OLD CROW, from WOMEN'S WORLD, 1931, is a classic design with many names (15 in Brackman's ENCYCLOPEDIA, #1262a), including the obvious PINWHEEL, WATER, FAN, MILL and other types of wheels, etc. It first appeared in print in the late 19th c. as a sort of generic, nearly nameless in personality, as MOSAIC #9 in the LADIES ART COMPANY catalogue (#337). As OLD CROW, the block takes on the distinction of lively intensity, black color and a real identity. Interestingly, Alexander Calder in his lithographic abstraction, "Quilt," (1966, illustrated below) blackens the design in similar fashion. All of the colors chosen for this page are adapted from Calder's lithograph. Compare with DELFT MILL, where the color combination is picked up from a painting by Vermeer, or SUNSHINE AND STAINED GLASS, worked out according to a gorgeous color scheme by the Cubist painter, Sonia Delaunay. Also at this site, see HAZY DAZY and BIRDS AND KITES. "QUILT" by Alexander Calder, Lithograph, 1966