Vienna, Schwarzspanierhaus, Beethoven Houses No. 12, 1903 - 1906

Carl Moll (1861–1945) used the technique of the woodcut for his series of Beethoven Houses. After a first high point in the Renaissance period, namely, with Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), the technique went all but out of use before it was rediscovered by Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) und Edvard Munch (1863–1944) and saw its bloom in Vienna around 1900. In woodcutting, the artist first transfers a drawing onto a panel of, mostly, nut, peach, or yew wood and then lifts off or carves out the intended white, non-printing areas with a knife or gouge. The resultant raised areas take up the color which is put to paper under the printing press.

BL, 2024