Blanche Lazell first studied in New York with William Merritt Chase at the Art Students League and then in Paris with Fernand Leger, André L'hote and Albert Gleizes, where she was exposed to the most progressive artistic movements of the day. By 1915 Lazzell was a resident of Provincetown, Massachusetts and an active member of the Provincetown Art Association. Concurrant with the founding of the Provincetown Print Makers in 1915, Lazzell participated in a great revival of the color-woodcut, led by B.J.O. Nordfeldt. Between 1917 and 1955, the artist exhibited throughout the United States, Europe and Japan, receiving wide acclaim and critical praise. In addition to painting flowers and landscapes, Lazzell was a reknowned printmaker and designer of hooked rugs.

A rare early work dated 1918, Still Life with Jug and Oranges reveals the influence of Post-Impressionism and Fauvism with its brilliant palette, table-top composition and pointillist brushwork. In the following decades, the artist's work reflects an increasing tendency towards Cubism, and in the 1950s Lazzell became very interested in the theories of Hans Hoffman.