When Walter J. Phillips emigrated to Canada from his native Lincolnshire, England in 1913, he chose to settle in the prairie province of Manitoba simply because it was in between Vancouver and Toronto, both cities in which relatives lived.
Phillips had tried watercolor and etching, but he began making the color woodcuts he is known for in 1917.
His adopted home of Manitoba has both sunny skies and blizzards during the winter. Phillips captured both, beautifully. Though his work shows similarities to Japanese woodblock prints and the works of the French master Henri Riviere, Phillips apparently hadn't much interest in what other artists did.
5 comments:
These are beautiful. Although I don't want more snow here, just yet, it's nice to admire in art. - jeanne in Oregon
Strangely enough, Phillips made a dismissive comment about Japanese woodblock printers in one of his books (texts available at the website). Yet he got so much from their work.
By the way, the title is in quotation marks because it comes from the lyrics to the song "Snowfall". Ruth Thornhill wrote them, but her husband, bandleader Claude Thornhill, who wrote the tune, often gets credit for the lyrics. There is a wonderful instrumental version of "Snowfall" on the cd "East To Wes" by guitarist Emily Remler.
I love these Blue Lantern.
Thank you Margarida for your kind words.
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