Chipping the Block, Painting the Silk: The Prints of Norma Bassett Hall

August 7 – December 15, 2018

Between 1922 and 1957, the American artist Norma Bassett Hall created nearly one hundred print designs. An Oregon native, she found inspiration in the diverse landscapes she and her husband, artist Arthur William Hall, encountered during travels in Europe and in the places they lived—Oregon, Kansas, Virginia, and New Mexico.

During the 1920s Bassett Hall began producing color woodcut prints, employing Japanese printing methods that had been embraced by artists associated with the Arts and Crafts movement. While living in Santa Fe during the 1940s, she joined other American artists in adapting commercial screen printing methods for fine art printmaking.

Bassett Hall gained national prominence through her art. She was a member of numerous artist organizations, including the Wichita Art Association and Wichita-based Prairie Print Makers. This exhibition presents a selection of work from the first major retrospective of Bassett Hall’s printmaking since her death.

This traveling exhibition has been organized by independent curator Joby Patterson of Eugene, Oregon. Unless otherwise indicated, all works are by Norma Bassett Hall (born 1888, Halsey, Oregon; died 1957, Santa Fe, New Mexico).

This exhibition is sponsored by Annette and Steven Huff, Russell Clay Harvey and Patty McGivern, and Mary Helm Pollack and Lawrence W. Pollack.

Related events:

Presentation by Guest Curator Joby Patterson
November 1, 2018, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Interactive display on Japanese woodblock printing in the West
Part of Art in Motion festival
October 6, 2018, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.