Laguna Cove

Maker Paul Landacre (American, 1893-1963)

ClassificationsPRINTS

Date1935

Mediumwood engraving

Dimensionsimage: 5 1/4 x 7 1/8 in. (13.3 x 18.1 cm.) sheet: 7 1/2 x 9 in. (19.1 x 22.9 cm.)

DescriptionNighttime sea scape

SignedSigned in lower right of recto in graphite: Paul Landacre / to Ralph and Gladys from Paul Dec 1941

InscribedSigned in lower right of recto in graphite: Paul Landacre / to Ralph and Gladys from Paul Dec 1941. Inscribed in lower left of recto in graphite: Laguna Cove. Inscribed in lower center of inside mat in graphite: Paul Landacre / American (1893 - 1963) / "Laguna Cove", 1935. Wood engraving on japanese paper, full margins. Library of Congress 8. / A proof apart from the edition of 80 - 120 published for the Woodcut Society of Kansas City, 1941.

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Gift of Hannah S. Kully

Status

Not on view

Label TextThe first print, signed with the stylized petrel bird Landacre used as a cipher, is a trial proof. He most likely pulled it to inspect his progress on the woodblock. The other two impressions are examples of the published state, where Landacre added stippling in several places, most notably at the upper left and right corners, directly below the moon, and in the foreground. This stippling decreases the amount of ink deposited on the paper, making it appear as if the moon is brighter than in the trial proof. Landacre inscribed the impression on the far right in 1941 to two of his friends, and its paper is the whitest of the three. Artists sometimes use different papers for the same print, particularly if they pull impressions at separate times. Paper exposed to sunlight or acidic framing material darkens over time.

Object number2014.30.87