Pepper Plant

Object NamePrint

Artist / Maker Harold Mallette Dean (American, 1907 - 1975)

Date1937

OriginUnited States

MediumWoodcut on paper

Dimensions7 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. (19.1 x 29.2 cm)

ClassificationsPrints and Printing Plates

Credit LineTransfer from the Art and Design Department, Iowa State University. In the permanent collection, Brunnier Art Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object numberUM82.221

Status

Not on view

Collections

Works of Art on Paper & Photography

CultureAmerican

Label TextThis print is a highly stylized woodcut of a potted pepper plant resting on a clothes surface. Dean graphically produces an image of bounty within the binds of a self-contained potted plant. Often during the Depression, stories of resilience and individualized prosperity were seen as fodder for those who had little. These success stories inspired others to think outside of the box and initiate means for self-contained preservation. Dean was born in 1907 in Spokane, Washington and lived there until 1927. He then moved to San Francisco and enrolled in the California School of Fine Art. During the Depression, he was active in the WPA.

PeriodDepression Era

Published ReferencesOther Collections: University Museum of Contemporary Art at UMASS Amherst

Signed"Malletta Dean 1937" in pencil, lower right

Locations