Reyer Stolk - Anatomical Study V (1946)

Title: Anatomical Study V

Artist: Reyer (Reijer) Stolk

Year of printing: 1946

Origin: The Netherlands

Technique: Original woodcut on paper

Size (inc. mat): 40 x 32 cm

Size image: 25.7 x 20.2

Professionally matted in acid-free museum quality mat-board.

Reyer (Reijer) Anthony Stolk (1896–1945). This original print is a woodcut, a printing technique in which a carved block of wood is used as the medium. The artist cuts away the areas that are meant to remain uncoloured; after the block is inked, it is pressed onto a sheet of paper using a printing press.

The artist who executed this series of anatomical studies was Reyer Stolk. Stolk was a Dutch artist who trained in the graphic arts, studying in the same class—and under the same teacher—as Maurits Cornelis Escher. According to his teachers, Stolk was the school's most talented student. He later became an educator himself, teaching arts and crafts, graphic design, and printmaking. His print runs were usually very small and were rarely intended for the commercial market. Today, major institutions such as the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam hold works by Stolk in their collections. His typical subject matter included landscapes, animals, and scenes inspired by his time in Nigeria and Indonesia.

Stolk's style is characteristic of the Art Deco movement in the Netherlands. He began working on this particular series of prints shortly before his passing in 1945. Although he had already carved the blocks, he unfortunately never saw the completed series, as the prints were finally printed a year after his passing.