posted on 15 Oct 2024

Woodcuts by Per Amann

I am particularly fond of woodcuts as a method of illustration – they’re dramatic, often superbly expressive and devilishly difficult to do well. The art of the woodblock carver in translating a picture or drawing onto a woodblock that will print a positive image the right way around always seems to me to be absurdly underrated.

I personally think that the Japanese artists of the eighteenth century Edo or Floating World era – Hiroshige, Hokusai, Utamaro etc. – represent the very peak of woodblock printing but I also recognise that artists from the West also produced some fabulous stuff over very different periods of time. I like the fact that Per Amann has pulled together a collection of these examples from a wide spectrum of time periods and artists that showcase some of the lesser known material.

This large folio book published by Artline Editions in 1989 is not, it can reasonably be argued, printed on the very finest paper and the text is reproduced on an oddly large format font and I found this slightly disconcerting. But what cannot be denied is the extraordinary quality of the woodcut examples that have been selected for this volume. The black and white and colour prints are very well printed with deep rich blacks and subtle, faithful colouring.

The content is set out chronologically from the early pre-Renaissance days, through the Reformation and on to Expressionism and Modern times. The book also deals with more generic periods and developments such as those times when the woodblock print fell out of favour or when colour printing was introduced. The text from the established art writer, Per Amann, is generally informative and seems to have been pretty well translated by Alastair Macdonald. The book also has an informative and easy to follow set of biographical notes that provide a short and well condensed background to each artist.

I personally like the range of chosen materials from the late 19th and 20th century because they tend to challenge the sort of direct representational orthodoxies established by artists such a Durer or Crannach. For me, woodblock printing is at its most exciting in the West when it is challenging expectations and seeking out the experimental, the impressionist or the expressionist.

Being able to track the development of the woodcut print over the ages in this easy and accessible format is something of a treat because I doubt I would have the tenacity to search out this kind of information via biographies or collections of the individual artists themselves. The fact that it doesn’t skimp on the prints themselves and there is plenty of space allocated to the pictures is a great plus as far as I’m concerned because I think there are way too many art books that try to stuff too much material into smaller, more confined formats.

You’ll pay between £20- £25 on line for a second hand copy in decent condition but if you’re new to the subject or just getting interested this is probably as a good a starting point as any.

Terry Potter

October 2024