From a Patchwork Blanket to Avant-Garde Art

Abstract

A patchwork blanket has a status of a very specific art-object and its role is very important in culture of the 20th century due to its dose association with folk art and Avant-garde art. It was in 1911 when famous avant-garde artist Sonia Delaunay made a patchwork blanket for her son Charles. She had seen similar patchwork items in her childhood. That blanket was made from rectangular or square patches, but some were of irregular shape. Sonia and Robert Delaunay carefully observed the blanket and noticed that the combination of red, black, and beige colours of the textile patches reminded them of the Cubist painting. They also noticed that the use of contrasting colours brought the feeling of dynamic space into a two-dimensional artwork. This was one of the great discoveries that allowed artists to form their own movements: Orphism or Simultaneisme. While Robert Delaunay was making simultanist art, Sonia used simultanist ideas in the production of new textile designs and fashion. Geometric patterns of the fabric samples reflected the Avant-garde Zeitgeist, and the colour combinations of the patches reflected the simultanist contrasts. The simultanist dress made by Sonya in 1913 was the most famous of her works in the field of fashion. In the future, she established her own style in the design producing textiles with simultanist elements closely connected to the technique of patchwork. Thus, we can see that the patchwork blanket had a powerful effect on the development of Avant-garde art and design in the 20th century.