Show Beyond first i impressions ll i i Pa Paul l Richard Special to The Washington Washing on Post Ordinary things you might find around the the house a knife a plank some paper and some in are all you need to print prin a woodcut Its It's not complicated Heres Here's how how to to print a line First draw the line on wood then cut away its sides s this leaves a standing ridge on whose flat top sits the ink then press it against paper It sounds simple But The Baroque Woodcut at the National Gallery of Art includes 80 old master prints all of which were made that way and they arent aren't simple at all They're fastidious and learned and rich So Is the exhibit in the gallery's West Building Its thoughts arent aren't simple The Baroque Woodcut has big brains in it The show begins with Titian who was a very mighty master and then visits Albrecht Durer who was another and then soars into the visions of Sir Peter Paul Rubens who was a third Coming back to earth The Baroque Woodcut closes with the naturalistic art of the century Dutch The show is like a journey which starts in Titian's Venice calmly for forthe forthe forthe the most part and ends in Rembrandt's Amsterdam with calm restored again In between however the viewer gets to swerve and swim among the swelling lines and oddly capsized spaces of Europe's high baroque By the time you reach Hercules Triumphant I I I L z n t r are r 1 r hT- hT tF Photo courtesy of the National Gallery of Art Are Ar Herodias J Jand Guido Reni and Bartolomeo Coriolano's and Salome 3 W Wd I d Over Discord which was designed by Rubens and cut by Christoffel circa 1633 the stern stem straight- straight line proprieties of old vanishing-line vanishing perspective have effectively dissolved Everything's in movement Hercules his knobbly club the goddess he heis heis heis is trampling her jutting leg her snake are everywhere as are Your point of view is moving too First youre you're on the ground well below the battle looking at the underside of Hercules' Hercules muscled thigh Then youre you're high up in inthe inthe inthe the air hovering beside an exasperated putto who is doing what he can to place a crown of laurel on the 1 u. u L I 1 nero hero s cuny curly head rooming Nothing l is at rest Experiencing the picture is like riding on a boat at sea rolling with the waves This woods wood's battle was designed to be overhead on the ceiling of the Banqueting HallI Hall Hallin I in London's Whitehall Palace And its it's not really about a Mediterranean demigod its it's an allegory of kingship Filming thrills in Hollywood takes many specialists So did woodcuts as fine as this one They're cooperative works of art Rubens gets most of the credit but not all of it was terrific too In his work no mistakes were allowed Had the curving line of Discords Discord's k kneel knee ee snapped off during cutting hed he'd have had to start again Not any old wood wood f would do Rock maple is s too hard to cut White ping pine is too soft Fruitwood i is better Pearwood is the best Someone had to fell the tree select the wood and season season it Someone had to make the sheet build the press concoct the ink Rubens' Rubens prints were sold throughout baroque Europe Publishers distributors and shippers also were involved Most of us know Titian's name but his woodcutters woodcutter are anonymous Few o of ofus us have heard of Ruben Ruben colleague o oi Bartolomeo n cwM l worked with 4 and profits from 1627 until Renis Reni's death in 1642 In In 1 Peter Parshall's exhibition them these woodcutters get their due Parshall heads th the gallery's old master print prints department from which 1 most of these woodcuts come It was he who picked picked the show I Woodcutting isn't only only for black lines Why stop ston there By using extra block blocks and reprinting can liven it with color Take your time Its It's worth it If you dont don't pay close clos attention says Parshal l theres nothing much jq to see jj y i. i r 4 |