Tuesday, June 15, 2021 – Enjoy the art of wooden block prints
HAVE YOU VOTED?
EARLY VOTING IS ON THIS WEEK!!
SPORTSPARK
250 MAIN STREET
ENTER ON SOUTH SIDE OF BUILDING
ACROSS FROM GRADUATE HOTEL
TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY,THURSDAY
10 A.M. TO 8 P.M.
FRIDAY 7 A.M. TO 4 P.M.
SATURDAY 8 A.M. TO 5 P.M
SUNDAY 8 A.M. TO 4 P.M.
IF YOU DO NOT VOTE THERE MAY NOT BE FUTURE EARLY VOTING ON
ROOSEVELT ISLAND.
TUESDAY, JUNE 15, 2021
The
390th Edition
From the Archives
MABEL PUGH ARTIST
FROM THE SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM
Mabel Pugh, Twilight Snow, n.d., linoleum cut on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the North Carolina Museum of Art (Gift of the artist, 1977), 2020.4.5
Mabel Pugh (1891-1986)
FROM GALLERY C, RALEIGH, NC
Mabel Pugh was a native of Morrisville, North Carolina. Mrs. Ruth Huntington Moore encouraged Pugh to study art at Peace Junior College in Raleigh. Mable Pugh went on to study at the Art Students’ League in New York, then in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Mabel Pugh won the Cresson Traveling Scholarship in 1919 while at the Academy. This was her first opportunity to travel and sketch in Europe and she was there for four months.
When she returned from Europe, Pugh settled in New York. She began to work as a professional artist. Success followed soon. Her block prints began appearing on the covers of popular novels. Her illustrations were published in those same books. Then her paintings started to receive recognition at exhibitions. Publishers quickly recognized Mabel Pugh’s talent. Her illustrations were used in many magazines such as McCall’s, Ladies’ Home Journal, The Forum and The Survey Graphic. The artist won numerous exhibition awards at various venues including the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1920, the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors in 1934. Mabel Pugh’s painting “My Mother” was included in the first New York World’s Fair. She wrote and illustrated “Little Carolina Bluebonnet” which was first published in 1933 by Crowell.
In 1926 Pugh exhibited a series of wood block prints in the International Print Makers Exhibition at Los Angeles. This series, done from sketches she made in Europe, received accolades from as far away as Australia. The director of the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas, purchased a piece and later hosted an exhibit of the artist’s prints at that museum. In 1931 the artist was recognized as a charter member of the North Carolina Association of Professional Artists, though already well established in New York City as a printmaker, painter and illustrator.
When her original art instructor Mrs. Moore passed away, Peace College in Raleigh asked Mabel to return and become head of the Art Department; she accepted the offer and moved back to her hometown of Morrisville in 1938. Pugh continued to publish her illustrations and retired from Peace College in 1960, so she could devote all of her energy to her creative endeavors.
Mabel Pugh, Laundry Workers, ca. 1936-1960, monoprint, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the North Carolina Museum of Art (Gift of the artist, 1977), 2020.4.2
Mabel Pugh, At the Tubs, ca. 1936-1960, lithograph, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the North Carolina Museum of Art (Gift of the artist, 1977), 2020.4.1
Mabel Pugh, Little Church Around the Corner, ca. 1926-1936, linoleum cut on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Martin Diamond, 1992.110
Mabel Pugh, John Curry and Peter Newell, 1954, lithograph, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the North Carolina Museum of Art (Gift of the artist, 1977), 2020.4.6
Portrait in Red and Black Silk Dress, oil on canvas, 26 x 19 inches
Gallery C, Raleigh, NC
Portrait of Ellen Stone Scott, oil on canvas, 1926, 36 x 40 inches
TUESDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY SEND TO ROOSEVELTISLANDHISTORY@GMAIL.COM
MONDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
ALEXIS VILLEFANE GUESSED THE STICKER LEADING TO THE
EARLY VOTING POLL SITE AT SPORTSPARK
Text by Judith Berdy
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
Sources
SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM
FUNDING PROVIDED BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE GRANTS
CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD
Copyright © 2021 Roosevelt Island Historical Society, All rights reserved.Our mailing address is:
rooseveltislandhistory@gmail.com
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