$480
Embroidery
NEEDELL, Philip Gregory
Color woodcut on laid paper, no date. Edition unknown, but certainly small. Most of Needell's color woodcuts are extremely scarce. We have yet to f...
View full detailsPhilip Gregory NEEDELL
Born in London in 1886, Philip Gregory Needell was a British artist whose printmaking was shaped by the techniques and compositional principles of Japanese woodblock printing. He carved and printed his own blocks, depicting the coastlines, harbors, villages, and landscapes of southern England and France with tonal color and a painterly sensitivity to atmosphere.
During the First World War, Needell served in the Royal Naval Reserve as a signalman aboard an armed merchant cruiser. He recorded naval life in sketches and paintings, and his experience at sea later informed his dramatic maritime subjects.
Needell exhibited his color woodcuts regularly with the Society of Graver Printers in Colour between 1927 and 1936. While much of his work is devoted to landscape and the sea, Embroidery reveals a more intimate and inventive vision: the closely observed figure, patterned tapestry, and concentrated act of handcraft are unified through color, rhythm, and design.