Nasturtium (Kapuzinerkresse)

Hugo Noske

Little information is available about the life of Vienna-born printmaker Hugo Noske. What we do know is that he created a large body of color woodcuts, many of which were floral subjects, often bouquets in Arts & Crafts vessels.

Another thing we know is that he was not afraid of color. This vase of Nasturtiums, set against a gold and moss green drapery background. This image can be "read" across a room.

Noske signed the work within the image using a white ink and he further annotates the print in white ink "Orig. Holzschnitt, Handdruck" indicating that it is an "Original woodcut" and is "hand-printed" by the artist himself. He does not ascribe an edition number to this impression which has been trimmed to the edges of the image.

Many of Noske's works are found in the United States so it can be assumed he was working with a gallery or distributor who was able to find a market here.