Artwork Page for The Jersey Shore

Details / Information for The Jersey Shore

The Jersey Shore

c. 1937

Mabel A. Hewit

(American, 1903–1984)
Culture
America
Medium
color woodcut
Support
Cream(3) laid imitation Japanese paper
Measurements
Sheet: 44.8 x 34.6 cm (17 5/8 x 13 5/8 in.); Image: 28.7 x 18.8 cm (11 5/16 x 7 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William Jurey in memory of Mabel A. Hewit 2003.367
Copyright
© Mabel A. Hewit
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Hewit printed with watercolor on damp, good-quality Japanese printing papers. Because the colors dried as they lost water both to the absorbent wood substrate and to the air, she had to apply color to the block and quickly transfer the color to the paper by rubbing the back of the sheet. The technique is tedious and time consuming, but each impression is a unique handmade object. Hewit was an excellent colorist, so her prints include a broad spectrum of matte hues ranging from intense to neutral and translucent to opaque. Speckles of white paper show through thin layers of color, providing a unifying softness while brightening the image. To obtain more solidly colored areas, Hewit printed shapes more than once.
A vertically oriented color woodcut depicts a geometric industrial landscape with blocks of color outlined in white. In the foreground, a mustard yellow dock meets dark blue water at a sharp diagonal. Muted tan and purple houses cluster in the midground beside two tall, dark maroon cylinders. A water tower with a yellow roof stands beside stylized green trees, while purple hills rise beneath a textured, dark blue sky.

The Jersey Shore

c. 1937

Mabel A. Hewit

(American, 1903–1984)
America

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