Artwork Page for Night Watch

Details / Information for Night Watch

Night Watch

1929

Rockwell Kent

(American, 1882–1971)
Culture
America
Medium
Canceled woodblock
Measurements
Overall: 20 x 13.7 cm (7 7/8 x 5 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of the Artist 1933.99
Catalogue raisonné
Jones 34; Zigrosser 33
Copyright
© Courtesy of Plattsburgh State Art Museum/Estate of Sally Kent Gordon.
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Rockwell Kent produced this woodblock for the print Night Watch, while the electrotype of the plate was used for book printing. Electrotyping employs electricity and a chemical solution to create exact metal copies of three-dimensional objects. Many industrial printers in the 1800s used electrotypes to protect original printing blocks from wear, to allow for the parallel printing of several copies of the same page, and even to sell an illustration’s rights to other companies, establishing an early precedent for today’s stock images. After the initial printing, lines were scratched across the images; this canceling eliminates the potential to make new prints and pass them off as originals.
A vertically oriented black-and-white canceled woodblock depicts an elongated figure leaning against a beam. The figure tilts their head back with jaw jutting and arms bent behind, one leg raised and the other extending down. Fine hatchings define the muscular form against a dark, arched background. Several long, straight lines cut horizontally and diagonally across the surface. Light reflects off the torso and floorboards, contrasting with heavy shadows.

Night Watch

1929

Rockwell Kent

(American, 1882–1971)
America

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