OLIVER NEWBERRY CHAFFEE
(American, 1881-1944)
Sun Goddess, or Venus of Provincetown
1941, woodcut, framed together with original wood block
signed Chaffee '41 in ink, l.r.
sight: 13 x 11 in., block: 14 x 11 3/8 in., frame: 25 x 37 1/2 in.
Provenance: The Collection of a Boston Gentleman.
Exhibitions: - Cahoon Museum of American Art, Cotuit, MA, Snowbirds -- Or What I Did on My Winter Vacation, March 18 - April 26, 2003 (label verso).
- Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Provincetown, MA, The Provincetown Print 1915-1996, June 21 - July 15, 1996 (label verso).
-Cape Museum of Fine Arts, Dennis, MA, Cape Cod Printmakers: Past and Present, August 6 - September 17, 1995 (label verso).
Other Notes: - Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York label verso.
After studying at the Art Students' League in New York, Oliver Chaffee spent time at the Académie Julian in Paris and there was deeply influenced by the Fauvist movement, exhibiting three Fauvist style landscapes at the 1913 Armory Show. He was a member of the Provincetown Arts Association, where he taught the white line woodblock printing method for which the group is known. In this method of printmaking, a single block is carved and painted with various colors before being pressed.