Helen West Heller. American. Art

Silence. c. 1927. Woodcut. 4 5/16 x 2 7/16 (sheet 7 9/16 x 6 1/8). Printed on fibrous Japanese mulberry paper. Initialed in the plate. Signed in pencil. Housed in its original 13 5/8...

Bankrupt. c. 1928. Woodcut. 4 3/8 x 2 1/2 (sheet 4 7/8 x 3 1/2). Printed on cream wove paper. Signed in pencil. Housed in its original 13 5/8 x 10 1/2-inch exhibition mat from the Derepas gallery in Paris. Helen West Heller was born near Rushville, Illinois. From 1876 she lived in Canton, Ilinois. At a very young age, she became interested in painting. Although she received some art education at the School of Fine Arts in St. Louis and the Art Students League in New York, she was largely self-taught. As an adult she moved back and forth between Chicago and New York several times, before settling in New York for the last twenty-five years of her life. She worked in a distinctly individual style, and was intensely productive and unwaveringly committed to her artistic passions. In 1923, during a period of great poverty, she turned to the affordable materials of wood block and linoleum, often printing her results on wrapping paper. From then until the end of her life she produced more than six hundred woodcuts, and spent a great deal of time studying art and history, and writing. She was very active in artists’ social and political affairs, and in 1948 was elected an associate of the National Academy of Design. She often brings figures and settings together in a mosaic of patterns that reflect both Eastern and Western block print...

March. c.1927. Woodcut. 4 5/16 x 2 5/16 (sheet 8 7/8 x 6 3/4). Printed on cream wove paper. Signed in pencil. Housed in its original 13 5/8 x 10 1/2-inch exhibition mat from the Derepas gallery in Paris. Helen West Heller was born near Rushville, Illinois. From 1876 she lived in Canton, Ilinois. At a very young age, she became interested in painting. Although she received some art education at the School of Fine Arts in St. Louis and the Art Students League in New York, she was largely self-taught. As an adult she moved back and forth between Chicago and New York several times, before settling in New York for the last twenty-five years of her life. She worked in a distinctly individual style, and was intensely productive and unwaveringly committed to her artistic passions. In 1923, during a period of great poverty, she turned to the affordable materials of wood block and linoleum, often printing her results on wrapping paper. From then until the end of her life she produced more than six hundred woodcuts, and spent a great deal of time studying art and history, and writing. She was very active in artists’ social and political affairs, and in 1948 was elected an associate of the National Academy of Design. She often brings figures and settings together in a mosaic of patterns that reflect both Eastern and Western block print...

Silence. c. 1927. Woodcut. 4 5/16 x 2 7/16 (sheet 7 9/16 x 6 1/8). Printed on fibrous Japanese mulberry paper. Initialed in the plate. Signed in pencil. Housed in its original 13 5/8...

Flogging. 1927. Woodcut. 8 3/8 x 9 (sheet 16 5/16 x 12 7/16). Printed on Japanese mulberry paper. Signed, dated and titled in pencil. Housed in a 20 x 16-inch archival mat, suitable for framing. Helen West Heller was born near Rushville, Illinois. From 1876 she lived in Canton, Ilinois. At a very young age, she became interested in painting. Although she received some art education at the School of Fine Arts in St. Louis and the Art Students League in New York, she was largely self-taught. As an adult she moved back and forth between Chicago and New York several times, before settling in New York for the last twenty-five years of her life. She worked in a distinctly individual style, and was intensely productive and unwaveringly committed to her artistic passions. In 1923, during a period of great poverty, she turned to the affordable materials of wood block and linoleum, often printing her results on wrapping paper. From then until the end of her life she produced more than six hundred woodcuts, and spent a great deal of time studying art and history, and writing. She was very active in artists’ social and political affairs, and in 1948 was elected an associate of the National Academy of Design. She often brings figures and settings together in a mosaic of patterns that reflect both Eastern and Western block print...

November Twilight. 1928. Woodcut. 4 5/16 x 6 (sheet 7 1/4 x 10). Printed on sturdy Japanese mulberry paper. Signed, dated and titled in pencil. Housed in a 16 x 20-inch archival mat, suitable for framing. Helen West Heller was born near Rushville, Illinois. From 1876 she lived in Canton, IIlinois. At a very young age, she became interested in painting. Although she received some art education at the School of Fine Arts in St. Louis and the Art Students League in New York, she was largely self-taught. As an adult she moved back and forth between Chicago and New York several times, before settling in New York for the last twenty-five years of her life. She worked in a distinctly individual style, and was intensely productive and unwaveringly committed to her artistic passions. In 1923, during a period of great poverty, she turned to the affordable materials of wood block and linoleum, often printing her results on wrapping paper. From then until the end of her life she produced more than six hundred woodcuts, and spent a great deal of time studying art and history, and writing. She was very active in artists’ social and political affairs, and in 1948 was elected an associate of the National Academy of Design. She often brings figures and settings together in a mosaic of patterns that reflect both Eastern and Western block print...