United States, (1876-1956)
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Cochon
- [Pig]
- (ndg.), woodcut colored print
- 4.6 x 3.5 in. (11.6 x 8.7 cm.)
- Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art, Paris
About the Artist:
Ethel Mars (1876-1959) was a U.S. watercolorist, painter and printmaker. Mars attend the Cincinnati Art Academy. In Cincinnati Mars met fellow artist Edna Boies Hopkins who taught her how to make woodcuts and Maud Hunt Squire who would become her lifelong partner.
Mars, along with Squire, moved to Paris in 1906 in search of artistic and lifestyle freedom. Mars exhibited regularly and became part of the avant garde art world of Paris in the early 20th Century. Mars and Squire were part of Gertrude Stein’s circle and Stein immortalized the two in her early word portrait, Miss Furr and Miss Skeene (1908-11).
Mars and Squire left Paris at the outset of WWI and settled in Provincetown, MA during the war. Her reputation attracted other artists to this bohemian seaside town. Mars, Squire, and others were part of a group of artists known for their white line woodcuts known as Provincetown Prints.
Mars and Squire returned to France after WWI ended and remained there. Mars’ was initially known for her watercolors and for her avant-garde and belle epoque color woodblock prints. She later reduced the number of blocks she carved for an print image to just a few. These later fauve woodcuts stand out as extraordinary contributions to the modern color print. [DES-02/16]