Green Light

There's a translucent green bottle in the picture above but depending on the device you're using to view this, it's likely cropped from sight. Visible bottle or not, the random pile with Madeline Weinrib's Lucy velvet ikat, front and center in emerald, makes me think of Robert Falk's still life, below. Something about the luminous splashes of green and the Central Asian connection.

[Robert Falk circa 1917]

Until I read Susan Meller's book, Silk and Cotton, I was unfamiliar with Falk. As mentioned in this November post, he was a founder of the Russian avant-garde Jack of Diamonds group, and while for much of the 20th century his work was under-appreciated, his Cezanne-influencd painting, Man in a Bowler Hat, was the centerpiece of a recent Sotheby's auction. Pre-WWI pieces and later paintings from his Samarkand period often incorporate regional textiles -- sometimes the very type of textiles that inspire Weinrib's work.

Light-reflecting and plush, her all-silk double-warp woven ikats keep alive the Central Asian craft but also reflect her own contemporary artist's eye. Colors are incredibly vibrant, although Weinrib edits her palette, and designs tend to be more spare.

[Images via SCAD Museum of Art. Pictured is the Pamela Elaine Poetter Gallery, which follows the original rail platform that was once part of the Central of Georgia Railway complex, a National Historic Landmark.]

Speaking of palettes and light, former contributing editor of Architectural Digest, Jeffrey Simpson, will be at the SCAD Museum of Art on January 21 to present an evening lecture, Light and Color Throughout the Centuries. Admission is free.