Some things just belong together. Like feather and bone or haystack rocks and the sea or coffee with cream. Working at such a lovely shop as ink & peat, I'm learning that great design follows the same rule. This past week was our big holiday floor set and the shop is fresh pressed with all of our gorgeous new product! We have a little bit of everything that's lovely and it was an amazing day of working together to create a feast for the eye. We'll have pictures up soon, but in the meantime, it got me thinking - all those shapes, colors, and patterns - it takes careful work and artful gestures to make it all come together in one space. I left inspired to pick a few of my favorite works of art that compliment that wheel of patterns, textures, and colors that reflect the high aesthetic we love to tap in to.
This snapshot of peeling wallpaper and abandoned house debris draws our eye to the pale elegance of Christina's World (1948) by Andrew Wyeth. He spent months on the painting's far-field landscape. When it came time to choose a color for Christina's dress he imagined "a pink dress like a faded lobster shell ..." "I put this pink tone on her shoulder," Wyeth remembers, "and it almost blew me across the room."
Stripes galore! This poppy print with mustard piping makes a seamless statement when we put it next to the very moustached (and striped!) gents in Henri Rosseau's charming masterpiece The Football Players (1908)
Vincent Van Gogh's Landscape Under a Stormy Sky (1888) set against this pattern reminds us of warm summer rainstorms. We love any color palette that marries the soft glow of wheat tones with swirling blues and greys.
John Singer Sargent's most infamous painting, Madame X (1884) catapulted the classic black dress (and its Muse) into infamy. So very elegant! Especially next to this winged french lace pattern.
From the Boston punk scene to haunting self-portraits, photographer Mark Morrisroe documented the boom of 1980s youth culture that hit the East Coast. We love the trio of cats, soft lighting, and big pink dress in Morrisroe's photograph, Fascination (1982.) And we couldn't resist throwing a few more meows into the mix with this illustrated Siamese cat pattern.
Serious flower power. Rich, burnished reds and forest greens flow seamlessly between this painting by Giuseppe Arcimboldo (Flora, 1588) and keyhole door by Josef Frank.
Absolutely dreamy! Wayne Thiebaud's painting Rosebud Cakes (1963) paired with this sugar frosting-colored rose pattern makes us wish we were recling on a Marie Antionette sofa and reaching for a petit four.
Written by Holly (at ink & peat)
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