Paul Binnie

Scottish, b. 1967

Travels with the Master: Cloud Shadows, Grand Canyon
(Meishou to no tabi: Guranndo kyanionn)

color woodblock print; signed in kanji at lower left, Bin-ni, followed by red artist's seal BINNIE, series title at upper left, Meishou to no tabi, the print title below in katakana, Guranndo kyanionn, and in penciled English on the bottom margin, Cloud Shadows, Grand Canyon, 45/100, with Binnie embossed at center, and pencil signed at far right, Paul Binnie; self-carved, some impressions were printed by Numabe Shinkichi (of the Yoshida studio), begun late 2004; completed March 2007

obaiban yoko-e 18 7/8 by 26 1/2 in., 47.8 by 67.2 cm

At the time of production this was the largest Binnie landscape woodblock print. The ambitious undertaking was initiated by an American collector who commissioned the artist to travel to Arizona to produce a woodblock print which would have been issued in a small edition. While on location, Binnie captured the vista in an acrylic on canvas painting (later finished in oil) with ominous storm clouds brewing in the distance. As was his normal proccess, Binnie explored various combinations of colors with test prints, but the patron, who collected prints by American artists such as Gustave Baumann (1881-1971), was expecting a lighter and brighter palette and ultimately chose to withdraw the commission. Undeterred and freed from the constraints of expectations, Binnie was able to produce a full edition according to his own vision, and was inspired to use the print to launch an ongoing landscape series, Travels with the Master, revisiting locations depicted by one of Binnie's favorite Japanese print artists, Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950). This particular vantage is very close to Yoshida's 1926 composition.

Reference:
Paul Binnie: A Dialogue with the Past - The First 100 Japanese Prints, 2007, p. 137, no. 100

(inv. no. C-1712)

price: $1,500