FEATURED: A truly wonderful exotic, high-relief embossed lithograph of the 'DESERT STORY' by JUDITH BLEDSOE, showing six separate scenes of life in the desert, as seen through her magical, colorful world view, with detailed wonderful embossed palm trees, grasses, leaves, sand dunes surrounding each charming scene. This is really a tour de force of an artist who had lifelong experience (and the talent & skills) in the world of printmaking and knew how to successfully pull this fantasy off! We see men riding on camels, a big cat/lion? in the bushes, palm trees & cactus, a bird, a crocodile, the desert sand dunes and sun, all created in her iconic style and with the vivid colors she so loved. This whole scene was printing onto thick, creamy paper, used so that the embossing would really stand out in relief and be a part of the artwork. How she did all this is a mystery to us, that's for sure, and we loved her choices of colors as well as her innocent, stylized figures she was known for. We don't have a specific date for this, but she died in 2013 at the age of 75. We found it at an estate of a folk art/naive art collector who traveled the world and bought what he loved, had fascinating great tastes!
JUDITH BLEDSOE was born in California in 1938, decided not to become a California surfer girl and went to Europe at age 16 to become an artist. She worked for the BBC in London, and landed in Paris, France and never moved away, getting a job at Imprimerie Nationale de France, the official print shop of France, and created their official litho while there. She worked for Printemps Couture as an affiche artist, designed Christmas cards for UNICEF, theater sets for Jean Cocteau plays, also clothing, shoes, accessories when she wasn't doing her beloved art. She is credited with being one of the muses for Robert Graves 'White Goddess' book, lived in Montparnasse, in Paris, as well as having a home on Mallorca, and lived the life of a very successful, prolific Bohemian Parisian artist. She has been compared to Henri Rousseau and Marc Chagall for her fanciful, joyous, wild beings and scenes, and was known to have 'lived her life like her art'- colorful, full of energy, happiness and always interesting! And this truly wonderful piece is a perfect example of all that!
MEASURES: Framed is: 37.75 inches X 25 inches; paper itself is 3.55. inches X 22.5 inches. Signed in pencil LR, 'Judith Bledsoe' in her well-known signature. In excellent overall condition, we must note that the paper is in very good condition, although our camera did not capture that correctly,was difficult to photo accurately. The cream-colored paper does NOT have any areas of fading, mottling, or discoloration. We found this in its present wood veneered frame under glass, with no mat. We don't know if this is the original frame to the piece. This is called the 'DESERT STORY', which is embossed in the lower left area. Art seal for Circle Galleries, Chicago, found LL corner. Lithograph with high-relief embossing surrounding each of the six scenes on this piece. She is in collections across the world, and was a fascinating, well-known local personality in Paris as well as a very talented artist on the world stage. This is a great example of her talent, sense of fun and love of life, her technical skills and understanding of the Printing world and its processes, and we feel sure this marvelous piece will enchant everyone who sees it on your wall. Want a magical, colorful piece of art? This is that piece you've been looking for! What a charmer!
We pack your valuables with care for safety and security.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE SHIPPING CALCULATOR MAY BE WACKY, SO PLEASE SEND YOUR ZIPCODE TO US FOR A SPECIFIC, ACCURATE, SHIPPING QUOTE!