The Dog and the Crocodile

1950

Antonio Frasconi

(American, 1919–2013)

Culture

America

Medium

woodblock

Measurements

Overall: 41 x 29 cm (16 1/8 x 11 7/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland 1952.216

Catalogue raisonné

CMA, 1952, 170

This artwork is known to be under copyright.

Location

Not on view

Description

Antonio Frasconi created this woodblock as one of two used to produce the print The Dog and the Crocodile. Cutting wood by hand with a knife is one of the oldest forms of printmaking and the most traditional technique for book illustration. However, in the 1800s, woodcuts were mostly replaced by wood engravings, which use harder woods carved across the grain, offering a smoother surface and greater detail. Artists like Frasconi used woodcuts to differentiate their work from industrialized visual culture. Their prints tend to showcase the visible traces of their production: jagged edges and irregular wood grain.