Special Exhibitions
Against the Grain
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Special Exhibitions |
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Against the Grain |
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Against the Grain: Woodcuts from the Collection
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History of the Woodcut
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History of the Woodcut Woodcut is the oldest printmaking medium in the West. The Chinese invented handmade paper in the 1st or 2nd century BC and used wooden blocks to print images beginning in at least the 7th century AD. These crafts did not reach Europe until the 12th century, when the earliest woodcuts were printed on fabric. The first paper mill was established in Fabriano, Italy, in 1276, and by the early 15th century, a steady supply of paper was available and a multitude of woodcuts were produced.Although some images, like playing cards, were secular, most had religious subjects. These inexpensive prints-made by anonymous craftsmen and colored by hand sometimes using stencils-were sold at pilgrimage sites and fairs. Simple and direct, these images were meant for the spiritual edification of a mostly illiterate public and were pasted onto altarpieces and walls for personal devotion. Since the pictures were invested with near magical powers, the woodcuts were also used as amulets, sewn into clothing and placed in books and other personal objects. Cheap, abundant, and utilitarian, relatively few prints survived; a single image woodcut on a single full sheet of paper, like this Pietà , are exceedingly rare. Dürer and the 16th Century Titian Color 19th-Century Revival 20th-Century Experiments Woodcut in America Wood Engraving and Linocut Woodcut Today Page 1 of 2 | On the next page: Related Programs |
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