Provncetown Printmakers

May 17 - June 12, 2024

Provincetown Printmakers

Provincetown Printmakers CURATOR

James Keny

M AY

17

-

Front Cover: Ada Gilmore Chaffee, “Provincetown Christmas”, 1917, 9 7/8 “ x 9 7/8” Above: Edna Boies Hopkins, “Merry XMas from Cape Cod”, c. 1917-20 4 1/2” x 3 1/2” Opposite Page: Edna Boies Hopkins, “Studios in the Wharf”, c. 1915-16 7 7/8” x 9 “

JUNE

12 ,

2 024

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

I N T R O D UCT IO N During World War I, a small coterie of artists, known as the Provincetown Printmakers, congregated in the small fishing town and burgeoning art colony of Provincetown situated at the tip of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. The group was primarily comprised of women but also including two well-known male artists, Gustave Baumann, and Bror Julius Olsson Nordfeldt. Some of the key women were Ada Gilmore Chaffee, Mabel Hewitt, Edna Hopkins, Blanche Lazzell, Ethel Mars, and her partner, Maud Squire. Many of these figures were originally from the Midwest and had been studying and exhibiting in Paris before the Great War prompted their departure from the continent. In Provincetown, they became well-known for their Post Impressionist works that were often characterized by vibrant colors, reductive forms, flattened picture planes, bold asymmetrical design, and, occasionally, Cubistic conflation of space and perspective. Here the white-line technique was perfected which no longer necessitated the use of several blocks to produce a print and contributed to the Modernist aesthetic.

Until the early 1980’s, these innovative modernists were largely relegated to the footnotes of art history despite the success they had achieved in the teens, 1920’s and early 1930’s. In 1983 Janet Flint of Washington D.C.’s National Museum of American Art organized a show of their largely forgotten work. Since then, their distinctive art has been featured in major museum exhibitions throughout the country.

4

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

A few prominent examples include the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s Blanche Lazzell and the Color Woodcut: From Paris to Provincetown, which traveled to the Cleveland Museum of Art in 2002, and The Provincetown Printmakers, also featured at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 2023.

As a result of the urgent need to address the often unrecognized achievements of women artists, many museums have recently acquired extraordinary works by these avante-garde artists including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Cleveland Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art, and Amon Carter Museum of Ft. Worth, Texas. Since the late 1980’s, Tim and I have been very interested in celebrating the contributions of these artists, especially the art of Edna Hopkins, Ethel Mars, and Maud Squire, who studied at the Art Academy of Cincinnati and had strong Ohio ties. In 2014, my daughter, Tara, and I co-curated an exhibition for Capital University’s Schumacher Gallery entitled The French Connection, Midwestern Modernist Women (1900-1930) that addressed this subject. Over the years, Keny Galleries has been fortunate to place a number of these works in collections throughout the country including several museums.

I hope you can join us to experience the outstanding achievements of the Provincetown Printmakers.

JAME S

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

M.

KE N Y

5

Tom A Hunting, 1917 11”x 13 ¼”

WWW.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

Provincetown Printmakers

Gustave Baumann 1881-1971

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

A Lilac Year, 1951/61 12 ¼” x 13 ¼”

WWW.KEN YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

Provincetown Printmakers

Singing Woods (Singing Trees), 1928 12 7/8” x 12 7/8”

Idle Fleet, 1918 11” x 10” Private Collection

Provincetown, 1917 13 1/8” x 10 7/8” W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

Wild Horse Mesa, 1924 12 ¾” x 12 ¾” Private Collection

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

Provincetown Printmakers

Summer Rain, 1926 9 3/8” x 11 1/8”

Houses, c. 1936 9 ¼” x 13 ½” Private Collection

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

Provincetown Printmakers

Mabel Amelia Hewit 1903-1984

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

Edna Boie s Hopkins 1872-1937

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

Provincetown Printmakers

Bramble (Blackberry), circa 1907-08 10 7/8” x 7 ¼”

Cyclamen, c. 1920-23 9 7/8”x 10 ¾” Private Collection

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

Pepper Berries (Pepper), c. 1906-08 10 7/8”x 7 ¼” Private Collection

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

Provincetown Printmakers

Pink Chrysanthemums, c. 1908 11” x 7 “ Private Collection

Grapes, c. 1907-09 10 7/8” x 7 ¼” Private Collection

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

Fuchsia, c. 1910-13 11” x 7 ¼” Private Collection

W W W.KE NYG A L L E R I E S .CO M

Provincetown Printmakers

Flowering Apple tree Branch, c. 1907-08 10 7/8” x 7 ¼” Private Collection

Purple Daisy, c. 1907-09 11” x 7 ¼” Private Collection

Saucy Dahlia, circa 1915 7 ¼” x 9”

W W W.KE N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

Hollyhocks, c. 1910-13 10 7/8” x 7 3/8”

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

Provincetown Printmakers

Trumpet Vine, c. 1915 9” x 8”

Daisies and Snapdragons, c. 1915 Watercolor on paper 8 ¼” x 7 ½”

Provincetown Printmakers

Yellow Dahlia (Yellow Splendor), circa 1915 7 ¾ x 9”

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

WWW. K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

The Mountaineer (The Way Home), c. 1917 10” x 9”

Edna Boie s Hopkins

The Appalachian Provincetown Printmakers

Serie s

WWW. K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

Mary and her Grandmother, 1917 10” x 9”

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

27

Provincetown Printmakers

Rocks and River, 1917 10” x 8”

Boats and Water, 1918 9 ⅛” x 9 ⅛” Private Collection

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

Provincetown Printmakers

Blanche Lazzell 1878-1956

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

Ethel MArs 1876-1956

30

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

Provincetown Printmakers

Flamingos, c. 1903-04 7 ¾” x 3 ¾”

Les Aigrettes, c. 1903-04 4”x 7 ⅛” Private Collection

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

Provincetown Printmakers

Girls in a Garden, 1916 10” x 9” Capital University Schumacher Gallery

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

Young Artist 13 15/16” x 11 1/8” Private Collection

Provincetown Printmakers

Flora S chofield 1876-1956

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

Maude S quire 1873-1954

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

Provincetown Printmakers

Baiting Up (Baiting Up, Provincetown), c. 1917-18 9 ¾” x 12” Private Collection

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

Lotus/Pussywillow, 1925 Two sided woodblock 13 3/4” x 12”

GRace MArt 1903-1

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

W W W.K E N YG A L L E R I E S .CO M

Provincetown Printmakers

Sails and Gulls/Star Gazing, 1928 Two sided woodblock 13 3/4” x 12”

tin Taylor 1995

Provincetown Printmakers MAY

1 7

-

J U NE

1 2 ,

2024

Keny Galleries

300 E A S T B E C K S T R E E T CO LU M B U S , O H , 43206 P: ( 614 ) 4 64. 1228 I N F O @ K E N YG A L L E R I E S . CO M