Virginia deS. Litchfield - 10 Woodcuts (1928-32)

Forgotten Prints #3

Woodcuts from 'Land of Homes' (1929)

‘Mt. Whitney’ (1932)

Virginia M. de Seigeur Litchfield (d. 1933; b. San Diego) was a Californian artist and illustrator, working in the late-1920s and early-1930s; “Known for her watercolours; Litchfield taught art at Santa Barbara School of the Arts in 1928 and at Scripps College in 1932. Her name was ‘Clark’ at the time of her death in 1933.” (Edan Hughes, Artists in California 1786-1940)

The woodcuts at the top were specially made as illustrations for Frank J. Taylor’s Land of Homes (1929), and all depict scenes from California, while ‘Mt. Whitney’ was from a few years later, just before her death—this one in particular needed a lot of restoration, as the only images of it available are pretty poor quality. Little else is known of Litchfield’s life and works, though her works occasionally pop up in art auctions online.

 
            For Virginia Litchfield
                    by Dick Whyte

       mountains talking
       to mountains:

       the underbelly of a cloud
       like words
       has no colour
       of its own
 

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