Swans

Color woodcut on thick off-white laid paper.
References: This work is not listed in Bakker's 1989 and 1990 retrospective catalogs on the artist.
Edition unknown, but scarce today.
Signed and dated in the image, lower right.
An annotation on the verso, in pencil: Mrs E L Piper, 220 Danforth St, Porland ME, Box”.  The address still exists.

The sheet is trimmed to the border which is often the case with Patterson's woodcuts.
A fine impression with bright colors of this rare print.  The edges of the blocks showing strong embossing on the verso.

While most of Margaret Patterson's prints are florals, she does stray from this on occasion, and usually successfully.  This is the case here.  Her flock of peaceful swans bobs elegantly on rippling waters.  The use of the color of the paper as negative space to outline the birds, and the echoes of their movement in the water's surface, makes this one of Patterson's most outstanding and sought-after subjects.