1970s Selma Bluestein Poetry Modern Etching

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Selma Cohen Bluestein (1914-1985) mixed media multiple plate etching with embossing, aquatint and collagraph. The portrait is probably a self … Read more Selma Cohen Bluestein (1914-1985) mixed media multiple plate etching with embossing, aquatint and collagraph. The portrait is probably a self portrait by Bluestein with a stylized portrait printed over it. The print has been trimmed and is unsigned.

The artist: Selma and her husband Abe were active in the anarchist movement in the U.S. in the 20th century. Abe worked as a reporter for the Freie Arveiter Stimme, a Yiddish anarchist publication in New York, and Selma was an artist and worked with the WPA. They married as grandparents to secure their right to Social Security. She died in Croton-on-Hudson in 1985.

The Poet: Ruth Lisa Schechter's (1917-1989) "The Palm Has Many Lines" is printed in a section of the center. This poem is from "Near the Wall of Lion Shadows" published in 1966. Schechter was a gifted poet and a pioneer in the field of poetry therapy. She also lived in Croton on Hudson and founded the Croton Review.

The artist and the poet would have coexisted in the arts world of Croton for many years. See less