WOOD

No one knows for certain what turned late Medieval minds toward the use of the woodblock to create multiple printed images. The rise of cities and towns, a populace with means and desire, previous use of the method to ornament textiles, new technologies, and readily available paper all contributed to the block as disseminator of images. Once realized, its uses multiplied exponentially. Religious communities provided images of devotion even as carvers in the secular world produced playing cards. The printing press increased the block's importance, catering to an expanding audience clamoring for illustrated religious, classical, and scientific texts.

Today, although commercially long supplanted by other media, the rich history and unique aesthetic character of the woodblock print continues to attract artists, scholars, and the general public. Consisting of approximately 70 prints, blocks, and books, Wood is intended to serve these diverse audiences, providing both a primer and a meditation. The exhibition is divided thematically into three broad "ABCs":

• "Aesthetics of the Block" focuses on the woodblock's potential for graphic power, expressive intensity, and "legibility."
• "The Book and the Block" explores the block's 600 year relationship to word and narrative.
• "Color and the Block" examines the use of color, from hand-application in the 15th century to the influence of Japanese prints in the 19th and the broad use of color into the 20th and 21st centuries.

No material has a more intimate relationship with the human psyche than wood. Once living, endowed with spiritual force, it was the focus of some of humanity's oldest creative and communicative aspirations. An understanding of the block's history and unique characteristics reveals this unbroken link with the past, emphasizing commonalities even as contemporary artists continue to expand the medium's boundaries.

Käthe Schmidt Kollwitz (German, 1867–1945), Tod mit Frau im Schoss (Woman in the Lap of Death) (detail), as published for Jahrbuch der Originalgraphik, Berlin 1921, woodcut on wove paper, 92/150, Museum purchase with funds provided by Patricia and Charles Lontor in honor of Penelope Smith, and the Art Purchase Fund, Collection of Joslyn Art Museum

Fritz Eichenberg (American, 1901–1990), Heathcliff Under the Tree (detail), from Wuthering Heights, wood engraving on japan paper, Museum purchase with Funds Provided by Sally Lusk, Lenore Polack, E. James and Norma Fuller, Sara Foxley, and Bert W. and Renee Mehrer, in honor of Penelope Smith, 2007, Collection of Joslyn Art Museum

Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528), Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin (detail) from Life of the Virgin, 1510/11, woodcut on paper, Museum purchase, 1950, Collection of Joslyn Art Museum