Interior
Fiske Boyd (1895-1975), Interior, woodcut, 1936, unsigned. Published by the American Artists Group. In very good condition, on ivory wove paper, the full sheet, 6 x 10 1/4, the sheet 13 x 18 inches. In the original mat as issued (the mat has some soiling and a tear, not affecting the print).
A very good impression.
The American Artists Group was formed in 1934, during the Great Depression, with the express purpose of providing unsigned inexpensive prints which were to be widely distributed. AAG published prints by Ganso, Spruance, Meissner, and Lankes, among many other noted artists. Although the prices of these prints was minimal, collectors were saving what money they had, and so the editions were not sold out; most printings were under 200 and many under 100. Ironically, today, these prints are considered rare collector’s items.
Boyd seems to have become more modernist over time; in the picture depicted in this woodcut one can see a vision of the sort of prints he was to make a bit later in his career. Even here, he uses the medium of the woodcut to carve out a flat, modernist composition, in a sense ahead of his time for an American artist.