Tag: prints

Designer Desire: John Frederick Greenwood

Montage of John Frederick artworks

Why have we not heard of him prior to this week?! John Frederick Greenwood (1885-1954) was born in Rochdale – Justin’s home town.

He was a woodcut artist, copperplate engraver, etcher, illustrator and water-colourist (signing his works ‘John F. Greenwood’).

He studied at Shipley and Bradford Schools of Art (1904-08) and at the Royal College of Art in London (1908-11).

For a short while, Greenwood taught at Batley School of Art before moving on to Battersea Polytechnic (1912-27), Bradford School of Art (1927-37) and was Head of the Design School at Leeds College of Art until his retirement in 1948. Greenwood died in Ilkley in 1954.

In 1982, an exhibition entitled Wood Engravings and Woodcuts by John F. Greenwood and his Contemporaries was held at Bradford Art Galleries and Museums.

He beautifully illustrated a number of books including Twenty-Four Woodcuts of Cambridge, A Short History of Ely Cathedral, A Short History of St. Mary’s, Hitchin. In 1952, he authored his own book, The Dales Are Mine, copies of which are currently available on Abe Books and Amazon.

Examples of his work is in the collections of the Ashmolean, Bradford Museums and Galleries, Brooklyn Museum, Leeds Art Gallery and the V&A.

Image credits:
Annex galleries |

Auction Alert: The Affordable Art Sale – A Summer Show

Angela Harding, Early Nesters screenprint for sale at The Affordable Art Sale - A Summer Show

This week’s auction that we’ve chosen to highlight is The Affordable Art Sale – A Summer Show taking place at Cheffins on 29 July 2021, beginning at 10am.

Don’t forget, you can leave a commission bid in advance or bid live online; there’s no need to be there in person.

Below are some of the lots that stand-out to us:

Patrick Caulfield, Oh! If one of Them, some fine evening, would try

Edward Bawden, Billingsgate Fish Market

Angela Harding, Early Nesters screenprint

  • Lot 249: Angela Harding, Early Nesters
    Estimate: £40 – £60 + fees
    Signed ‘Angela Harding II’ (lower right); numbered 56/75 (lower left) screenprint, unframed 54 x 59cm

Aubrey Beardsley, unframed print from Oscar Wilde's Salome, The Woman in the Moon

Designer Desire: Sadao Watanabe

Montage of Sadao Watanabe prints

Sadao Watanabe (1913-1996) was a Japanese printmaker. He specialised in biblical scenes produced in the mingei (民芸) aesthetic.

Watanabe was baptised into the Christian faith (on Christmas Day) at the age of seventeen. He presents Christian narratives in a Japanese setting. For example, his Last Supper artwork shows Jesus and his disciples wearing kimono and dining on sushi and sake.

I would most like to see them [his prints] hanging where people ordinarily gather, because Jesus brought the gospel for the people

He often used the traditional stencilling method known as Katazome to produce his prints which he learned during his time as an apprentice in a dyers’ workshop.

At first I used mainly black and white pigments, but I was deeply moved by the encouragement of my teachers and colleagues. However, try as I might, I was not able to use other colors successfully until suddenly one day yellow and red pigments took the Japanese paper. I felt as though a new door had opened.

His works have been exhibited all over the world; from the British Museum to MOMA in New York and the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo to the Vatican Museum. There’s a travelling exhibition of his work (in the USA) that is due to be shown in Austin, Texas and Hilton Head, South Carolina in 2021.

Prints can be found on eBay and Etsy.

There are a few books and exhibition catalogues available given over to the works of Watanabe including Beauty Given by Grace: The Biblical Prints of Sadao Watanabe, Heeding the Voice of Heaven: Sadao Watanabe Biblical Stencil Prints and PRINTING THE WORD The Art of Watanabe Sadao, an Exhibition of Prints from the Collection of Anne H. H. Pyle. Search for them on Abe Books and Amazon.

Portrait of Sadao Watanabecredit

Additional image credits:
Bowden Collections | Lambs Quay Gallery

Designer Desire: Suzanne Parry

Montage of Suzanne Parry limited-edition linocut prints

Suzanne Parry is an artist who creates limited-edition linocut prints which she sells on Etsy and direct via her Facebook page.

Each hand-made run consists of a mere 25 prints. Her subject matter is often on a Welsh theme; daffodils, Blaenavon coal, Hay-on-Wye, Welsh rugby and Skomer Island puffins.

As a printmaker living in Wales, I love walking and cycling through the natural and industrial landscape, and find it inspiring for the designs of my lino prints.

To create a print, I work first on the design using photographs and sketches. Then I transfer my design directly onto a block of lino, and hand carve the image using lino tools. Next, using a roller. Finally, I lay paper over the lino, and print by hand using the back of a spoon, or a small baren. I repeat the printing process at least 25 times to produce a limited edition of the image and sign each print by hand.
Each of the 25 prints in the edition is an original, not a reproduction. The nature of the hand-made process means that there will be minor variations between prints.