{"data":{"id":"3584","type":"artist","attributes":{"id":3584,"topgoose_id":1609,"tms_id":3584,"display_name":"Blanche Lazzell","sort_name":"Lazzell Blanche","display_date":"1878–1956","begin_date":"1878","end_date":"1956","biography":"\u003cp\u003eBlanche Lazzell, one of the first abstract artists in the United States, combined an interest in European Modernism with innovative techniques to create a rich body of prints, paintings, and designs. After studies at the Art Students League with William Merritt Chase (alongside \u003ca href=\"/artists/962\"\u003eGeorgia O’Keeffe\u003c/a\u003e), and a stint at the art academies in Paris, in 1915 she joined a group of artists in Provincetown, Massachusetts, who were pioneering a new woodcut technique. The “white-line color woodcut,” made using a single, deeply incised block, allowed the artist to vary color and composition, both while carving and across impressions. Drawn to this capacity for innovation, Lazzell went on to produce a groundbreaking body of woodcuts, printing 550 impressions from 138 blocks between 1916 and 1956. She printed most in editions of five or fewer, using French watercolor pigment on traditional Japanese paper to create dynamic, vibrant abstractions and still lifes.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn Lazzell’s \u003ca href=\"/collection/works/12565\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eUntitled (Abstraction)\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e,\nsimple shapes overlap and tilt to build a\ncomposition of layered depth and rhythmic\nrotation. Incised grids contrast with the\norganic grain of the wood, while irregular\nlines and vivid colors disrupt the strict\ngeometry. The work reflects the formative\nimpact of a second stay in France, from\n1923 to 1925, when Lazzell encountered the\nteachings of Albert Gleizes, \u003ca href=\"/artists/t4885\"\u003eFernand\nLéger\u003c/a\u003e, and André Lhote. In subsequent work\nshe combined their Cubist interest in\nplanar geometry and shape relationships\nwith her own Fauvist-inspired commitment\nto color and expression. As Lazzell\nexplained, “I am working for color values,\nform relationships, rhythm of movement,\ninterplay of space and sincere expression.”\u003c/p\u003e","on_view":false,"artport":false,"biennial":false,"collection":true,"ulan_id":"500026452","wikidata_id":"Q4924866","created_at":"2017-08-30T16:31:45.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-04-11T07:03:55.002-04:00","links":{"artworks":"/api/artists/3584/artworks","exhibitions":"/api/artists/3584/exhibitions"}}}}