Woodcut on paper
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/edward-wadsworth-2113" aria-label="More by Edward Wadsworth" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Edward Wadsworth</a>
Port
Purchased 1970
<p>Wadsworth’s approach to printmaking was cool and impersonal, deliberately avoiding any suggestion of personal ‘handwriting’. Woodcut is a difficult medium, but the precision he applied to it enabled him to emphasise the ‘machine-like character of his art’. This print resembles the illustrations Wadsworth produced for the Vorticists’ magazine BLAST.</p><p>The terrible destruction caused by the first world war (1914-18), the first fully mechanised war, undermined Vorticism’s celebration of the machine. Nevertheless, Wadsworth continued to be fascinated by machinery throughout his life.</p><p><em>Gallery label, July 2008</em></p>
paper print woodcut
30 March 2005 – 20 March 2006
2006-03-20
30 March 2005 – 19 March 2006
2006-03-19
2005-03-30
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2005-03-30
Edward Wadsworth
Collection based display
1 September 2013 – 31 January 2014
2014-01-31
1 September 2013 – 31 January 2014
2014-01-31
2013-09-01
Cooper Gallery (Barnsley, UK)
http://www.barnsley.gov.uk/tourism/coopergallery/index.asp
2013-09-01
Edward Wadsworth
Loan-out
4 July 2014 – 26 October 2014
2014-10-26
4 July 2014 – 28 October 2014
2014-10-28
2014-07-04
Tate Liverpool (Liverpool, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/
2014-07-04
Claude Parent
Collection based display
10 February 2018 – 29 April 2018
2018-04-29
10 February 2018 – 29 April 2018
2018-04-29
2018-02-10
Tate St Ives (St Ives, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/stives/
2018-02-10
Omega
Collection based display
1 October 2020 – 25 September 2022
2022-09-25
1 October 2020 – 28 November 2021
2021-11-28
2020-10-01
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2020-10-01
Vorticism
Collection based display
The Port
image: 187 × 127 mm
Purchased 1970
<div class="pbodytext">
<span class="text7">Wadsworth’s approach to <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/print" title="Glossary definition for 'Print'"><span>printmaking</span></a> was cool and      impersonal, deliberately avoiding any suggestion of personal      ‘handwriting’. <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/w/woodcut" title="Glossary definition for 'Woodcut'"><span>Woodcut</span></a> is a difficult medium, but the precision      he applied to it enabled him to emphasise the ‘machine-</span><span class="text14">like character of his art’. This print resembles</span><span class="text7"> the illustrations Wadsworth produced for the      <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/v/vorticism" title="Glossary definition for 'Vorticism'"><span>Vorticists</span></a>’ magazine </span><span class="text16">BLAST</span><span class="text7">. </span>
</div>
<div class="para9">
<span class="text7">
<br/> </span>
</div>
<div class="pbodytext">
<span class="text7">The terrible destruction caused by the first </span><span class="text15">world war (1914-18), the first fully mechanised</span><span class="text7"> war, undermined Vorticism’s celebration of the      machine. Nevertheless, Wadsworth continued to be fascinated by machinery      throughout his life. </span>
</div>

Display caption
2008-07-30T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>P07119</b>		[from] THREE WOODCUTS <i>circa</i> 1915–18 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/wadsworth-view-of-a-town-p07118" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P07118</span></a>-<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/wadsworth-the-open-window-p07120" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P07120</span></a>]
<br/>Not inscribed.
<br/>Purchased from the d'Offay Couper Gallery (Gytha Trust) 1970.</p>
<p>(ii) Staircase with Scaffolding <i>circa</i> 1915.</p>
<p>Printed in two colours.</p>
<p>Image 6¾×4¼ (16×10.5) on paper 12⅛×9⅛ (40×23).
<br/><i>Coll:</i> The artist's daughter, Mrs von Bethmann Hollweg, London; d'Offay Couper Gallery, London.</p>
<p><i>Exh:</i> <i>Abstract Art in England 1913–1915</i>, d'Offay Couper Gallery, November–December 1969 (37–39, repr.).
<br/><i>Repr:</i>
(iii) is also reproduced in <i>Studio International</i>, CLXXVIII, 1969, p. 221.
<br/>
<br/>The titles used here and in the d'Offay Couper exhibition were taken from an unpublished thesis on <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/v/vorticism" title="Glossary definition for 'Vorticism'"><span>Vorticism</span></a> by William Lipke. The two most <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/a/abstract-art" title="Glossary definition for 'Abstract art'"><span>abstract</span></a> works (ii) and (iii) are dated c. 1915 because of some resemblance to Wadsworth's works reproduced in <i>Blast</i>, No. 2, published in July 1915; the other, more spatial design seems to reflect his experiences during the latter part of the war as a camouflage artist.
<br/>
<br/><b>Published in:</b>
<br/><i>The Tate Gallery 1968-70</i>, London 1970</p>
<p></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-10-11T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY