HUGHIE LEE SMITH (1915 - 1999) Desolate Landscape (the lithograph and drawing).
Lithograph on cream wove paper, 1939. 149x178mm; 5 7/8x7 inches, full margins. Signed, titled and dated in pencil, lower margin.
Pencil on tissue-thin, cream wove paper, circa 1939. 156x178mm; 6 1/8x7 inches.
Provenance: both from the estate of the artist; thence by descent to the current owner.
This is a scarce pairing of a pencil study and the finished lithograph from Lee-Smith's Karamu House and WPA period in Ohio. While the artist drew his designs directly on lithographic stones, this thin paper was suitable to transfer the drawing. The drawings and prints reflect the scenes of desolation and desperation found in the abandoned neighborhoods uprooted by the Great Depression.
