New Acquisitions
In this untitled work, Blanche Lazzell spreads a mosaic-like series of brushstrokes across her canvas, pro- ducing a vibrant vision of brilliantly blooming flowers nestled in a small drinking glass and a large cream and blue vase. Born in Maidsville, West Virginia, Lazzell studied in South Carolina, at West Virginia University and at the Art Students League in New York City. In 1912, Lazzell sailed for Europe to continue her training. Her immersion in the modern art world of early-20th-century Paris — particularly her exposure to post-impressionists like Paul Cézanne as well as pioneers of cubism like Fernand Léger and Albert Gleizes — would transform her work, inspiring the abstraction, slightly uptilted perspective and exuberant color palette of her many still lifes. Painted in the 1940s, this work harkens back to this earlier period in France, but it also points to her parallel efforts as a printmaker. Lazzell was one of the founding members of the Provincetown Printers in Massachusetts, where she likely pro- duced this painting. The strong blue outlines of the flowers, leaves and vases reflect her modernist compositional approach to the white-line woodcut technique that she would help make popular in the United States.
Blanche Lazzell (American, 1878 – 1956) Untitled (still life), ca. 1940s Oil on canvas, 19 1/2 x 23 1/2 inches
Rowena Bradley (American, Cherokee, 1922 – 2003) Double-weave basket, 1997 Rivercane with bloodroot and butternut dyes Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; Gift of Dr. Janice Simon in honor of Dale Couch and his many years of service to the museum as curator of decorative arts GMOA 2019.310
Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; Museum purchase in memory of Dorothy Alexander Roush with funds provided by the Dorothy Alexander Roush Museum Acquisition Endowment and the William Underwood Eiland Endowment for Acquisitions made possible by M. Smith Griffith GMOA 2019.268
Rowena Bradley created this double-weave Cher- okee basket with diagonal clusters of rivercane dyed with butternut and bloodroot. The design is reminiscent of the Flowing Water pattern. The double-weave technique, a mark of a seasoned basket weaver, is created by weaving one basket inside of another. Some of these baskets are woven tightly enough to hold water. A lifelong weaver, Bradley wove her first basket at the age of six, under the guidance of her mother, Nancy Bradley, and her grand- mother Mary Dobson.
Beverly Buchanan is known for her iconic shack paintings and sculptures, and the Georgia Museum of Art recently added another to its collec- tion. Riddled with small buttons along the side panels and front porch, this red house symbolizes the tougher side of the Peach State. The Georgia license plate screwed atop of the roof keeps with the color scheme and provides a sense of place for the state where she lived for several years. Buchanan studied science and medicine, earning master’s degrees in parasitology and public health from Columbia Univer- sity. She then decided to focus on art, enrolling in the Art Students League in New York before making her way back to the South in 1977. Buchanan resided in Athens from 1987 to 2003. She received several awards, including the National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in sculpture and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women’s Caucus for Art.
Beverly Buchanan (American, 1940 – 2015) “Shot Gun House,” 1992 Mixed media 13 x 14 x 8 1/2 inches Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; Gift of Ann Oliver in memory of her husband Ted Oliver. GMOA 2019.321
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