Blanche Lazzell
1878–1956
Blanche 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 Georgia O’Keeffe), 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.
In Lazzell’s Untitled (Abstraction), simple shapes overlap and tilt to build a composition of layered depth and rhythmic rotation. Incised grids contrast with the organic grain of the wood, while irregular lines and vivid colors disrupt the strict geometry. The work reflects the formative impact of a second stay in France, from 1923 to 1925, when Lazzell encountered the teachings of Albert Gleizes, Fernand Léger, and André Lhote. In subsequent work she combined their Cubist interest in planar geometry and shape relationships with her own Fauvist-inspired commitment to color and expression. As Lazzell explained, “I am working for color values, form relationships, rhythm of movement, interplay of space and sincere expression.”
Introduction
Blanche Lazzell (October 10, 1878 – June 1, 1956) was an American painter, printmaker and designer. Known especially for her white-line woodcuts, she was an early modernist American artist, bringing elements of Cubism and abstraction into her art.
Born in a small farming community in West Virginia, Lazzell traveled to Europe twice, studying in Paris with French artists Albert Gleizes, Fernand Léger, and André Lhote. In 1915, she began spending her summers in the Cape Cod art community of Provincetown, Massachusetts, and eventually settled there permanently. She was one of the founding members of the Provincetown Printers, a group of artists who experimented with a white-line woodcut technique based on the Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints.
Wikidata identifier
Q4924866
Information from Wikipedia, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License . Accessed July 20, 2025.
Country of birth
United States
Roles
Artist, engraver, painter, woodcarver
ULAN identifier
500026452
Names
Blanche Lazzell
Information from the Getty Research Institute's Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License. Accessed July 20, 2025.
