young girl holding a bunch of wild daisies. I'm not sure but the floral wreath on her head may contain sweet peas, which also represent April flowers.

Vase with Daisies and Anemones
(1887), Van Gogh

While Vincent Van Gogh is famous for his paintings of sunflowers and irises, he also painted daisies and anemones. The daisies are in Vincent's favorite color yellow and prominently displayed in a beautiful turquoise vase. The textured background has Van Gogh's characteristic brushstrokes.

Drawing, Sweet Peas (1875),
Henrietta Benson Homer

Daisies are naturally resistant to many plant diseases and pests. Like daisies, sweet pea leaves contain antifungal properties. Here's a drawing of sweet peas by Henrietta Benson Homer (mother to Winslow Homer). I wonder if Mamma Homer ever tried doing embroidery or cross stitch. 

My brother and I used to draw wildflowers using pen-and-ink and watercolors. As a kid, I remember watching Popeye and occasionally seeing him follow around his troublemaker foundling son, Swee' pea. Like other characters (Wimpy, Poopdeck Pappy, and Sea Hag) in E.C. Segar's comic strip Thimble Theater, he only made rare appearances.

Freya (November 2022)

In Norse mythology, the daisy is considered to be the sacred flower of Freya, the goddess of beauty, love, and fertility. My wife's sister has a beautiful dog named Freya. Here's a photo of her that I captured this past Thanksgiving. I love how the beautiful pattern in her fur repeats in the striped fabric of the sofa.

Symbolizing innocence and purity, an old Celtic legend says that God sprinkled daisies over the earth to cheer the parents up, after the death of an infant.

Daisy, from the comic strip Blondie, was the Bumstead's Cocker Spaniel/Poodle/Terrier.

The Madonna of the Carnation
(1478), Leonardo da Vinci

In the 19th century, parents would encourage their children to get up after a fall by saying, “ups-a-daisy”. My Nana would have said, “oopsy daisy” or “whoops-a-daisy”. My wife has received lots of encouragement from family and friends during her recent illness. Her favorite flower is the carnation, which has become a symbol of motherly love. Christians believe that they grew from the Virgin Mary’s tears as she watched Jesus carry the cross.

I hope you've enjoyed this tribute to my wife, April flowers, and the artists and artworks that celebrate them.

Artists Born Under Virgo or Libra

Chrysanthemums (1874-6), Tissot

To start posting for the month of September let's look at artists born under the Zodiac signs of Virgo (Aug 23rd thru Sept 22nd) and Libra (Sept 23rd thru Oct 23rd). Virgo artists are hardworking, intelligent, and adventurous, having traits including rational thinking, problem-solving, and an adventurous spirit. Libras, unlike other introverted, unsociable artists, are social butterflies who are outgoing and charming. Libras also have great taste in art and fashion.

French artist, James Tissot (1836-1902), born (in October) under the sign of Libra, painted Chrysanthemums, shown here as the floral symbol for the sign Virgo. Tissot was a friend and mentor of Edgar Degas.

VIRGOS

Thunderstorm (1948), Grandma Moses

One of the most famous American artists born (September 7th) under Virgo is Grandma Moses (1860-1961). She appears in my January 2021 post entitled, Master Artists -- Inspired Late Bloomers and Resilient, Active Seniors. She turned to painting when arthritis kept her from doing her elaborate needlework, but she kept her 'primitive' style. Teachers may use her work as an inspiration for a lesson about the elements of a landscape for younger children. Older children will need to learn the principles of perspective and proportion, not present in her work, for learning about space.

Constellations (1938), Hans Arp

German-French Sculptor, painter, poet, Jeans Hans Arp (1886-1966) was born September 15th. His Constellations linoleum cut is reminiscent of the biomorphic shapes used by (Capricorn) Henri Matisse. Years ago when I taught my daughter in her 6th-grade classroom, my students traced a Matisse shape and were asked to design a composition around it.

Mecklenburg Autumn (1979), Bearden

American artist Romare Bearden (1911-1988), born September 2nd, is famous for collages using photographs and painted paper in a style derived from Cubism. His work also depicts American black culture like his colleague, Jacob Lawrence. Another great artist for studying the art of collage would be American painter, (Libra) Robert Rauschenberg. I use collage for doing wrapping paper self-portraits, which could also be inspired by portrait artists: Amedeo Modigliani, Gilbert Stuart and Sir Joshua Reynolds.

The Migration Series (1941),
Jacob Lawrence

Felix (inspired by N.C. Wyeth)

In 2017 I visited the Seattle Art Museum and saw the exhibit, Jacob Lawrence: The Migration Series. Born September 7th, 1917, his work chronicled the migration of African Americans from the rural South to the industrious North in the decades following World War I.

Here's a project inspired by N.C. Wyeth that was designed to demonstrate the concept of movement. It would also work for a lesson about Jacob Lawrence. The challenge is cutting out the figures, so this lesson works best with 5th- or 6th-graders.

LIBRAS

Medusa (1597), Caravaggio

My first Libra artist is the controversial Italian painter, Caravaggio (1573-1610), born September 28th. He appeared in my March 2020 post entitled, Artist Frenemies - Friendships, Rivalries, and Competition, about his feud with artist Giovanni. Libras are supposedly non-confrontational although I imagine that Caravaggio exhibited the extremely emotional side of the sign. I've seen his artwork in several museums, but it may be somewhat inappropriate for younger viewers.

The Raft of Medusa (1819), Géricault 

This next artist is French painter and lithographer, Théodore Géricault (1791-1824), born September 26th. His epic masterpiece, The Raft of Medusa (1819), is often compared to Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People (1839). Both are good examples of Romanticism, a movement characterized by intense emotion. A young Delacroix (Taurus) actually posed as one of the dying figures on the raft!

No. 1 (Royal Red and Blue)
(1954), Mark Rothko

Libra Mark Rothko (1903-1970), was an American artist, born September 25th, who was famous for his abstract color field paintings designed to evoke emotion from viewers. While initially studying Architecture in college we did many color studies in order to explore color combinations and the optical effect of placing them adjacent to each other. Another Libra artist whose work I don't claim to understand is Robert Rauschenberg. His three-panel White Painting (1951) is particularly unusual and rather uninspiring!

I focus a lot on art history and researching various artists to add interest to my art lessons. And it's important to find inspiration when creating art! I hope this group of artists inspires you to create your own artwork or delve deeper into learning about these artists and their art movements and styles.