Winnowers (Loguivy)

Henri Rivière

1891 · Color woodcut from twelve blocks · Drawings and Prints

One of the primary artists responsible for the renewal of the color printmaking tradition in late nineteenth-century France, Rivière started producing color woodcuts in 1890 after studying Japanese ukiyo-e prints. Composed from twelve separate woodblocks, this work was part of the artist’s most ambitious series, "Paysages Bretons" (Breton Landscapes). Rivière first visited the northwest region of Brittany in 1885. He drew inspiration there from observing local peasants working the land; here, two women winnow grain on a gently sloping hillside. The spindly pines that dominate the left side of the composition are a common motif in Rivière’s landscapes of Loguivy, a town where the artist eventually built a house and returned annually.

Artist

Henri Rivière

Date

1891

Medium

Color woodcut from twelve blocks

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

A. Hyatt Mayor Purchase Fund, Marjorie Phelps Starr Bequest, 2018