The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Marsh Moon

Marsh Moon

c. 1915
(American, 1873–1963)
Image: 13.8 x 19.1 cm (5 7/16 x 7 1/2 in.); Sheet: 18.7 x 16.1 cm (7 3/8 x 6 5/16 in.)
Location: not on view
  • In this unique image executed in black oil-based ink using both additive and subtractive techniques, we see a picturesque landscape with characteristic compositional devices, in this case a large tree to one side framing the view to a body of water with a full moon hovering on the horizon.

    The print is supported by a sheet of China paper, or Chiné. China paper is characterized as having been made with papermaking fibers indigenous to China, namely bamboo or some combination of bamboo, mulberry, and rice straw. The paper's visual and physical attributes typically include a cool white color, a soft limp hand indicative of an unsized sheet, and a two-sided character that is smooth on one side and textured with brush marks on the other—features produced from brushing the still damp paper against a smooth rigid surface to dry. Chine papers are often thin; this sheet is medium thick with a strong texture from the brush marks and contains an even dispersion of numerous large fibers.

    Monotypes are printed from a smooth featureless surface. In this case the size and shape of the matrix, its rounded corners, and the presence of a slight plate mark indicate that a metal plate (likely copper) and double-roller (intaglio) press were used to make this image, as is customary. Gross and microscopic textures in the ink are dependent on the ink's consistency and thickness and its manipulation on the smooth matrix.

    For drawing the image on the plate, extensive reductive work was used, brush marks to smear and lift ink are clearly visible in the foreground and the complete removal of ink with a sharper implement resulted in white lines for detail and highlights. With magnification the action of lifting the sheet off the plate after transfer in the press and essentially stretching the still tacky ink are visible in the thicker ink layers and netlike patterns persist even in the finest ink deposits. Perhaps the most intriguing texture is seen in the uniform background tone comprising a relatively thin ink layer that coats the surface in the manner of a dense plate tone. With magnification this layer is observed to carry a very subtle grain which may be the chaotic accumulation of numerous hand/palm and fingerprints.
  • ?–?
    Lesley Rice (wife of the artist's son)
    ?–2013
    (Catherine E. Burns Fine Prints, Oakland, CA), sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    September 3, 2013–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Monotypes: Painterly Prints. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (May 31-October 11, 2015).
  • {{cite web|title=Marsh Moon|url=false|author=William S. Rice|year=c. 1915|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2013.61