Raphael Club donates print to UIMA in honor of 125th anniversary

On Sunday, March 29, UIMA staff gathered with members of the Raphael Club, a local art group, to celebrate the Club's gift to the UIMA of American printmaker Helen Hyde's woodcut "The Bath," 1905, donated in honor of the Club's 125th anniversary. The reception was held in Raphael Club secretary Linda Paul's beautiful home and attended by many Museum supporters, as well as University of Iowa Provost Wallace Loh's wife, Barbara Loh.

The print was selected by Paul and UIMA Chief Curator Kathleen Edwards at the International Fine Print Dealers Association print fair in New York last October. One of the best known and most successful American printmakers of the early 20th century, Hyde (1868-1919) lived in Japan for the majority of the 15 years between 1899 and 1914 and was strongly influenced by Japanese art throughout her career. It is also clear that she saw some of Mary Cassatt's early paintings, which incorporated elements of Japanese perspective, pattern and content.

You can take a look at some of the pictures from the reception in the slide show above.

--Claire Lekwa, UIMA Marketing and Media Intern