The Daikon and the Baby 1903

Helen Hyde made this colourful print, The Daikon and the Baby, sometime in the late 1800s using woodblocks. I love the flat planes and the graphic quality, which feels so contemporary even now. I imagine Helen, with her tools, carving away at the woodblocks, carefully layering the colors to bring this image to life. Look at the baby’s little face, all scrunched up and focused on that giant daikon radish. What’s going through their mind? What does the daikon taste like? The colours are great: the earthy greens of the leaves, the pop of yellow in the baby’s garment, and the black patterned kimono. It all works together to create such a charming and intimate scene. I can see echoes of Japanese printmaking traditions here, which, of course, were having a huge impact on painters at this time, but Helen’s got her own thing going on. It’s an interesting mix. We are always influencing and learning from each other.