Wood Engraving and the Legacy of Dürer

23 Mar 2024

Overview

Anne Desmet was invited to curate “Scene through Wood: A Century of Modern Wood Engraving” for the Ashmolean Museum (and touring) to celebrate the centenary of the Society of Wood Engravers in 2020. Wood engraving is a historic printing technique with particular origins in England: developed to hitherto unseen finesse by Newcastle naturalist Thomas Bewick (1753-1828), but the medium has echoes further back in history - most notably in the woodcuts of Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528). Wood engravings (executed on end-grain wood with tools akin to those used for metal engraving) are notable for their fine detail and astounding tonal range whereas woodcuts (cut on the long-grain with special gouges and knives) are more usually associated with looser, more gestural work.

Dürer’s woodcuts, however, display all the technical range of wood engravings despite being cut on the plank. Desmet’s talk will offer a visual feast of wood engravings and will celebrate the artists who made them, including Thomas Bewick, William Blake, Samuel Palmer, Lucien Pissarro, Naum Gabo, Eric Ravilious, M C Escher, Gertrude Hermes, Clare Leighton, Paul and John Nash, Henry Moore, David Gentleman, Peter Blake and Anne Desmet while reflecting on the ongoing legacy owed by all these artists to Albrecht Dürer. 

Book now