<b>A RAINY NIGHT</b>Helen Hyde1906$1,500</em>
ARTIST: Helen Hyde (1868-1919)
TITLE: A Rainy Night
MEDIUM: Woodblock print
DATE: 1906
DIMENSIONS: 14 1/2 x 9 inches
CONDITION: Excellent
LITERATURE: Mason, Tim, Helen Hyde (American Printmakers: A Smithsonian Series), pl.69
$1,500.00
Details
In this charming work, the artist shows a mother and child navigating through a darkened street in rain. The mother holds up an umbrella and shields her young daughter from the elements. Perhaps a request has been made, as the child's face looks up for approval. The mother’s glance is more stoic and focused on the task at hand. The entire composition is executed in tonalities of gray with soft and fluid quality that is reminiscent of sumi-e, which effectively captures the wet quality of the scene.
It is interesting to observe how the winds of influence carry. Hyde became interested in Japan through Japonisme, Ukiyo-e, and the paintings of Mary Cassatt. It’s instructive to see this work through this prism—a traditional Western artistic theme reintroduced through a design brimming with Asian aesthetics and a native Japanese printmaking medium.
Connoisseur's Note
This print is among Helen Hyde’s earliest works. The design was conceived and executed contemporaneously to the work of Mary Cassatt and other Western artists producing Japonisme that was directly influenced by Asia and particularly Japan. This impression was printed in Japan while Hyde took up residency in Tokyo. The print is in an exceedingly fine state of preservation.
