The Sea - A Memory

Woodcut printed from two blocks on wove paper.

Artist’s proof, no known edition. Seemingly scarce, as is most of the artist’s work.

The tangle of masts and darker sea immediately below the hulls of the boats, which are hardly defined, are printed from a separate block and contrast against the foggy moonlit sky. This simple composition belies a complex understanding of woodblock printing and woodgrain. The boats and darker water are printed with a block for which the wood texture is only lightly distressed, therefore printing more darkly. In the lightly inked foreground, which is part of the second block, the plank has been sanded almost smooth, so as to print almost uniformly gray, with only a few lines of white suggesting ripples. The sky is made to look like it is melding with the boats, but these have clearly been printed on top of this hazy background, which uses woodgrain to suggest streaks of fog and moonlit clouds. This composition of a quiet sea at night is deceivingly simple, masking mastery of the woodblock printing by an elusive artist.

Signed, titled, and annotated in pencil.