Wall Paper c. 1936

Albert Levone made this unnamed gouache on paper wallpaper design sometime between 1870 and 1910. The blues, greens and browns feel earthy, stable, like the colors of the natural world and our place within it. The paint is opaque, so we can't see through the layers. This emphasizes the texture of the paper and the way the gouache sits on its surface. I'm drawn to the way Levone uses thin washes of brown in the buildings, creating depth, and how the green of the trees is almost stippled to suggest light filtering through the canopy. It’s interesting how the scene almost looks like a stage set. This feels connected to the work of other pattern designers like William Morris, and the emphasis on craft and beauty in everyday objects. To me, this piece shows how something functional can also be deeply imaginative.