Nude and Flowers

Marguerite ZorachWW-1922-113515

1922·Linen, plain weave; cotton, wool and silk, plain and twill weaves, velvet and knitted strips forming “hooked” pile; edges with wool, single crochet·121.9 × 78.7 cm (48 1/2 × 31 in.)

<p>In <em>Nude and Flowers</em>, Marguerite Thompson Zorach foregrounded both aesthetic and sensory experiences by using textiles as her medium. The looped or hooked fabric strips (cut from well-loved garments), which have been pulled through and held in place by the woven ground, emphasize an approach to artmaking that is as much about touch and the manipulation of materials as it is about their visual arrangement. Zorach carried this sensory engagement further with the large, stylized flowers, foliage, and shells that surround the nude figure; their lushness and scale suggest a potent olfactory and tactile experience.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1922
Medium: Linen, plain weave; cotton, wool and silk, plain and twill weaves, velvet and knitted strips forming “hooked” pile; edges with wool, single crochet
Dimensions: 121.9 × 78.7 cm (48 1/2 × 31 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Marguerite Zorach

Artist

Marguerite Zorach

Painting

Marguerite Zorach was an American modernist painter and textile artist active in the early twentieth century. Working across oil painting, watercolor, and hand-dyed fabrics, she developed a bold, gestural approach to abstraction that engaged with Cubist and Fauvist principles. Her career spanned several decades of artistic innovation in both fine art and decorative practice, establishing her as a significant figure in American modernism.

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