'Into the Woods' was originally conceived as a single independent work but was subsequently developed in three vibrant colour variations printed from the same plates. Jack Shirreff, the master printer who collaborated with Hodgkin on their production, considered them a breakthrough series in the artist’s printmaking oeuvre, as their dramatic painterly effect aligned them closer to the artist’s paintings than all his previously made prints. This seminal series effectively explores the threshold between paintings and prints.
Lift-ground etching with aquatint and carborundum printed in two shades of green, turquoise blue and zinc white, with hand-colouring in red, cerulean blue and zinc white, and bright opaque green and zinc white acrylic, on two sheets of Arjo Wiggins Moulin du Gué mould-made paper
Signed, dated 'MMI' and inscribed P.P.
One of three printer's proofs aside from the edition of 19
Printed by 107 Workshop, Wiltshire
Published by Alan Cristea Gallery, London
Each sheet: 203.2 × 133.3 cm (80 × 52.5 in)
Overall: 203.2 × 266.6 cm (80 × 105 in)
Heenk 114
In excellent condition
Within a custom oak frame with UV filtered acrylic glazing Frame: 214 × 276 cm (84.2 × 108.6 in)
'Into the Woods' are the largest, most monumental set of prints Hodgkin ever made, printed to the size of murals. The artist intended the series to be hung like posters: without frame or mount, simply fixed onto the wall by means of a large piece of board.
