Grace Arnold Albee (American 1890–1995) Amaryllis 1978 Wood Engraving Signed AAA

Description: Grace Arnold Albee (American 1890–1995) Amaryllis, 1978 Wood Engraving print on paper Signed in pencil, dated, titled, from the edition of 250 and with GA initials in plate, lower left Plate: 7 by 5 inches Some irregularities in paper lower left likely as made Sheet: 10 by 13 1/2 inches Published by Associated American Artists in 1978; AAA 1979.002, Albee 174 From AskArt, Grace Thurston Arnold Albee, N.A. (1890-1985) was born in North Scituate, R.I. She graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1912. The following year she married Percy F. Albee - Painter, muralist and printmaker. She devoted the next period of her life to her husband and family, years which included the rearing of her five sons. In 1928, the Albee family moved to Paris, settling in for a five year stay in the French Capital. There Grace Albee returned to the world of art. She studied wood-engraving under Paul Bournet at the Institut d'Esthetique Contemporaire. Her progress was rapid and success soon followed. She was chosen for a one-woman exhibition in Paris in 1932, a rare accomplishment for an American artist. The following year she returned to the United States where she directed her skills as a wood-engraver to the American scene. Incredibly from then to her 91st year, she had been cutting images on wood blocks and sending sought after prints to art galleries and museums in much of the Western world. Albee's wood-engravings are renowned for their detail and subtlety of tone. She succeeded in cutting into her blocks the spirit of her subjects in addition to their exacting representation. They have importance as such in the history of the American print, the more so since the present generations of black and white artists have all but abandoned the quest. It thus comes as no surprise to find she is one of the very few American printmakers whose works are in increasing demand by knowledgeable collectors. In 1976, the Brooklyn Museum mounted a major retrospective of Grace Albee's wood-engravings. Gene Baro, curator of the exhibition, said: "Her works are superlatively controlled...meticulously observed and rendered...Few artists can have understood this medium so well." In 1982, the Dryden Galleries of Providence, R.I. offered a major show of her works, just three years before her death in 1985. In September of 1999, the National Museum of Women in the Arts held a three day reception and exhibition of her works in Washington, D.C. Grace Albee's works are in many public collections, and private collections include the King Vittorio Emanuele of Italy, and King Gustavus VI of Sweden. Additional note from Keith Albee: She did a number of still-lifes in oil [I'm lucky to have a few], and only one portrait that I know of; myself as a child with my dog. I seem to remember some landscapes she did in watercolors too, but unfortunately, I don't have any in my collection. But I am lucky enough to have her paint box and brushes. She also made what has traditionally been called in our family the "Christmas Village". Beautifully detailed miniature houses, farms, churches and the like made from scraps of matte [sp?] material, [she matted her own prints], wood, old wooden collar buttons, etc. In the truest New England spirit - the woman wasted nothing! Most of the family has a few pieces, but I have by far the largest "village", complete with trees, stone walls, fire house, hospital, and a fort with "butcher skewer" walls. My favorite piece is a small two story house with a roof that opens on one side to show the inside of a bedroom with beds complete with spreads, two fireplaces with gold leaf "fires" in each and a hand inked oriental carpet. I am very proud of her. I spent a lot of time in her studio in our house, and she was a large part of my life as a child. My grandfather, Percy, on the other hand died a few years before I was born.

Price: 149.95 USD

Location: Baltimore, Maryland

End Time: 2024-12-05T17:58:43.000Z

Shipping Cost: 9.95 USD