The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 21, 2025

The Dog and the Crocodile

1950
(American, 1919–2013)
Overall: 41 x 29 cm (16 1/8 x 11 7/16 in.)
© Estate of Antonio Frasconi / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Catalogue raisonné: CMA, 1952, 170
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.
  • Fairy Tales and Fables: Illustration and Storytelling in Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 4-September 8, 2024).
    The Print Club of Cleveland: Publication Prints 1924-1994. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 9-June 26, 1994).
    Presentation Prints of the Print Club of Cleveland: 40th Anniversary Exhibition of the Print Club of Cleveland. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 13-December 2, 1959).
    Antonio Frasconi. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 13, 1952-January 4, 1953).
  • {{cite web|title=The Dog and the Crocodile|url=false|author=Antonio Frasconi|year=1950|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1952.216