Description
“The Woodcuts” is the first portfolio in George Cochrane’s Newburgh Suite. The collection consists of six total prints released in two portfolios, each using a distinct printing technique. “The Woodcuts” portfolio is released in conjunction with the second Newburgh Suite Portfolio, “The Etchings and Drypoints”. These two print portfolios were conceived and produced alongside George Cochrane’s hand-lettered and copiously illustrated Thornwillow edition of Dante’sInferno published to celebrate the 750th anniversary of Dante’s birth Each woodcut in this portfolio has been hand-carved based on a photograph taken by the artist in and around Newburgh, NY. The images draw on the celestial and terrestrial motifs of Dante’s La Commedia, capturing Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory in a city whose rise, fall, and incremental resurrection echoes Dante’s epic literary saga. Using Thornwillow’s original Vandercook press, the three images–”25 Spring St.,” “St. George’s Cemetery,” and “The Dutch Reformed Church”– were hand-printed by the artist in letterpress ink on heavyweight archival paper and presented in a purple cloth and yellow paste-paper portfolio, secured by a black ribbon.
