Design for a Geometric Pattern (likely for textile)

Liubov Popova

1923–24 · Watercolor and gouache, pen and ink over a graphite underdrawing · Drawings and Prints

This design for a geometric pattern (most likely for a textile) was designed by Liubov Popova, who was one of the most important Russian female artists of the early twentieth century. Her paintings count among the prime examples of Russian cubism and constructivism. In 1923 she began creating designs for fabric to be manufactured by the First State Textile Printing Works in Moscow. The geometric nature of Popova's work lent itself well to textile patterns based on a play of primary shapes and colors. This drawing represents her design process and shows how she built her pattern on top of a squared ground. The squares were filled with blue quarter-circles, and then overlayed with vertical bands of large red and smaller black triangles.

Artist

Liubov Popova

Date

1923–24

Medium

Watercolor and gouache, pen and ink over a graphite underdrawing

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of Jacqueline Loewe Fowler, 2020