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Edward Wadsworth
S.S. Jerseymoor (C. 130; G. W/D33)
woodcut, 1918, on japon, a rare impression, signed, dated and titled in black ink, with margins, light- and mount-staining, occasional creasing, a pale moisture stain in the left margin and a few spot stains in the lower right margin, otherwise generally in good condition, framed
B. 117 x 210mm.
S.S. Jerseymoor (C. 130; G. W/D33)
woodcut, 1918, on japon, a rare impression, signed, dated and titled in black ink, with margins, light- and mount-staining, occasional creasing, a pale moisture stain in the left margin and a few spot stains in the lower right margin, otherwise generally in good condition, framed
B. 117 x 210mm.
Edward Wadsworth
S.S. Jerseymoor (C. 130; G. W/D33)
woodcut, 1918, on japon, a rare impression, signed, dated and titled in black ink, with margins, light- and mount-staining, occasional creasing, a pale moisture stain in the left margin and a few spot stains in the lower right margin, otherwise generally in good condition, framed
B. 117 x 210mm.
S.S. Jerseymoor (C. 130; G. W/D33)
woodcut, 1918, on japon, a rare impression, signed, dated and titled in black ink, with margins, light- and mount-staining, occasional creasing, a pale moisture stain in the left margin and a few spot stains in the lower right margin, otherwise generally in good condition, framed
B. 117 x 210mm.
London, Alephi Gallery 1919, No. 22
London, The Tate Gallery, The Memorial Exhibition 1951, No. 100
London, P&D. Colnaghi, Edward Wadsworth 1889-1949 1974, No. 130
London, Blond Fine Art Ltd., British Wood Engravings and other Prints 1900-1960, 1979, No. 189
London, The Tate Gallery, The Memorial Exhibition 1951, No. 100
London, P&D. Colnaghi, Edward Wadsworth 1889-1949 1974, No. 130
London, Blond Fine Art Ltd., British Wood Engravings and other Prints 1900-1960, 1979, No. 189
In 1917 Edward Wadsworth was hired to oversee the application of 'dazzle' patterning to ships in the Liverpool and Bristol dockyards. Dazzle camouflage was devised as a means of frustrating the attempts of German U-boat commanders to calculate the exact course and speed of an allied merchantman. By breaking up the outline of the hull with irregular patterns painted in stark colours, a ship became more difficult to target accurately, reducing its chances of a direct and fatal hit by torpedo.
For a vorticist artist these 'dazzle' ships with their cubist informed patterning were an obvious subject matter. In 'S.S. Jerseymoor' Wadsworth created a pictorial equivalent of the 'dazzle', conflating the diverging diagonals of the barrels in the foreground with the striped ship, rigging, warehouses and cranes in the middle-distance. The result is dynamic and visually disorientating, perhaps not too dissimilar in effect to the view of a dazzled ship glimpsed from a U-boat periscope.
For a vorticist artist these 'dazzle' ships with their cubist informed patterning were an obvious subject matter. In 'S.S. Jerseymoor' Wadsworth created a pictorial equivalent of the 'dazzle', conflating the diverging diagonals of the barrels in the foreground with the striped ship, rigging, warehouses and cranes in the middle-distance. The result is dynamic and visually disorientating, perhaps not too dissimilar in effect to the view of a dazzled ship glimpsed from a U-boat periscope.
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