Renaissance Impressions: Chiaroscuro Woodcuts from the Collections of Georg Baselitz and the Albertina, Vienna

Fascinating exhibition at the Royal Academy of a particular type of print made using multiple woodblocks.

I must admit this is probably one for the Renaissance geeks but I loved it. It was so interesting to see the development of such as specific art form and how it developed. It is well worth watching the film. I find reading about a print technique quite difficult as things seem to get complicated quickly but seeing a current RA producing a picture gave such a good idea of what was involved and helped you appreciate the fine work. There were also some good examples where multiple versions of works had different base tones which showed what a difference it made to the final imagine. 

I was interested in the fact that many of the works were form the collection of George Baselitz as his own print work is included in a show at The British Museum at the moment.

I loved the originality of the early German artists although a lot of the work was heavily influence by Durer. I particular like an Adam and Even where frankly Adam was ‘coping a feel’! There was a nice mix of the fine art collector pieces and those works you felt might have pinned to a wall in a poorer house such as a lovely head of Christ.

The Italian artists seemed to be more about producing copies of painting for distribution but this was very fine work and the adding of tone from multiple blocks gave them an almost watercolor like quality.

However my favourites were the humble but rare works By Erasmus Loy which were architectural designs sold to stick onto furniture and paneling to give the image of marquetry, sixteenth century DIY.

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