E-Catalogue
Letterio Calapai: Woodcuts Old and New
| Letterio Calapai (1902-1993) enjoyed a fruitful artistic career that spanned well over fifty years. In the early 1930s, he began wood engraving, adding printmaking to an already comprehensive repertoire. As Calapai mastered the technique, he would adapt it to the developing social, religious, and literary themes in his work. "Harlem Night" (1932) and "The Bridge from Columbia Heights" (1936) are typical of the artist’s early wood engravings, exemplifying his interest in urban progress and landscape. A respite occurred in the middle portion of Calapai’s career as he focused on abstract imagery and intaglio printmaking, influenced, in part, by Stanley Hayter’s Atelier 17. However, beginning in the late 1970’s, Calapai revisited woodblock printing as he reverted to a more representational style. He would create many more works in the medium before the end of his career. This exhibition parallels the ‘old’ and ‘new’ woodblocks of Letterio Calapai. Please click here to view the gallery's entire collection of wood engravings, intaglio prints, and linoleum cuts by Letterio Calapai, as well as a biography of the artist. |
