"West Virginia Hills" by Blanche Lazzell, Amer., (1878-1956)

Charcoal Drawing, ca. 1919, Block #20, 10-1/4 x 8-3/8, the original preliminary study drawing for one of Lazzell's most important early white line color woodcuts, on grayish cream wove paper, The entire sheet measures 12 x 9, a slight lightening within old mat opening, tack holes to corners, unsigned, but titled by the artist in pencil at lower left. This vital drawing exudes an expressionist vigor in execution; sketched directly from nature among the rolling hills of or near her native Maidsville, West Virginia. Lazzell's short staccato strokes with stumping for atmosphere convey an energy charged landscape of layered, arching hills; their rhythms echoed by the fences in the foreground and bare elliptical trees at center, reaching towards the sky. From the artist's estate, purchased from Martin Diamond Fine Arts circa 1994.