Little Venice

A leader of the American Arts and Crafts movement, Dow’s advanced ideas concerning color and design are beautifully conveyed by his woodcuts. Born in Ipswich, Massachusetts, the artist studied tonalist painting in France for five years then returned to Boston in 1889. Fascinated by Ukiyo-e prints, Dow examined examples at the Museum of Fine Arts, together with Japanese printing equipment at the Smithsonian Institution. After mastering a multi-block process, he created forty compositions between 1891 and 1921, many printed in multiple variations with experimental inking. These works explore the expressive potential of color and, in 2016, the Museum acquired a significant group, including this experimenatl proof of "Little Venice," created at the start of Dow's career. The vertical "pillar print" format recalls Japanese models, and the work comes from a set of ten titled "Along Ipswich River." The artist began by staining the paper green, intending this to show through the light beige ink used in the sky and water.