Easter Island
Watercolor by John Lavalle

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Easter Island
Easter Island
Easter Island
John Lavalle, A.W.S. (1896-1971)
Easter Island
American: 1966
Watercolor on paper
Signed lower right: “John Lavalle, AWS/ Easter Island 1966”
15 x 20.75 inches, overall
14.25 x 19.5 inches, image
Sold, please inquire as to the availability of similar items.

Original watercolor painting of the moai monoliths on Easter Island, situated on a grassy hill. The texture and mass of these imposing structures, casting deep shadows before them in the strong tropical sun, are deftly conveyed by the artist.

Scattered over the coastal landscape of Easter Island stand nearly 900 giant heads, which the native people call moai. Carved from volcanic rock, they have captured the imagination of Westerners since the first European explorers encountered them in 1722. Believed to have been erected between the years 1400 and 1600, their original meaning and purpose remains unknown, though anthropologists have raised the possibilities of their representing ancestors or chiefs. Their large size perhaps casts them as symbolic mediators between humankind and the gods in the heavens. How the islanders accomplished the awesome task of transporting these huge structures from the quarry to various sites also remains a mystery.

John Lavalle was a painter and illustrator born in Nahant, Massachusetts, working in oils and watercolors. He received a bachelor of arts degree from Harvard University, studied art at the Boston Museum School, and at the Academy Julien in Paris. Lavalle served with the U.S. Air Service as a first lieutenant in World War I as a bombing pilot, and in World War II he served with the Air Force in 1942-43. Lavalle served as a U.S. Army artist, and the Air Force Collection includes 11 watercolors depicting air battles of World War II. He also illustrated two books, Mediterranean Sweep (1944) and Bay Window Ballads (1935). He was a member of the Boston Society of Watercolor Painters from 1927 to 1942, but by the late 40s was living in New York. He exhibited widely during his lifetime and his works are in numerous museum collections, including the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the United States Air Force Collection, Harvard University and the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton, New York. He was a member of the American Watercolor Society.

References:

Falk, Peter Hastings, ed. Who Was Who in American Art. Madison, Connecticut: Sound View Press, 1985. pp. 360-361.

“John Lavalle.” The United States Air Force Art Collection. 2002. http://www.afapo.hq.af.mil/artists/artistsdetail.cfm?Letter=L&value=364 (26 May 2004).

“Stone Giants.” Nova. November 2000. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/easter/civilization/giants.html (26 May 2004).