[From the Community Collection, a public trust in Agincourt, Iowa]

SCHWABEROW, Micah [1948-2022]

“Mount Rainier, Head in the Clouds”

2000

woodcut / 6 inches by 15 inches / #47 of 110

A significant number of prints in the Collection are woodcuts, a theme that begs the question of Asian influence in Western art. Two artists exemplify the woodcut as bridge between those cultures: Yushijiro Urushibara, for example, was a woodcut master who brought Japanese technique to Europe; Urushibara influenced British printmaker John Edgar Platt and he worked directly with Anglo-Belgian artist Frank Brangwyn. Reciprocally, a relationship developed when American Micah Schwaberow spent a year learning Japanese woodblock traditions in Tokyo as an apprentice to Toshi Yoshida.¹

“Mount Rainier, Head in the Clouds” is Schwaberow’s homage to 19th century printmaker Hiroshige and his multiple views of Mount Fuji.

¹ All of these artists are represented: Urushibara, Platt, Yoshida, Brangwyn, and Schwaberow by at least one work each.