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Woodcut: Primary Printmaking


  • Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive San Francisco, CA, 94118 United States (map)

Woodcut — where prints are made from the raised surface of a carved wooden block — is the oldest printmaking technique, developed in China in the 5th century. This exhibition traces the evolution of woodcut prints from the early Renaissance through today. Spanning prints from 15th-century Germany and Italy to the 20th-century revival in Mexico and Germany, where they were used to spread new political ideas, the exhibition also features contemporary experimental prints by Sol LeWitt (1928–2007) and Lonnie Holley (b. 1950). An enduring medium, woodcuts are still used by artists today as a democratic means of conveying powerful visuals and political messages.

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April 12

Fuyun Xuan Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles

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April 16

Distilled Lessons: Abstraction in Arab Modernism