Skip to main contentProvenanceThe artist
Margo Pollins Schab, Inc., New York, New York
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1996
Exhibition HistoryPublished References
Paul Landacre
(American, 1893–1963)
Sultry Day
1935
Wood engraving on cream Japanese paper
Block: 8 x 6 in. (20.3 x 15.2 cm)
Sheet: 10 5/8 x 8 3/16 in. (27.0 x 20.8 cm)
Mat: 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
Sheet: 10 5/8 x 8 3/16 in. (27.0 x 20.8 cm)
Mat: 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection
Object number1996.29
CopyrightArt ©Estate of Paul Landacre/ Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
SignedIn graphite, lower right: Paul Landacre
InterpretationA nude woman and a cat share an open doorway that overlooks a deserted landscape in Paul Landacre's evocative Sultry Day. The woman's face is obscured by the newspaper she is reading—-the only activity feasible on the oppressively hot day suggested by the title—as she lies on her back with her knees propped up, a cooling drink at the ready by her side. In the background, a lone tilted telephone pole presides in the center of a hilly, sparsely populated neighborhood, likely the site of the artist's part-time home in northwestern Connecticut beginning in 1930. Sultry Day exemplifies Landacre's precise wood engraving technique, which simplifies forms to their pristine essence.
The subjects of this intimate scene probably were the artist's wife Margaret, whom he married in 1925, and their pet cat Smokey. As they bask in aureoles of light, the black bodies of curvaceous nude and cat are outlined by a thin thread of white contour. The dramatic juxtaposition of solid black tones accented by white undulating or radiating lines is characteristic of Landacre's meticulous wood engraving technique. He applied it more often to images of the California landscape. This atypically figurative work was among seven prints Landacre exhibited at the 1938 Venice Biennale; it had previously won first honorable mention at the 1936 Philadelphia Art Alliance Annual. Its thinly outlined solid forms, reclining nude, and informal domesticity link Sultry Day with Milton Avery's later Night Nude (TF 1996.57).
The subjects of this intimate scene probably were the artist's wife Margaret, whom he married in 1925, and their pet cat Smokey. As they bask in aureoles of light, the black bodies of curvaceous nude and cat are outlined by a thin thread of white contour. The dramatic juxtaposition of solid black tones accented by white undulating or radiating lines is characteristic of Landacre's meticulous wood engraving technique. He applied it more often to images of the California landscape. This atypically figurative work was among seven prints Landacre exhibited at the 1938 Venice Biennale; it had previously won first honorable mention at the 1936 Philadelphia Art Alliance Annual. Its thinly outlined solid forms, reclining nude, and informal domesticity link Sultry Day with Milton Avery's later Night Nude (TF 1996.57).
Margo Pollins Schab, Inc., New York, New York
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1996
Exhibition History
Figures and Forms: Selections from the Terra Foundation for the Arts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, May 9–July 9, 2000.
On Process: The American Print, Technique Examined, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, January 13–March 2, 2001.
(Re)Presenting Women, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, October 16, 2001–January 13, 2002.
Le Temps des loisirs : peintures américaines (At Leisure: American Paintings), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2008.
On Process: The American Print, Technique Examined, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, January 13–March 2, 2001.
(Re)Presenting Women, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, October 16, 2001–January 13, 2002.
Le Temps des loisirs : peintures américaines (At Leisure: American Paintings), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2008.
Freshman, Phil, ed. Paul Landacre, Prints and Drawings. (exh. cat., Los Angeles County Museum of Art). Los Angeles, California: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1983. No. 14, p. 26.
Original Etchings, Lithographs and Woodcuts Published by the American Artists Group, Inc. New York: The Group, 1936. Text p. 31; ill. p. 22.
Original Etchings, Lithographs and Woodcuts Published by the American Artists Group, Inc. New York: The Group, 1936. Text p. 31; ill. p. 22.