Hugo Noske

1886-1960

still life with chrysanthemums and figurine

woodblock print on nearly translucent paper, signed in pencil at lower right, Noske, ca. 1920-30s

17 3/8 by 13 5/8 in., 44 by 34.7 cm

By the 1920s woodblock printmaking was quite popular in America and Europe; it had become a favorite medium for many artists as the mysteries of the process were unraveled in several publications over the previous two decades. Artists found new ways to embrace the medium and exploit its possibilities. By this time, much like in Japan, there were some artists who aimed to print in a manner that mimicked the refined Japanese style (in subject and technique), while others (many more), printed in a loose, expressionistic way. And yet nearly all (with the exception of the artists in Japan who worked with Japanese publishers), had to self-carve and self-print.

There is little known biographical information on Noske. He was a member of the Austrian Werkbund in Vienna, the Society of Original Graver-Printers in Colour in London, and was mentioned in a 1928 issue of The Studio magazine as an enamel painter and a fine artist. He was married to Sophie Noske-Sander (1884-1958) who was also an artist who worked in a similar style and served for a period in the 1930s as the director of the Austrian Association of Women Artists (Verinigung bildender Kunstlerinnen Osterreichs) in Vienna.

Noske produced woodblock prints in a painterly style, primarily of floral still life subjects in a manner that that suggests he was strongly influenced by Yoshijiro Urushibara (Mokuchu, 1889-1953), a London-based print artist who was well-known for his collaborations with other painters (most-famously with Frank Brangwyn, 1867-1956), and who also favored floral subjects in his own work. Although Noske did not number his prints, self-carved and self-printed works tended to be issued in relatively small editions due to the time-consuming nature of the production process.

Both Hugo and his wife Sophie had prints included in the 1927 and 1928 annual exhibitions organized by the Society of Graver-Printers in Colour in London.

Reference:
Barbara J. Thompson, The International Block Print Renaissance, Then and Now: Block Prints in Wichita, Kansas, A Centennial Celebration, 2022, pp. 198-199
(inv. no. 10-5084)

price: $500