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Woodcut Illustrators

Monoliths in Wood

The Art of Aubrey Beardsley (by Symons, Arthur)
Albrecht Durer (by Heath, Richard Ford)
Durer (Engravings) (by DRer, Albrecht)
Drawings of Albrecht D Rer (by DRer, Albrecht)
Paradise Lost. Illustrated by Gustave Do... (by Milton, John)
Inferno. Translated by Henry Francis Car... (by Dante Alighieri)
Works : Volume 1 (by Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron)
Life and Reminiscences of Gustave Dore :...
Gargantua and Pantagruel (by Rabelais, François)
Aubrey Beardsley, Drawings (by Beardsley, Aubrey)
Salome : A Tragedy in One Act (by Wilde, Oscar)
Aubrey Beardsley (by Ross, Robert Baldwin)
Last Letters of Aubrey Beardsley (by Aubrey Beardsley, John Gray)
The Later Work of Aubrey Beardsley (by Beardsley, Aubrey)
The Early Work of Aubrey Beardsley (by Beardsley, Aubrey)

While comic and graphic novel artists of today have changed the format and consumption of book illustration, the classic black-and-white engraving era of book illustrations still remain in our minds and libraries. Although it's always difficult to pick a definitive “best of” list due to their subjectivity, there will always be illustrators and printmakers whose style and pervasive influence keep them cemented in innovation for all time.

This article focuses on printmakers who worked with forms of woodblock printing. Woodblock printing originated as a textile printing method in China as early as 220 AD, and in time came to include wood engraving and woodcut. All woodblock styles use the relief method of printing, wherein the lines of the print are made visible by cutting out the negative space of the print, effectively creating a stamp. Ink is then applied to the wood which is pressed onto paper, creating a print.

Albrecht Dürer

As great printmakers go, Albrecht Dürer jumps to mind immediately. A German Renaissance man of the 15th century, Dürer unleashed an unthinkable amount of work beginning at a young age. His engravings and paintings, as well as his work in theoretical geometry, German linguistics, and human proportions laid the groundwork for his fame and influence. One of his early famous works of woodcuts is a series called Apocalypse. For more of his work and life, read Drawings of Albrecht Dürer, Dürer Engravings, and Albrecht Dürer by Heath Richard Ford.

Gustave Doré

Gustave Doré rose to prominence in the middle of 19th century France, creating perhaps the largest number of literary-based woodcuts of his time. He began work as a caricaturist for a small French paper at the age of 15. His work there soon earned him commissions for woodcut book illustrations. Throughout his long career, he created oversized illustrations for some of the greatest works of literature, including Paradise Lost by John Milton, Inferno by Dante Alighieri, Collected Works by Lord Alfred Tennyson , and Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais. For more of Doré’s life and works, check out Life and Reminiscences of Gustave Dore by Blanche Roosevelt.

Aubrey Beardsley

Much like the other two giants, Aubrey Beardsley also had a young and prolific start. He began his major work around the age of 18 in the late 19th century and had the shortest career of these three due to tuberculosis, cutting it short at age 25. Much of Beardsley's work was inspired by Japanese woodblock prints and the work of contemporary artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The style Beardsley developed was central to the new art movement called art nouveau, albeit highly controversial due to its often erotic nature. Despite the late Victorian era's misgivings, his obvious talent earned him work illustrating classics like Alexander Pope's “The Rape of the Lock,” and Oscar Wilde's Salome. For more work from Beardsley, check out Aubrey Beardsley Drawings, his early work, his later work, Aubrey Beardsley by Ross Robert Baldwin, and the Last Letters of Aubrey Beardsley.

By Thad Higa