The Return
1907
Medium
Color woodcut on paper
Dimensions
Image/block: 39.1 × 21.2 cm (15 7/16 × 8 3/8 in.); Sheet: 48.7 × 26.7 cm (19 3/16 × 10 9/16 in.)
Classification
woodcut
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
77619
Art Historical Context
**The Return** (1907) by Helen is a captivating color woodcut on paper, measuring 39.1 × 21.2 cm for the image. This intimate print, housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints and Drawings department exemplifies Hyde's mastery of a technique inspired by Japanese ukiyo-e. Hyde, an American artist (1868–1910), immersed herself in Japan from 1901 to 190, adopting the meticulous of carving multiple woodblocks—one for each color layering inks with precise registration to create vibrant, harmonious scenes. Printed during the early 20th-century revival of woodblock printing in the West, amid gr...
About the Artist
Helen Hyde · 1868–1919
Helen Hyde (1868–1919) was born in Lima, New York, and spent much of her childhood in California, where her family had relocated. She began her formal artistic training at the San Francisco School of Design and continued at the Art Students League in New York from 1888 to 1889. In 1890 she traveled to Europe, spending time in Berlin and subsequently in Paris from 1891 to 1894, where she became cap...