Norma Bassett Hall: Color Block Prints in Oregon Collections

This event has passed. Sorry you missed it!
When
Oct. 17, 2019–Jan. 12, 2020
Days Vary
Cost: $10; free to Multnomah County residents
Where
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, OR 97205

The following description was submitted by the event organizer.

Norma Bassett Hall was born in Halsey, Oregon, in 1888. Just 18 years later, she entered the School of the Portland Art Association in its first year and by 1929, she had achieved national recognition for her art. Yet, with her local roots and strong ties to Oregon art, her work has never been the feature of a solo exhibition in Portland – until now.

While Basset Hall’s work was included in a group exhibition in 1930, it has been nearly 90 years since her striking color block prints have been on public view. The Oregon Historical Society is proud to host Norma Bassett Hall: Color Block Prints in Oregon Collections, an exhibition presenting a spectrum of Norma Bassett Hall’s 35-year career as a printmaker. The show features many prints from her personal collection including a notable cherry woodblock as well as a unique color block print from her 1922 portfolio, Some Prints of Cannon Beach.

Bassett Hall, who graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1918, was educated in early twentieth century America when the Arts and Crafts Movement was the style of the day. Her training and education are apparent in the carving of the woodblock as a form of craft, as well as in the Japanese-influenced style and interpretation of her subjects. As was typical of Arts and Crafts artists, Bassett Hall found inspiration in the diverse landscapes that she encountered in her extensive travels that included Scotland, France, Oregon, Kansas, Virginia and New Mexico.