Art by Medium: Mulberry Paper

"Grave of Santa Anna's Leg" Original Woodblock Print, Signed Artist's Proof Boldly colored woodblock print by Carol Summers (American, 1925-2016). This piece is a segment of a grave, with a headstone that has a skull and cross. There are two bright green plants flanking the headstone. Below the headstone and plants, there is a large arched blue shape, with a crescent moon and stars. A red leg, bent at the knee, cuts across the blue arch. Signed "Carol Summers" along the right edge of the blue shape. Numbered and titled "A/P Grave of Sant Anna's Leg" along the left edge of the blue shape. Presented in a silver colored aluminum frame. Frame size: 32.245"H x 27.25"W Paper size: 29.75"H x 24.5"W Carol Summers (1925-2016) has worked as an artist throughout the second half of the 20th century and into the first years of the next, outliving most of his mid-century modernist peers. Initially trained as a painter, Summers was drawn to color woodcuts around 1950 and it became his specialty thereafter. Over the years he has developed a process and style that is both innovative and readily recognizable. His art is known for it’s large scale, saturated fields of bold color, semi-abstract treatment of landscapes from around the world and a luminescent quality achieved through a printmaking process he invented. In a career that has extended over half a century, Summers has hand-pulled approximately 245 woodcuts in editions that have typically run from 25 to 100 in number. His talent was both inherited and learned. Born in 1925 in Kingston, a small town in upstate New York, Summers was raised in nearby Woodstock with his older sister, Mary. His parents were both artists who had met in art school in St. Louis. During the Great Depression, when Carol was growing up, his father supported the family as a medical illustrator until he could return to painting. His mother was a watercolorist and also quite knowledgeable about the different kinds of papers used for various kinds of painting. Many years later, Summers would paint or print on thinly textured paper originally collected by his mother. From 1948 to 1951, Carol Summers trained in the classical fine and studio arts at Bard College and at the Art Students League of New York. He studied painting with Steven Hirsh and printmaking with Louis Schanker. He admired the shapes and colors favored by early modernists Paul Klee (Sw: 1879-1940) and Matt Phillips (Am: b.1927- ). After graduating, Summers quit working as a part-time carpenter and cabinetmaker (which had supported his schooling and living expenses) to focus fulltime on art. That same year, an early abstract, Bridge No. 1 was selected for a Purchase Prize in a competition sponsored by the Brooklyn Museum. In 1952, his work (Cathedral, Construction and Icarus) was shown the first time at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in an exhibition of American woodcuts...

Shin-machi Bridge at Hodogaya - Japanese Woodcut Print on Rice Paper Woodblock print of travelers on a bridge by Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797-185...

Mitate of a Daimyo's Procession Crossing Ryogoku Bridge - Woodblock Print Woodblock print of a procession by Keisai Eisen (Japanese, 1790–1848). Terrific triptych of a procession of...

Kiyomizu Temple, Scenes of Famous Places along Tôkaidô Road - Woodblock on Paper Full Title: Kyoto: Kiyomizu Temple (Kyô Kiyomizudera), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along...

"Enshoku Sanju-roku Kasen" (Thirty-six Enchanting Flowers) Woodblock on paper Elegant woodblock print by Toyohara Kunuchika (Japanese, 1835-1900). Three women are in talking with each other inside, while a man waits outside holding a bag of some kind. The colors in this piece are rich and saturated, primarily blues, greens, and purple. Mat size: 16"H x 20"W Paper size: 14.75"H x 9.88"W Born in 1835, Toyohara Kunichika grew up in the Kyobashi district of Edo in the midst of merchants and artisans. In 1848, at age 13, he was accepted as an apprentice into the studio of Utagawa Kunisada I...

Sumiyoshi: Dengaku dance performed during an Onda ceremony - Woodblock Print Bright woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797-1858). In this scene, two dancers with swords and fans are facing each other, in the center of a courtyard. There are spectators surrounding them, including nobles in black clothing on a balcony. Presented in a new off-white mat with foamcore backing. Mat size: 16"H x 20"W Paper size: 9.63"H x 14.5W" Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858, sometimes called Ando Hiroshige) was the second of the two great masters of the Japanese landscape woodblock print...

Set of 12 woodblock prints in colors on handmade, laid mulberry paper, 6 3/4 x 10 1/4 inches (170 x 258 mm), printed in Ka-ei 4 (1851). Each print with minor handling wear, otherwise in excellent condition with bright and fresh color, and with details printed in silver ink. The images themselves contain several illusive characters indicating the publisher which are obfuscated by figures, as intended. Presented loose, as issued. A fine set. The astrological commentary print has a large and meandering blind stamp with a bird and palm frond motif. This print lists various phrases concerning the Twelve Zodiac Animals as historically counted in Japan, and appears to include erotic commentary on the traits of people born under each of the twelve signs. These Shunga images were issued in books that paralleled (in an erotic fashion...

"First Horse Day, 1896" - Chiyoda Palace - Japanese Woodblock by Chikanobu Yoshu Colorful and expressive court scne by Toyohara Chikanobu,"Yoshu" (Japanese, 1838-1912). This is the r...

Stage 48 of the 53 Stages of the Tokaido - Japanese Woodblock on Rice Paper Woodblock print of clothing vendors by Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797-1858). Originally printed in 183...

Collagraph layered with mulberry paper by Patricia A. Pearce (American, b. 1948). Numbered, dated, titled, and signed along the bottom edge, "1/5 Stage 1 Kimono 3 Patricia A Pearce" (images altered for better viewing). Presented in a new off-white mat with foam core backing. Mat size: 30"H x 25"W Paper size: 27"H x 22"W Patricia Pearce (American, b. 1948) is a California artist who attended San Francisco State and UC Irvine and was the Adjunct Professor of Fine Art at the College of San Mateo. Her early work on paper explored images of garments using various printmaking techniques. Later, she began to work mainly in collagraph and monotype prints creating singular images of kimonos and ribbons in her subtle shifting, subdued pieces are constructed in a three-step process. Awards include Grade Prize, 3rd Biennial Exhibition of Prints, Wakayama Japan; Grant, Peninsula Community Foundation. Collections: Nieman Marcus, San Francisco; Wells Fargo, San Francisco Exhibitions...

Kiyomi Barrier & Seiken Temple Near Okitsu - Japanese Woodcut Print on Rice Paper Woodblock print of boats in a harbor by Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797-1858). Originally publish...

"Candy Seller" (飴売りうずまつ 市村羽左衛門) Japanese Woodblock on Rice Paper This piece depicts Ichimura Uzaemon as the Candy Peddler Uzumatsu. He is playing a stringed instrument (the shamisen...