so one of the challenges of woodcuts–posting about them, looking at them, trying to wrap one’s head around how they are even made–is that they are so unbelievably detailed, in a sculptural way that is unexpected even after studying them for years. once, maybe 10 years ago, an art professor took us on a field trip to the conservation room of a gallery in baltimore, and the conservationist casually handed me the block of wood that Durer had used to make one of his prints. i stopped breathing for a moment and was overwhelmed by such a tangible connection to history, but i’m sad to say that i don’t remember looking too closely at the wood block, or even which print it became. it was red, i remember that, and i wondered if it were red paint, or wax, or some preservative. i didn’t ask, probably because i couldn’t breathe. i guess i’m more reverent about art than about the religious iconography it depicts.
what else, what else? i haven’t though critically about art in a few years. sharp knives, i guess, you’d have to have to make wood cuts. i’m curious to know the connection between “high art” woodcuts and ” folk art” whittling. Durer was German, and I know it’s a heck of a leap to connect him with little whittled animals and nativities at the Christkindlmarkt. i’m going to research that.
anyway, this picture was in my 10th grad algebra book, maybe with something about the matrix above the guy’s head. at the time, i wished i could study more about the picture and not learn about matrices. so now is the time to start.
