The Checkered Quilt

Although he lacked formal training in art, Claude Howell established the art department at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. Claiming that “the light [here] is unbelievably beautiful,” Howell spent most of his life there, except for summers when he traveled.

In The Checkered Quilt, a series of warm-colored rectangles representing items on a clothesline reenforces the horizontality of the canvas. In the background skinny trees and wooden structures serve to balance the composition. The quilt referred to in the title—larger than the other items on the clothesline—dominates the foreground and is reflected below.