This print is an original woodcut printed in colours, and is a fine impression of this work. It was made as a collaborative effort between the two brothers Cavendish and Concord Morton. It is signed in pencil by both brothers, bottom right as photographed.
It dates to 1933 and is entitled Spring Rhapsody. The view is of woodland on the banks of a river on the Isle of Wight. Many of their woodcuts were made in this area. The scene is said to be looking towards Brading from Bembridge harbour. It is an early springtime scene. The trees are still spindly and without leaves and there are suggestions of buds just starting to open on the topmost branches as suggested by subtle washes of ochre. The grass in the river bank is green and lush, and the rippling waves of the river look icy grey. The sky has that pale yellow glow that you find on fresh spring mornings as the sun just starts to appear over the horizon – it bathes the distance in a subtle hazy mist.
The delicate gradation of colours produces a wonderful atmospheric effect – and this is considered to be one of the finest joint works by these talented brothers.
The print is in good condition with no issues – there is perhaps a little time tone to the paper but no spotting, rips or other disfigurements. It has been reframed. It has a new fresh cream window mount and an attractive light oak frame. It is ready just to hang on your wall.
Dimensions: the image size is 36 x 51 cm. The frame is 53.5 x 66 cm.
Weight framed is 2.7 kg.
A fine 1930s British colour woodcut and on offer at a fair price.
BIOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND:
Cavendish Morton (1911 – 2015) and his twin brother Concord Morton (1911 – 1979) were born in Edinburgh. They were the sons of the famous actor and photographer, also named Cavendish Morton (1874 – 1939).
There is a delightful photograph taken in 1911 of the twin babies with their nurse taken by their father, and now in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London.
The young boys lived a rather nomadic childhood – moving with the family to the outskirts of London and also spent long periods exploring the south coast before eventually settling in Bembridge, on the Isle of Wight.
The twins often worked together on the creation of their fine woodcut prints. They had been educated at home by their father who taught them Japanese and also the fundamentals of colour woodcutting. They were also taught singing, piano, poetry and performing arts.
In printmaking, they were given some instruction from both Urushibara and A.W. Seaby, both celebrated woodcut artists. But most of the brother's skills were acquired through personal experimentation with the medium.
Their large joint colour woodcuts were published by the London dealers, Colnaghi. Sadly, the Morton twins were excluded from joining the prestigious Colour Printer Club – as rules for admittance only allowed the work of single artists.
Cavendish seems to have taken more of the lead in artistic productions. In 1948, he moved to Suffolk, where he began a fine series of paintings depicting the windmills of East Anglia, which were fast disappearing from the landscape. He was a member of the Norwich Twenty Group and the Norfolk Contemporary Art Society
In 1977, Cavendish Morton returned to Bembridge, on the Isle of Wight, where he still had strong family ties. Over the next 25 years, he became known to a new generation of islanders for his paintings of the Solent and racing yachts.
Concord Morton was less well-known than his brother, perhaps because he died much younger than Cavendish in 1979.
In 1930 they worked on a series of paintings in and around Portsmouth Dockyard. Concord was very interested in aviation history and its development. He worked for a while at Camper & Nicholson’s boatyard in Gosport. The twins attended every air show they could get to and together sketched all the aircraft of the day. They produced an artist’s record of some of the iconic planes and pilots of the 1930s. Concord made a fine watercolour study of the aviator, Amy Johnston, who sat to him for her portrait.