[From the Community Collection, a public trust in Agincourt, Iowa]
SCHWABEROW, Micah [1948-2022]
“The Bugatti”
1991
color woodcut / 7 inches by 6 inches / #63 of 115
“Tadich Grill”
1991
color woodcut / 4.5 inches by 8.5 inches / #87 of 157
“I think of my work as color haiku,” explains California artist Micah Schwaberow, “large places carefully compressed, intimate glimpses through small windows”, which perfectly describes this print from a 1991 portfolio celebrating The Cafés of San Francisco. Its Japanese ukiyo-e quality is easily explained by an on-line biography:
Micah Schwaberow, printmaker, painter and sculptor, was born in Eugene, Oregon in 1948. He studied painting with Maurice Lapp and printmaking with Elizabeth Quandt at the Santa Rosa Junior College in northern California. In 1981, he spent a month in Miasa, Japan studying traditional woodblock printing and, in 1982, he spent most of the year in Nagai, Japan studying with the Japanese master of color woodcut, Toshi Yoshida, and his master carvers and printers. In September of that year, he was an assistant teacher to Toshi Yoshida during a three-week woodblock course for foreigners.
Coincidentally, the Community Collection includes prints by members of the Yoshida family.
Im a bit confused, i own and have owned “Tadich Grill” oil painting, about 20 yrs, and I did once see a study of “Tadich grill” at George Krevsky Gallerie, and much small than the oil painting I have..would like to know more about your work..warm regards. Mario Alberto Munguia
Hello, Mr Munguia,
Ours is a woodblock print, part of a series of perhaps six San Francisco coffee houses. I didn’t know Schwaberow had done paintings. Hope that clears up the confusion.
Ron Ramsay
Hey, Mr. Munguia,
The original oil versions of these scenes are by an artist named Maurice Lapp, who passed away a number of years back. Micah, a friend and one time student of Mr. Lapp, did a series of prints recreating Lapp’s cafe scenes in Japanese-style woodcuts. Hence the dual signature line “LAPP/Schwaberow.”
The first image, “The Bugatti,” is actually part of a suite of five prints called “Cafés of San Francisco,” and stands as a really cool and unique collaboration between these two talented friends.
Anyways, hope I could clear up some of the confusion.
– Ian