A striking black and white woodcut by Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva, featuring tall cypress trees framing a stone staircase.

Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva was a central figure in the revival of the woodcut technique in early twentieth-century Russian art. Her work often focuses on the interplay between stark silhouettes and negative space, a style heavily influenced by her training in Paris and her appreciation for Japanese ukiyo-e prints. This composition captures a path flanked by tall, slender cypress trees, leading the eye toward a set of stone steps. The artist employs a high-contrast aesthetic, using solid blocks of black ink to define the vertical forms of the trees against the stark white of the paper. By stripping away unnecessary detail, Ostroumova-Lebedeva focuses on the structural rhythm of the scene. The trees act as dark, imposing sentinels, framing the architectural elements of the stairs and the wrought-iron railings. The precision of the carving allows for clean edges, which creates a sense of stillness and formal clarity. This print demonstrates her ability to transform a simple outdoor view into a balanced graphic arrangement. Her approach avoids the painterly softness common in other media of the period, opting instead for a disciplined, linear quality that prioritises composition over texture. The result is a work that feels both modern and rooted in the traditions of classical printmaking, offering a quiet, meditative view of a Mediterranean-style garden path.