two green mountains--one at right in foreground, one at left in middle ground; valley with farms, church, red barns and other buildings in LLC and center; blue sea at right beyond valley and mountains with one sailboat; low horizon line

Seaside Landscape, c. 1910-1915

Color woodcut on Japan paperexpand_more

Gift of Marla J. Kinneyexpand_more  2017.72.1

Not on Viewexpand_more

The unbridled U.S. industrialization at the turn of the 20th century spurred nostalgia for rural life. That may have motivated this landscape by Elizabeth Colwell. She was born in rural Michigan but lived in Chicago, then the country’s second biggest city. There she met B. J. O. Nordfeldt, whose work hangs nearby. He taught Colwell to cut, ink, and print her own woodblocks—a novel practice for a midwestern woman in the 1910s. The elevated viewpoint and the patterning in the avocado-green fields show her interest in Japanese design elements.

Details
Title
Seaside Landscape
Artist Life
1881–1954
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2017.72.1
Provenance
Private collection (until 2015; sold to Paramour); [Paramour Fine Arts, Franklin, Mich.; 2015-2017]
Curator Approved

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two green mountains--one at right in foreground, one at left in middle ground; valley with farms, church, red barns and other buildings in LLC and center; blue sea at right beyond valley and mountains with one sailboat; low horizon line