Last time I wrote a blog post, I wrote it about Richard Welling’s linoleum blocks. I mistakenly wrote that we don’t have prints made from the blocks. I would like to formally apologize for that. We actually do have linocuts of most of the Welling linoleum blocks. I just got through cataloging them, and they are really beautiful.
I wanted to present a few of them here today, so you can see what they look like when they’re all finished.
This image of New York City depicts the skyscrapers of Lower Manhattan. On the left is the linoleum block and on the right is the print, called Manhattan Art Deco. It shows the Lower Manhattan skyline rendered in black and silver ink. It is so delightfully graphic; its unforgiving straight lines are perfect for the skyscrapers of New York City. At the left is the Staten Island Ferry terminal. The two tallest skyscrapers (those with towers) are the Trump Building and the AIG Building.
Here we have the Manhattan Bridge. We have two different prints of this, one in black and one in gray. I think that the different colors make for two completely different interpretations of the image. The gray is soft. It’s the bridge seen through fog. The black is harsh. It’s a silhouette, or maybe nighttime.
I wanted to show this one because the carving is really something. I don’t know how many of you have made lino blocks, but I’ve done it a few times and it’s really easy to mess up. And once you’ve made a cut where you didn’t mean to make a cut, you can’t exactly take it back. Thus, the level of detail on this one is great. I love how perfect the ruler lines and typewriter keys look.
Tasha Caswell is a Project Cataloger/Researcher at the Connecticut Historical Society
inside the CHS 