Hooded Owl 1953

Milton Avery created this ‘Hooded Owl’ print in 1953, using linoleum. This material, developed in the 19th century, was originally a type of flooring, prized for its durability. To make this print, Avery would have used special blades to cut away the linoleum, leaving the lines of the owl raised up in relief. These would then be inked and printed. The relatively soft nature of the material meant that Avery could easily produce the rounded, pared-down forms of the owl. Linoleum prints like this one exist in a fascinating zone, between fine art and craft. On the one hand, there’s the graphic image, entirely in keeping with Avery’s modernist sensibility. Yet on the other, there's the engagement with what was then an everyday material, and a manual printmaking process more akin to handicraft than the mechanized modes of production of the mid-20th century. Looking closely at the print, you can see the marks of this process, in the slight imperfections of the inking and the edges of the lines.