Details
SUZIE ZUZEK (AMERICAN, 1920-2011)
El Morocco
watercolor, ink, and graphite on paper
30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm.) (unframed)
Executed in 1972.
Provenance
Created for Key West Hand Print Fabrics, Inc., Key West, Florida, 1972.
Acquired by Lilly Pulitzer, Inc., Palm Beach, Florida, sold Key West Hand Print Fabrics, Inc., 1985 to private owners.
Acquired from the above by the present owner, 2016.
Literature
Susan Brown and Caroline Rennolds Milbank, Suzie Zuzek for Lilly Pulitzer: The Artist Behind an Iconic American Fashion Brand, 1962–1985, New York, 2020, p. 136-137 (illustrated).
Exhibited
New York, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, Suzie Zuzek for Lilly Pulitzer: The Prints That Made the Fashion Brand, 1962–1985, June 2021–January 2022.
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Lot Essay

From a distance, El Morocco appears as a zebra print with polka dots. But taking a closer look reveals a highly-detailed microcosm of zebras in unique poses among yellow flowers and blade-shaped leaves. Exotic animal prints were extremely popular in the 1970s. Zuzek hopped on the trend, but ever the animal lover, her versions always show the animals whole and happy.

Zuzek was highly skilled at layering her designs with both line work and impressionistic strokes. The technique imparts a sense of depth to her art, increasing its complexity and appeal. While Zuzek typically painted her animal subjects in naturalistic colors, this motif was printed in ten different colorways and ended up on garments like an exuberant green and blue caftan.

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Suzie Zuzek: The Artist Behind Lilly Pulitzer
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