Ipswich Town (also called: "Harbor Scene")

Arthur Wesley Dow

This color woodcut is by American printmaker Arthur Wesley Dow, often credited with introducing the Japanese method of woodcut to the west. Dow experimented with the blocks, creating images that reflected different time of day or season, printing each as a unique work of art. The view is the harbor in Ipswich, Massechusetts, where Dow had his studio, and is part of his series "Along Ipswich River."

Based on the signature this is probably the impression exhibited at the 1999 exhibition at Hirschl & Adler Galleries in New York, listed as number 24 in the exhibition catalog by Joseph Goddu and David Acton.

He called his woodcuts "color themes," and they demonstrate his devotion to Eastern concepts of line, color, and notan–the balance of light and dark. He executed the entire printmaking process by hand, carving and inking the blocks and then printing them sequentially on damp Japanese mulberry paper. In some cases he did not use a linear key block to pull elements together but evoked landscape forms by juxtaposing color shapes.

Dow signed some of his prints and many were not signed, signing in the 19th century was inconsistent and prints were often only signed for exhibition or when sold. This impression is annotated in ink on the verso: 'Copyright 1893 - / by / Arthur W. Dow'.

Dow's importance in the American Arts & Crafts movement is difficult to overstate, there have been many exhibitions and books written on him and his influence.