By Robert Bridges
Blanche Lazzell is probably the most widely known artist hailing from West Virginia. She was an avant-garde artist, developing her talent in the early years of the twentieth century. Graduating from WVU 100 years ago, Lazzell was a member of prominent art communities in Paris and Provincetown. She was exposed to important developments in the modern art world, although her contributions were not fully appreciated during her lifetime.
A renewed interest in Lazzell's work has developed over the past 15 years, due mostly to the critical appreciation of her color wood-block prints. Today, West Virginia University is proud to honor her significant artistic achievement.
The Mesaros Galleries at WVU's College of Creative Arts recently held two historically important exhibitions to honor Lazzell. The first, Blanche Lazzell: The Hofmann Drawings, March 2004, curated by Robert Bridges and Kristina Olson, kicked off a year of celebration of the West Virginia artist who is known as one of America's foremost modern artists and one of the first to create abstract artworks in this country. Shown were her charcoal on paper works from 1937 and 1938, which were created when Lazzell joined the classes of Hans Hofmann in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and New York City.
The
celebration culminated with the major exhibition Blanche Lazzell:
The Work of an American Modernist in the fall of 2004, which
was attended by more than 2,200 people. The exhibition was comprised
of 28 paintings, along with a selection of color wood-block prints
and monotypes, many of which were not previously exhibited. Several
works in the exhibition were also carefully restored, preserving
this work for the future. The exhibition offered the first extensive
retrospective of the work of Blanche Lazzell (1878-1956).
Since her death, Lazzell's paintings have been acquired by major American museums, including the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and the National Museum of American Art in Washington D.C., among others.
Currently, much attention is being directed to early American modernists by art historians who are attempting to establish these artists' true place within American art history. Blanche Lazzell: The Work of an American Modernist explored the artist's significant contributions to the development of the avant-garde, and the exhibition featured a series of important nonobjective paintings by Lazzell produced in the twenties. This was probably the first time these paintings have ever been shown as a group in one exhibition.
The West Virginia University Press, in partnership with the Division of Art and the Eugene E. Myers Trust, has published an extensive catalog for the exhibition. The book was edited by Division of Art faculty Bridges, Olson, and Janet Snyder and includes essays by WVU art faculty members Bernie Schultz, Mary Louise Soldo Schultz, and Lynn Proden, as well as WVU alumni Kari Graham Reckardt, Michael Slaven, and Jennifer Boggess. The book also contains 200 full-color illustrations and more than 50 plates. The exhibition and catalog presents the full scope of Lazzell's career and the major developments and artwork created by this important American artist.
The
two exhibitions and the publication of the book also sparked
significant scholarly and creative research by the faculty, students,
and alumni of the program. This included related studio projects
and art history research papers undertaken by current students.
Blanche Lazzell was born in Maidsville, West Virginia, graduated from WVU in 1905 with a degree in fine arts and went on to study in New York and Paris with notable artists of her day. On two extensive trips to Europe in the teens and again in the 1920s, she adopted the new approaches of Fauvism and Cubism. Her reputation is based on her role in the development of the Provincetown white-line wood-block print and the prints and paintings she made using the abstract vocabulary of cubism. Lazzell courageously followed her own vision as an artist. She accepted modern styles of art that were at the time neither fashionable nor popular. Though she even received negative criticism and rejection, she persevered with both intellectual and artistic daring.
The
exhibitions and book were three years in the making. Several
WVU alumni have stepped forward to donate important Lazzell works
to the collection. Dr. Gina Puzzuoli Miller, Harvey D. Peyton,
Martin and Harriette Diamond, and Nancy Watkins all recognized
the importance of bestowing Lazzell artwork on the University.
Through the legacy of their gifts, the cultural life of the University
and the state of West Virginia will be enriched for many generations
to come.
Blanche Lazzell created a significant body of work in her lifetime, and the West Virginia University Art Collection is proud to have the largest public holding of her work.
| WVU is
home to the finest art collection in our immediate region. The
WVU Art Collection spans many cultures, time periods, and styles.
The collection has been created through private gifts, alumni
donations, and special acquisitions. One of its strengths is
the Leonhart Collection, which contains well over 300 examples
of African art, from masks and ritual objects, to textiles and
jewelry. Other significant historic works, such as Chinese scroll
paintings, Japanese prints, Korean Silla pottery, as well as
works from Thailand and India, make up the University's substantial
Asian collection. The Graphics Collection contains works by the
key artists important in the development of the print medium,
including prints by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Rembrandt van
Rijn, Francisco Goya, Pablo Picasso, Stanley William Hayter,
Robert Rauschenberg, and Jasper Johns. The collection also includes
contemporary prints by William Kentridge, Kara Walker, and Ed
Ruscha. A recent addition to the collection is the Harry Shaw
Collection that features over 160 works of contemporary ceramics. The WVU Art Collection abides by the University's commitment to advance and impart knowledge. It accomplishes this by preserving the artistic heritage of the state, our nation, and the world through study, conservation, exhibition, and development of its collections. In 2003, the Downtown Library Complex became the new home of the University Art Collection. The space includes a print study room, photo documentation studio, conservation and framing workspace, and storage. For more information about the Mesaros Galleries see our Web page at http://art.ccarts.wvu.edu/galleries/index.htm. Individuals interested in making art donations to the collection should contact Robert Bridges, Curator of Mesaros Galleries and West Virginia University Art Collection, 304-293-2312 or bob.bridges@mail.wvu.edu. |
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