Label Type
Cultural/Historical ContextLabel
"A former professor of art history at Purdue University (1967-1996), William McGill was an advisor for the purchase of prints for the Purdue University permanent collection, as well as a benefactor to the collection. He served on the Gallery Committee of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts and co-curated a few print exhibitions, such as one entitled “Renaissance and Baroque Prints”. He donated over 150 works which help make up the nucleus of Purdue University’s permanent collection.
The present work, a four-color wood block print, is a genre scene, set in autumn or early winter under a light blue sky. Between two rolling hills is a solitary figure walking up a road lined by bushes to a small, isolated farmhouse. A few leafy trees surround the cozy, little building. Colors used include light shades of brown, some grays, black, light blue, and yellow-ochre. The wood cuts are thick and deep, somewhat reminiscent of the printermaker Werner Drewes and other landscape artists from the 1930s and 1940s. The scene presumably is of Midwestern origin.
Rick Schultz
William McGill Country Lane With A Single Figure Wood block print 6 x 41/2 in. Early 1970s Acc. No. 1998.13.01 "