Still Life

Blanche Lazzell's color woodcut Still Life presents a tabletop arrangement of two ceramic bowls flanking a small pedestal on a square base behind a rectangular pen holder. The ensemble is united by the graceful sweep of a red feather on a floral-bordered tablecloth. Still Life is a variant of Lazzell's 1919 white line color woodcut entitled The Red Quill, but in this version she surrounded each color segment with a black line bordered by thin white lines. Lazzell printed her first impression of Still Life in 1920 and made new impressions thereafter upon demand. As the inscription on this impression indicates, it was printed on July 14, 1931. Still Life exemplifies Lazzell's mastery of composition and technique. It is one of 138 color woodcuts she designed beginning in 1916.

At the outbreak of World War I, Lazzell was among a group of artists who settled in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where she learned color woodcut printmaking, a medium in which she made numerous floral and still life compositions. She soon became a leading figure among the Provincetown printmakers, excelling in the white line technique of color relief printmaking, which allows the printing of multiple colors from a single block. Less laborious than the traditional color woodcut process, which requires printing each color in succession from multiple blocks, the white line process encouraged Lazzell to boldly simplify details so that her images are composed of outlined abstract shapes reminiscent of stained glass sections or puzzle pieces, as seen in Still Life. The process affords more flexibility and freedom in coloring the segmented areas with different colors, allowing the artist to create several uniquely colored impressions from the same block instead of inking in the same colors for every impression.

L'Amérique et les Modernes, 1900–1950 (American Moderns, 1900–1950), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, July 25–October 31, 2000. [exh. cat.]

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.

Atelier 17: Modern Printmaking in the Americas (Atelier 17: Gravura moderna nas Américas,  Museu De Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo (MAC-USP) and Terra Foundation for American Art (organizer).  Venue: Museu De Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo (MAC-USP), March 23–June 2, 2019. [exh. cat.]

 Terra Collection-in-Residence, Ashmolean Museum of Art & Archaeology, Oxford, United Kingdom, September 15, 2022–September 30, 2026.

 

Clarkson, John. Blanche Lazzell. Provincetown, Massachusetts: Cape Cod Pilgrim Memorial Association, 1989. Ill. p. 19 (black & white).

Acton, David et al. A Spectrum of Innovation, Color in American Printmaking 1890–1960. New York and London, England: W. W. Norton & Company with the Worcester Art Museum, 1990. Text p. 82.

Creation & Craft: Three Centuries of American Prints. (exh. cat., Hirschl & Adler Galleries). New York: Hirschl & Adler Galleries, 1990. Text p. 77; no. 78, p. 77.

Cartwright, Derrick R. and Paul J. Karlstrom. American Moderns, 1900–1950. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Text p. 61 (checklist); pl. 21, p. 49 (color). [specific reference to Terra print]

Cartwright, Derrick R. and Paul J. Karlstrom. L'Amérique et les modernes, 1900–1950. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Text p. 61 (checklist); pl. 21, p. 49 (color). [specific reference to Terra print]

Shapiro, Barbara Stern. From Paris to Provincetown: Blanche Lazzell and the Color Woodcut. (exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston). Boston, Massachusetts: MFA Publications, 2002. Text p. 17; fig. 9, p. 16 (color).

Rossetti de Toledo, Carolina, Ana Gonçalves Magalhães, and Peter John Brownlee. Atelier 17 e a gravura moderna nas Americas / Atelier 17 and Modern Printmaking in the Americas. (exh. cat., Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo). São Paulo, Brazil: 2019. Text pp. 250-251; ill. p. 249 (color).