recto: color-stained woodblock with image of figure molding a blue pot on a potter's wheel; figure wears a pink shirt, burgundy bottoms, and is surrounded by blue and brown pots; gold brick background verso: figure wearing a wide-brimmed hat and red shirt in LLQ, holding a rod; two cows in background in a field; figure in right center pushing plow; smaller figure standing in a field in center left; rising mounds of foliage in URQ and ULQ; blue sky

%C2%A9 Mabel A. Hewit

Double-sided white-line woodblock matrix for "Rosita", 1957

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Mabel Hewit likely met the potter Rosita on a trip to Mexico or Guatemala in the 1950s. Notice how her rounded hat echoes the pots piled behind her. As the color-stained woodblock indicates, Hewit printed Rosita from a single block, carving grooves to keep adjacent colors from mixing. These grooves print white, hence the term “white-line woodcut.”

Hewit learned the technique in 1933 in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where it originated. An analysis of 33 surviving Hewit blocks revealed that she apparently used cast-off wood from lumber mills, construction sites, and furniture makers. The thrifty Hewit usually carved both sides of a block; the back of this one has a farming scene.

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Details
Title
Double-sided white-line woodblock matrix for "Rosita"
Artist Life
1903–1984
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2019.36.2
Provenance
(Mary Ryan Gallery, New York); sold to MIA, 2019.
Curator Approved

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recto: color-stained woodblock with image of figure molding a blue pot on a potter's wheel; figure wears a pink shirt, burgundy bottoms, and is surrounded by blue and brown pots; gold brick background verso: figure wearing a wide-brimmed hat and red shirt in LLQ, holding a rod; two cows in background in a field; figure in right center pushing plow; smaller figure standing in a field in center left; rising mounds of foliage in URQ and ULQ; blue sky

© Mabel A. Hewit

Because of © restrictions, we can only show you a small image of this artwork.