Scene through wood : a century of modern wood engraving / Anne Desmet, RA.
Publisher: Oxford : Ashmolean Museum, 2020Description: 256 pages : illustrations ; 28 cmContent type:- text
- still image
- unmediated
- volume
- 9781910807378
- 1910807370
Item type | Current library | Collection | Call number | Status | Barcode | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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CGLAS Library | Yellow | 761.2 DES (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | Available | 12369 |
Exhibition catalogue held at Ashmolean Museum, 28 March to 12 July 2020.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Wood Engraving -- Origins -- A Sense of Scale -- Commercial Design -- The Theatre of Life -- Public Spectacle -- Work and Play -- Construction and Destruction -- Storytelling -- The Natural World -- Dramatic Landscape -- Tree-life -- Flora -- Fauna -- The Built Environment -- Urban Life -- The Grand Tour -- Architectural Invention -- Abstraction and Detail
The Ashmolean Museum houses one of the most extensive collections of wood engravings in the world. The collection effectively began with the gift in 1964, by Arthur Mitchell, of over 3,000 prints, including a large group of wood engravings. During the 1980s and 1990s, it expanded remarkably with acquisitions of large groups of prints, often as gifts from the artists, resulting in a succession of monographic exhibitions on some of the most important wood engravers. They included John Farleigh (1986), John Buckland Wright (1990), Clare Leighton (1992), Monica Poole (1993) and Anne Desmet (1998). A key point in this period of expansion was the acquisition of a comprehensive body of work by Gertrude Hermes and Blair Hughes-Stanton in 1995 from the artists' family, which resulted in a memorable exhibition organised by Katharine Eustace. More recently, the Ashmolean has formed a close partnership with the Society of Wood Engravers (SWE) and has been keeping the collection up to date by acquiring work by members, both at the Society's annual exhibition and privately. This exhibition catalogue covers the entire history of wood engraving, including every major artist of the genre.