Rare Map Created by the "Silhouette Lady"

"Scissor-Cut Picture Map of Key West Florida",

This charming map is a printed edition of scissor-cut art, in which each individual element was cut out of black paper and pasted onto a white background. The silhouettes depict important locations in Key West, including the US Naval Base, the Convent of Mary Immaculate, the Casa Marina Hotel, and Fort Taylor. Also included are whimsical images of flamingos, palm trees, sea turtles, and a pirate. At bottom right is a numbered key to 34 images in the map.

Phoebe Weeks Hazlewood (1885–1954) was an American artist who was known for her scissor-cut work, in which she cut silhouettes out of black paper and presented them on contrasting backgrounds. Born in North Dakota, she later moved to upstate New York where she became known as the "Silhouette Lady," and was even commissioned to make paper silhouettes of President Coolidge, Amelia Earhart, and Babe Ruth. During the height of her career she presented her work at exhibitions in the Grand Central Gallery in Syracuse and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. In the late 1920s, Hazlewood moved to Dade City, Florida with her husband, Lewis Hazlewood, who passed away in 1937. Phoebe moved to Key West in 1939, married Henry Morse in 1945, and opened an art gallery in Key West the following year, allowing her to demonstrate and sell her art.

Hazlewood's works are not commonly found on the market, and we have not found any other examples of this map available on the market or in institutions.

References:

Condition: B+

A bright sheet with extraneous creasing and a bit of soiling at bottom left.