Wien 156 iii/iii. Wood engraving on laid japanese paper, full margins. First edition of 60 (there were also 15 signed impressions in a second edition). Signed, titled, and numbered 32/60 in pencil. A petrel bird drawn in red pencil by the artist in the lower margin indicates a fine impression. Origins of Art stamp verso.
8 x 10 ¼
inches | 20.32
x 26.04 cm
Landacre was fascinated with dramatic weather and other
natural phenomenon. Storm reflects his move towards greater abstraction than
his earlier, more traditional California landscapes. He has incorporated
various natural elements: rain, clouds, a lake, a windblown tree, and a
mountain ridge. The beautiful curve of a tree merges with the sunlit ridge of a
mountain, forming a diagonal that extends to the upper left of the composition.
In Storm, Landacre was not aiming to reproduce a specific location, and instead,
he reduced the composition to organic, sinuous forms, which are sensitively
rendered with his meticulous woodcutting technique. Hilary Roberts wrote that what makes Landacre’s work so
appealing is the balance between his exacting perfection of line on the one
hand and the unrestrained exhilaration in his forms on the other.
