#thomasbewick

[starpointestudio]

Books I’m thankful to have (but need to finish reading!): “The Wood Engraver’s Self Portrait” by Bethan Stevens - oh so good at connecting Victorian wood engraving and contemporary culture. “Thomas Bewick Engraver & The Performance of Woodblocks” by @theflorinpress - a Bewick-era wood engraving materials tour de force - I love all the insights in this book. And “Into the Dark: Engravings” by Wesley Bates @westmeadowpressgallery - a collection of engravings and stories from the life of Wesley Bates - and what a full and fun life so far! #print #history #process #materials #woodengraving #ThomasBewick #books https://www.instagram.com/p/Cmjyqz_rb5h/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[harvard-art-museums-prints]

Ex-Libris Joseph Cook, Thomas Bewick, 18th-19th century, Harvard Art Museums: Prints

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Charles Bain Hoyt

https://www.harvardartmuseums.org/collections/object/250956

[moma-prints]

Headpiece (page 259) from The Fables of Aesop, Thomas Bewick, 1818, MoMA: Drawings and Prints

The Louis E. Stern Collection Size: composition: 2 1/4 × 3 1/4" (5.7 × 8.2 cm); page (irreg.): 8 1/4 × 5 5/16" (21 × 13.5 cm) Medium: Wood engraving from an illustrated book with 323 wood engravings and one etching and engraving

http://www.moma.org/collection/works/21079

[simon-martin]

‘The powers of its wing were wonderful....’ 🦉By no means an expert at identifying different species of birds, I get confused trying to identify artists’ depictions: it’s like looking through a filter. It’s even more confusing when birds are known by different names, although in this case I can go back to the original source for the illustration: Gilbert White’s Natural History of Selborne. This is a Nightjar (Caprimulgus)- apparently also known as a Fern Owl, Goatsucker and Goat Milker. The drawing is by John Nash and was first published in 1951 as a black and white line engraving, then in 1972 with lithographed colour added. Nash told a friend that he was ‘hatched off’ with all the detailed cross-hatching. The open-beaked pose catching a fly 🪰 appears over 100 years earlier in a drawing by John Thompson (after Thomas Bewick) for a Victorian edition of Gilbert White’s book. It illustrates a letter written in 1771: “DEAR SIR,—On the twelfth of July I had a fair opportunity of contemplating the motions of the caprimulgus, or fern-owl, as it was playing round a large oak that swarmed with Scarabai solstitiale or fern-chafers. The powers of its wing were wonderful, exceeding, if possible, the various evolutions and quick turns of the swallow genus. But the circumstance that pleased me most was, that I saw it dis- tinctly, more than once, put out its short leg while on the wing, and, by a bend of the head, deliver somewhat into its mouth. If it takes any part of its prey with its foot, as I have now the greatest reason to suppose it does these chafers, I no longer wonder at the use of its middle toe, which is curiously furnished with a serrated claw.” Looking forward to the John Nash exhibition at @townergallery later this spring. #johnnash #gilbertwhite #naturalhistory #fernowl #nightjar #selborne #johnthompson #thomasbewick @gilbertwhiteoc (at Brighton and Hove) https://www.instagram.com/p/CNW8Aiol6TT/?igshid=ul7cg6fgbfre

[curiouscatalog]

From: Bewick, Thomas, 1753-1828. A general history of quadrupeds. Newcastle upon Tyne : Printed by and for S. Hodgson, R. Beilby, & T. Bewick, 1800

QL706 .B5 1800

[denofink]

THOMAS BEWICK ∙ The Lion / detail ∙ 1790 __________________ #illustration #art #penandink #woodcut #engraving #pen #pencil #artist #illustrator #drawing #wildlife #nature #naturalhistory #lion #thomasbewick

[sophynixon-blog]

Late post from #sophynixonartclass2017 Lion by Val after Thomas Bewick. #sophynixon #arttutor #artclass #thomasbewick #art #drawing #penandink #dippen #ink #inspiredbyartists

[firsteditionbookblog]

Here is a single published poem, printed by The Small Farm Press in Rogersville,Tn. The cover has a woodcut by Thomas Bewick. The 8 part poem comes from a run of 250. Signed by the great Appalachian poet Jeff Daniel Marion. Fine/fine. . . . . . . . #jeffdanielmarion #thomasbewick #signed #firstedition #rarebooks #bookstagram #bookporn #shelfie #bookcollector #bookcollecting #bookcollection #southernpoetry #appalachianpoetry #poetry #tennessee #rogersvilletn

[starpointestudio]

A heart-warming Valentine from my @woodengraversnetwork friends. You really know how to scratch my inner engraving nerd itch 😍 Happy Valentines Day! #valentine #woodengraving #thomasBewick #burins #quadrupeds @tonydrehfal @mcgarvem @mirkahokkanen https://www.instagram.com/p/B8jcLxmgNhP/?igshid=89sp30i53big

[harvard-art-museums-prints]

Ex-Libris M. E. Freshfield, Thomas Bewick, 18th-19th century, Harvard Art Museums: Prints

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Charles Bain Hoyt

https://www.harvardartmuseums.org/collections/object/250957

[moma-prints]

Tailpiece (page 126) from The Fables of Aesop, Thomas Bewick, 1818, MoMA: Drawings and Prints

The Louis E. Stern Collection Size: composition (irreg.): 11/16 × 1 3/4" (1.8 × 4.5 cm); page (irreg.): 8 1/4 × 5 5/16" (21 × 13.5 cm) Medium: Wood engraving from an illustrated book with 323 wood engravings and one etching and engraving

http://www.moma.org/collection/works/20956

[curiouscatalog]

“This animal, (the existence of which has frequently been called in question) is a native of the wild and unfrequented desarts of Ethiopia, and other interior parts of Africa, where it leads a solitary life, far from the habitations of men, for whose use it is rendered unfit by the enormous disproportion of its parts.”

From: Bewick, Thomas, 1753-1828. A general history of quadrupeds. Newcastle upon Tyne : Printed by and for S. Hodgson, R. Beilby, & T. Bewick, 1800

QL706 .B5 1800

[denofink]

THOMAS BEWICK ∙ The Domestic Cat ∙ 1790 __________________ #illustration #art #penandink #woodcut #engraving #pen #pencil #artist #illustrator #drawing #wildlife #nature #naturalhistory #cat #thomasbewick

[sophynixon-blog]

Late post from #sophynixonartclass2017 Lion by Ken after Thomas Bewick. #sophynixon #arttutor #artclass #thomasbewick #art #drawing #penandink #dippen #ink #inspiredbyartists

[alexheslop]

Print of the day: Thomas Bewick.

Thomas Bewick. 

What a joker. 

Back in 2010, I went along to Birmingham’s Ikon Gallery (one of the finest in the Midlands) to see Tale-pieces, an exhibition devoted entirely to the vignettes of this 18th century British wood engraver and naturalist.

What a TREAT.

Bewick's love of the countryside and rural life has made him a pretty popular guy over the years, being probably most famous for his illustrations for General History of Quadrupeds and History of British Birds. For they are, I must say, some of the greatest natural history encyclopaedias I’ve ever seen.  

But, his Tale-pieces (so called because they appear at the bottom of a page or end of a chapter) are really quite special. 

Born at Cherryburn in Northumberland, Bewick spent his childhood on a small farm on the banks of the River Tyne.

Dreamy. 

These fun little engravings provide a window into this idyllic rural life. And the detail they contain is breathtaking. 

But what I like most about them is that they not only playfully tell moral ‘tales’ about human foibles, providing an invaluable insight into social history; but demonstrate an incredible amount of imagination and wit.

Each tiny scene, usually filled with a cast of scoundrels, mischievous drunkards or animals up to no good, is full of drama. And capture moments which, well, let’s just say are quite surprising for a 18th Century engraver. 

For example, here’s a crafty monkey basting a chicken.

And some funny little fellows riding into battle.

And someone...well... 

Oh, and some dead guy.

Pretty wild Bewick. Pretty wild. 

[ragerianna]

Thomas Bewick's Bear

Thomas Bewick: English wood engraver "the undisputed genius of the revival [in relief printing for book illustration] in the late eighteenth century" (Bamber Gascoine, How To Identify Prints, 2nd editition, Thames and Hudson, London, 2004)

http://becklane.co.uk/joomla/index.php/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10:bewick&catid=2:uncategorised&Itemid=111