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Lucile Esma Lundquist Blanch (December 31, 1895 – October 31, 1981) was an American artist, and art educator. She was noted for the murals she created for the U.S. Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts during the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
. She was awarded a
Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated d ...
in 1933.


Early life and education

Lucile Lundquist Blanch was born as Lucile Esma Lundquist in 1895 in Hawley, Minnesota to Charles E. and May E. Lundquist. Raised in rural northern Minnesota, Blanch enjoyed gardening as a child. Her mother, a gifted musician, insisted on young Blanch starting strict piano lessons at age 7, though Blanch would eventually protest her lessons at 12 years old. After grade school, Blanch's mother signed her up for "teachers college," which she attended briefly before writing a 12-page letter (front and back) to her parents describing her desire to go to art school. At the Minneapolis School of Art, she and future husband
Arnold Blanch Arnold Blanch (June 4, 1896 – October 3, 1968), was born and raised in Mantorville, Minnesota. He was an American modernist painter, etcher, illustrator, lithographer, muralist, printmaker and art teacher. Life His modernist paintings are a ...
studied with notable artists like
Harry Gottlieb Harry Gottlieb (September 23, 1895 – July 4, 1992) was an American painter, screen printer, lithographer, and educator. Biography Gottlieb was born in Bucharest, Romania on September 23, 1895. He immigrated to America in 1907, and his family s ...
and
Adolf Dehn Adolf Dehn (November 22, 1895 – May 19, 1968) was an American artist known mainly as a lithographer. Throughout his artistic career, he participated in and helped define some important movements in American art, including Regionalism (art), re ...
. From 1918, she studied with Boardman Robinson as part of the
Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...
. She was only one of ten students in the country to be awarded full tuition to the Art Students League that year. Blanch also studied with artists Kenneth Hayes Miller,
Frank Vincent DuMond Frank Vincent DuMond (August 20, 1865 – February 6, 1951) was one of the most influential teacher-painters in 20th-century America. He was an illustrator and American Impressionism, American Impressionist painter of portraits and landscape ...
and Frederick R. Gruger. She was friends with Eugenie Gershoy, who sculpted her at work. She and Arnold Blanch married in New York and traveled to France to continue their art studies. They later moved to
Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, New York, Kingston. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The popula ...
where they helped develop the Woodstock
art colony Art colonies are organic congregations of artists in towns, villages and rural areas, who are often drawn to areas of natural beauty, the prior existence of other artists, art schools there, or a lower cost of living. They are typically mission ...
. The couple was friends with Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, sharing the same studio building and telephone in San Francisco when Arnold was appointed a teaching position and Rivera was commissioned to paint two murals in the city. Blanch would remember Kahlo in her later years: " iego'sdear little wife--she and I became buddies...The four of us had a wonderful winter. They were very good playmates." Blanch and her husband divorced in 1935.


Career

After moving to
Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, New York, Kingston. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The popula ...
, Blanch began exhibiting work in local group shows as well as with the New York Society of Women Artists and the Whitney Studio Club. As she and husband Arnold were building their reputation as Woodstock artists, they supported themselves by selling tapestries they wove, as well as running a small cafeteria. They eventually would become key figures in the revitalization of the Woodstock
art colony Art colonies are organic congregations of artists in towns, villages and rural areas, who are often drawn to areas of natural beauty, the prior existence of other artists, art schools there, or a lower cost of living. They are typically mission ...
. After Blanch received the
Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...
in 1933, her art was featured in a number of important venues, including the
Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...
of American Art. From 1932 to 1943, the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art, the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
, the
Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...
, and the Corcoran Gallery in
Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
purchased her works for their collections. After her divorce, Blanch taught at the Ringling School of Art in
Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers, Florida, Fort Myers and Punta Gorda, Florida, Punta Gord ...
from 1935 to 1936. In 1937, Blanch had a solo exhibition of her work at the Milch Galleries. That same year, she was included an exhibition of paintings at the Whitney Museum of American Arts and in 1939, was in an annual contemporary American watercolor show there. Later in 1939, Blanch participated in an exhibition by the American Society of Painters, Sculptors, and Gravers. The exhibition began May 16, 1939 and continued until June 10 that same year. In 1938, Blanch worked with artist
Philip Evergood Philip Howard Francis Dixon Evergood (born Howard Blashki; 1901–1973) was an American Social Realist painter, etcher, lithographer, sculptor, illustrator and writer. He was particularly active during the Depression and World War II era. Life ...
and George Picken in administrating the WPA Project in New York. From 1938 to 1941, Blanch was an artist-in-residence at Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where she continued to teach until she turned 70 in 1965. A retrospective of Blanch's long career was held at the Woodstock Artists Association in the fall of 1978, when the artist was 83 years old. The exhibition was reviewed by the '' Woodstock Times''' Dennis Drogseth, as having "admirable successes...mixed with not so admirable failures--but that these inconsistencies are a part of the creative effort." Drogseth argued that, while Blanch insisted that her work remained the same over the course of her career, "...in style and approach Blanch has not been faithful to a single point of view."


Murals

Blanch was commissioned to create post office murals as part of a
New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...
program through the
Section of Painting and Sculpture Section, Sectioning, or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section s ...
, later called the
Section of Fine Arts Section, Sectioning, or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...
, of the U.S. Treasury Department. Murals were commissioned through competitions open to all artists in the United States. Almost 850 artists were commissioned to paint 1371 murals, most of which were installed in post offices.University of Central Arkansas.
Arkansas Post Office Murals
".
162 of the artists were women. The murals were funded as a part of the cost of the construction of new post offices, with 1% of the cost set aside for artistic enhancements. In 1938, Blanch painted a mural titled ''Osceola Holding Informal Court with His Chiefs'' in the post office in
Fort Pierce, Florida Fort Pierce is a city in and the county seat of St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Treasure Coast region of Florida’s Atlantic Coast. It is also known as the Sunrise City. Per the 2020 census, the population w ...
. The mural is now on display at Fort Pierce City Hall. In the town of
Appalachia, Virginia Appalachia () is a town in Wise County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,754 at the 2010 census. History The Appalachia post office was established in 1898. The community was named for the surrounding Appalachian Mountains. The Der ...
, she painted the mural ''Appalachia'' in 1940. The tempera mural, ''Rural Mississippi from Early Days to Present'' was completed in 1941 for the
Tylertown, Mississippi Tylertown is a town in and the county seat of Walthall County, Mississippi, United States. Its population was 1,515 at the 2020 census. It is approximately fifty-five miles southwest from the Hattiesburg metropolitan area. History The town ...
post office. In addition, she painted murals for the post offices in Flemingsburg, Kentucky, and
Sparta, Georgia Sparta is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Georgia, Hancock County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The city's population was 1,357 at the 2020 census. History Sparta was founded in 1795 in the newly formed Hancock ...
. The Flemingsburg mural was completed in 1943, titled ''Crossing to the Battle of Blue Licks'', and the Sparta post office project consisted of three panels depicting an antebellum plantation house, the granite quarry near Sparta, and local Hancock County scenery.


Death

She died on October 31, 1981, in
Kingston, New York Kingston is the only Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in, and the county seat of, Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany, New York, Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grou ...
and is buried in the Woodstock Artists' Cemetery in
Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, New York, Kingston. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The popula ...
.


Style

Blanch began her career focusing on realist subjects, but her art became increasingly abstract. By 1928, Blanch's style was set apart by color and humor. Her choice of subject at this time coming primarily from circus performers and animals shown depicted in spot lights.


Awards

* In 1931, Blanch was awarded Medal of First Award for Graphic Arts at
San Francisco Art Association The San Francisco Art Association (SFAA) was an organization that promoted California artists, held art exhibitions, published a periodical, and established the first art school west of Chicago. The SFAA – which, by 1961, completed a long sequen ...
's annual exhibit. * In 1933, Blanch was given a fellowship by the
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation is a private foundation formed in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Gr ...
to enable creative work in painting abroad for one year. The average monetary value of the fellowships given that year were $2,500 each. * In 1934, received a prize for her work at the Wanamaker Regional Exhibition in New York.


Gallery

File:Archives of American Art - Lucile Blanch - 1976.jpg, Blanch in her studio, 1940


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanch, Lucile 1895 births 1981 deaths 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women painters American abstract artists Art Students League of New York alumni Art Students League of New York faculty Minneapolis College of Art and Design alumni Painters from Minnesota Painters from New York (state) People from Hawley, Minnesota Section of Painting and Sculpture artists