Cornelia Foley
1937
Woodblock
Height 20" (50.8 cm) x Width 16" (40.6 cm) including archival mat
Provenance: Cornelia Foley, New York
Cornelia Foley was active in Honolulu in the 1930s, a period when a small circle of artists working in Hawai'i turned to printmaking as a medium for depicting Hawaiian subjects with directness and graphic intensity. This woodblock depicts a Hawaiian dancer in traditional dress, her figure surrounded by tropical foliage and rendered in the high-contrast black and white characteristic of the medium. The composition reflects both the technical demands of woodblock printing and an interest in Hawaiian cultural forms that distinguished Foley's work from the more painterly approaches of her contemporaries.
The dancer is shown mid-movement, her posture and the placement of her hands suggesting the formal vocabulary of hula rather than a generic decorative figure. Foley's handling of the block emphasizes line and silhouette, with the white figure emerging from a dark ground in a manner that gives the image considerable presence at its modest scale. The archival mat and period framing preserve the work in good condition and present it as Foley clearly intended it to be seen.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Cornelia Foley
1937
Woodblock
Height 20" (50.8 cm) x Width 16" (40.6 cm) including archival mat
Provenance: Cornelia Foley, New York
Cornelia Foley was active in Honolulu in the 1930s, a period when a small circle of artists working in Hawai'i turned to printmaking as a medium for depicting Hawaiian subjects with directness and graphic intensity. This woodblock depicts a Hawaiian dancer in traditional dress, her figure surrounded by tropical foliage and rendered in the high-contrast black and white characteristic of the medium. The composition reflects both the technical demands of woodblock printing and an interest in Hawaiian cultural forms that distinguished Foley's work from the more painterly approaches of her contemporaries.
The dancer is shown mid-movement, her posture and the placement of her hands suggesting the formal vocabulary of hula rather than a generic decorative figure. Foley's handling of the block emphasizes line and silhouette, with the white figure emerging from a dark ground in a manner that gives the image considerable presence at its modest scale. The archival mat and period framing preserve the work in good condition and present it as Foley clearly intended it to be seen.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
