Nov 22, 2020
Matt Brown is a philosopher of mokuhanga. It can be so very easy to get lost in the technique and the minutiae of what we do that the philosophical elements of the art form can be lost. In my interview with printmaker and teacher Matt Brown we try to get to the heart of the woodblock print. Through Matt’s stories and his desire to understand his passion we move along various topics such as his inspirations, his way of working, and what exactly does “limits are form,” mean?
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Show Notes: all links are hyperlinked. Just click!
Matt Brown Fine Art - Matt’s
site dedicated to his space and the artists represented.
Ooloo Press: Matt Brown
Woodblock Prints site with history, shop, and gallery is a good
introduction to what Matt is doing.
Dartmouth College/Hood
Museum
Hiroshige 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō
The Phillips Collection Washington DC
Museum Of Fine Arts in Boston’s show of Kuniyoshi Utagawa (1798-1861), and Kunisada Utagawa (1786-1864) was a huge show for the museum and was very well received.
Suzuki
Harunobu (1724-1770) was one of the earliest printmakers who
made nishiki-e, or multi block prints.
Utamaro
Kitagawa (1753-1806) - a printmaker famous for his large head
prints or ōkubi-e, especially of women.
Paul Binnie’s Grand
Canyon print of 2007
Kevin Francis -
his website containing all relevant information regarding his work
and process.
David
Bull/Mokuhankan
Arthur Dow (1857-1922) - American teacher and printmaker who connected with academic of Japanese history and art Ernest Fenellosa (1853-1908) who introduced Dow to ukiyo-e. The above link from the Smithsonian shows the few prints Dow made. He also wrote a book called “Composition” that Matt brought up in our interview which is very good.
Frances Gearhart
(1869-1958) - a California based water-colourist and printmaker
whose prints are an excellent example of the vast landscape of the
California countryside. The link is of an excellent website
dedicated to her work.
Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950) - his encyclopedia
of woodblock prints is a go to in order to understand the
techniques of mokuhanga.
Walter J Philips (1884-1963) - one of the most important
printmakers in my opinion. English born but a career that was
cultivated here in Canada. Walter J Philips watercolour and
woodblock print landscapes, much like Frances Gearhart and her
California landscapes, show Canada in its splendour. He also made
his own tools and was largely self-taught. His catalogue raisonné is worth a
look.
Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011) - was an abstract painter who also
made woodcuts
in the 1970’s. Please check out frankenthalerfoundation.org
opening credit background music:
So Far So Good...So What by CIV (1995)
© Popular Wheat Productions
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