About

Anne Desmet was invited to curate “Scene through Wood: A Century of Modern Wood Engraving” for the Ashmolean Museum (and touring) to celebrate the centenary of the Society of Wood Engravers in 2020. Wood engraving is a historic printing technique with particular origins in England: developed to hitherto unseen finesse by Newcastle naturalist Thomas Bewick (1753-1828), but the medium has echoes further back in history - most notably in the woodcuts of Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528). Wood engravings (executed on end-grain wood with tools akin to those used for metal engraving) are notable for their fine detail and astounding tonal range whereas woodcuts (cut on the long-grain with special gouges and knives) are more usually associated with looser, more gestural work.