1950s Elizabeth Eddy Woodblock Print | Saint Francis Assisi

Here we have a genuinely haunting woodblock print by Elizabeth Eddy, an infamous annd under appreciated American artist with one serious résumé. You can feel the hand of someone who understood the medium at a bone-deep level. A face emerges from the tree: one eye spiral-curled like a fiddlehead fern, the other set behind wire-rimmed spectacles, a wide open mouth full of strange jagged teeth and something between a grin and a howl. It’s unsettling and funny and oddly meaningful, all at once. Here’s a bit more about the artist, Elizabeth Eddy: Born in Cleveland in 1907, orphaned young, and eventually trained by some of the most important names in 20th century American art: Arshile Gorky, László Moholy-Nagy, and Max Kahn, among others. Her work ended up in the collections of the Cranbrook Academy of Art Museum, the Cleveland Print Club, and the Fort Wayne Art Museum. She taught, she exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago, and she lived to 95. This is not a nobody. This is someone who lived inside the creative world for a very long time. The title, handwritten in pencil below the image, is one of the most peculiar and impactful things: “Brother Fire I Pray You Be Courteous With Me.” It’s a phrase borrowed from Saint Francis of Assisi, spoken just before he underwent a painful cauterization of his eyes, and asking the fire to be gentle. The face in the tree, then, is not just a face. It’s a plea. An old soul talking to something ancient and dangerous. This is edition 5 out of 50, signed Elizabeth Eddy in pencil. Printed on thin, tissue-like paper with deckled edges. The print was likely created in the 1950s. The piece came out of Chicago and is part of a significant collection originally owned by the artist. The image measures approximately 9.5” x 11.5”, with the full paper sheet running about 11” x 13.5”. Some light toning to the paper as you’d expect for a work of this age, which only adds to its presence. Please see all pics as they are part of the description. I ship FedEx to street addresses in the continental USA only (no PO Boxes). Free shipping on the haunting work by this infamous artist. This one goes on the wall. Full stop.