Backyard Corner 1930

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print, woodcut

print

woodcut

united-states

sketchbook drawing

realism

Dimensions 10 3/8 x 12 7/8 in. (26.35 x 32.7 cm) (image)14 3/8 x 18 1/4 in. (36.51 x 46.36 cm) (sheet)

Wanda Gág made this lithograph, Backyard Corner, using a rather unusual material: the Bavarian limestone. The image is rich in tonality, due to Gág's expert handling of the grease crayon, with which she drew directly onto the stone’s surface. Note the velvety blacks, and the nuanced grays – all achieved through careful control of pressure and layering. The limestone’s porous surface readily absorbs the greasy medium, allowing for printing of fine details, such as the blades of grass, and the various textures of the wooden implements. Consider the labor involved in creating this image. Lithography is a demanding process, requiring technical skill and meticulous execution. This print is not just a picture of humble implements, but a testament to the artist’s own work ethic. It asks us to look closely, appreciating the subtle beauty of the everyday, and the quiet dignity of hard work.

Comments

minneapolisinstituteofart over 1 year ago

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Backyard Corner could be Wanda Gág’s manifesto. Besides demonstrating her deep emotional attachment to things and places, it describes the activated space that she felt enveloped objects and connected them. This idea can be seen in the halo of concentric lines around the ax handle and the force-lines (her term) flowing from the buckets. These pulsing, vibrating lines knit these objects—and by extension their user—to the soil. In this way, the print conveys Gág’s personal credo of living close to the earth.