Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Year of the Tiger

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Cross-Hatching: the fearsome beast pictured above is a four-color print made from woodcuts created circa 1960 by the artist John Kerner of the Enquirer Printing Company (with text added digitally to mark the lunar new year). The print measures 26" x 40" and the design employs extensive cross-hatching to simulate full-color printing, with the resulting poster once used to promote the Clyde Beatty-Cole Brothers Circus. The Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum acquired the Enquirer's collection of printing materials in 2015, and now offers prints newly produced from the original woodcuts. The Digital Commonwealth of Massachusetts also contains a high-resolution scan of one of the early posters as used by the circus.