April Showers and Coonley Tulip

In 1927, Frank Lloyd Wright designed a series of 12 monthly covers for Liberty Magazine based on seasonal themes. Unfortunately, the publishers judged them as too radical for the time. The magazine returned Wright’s presentation drawings, which became the basis for later interpretations executed in diverse media. Each cover design exemplifies Wright’s practice of using a T-square, triangle, and compass to create lively geometric designs.

"April Showers" is an abstract representation of spring rain. The dynamic arrangement of angled squares, along with a repeating pattern of circles at their intersections, may have been influenced by Japanese prints he collected. Also in this piece, two of the angled squares resemble cages, each containing an abstract bird figure, which explains the drawing’s alternate title, "The Canary, Bird in the Cage."