The Arts Ball (Fiesta)
Maker
Horace Brodzky
(Australian, active in England and U.S.A., 1885 - 1969)
Date1919
MediumLinocut
DimensionsBlock: 10 1/4 × 7 1/4 in. (26 × 18.4 cm)
Sheet: 12 1/2 x 9 1/2 in. (31.8 x 24.1 cm)
Sheet: 12 1/2 x 9 1/2 in. (31.8 x 24.1 cm)
Credit LineGift of Lester and Betty Guttman
Collections
Object number2011.21
Status
Not on viewAfter cutting and gouging the flat surface of the linoleum block to create his design, Brodzky then transferred the ink laid down onto the surface of the linoleum block onto the paper sheet. The un-inked portions of the block—the areas cut away below the block’s surface—reveal the bright cream paper beneath. The black ink—on the raised lines and planes of the surface of the cut block—emphatically established outlines and other compositional details. The stark contrast of black and white in the printed image creates the effect of dissolving forms—paradoxically at once stable designs and shifting passages of splintered shapes.