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Edutainment > Matt Brown - born 1958
Matt Brown has made woodblock prints in Japanese hanga tradition since 1993 using Japanese tools and materials. The artist lives in the countryside of New Hampshire, one of the New England states on the East coast of the United States - the heartland of the American dream where the first immigrants from Europe landed with ideas of freedom, independence and the dream of a better life. Matt Brown's woodblock prints show more than the natural beauties of the US East coast. In our view they reflect the old and true American values.
We published this article on the occasion of our first presentation of woodblock prints by Mr. Matt Brown in a solo auction in May 2006.
Dieter and Yorie in April 2006
The Popularity of Moku Hanga
Hanga is the Japanese word for print and moku stands for wood. But moku hanga is more than the sheer translation of wood block. Today it stands for an art direction: making woodblock prints using Japanese tools, methods and materials (color, paper). And moku hanga is not only a Japanese art movement. Over the last decades it has attracted an increasing number of Western artists. In the beginning the "gaijin" artists underwent a practical art training in Japan as students of famous Japanese woodblock masters. Toshi Yoshida in Tokyo and Tomikichiro Tokuriki in Kyoto were two old masters with a strong influence on the training of foreign students. And many Japanese artists went to the United States of America for a limited period to demonstrate and to teach the art of Japanese woodblock printing. Most of the Japanese artists returned to Japan after one or more years in the U.S.A. like Fumio Kitaoka. Others remained for ever and some - like Unichi Hiratsuka (he returned to Japan at age 99 and died 102 years old) - came back to Japan when they felt that their time had come to close the eyes in this world forever.
Moku Hanga by Matt Brown
Today it is no longer necessary for a non-Japanese artist to go to Japan to learn moku hanga. There are many other ways. Self-study by books and by using sources on the internet is one of them. The Barenforum is the place to learn and to meet other moku hanga artists from all over the world.
Matt Brown is typical for this new generation of moku hanga artists. He has never been in Japan. But he considers the Japanese method as the most convenient one to express himself as an artist. The Japanese moku hanga techniques are basically like the artist's images - natural, sincere, straightforward and without any modern, technical gadgets - let alone any kind of "computer-aided ...." tools. For Matt Brown the process of making prints with real pigments using real tools and carved blocks is a welcome relief to all of the giclee prints produced by the help of a computer and a PC printer.
Matt Brown's woodblock prints are a documentation of the simple, natural, unsophisticated beauty of the New England states - Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine and Connecticut. They are also documents of family life - Matt's own family. Many of his prints show his two sons Asher and Nathaniel - now (2006) 8 and 13 years old. And some of the artist's prints show a cute dog - Emma, a border collie. She died in autumn of 2005. The whole family is missing her much as a great dog that she was but also as a shepherd dog for the sheep that Matt Brown and his wife Elizabeth keep on their farm.
Matt Brown shows images taken from his own life and experiences. His oeuvre includes also print subjects from New York City. A contrast to the artist's landscape images? At first look - yes. At second look - no. In my personal view these city scapes are just landscape prints of a different kind. These New York prints are quiet, contemplating, complaisant. They are kept in green, brown and yellow colors - the colors of the New England countryside. Seagulls are hovering over 7th avenue.
I have never seen the New England states. But I have seen photographs and video clips made by friends of mine. I have dreamed of hills, mountains, blue lakes, creeks and golden-colored woods in autumn. When I saw Matt Brown's moku hanga images I felt taken back to my dreams. I hope one day I will be able to see the old Indian trails or Mount Smarts in real. By now, Matt Brown's images have taken me at least a little closer - virtually.
Dieter Wanczura
The following paragraphs are from the artist's resumé and are copyright protected as is all text and all images of this web site.
Statement by the Artist
"I make my color woodblock prints using traditional Japanese techniques. I carve solid hand-planed wood blocks. I print using traditional rice paste, pigments and water. My baren is real bamboo and paper, and I use it seated cross-legged at a low bench in the traditional manner. All of this is not because I am enamored of things Japanese (I have been to Japan only in my dreams) but because these approaches, tools and materials work best for me.
I print on Rives Heavyweight, a French-made archival cotton paper. Folks who buy my prints seem to prefer them on the cotton paper in the way the colors stand out a bit more strongly on the cotton than on the kozo fibered washi. I love the process of making these prints: the way pictorial simplicity is encouraged, the way an image is separated into parts and put back together, the way the translucent colors blend and juxtapose, the way the wood interacts with the paper.
This manner of printmaking has been my full-time work since 1995. I love the process of making these prints: the way pictorial simplicity is encouraged, the way an image is separated into parts and put back together, the way the translucent colors blend and juxtapose, the way the wood interacts with the paper."
States and Edition Numbering
"Each print is numbered in pencil and edition size is also shown. The date describes the actual month the print was made (the entire edition is not always printed at the same time). A print marked 2nd, 3rd state, etc. indicates a significant re-working of the image and a new edition."
About Matt Brown
- 1958 - Born in Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1981 - Graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College. Studies with Gyorgy Kepes, Dimitri Hadzi, Flora Natapoff.
- 1981-1995 - Worked as carpenter, cabinet-maker, and builder.
- 1990 - Married Elizabeth Page.
- 1992 - Birth of son Nathaniel.
- 1993 - Begin of making color prints using Japanese methods.
- 1995 - Became state-juried member of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen.
- 1997 - Birth of son Asher.
- 1998 - Illustrations for Walter Wetherell's book: "North of Now"
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1998-2005 - Exhibited prints at various locations including:
- Concord Art Association, Concord, Massachusetts.
- Coolidge Center for the Arts, Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
- Wenniger Gallery, Rockland, Massachusetts.
Exhibitions
The artist's woodblock prints are shown in a variety of galleries and permanent exhibitions in New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont.
- Exeter Fine Crafts, Exeter, New Hampshire, U.S.A.
- Long River Studios, Lyme, New Hampshire, USA.
- Mary McGowan Fine Art, 10 Hills Ave, Concord, New Hampshire, U.S.A.
- The Old Print Barn, Winona Rd., Meredith, New Hampshire, U.S.A.
- The Turtle Gallery, Deer Isle, Maine, U.S.A.
- Islesford Artists, Little Cranberry Island, Maine, U.S.A.
- The VT State Craft Center, Windsor, Vermont, U.S.A.
- Quaigh Design Center, Wilmington, Vermont, U.S.A.
- Redbrick Fine Crafts, Ipswich, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
- The Powers Gallery, Acton, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Matt Brown on the Internet
Matt Brown Woodprints - home page of the artist.
The images on this web site are the property of the artist(s) and or the artelino GmbH and/or a third company/institution. Reproduction, public display and any commercial use of these images, in whole or in part, require the expressed written consent of the artist(s) and/or the artelino GmbH. .
Saturday, February 04, 2012:
Weekly auctions of Japanese prints from the 18th to 21st century.
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art auctions since 2001.
Auctions of Japanese prints.
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