Pattern is a Universal Language in Art

Glenn Hirsch, Instructor

Pattern is a Universal Language

Pattern is created by repetition

Repetition creates rhythm

Many rhythms

Variety of rhythm

Fast, slow, simple, complex

Tomb of Nakht 1500 BCE

Gustave Klimt, 1905

Deborah Oropallo, Tree, Violin, and Violinist, 1989Evenly space, repeated rhythms

Deborah Oropallo, Sioux Sox, 1989Staggered, uneven rhythms

Repetition creates rhythm(s)

Sandro Botticelli

(Italian, 1445-1510)

Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th century because he emphasized flat color and pattern instead of deep shadow and modeled realism (e.g., late Michelangelo or Leonardo).

But since1900 his work has been recognized for its breathtaking linear grace and voluptuous pattern.

Leonardo

Botticelli

Birth of Venus 1475

Primevera, 1482

Detail from The Trials of Moses, Sistine Chapel

Édouard Vuillard(French, 1868-1940)

Vuillard lived with his mother, a dressmaker, until the age of sixty, and was very familiar with pattern.

Much of his art is decorative with intricate patterns marked by a gentle humor and executed in a delicate, soft color.

David Salle(American 1952 - )

Salle helped define the “postmodern” sensibility of an art that wants the viewer to be very conscious of “style” and “culture.”

He uses combinations of what appear to be randomly juxtaposed images using very different schools of art in the same piece, with a nod to pop art and pattern.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=david+salle+burning+bush+1982&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=ilY1e0_I6RcY8M&tbnid=f37Q0B3wdZ7GwM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.proprofs.com%2Fflashcards%2Ftableview.php%3Ftitle%3Dart-history_806&ei=7wonUY_7IqKA0AHtq4DYCw&bvm=bv.42768644,d.dmQ&psig=AFQjCNEXdFcjTyAJPIGWfQ7PNeAlW6lLKw&ust=1361599593701905

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=david+salle+paintings&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=ZZ4wDbuQmJt3mM&tbnid=FDCxRXNMXI-LtM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.brunobischofberger.com%2Fsalle.htm&ei=kQsnUbb-E4qa0QG4lYGgDw&bvm=bv.42768644,d.dmQ&psig=AFQjCNFNbu1Wa957tcRkFhjRkscEKws0IA&ust=1361599742866025

Fred Tomaselli(American, 1956 - )

Tomaselli is best known for his highly detailed paintings

on wood panel, combining an array of unorthodox

materials suspended in a thick layer of clear, epoxy

resin and a maelstrom of pattern.

Lorraine Wilson Peters(American, 1959 - )

Lorraine is a former UC Berkeley Extension student.

Lorraine Wilson, 2000