Maud Hunt Squire

Ethel Mars was born in Springfield, IL. She attended Cincinnati Art Academy, meeting fellow artists/printmakers Edna B. Hopkins and Maud Hunt Squire (who later became her lifelong companion). In 1905, Mars and Squire moved to Paris and quickly became active members of the vibrant Parisian art community. They were known to visit Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas, and it is said that Ethel Mars and Maud Hunt Squire inspired Stein’s prose “Miss Furr and Miss Skeene.” At the outset of WWI, Mars and Squire left Paris and settled in Provincetown, MA, a magnet for creative minds. Other artists who arrived in Provincetown among them were Blanche Lazzell, B. J. O. Nordfeldt, Ada Gilmore and Mildred McMillen. This was the original group of artists to make white-line woodcut prints, then called Provincetown Prints. This new printmaking technique, which grew out of the traditional Japanese multi-block color woodcut, simplified some of the technical difficulties of registration and printing, allowing the Provincetown group to make blocks and print them in their home settings. At the end of the war, Mars and Squire returned to France, moving south to Vence. Ethel Mars remained in France for the remainder of her life.

(Biography provided by The Old Print Shop, Inc.)

Bring energy and an array of welcome colors and textures into your space by decorating with figurative fine-art prints and works on paper.

Figurative art stands in contrast to abstract art, which is more expressive than representational. The oldest-known work of figurative art is a figurative painting — specifically, a rock painting of an animal made over 40,000 years ago in Borneo. This remnant of a remote past has long faded, but its depiction of a cattle-like creature in elegant ocher markings endures.

Since then, figurative art has evolved significantly as it continues to represent the world, including a breadth of works on paper, including printmaking. This includes woodcuts, which are a type of relief print with perennial popularity among collectors. The artist carves into a block and applies ink to the raised surface, which is then pressed onto paper. There are also planographic prints, which use metal plates, stones or other flat surfaces as their base. The artist will often draw on the surface with grease crayon and then apply ink to those markings. Lithographs are a common version of planographic prints.

Figurative art printmaking was especially popular during the height of the Pop art movement, and this kind of work can be seen in artist Andy Warhol’s extensive use of photographic silkscreen printing. Everyday objects, logos and scenes were given a unique twist, whether in the style of a comic strip or in the use of neon colors.

Explore an impressive collection of figurative art prints for sale on 1stDibs and read about how to arrange your wall art.