Cauliflower, by Ruth Chrisman Gannett, Amer., (1896-1979)

Lithograph, Ed. unknown, 7-1/4 x 7-5/8, three areas of old tape residue to top center margin edge and corners, signed in pencil, on thick warm white wove paper, 17 x 12 x 12-5/8. Ruth Chrisman Gannett is best known perhaps as the illustrator of John Steinbeck's Tortilla Flats and the children's book My Father's Dragon, written by her stepdaughter Ruth Stiles Gannett Kahn. Ruth Chrisman Gannett created a number of fine lithographs in the 1930's -50's, but specific information on dates and edition sizes is scant as she usually only signed her prints in pencil with no indication of title, date or edition size. With her precise rendering, nuanced detail,  love of home, rural architecture and nature, Gannett's lithographs remind one at times of those by her artist friends Wanda Gag, who lived nearby in Gaylordsville for a time, and Edith Newton of New Milford, who's prints share an even stronger affinity with Gannett's.