William S. Rice: Watercolors Boxed Notecard Assortment

Perhaps best known for his California block prints, Arts and Crafts artist William S. Rice was also a brilliant watercolorist. He would make his name there as an artist and devoted educator, using his skillfully drafted drawings as instructive tools. His work as a teacher allowed ample time for travel and art, and Rice usually painted en plein air, faithfully recording the beauty of the western landscape—as shown in the four landscapes reproduced for this set of notecards. Contains five each of the following notecards: Mirror Lake, Yosemite Valley, 1901 Armstrong Grove—Guerneville, Afternoon Sunlight, 1909 A Glimpse Thru the Pines, Deer Park, 1915 A Sentinel of the Timberline, n.d.

William S. Rice

William Seltzer Rice (American, 1873–1963) found endless inspiration in nature, creating a vast number of watercolors, drawings, photographs, and prints. He moved to his adopted home of Northern California in 1900, just before the region’s Arts and Crafts movement ignited. A prolific watercolorist, Rice taught at various San Francisco Bay Area schools, including the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland—a center for the movement. He became devoted to block printing for its suitability to the Arts and Crafts ethos of making artwork available to a wide audience at modest cost. Being a skilled craftsman as well as an artist, Rice designed, carved, and printed the blocks all himself. Today his masterful artwork can be found in public and private collections worldwide.