In the late nineteenth century, the broad appeal of Japanese art in western culture merged with the heightened interest in craftsmanship promoted by the Arts and Crafts reform movement, resulting in the transformation of the ancient art of the woodblock print. American artists, embracing the ideals of the English Arts and Crafts movement, blended traditional techniques from Europe and Japan with their own inventive strategies to forge individual styles. They formed printing societies and participated in exhibitions both here and abroad, as well as spreading their knowledge of the craft through books, how-to articles, and classes.
The later nineteenth and early-twentieth century color woodblock prints in the Two Red Roses Foundation’s collection represent a broad range of styles and sensibilities. The most important names working in the medium at the time are represented, including Arthur Wesley Dow, Gustave Baumann, Margaret Patterson, William Seltzer Rice, Frances Hammell Gearhart, Edna Boies Hopkins, Eliza Draper Gardiner, and J. B. O. Nordfeldt.
In 2018, the TRRF produced a catalogue of its amazing print collection, Color Woodblock Prints from the Two Red Roses Foundation, written by Andrew Stevens, formerly Distinguished Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs at the Chazen Museum of Art. The book examines the early inspirations of Japanese and European prints and important teachers and innovators of the craft, as well as a discussion of the new methods and styles that grew of out of a group of artists centered on Cape Cod, the Provincetown Printers, which included Hopkins, Nordfeldt, and Blanche Lazzell.
The objects shown below represent a small sample of the woodblock collection displayed in the museum. Click or tap for a larger view. Please note that not all works shown here are on display.
