Color woodcut on Japan paper, circa 1925. 256x182 mm; 10⅛x7⅛ inches, full margins. Intended edition of 100. Signed, dedicated, titled and numbered 4/100 in pencil, lower margin. Bakker 96.
Prior to the 1920s, Patterson used printmaking as a way to reproduce her paintings. Largely representing landscapes she had seen during her travels between New England, France and Italy, it wasn't until 10 years into her printmaking career that she set her focus on floral still lives, which would come to define her oeuvre.
Drawn to the variety of shapes and colors in flowers, her subject matter became primarily staged compositions of flowers in vases. In The Bouquet we see her painterly approach to printmaking, as she would treat the wood block the same way she would a canvas, painting directly onto it, using multiple layers of color to achieve a wide range of tonalities.
