"Once Upon a Time"

 

Shirley Russell

  1886 - 1985

c. 1935  

color woodcut 

15 1/16 x 11 7/8" image size 

pencil, lower right 

not stated 

pencil titled; initialed in the block, lower right 

 

heavy Japanese hosho 

published 

possibly Watanabe 

25262 

$750.00 

The majority of Russell's color woodcuts were done between 1935 and 1936, designed by her and printed and published by Watanabe. At the time, she was visiting parts of Asia for the first time, including Japan, and was introduced to the important color woodcut publisher by fellow artist Charles Bartlett. Watanabe would publish at least twelve of Russell's color woodcut designs (florals and landscapes) though in total Russell had created at least sixteen. It is possible that Watanabe simply did not record some of these works in his studio notebooks.

The majority of Russell's color woodcuts focused on florals, with a couple of Hawaiian landscapes and one image of the Carmel Mission in California. This image of two wooden dolls of classic early 20th century design appears at first to be an anomaly. However, according to the Isaacs Art Center biography on Russell, she also painted a series of oil still lifes featuring dolls; thus, the subject is not entirely out of her wheelhouse.