Elizabeth Norton was known for her color woodcut depictions of animals, whether domestic or wild. She appreciated the characteristics of different species, often honing in on their most recognizable traits -- a puffed-chest peacock, a nervous shih tzu -- and portrayed them with as much attention as any human subject.
“Lioness” shows Norton’s keen artistic sensibility, stripping down the composition to its basic elements to display the powerful, tawny cat in a deceptively relaxed pose.