Evening, Swan Lake, Central Park, New York

Henry Wolf

Henry Wolf won the Grand Prize for printmaking at the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. One of the last of the great reproductive wood engravers, he exhibited 144 wood engravings at the PPIE, a few of these were his own compositions, such as "Evening, Swan Lake, Central Park, New York." This is the actual impression exhibited.

The Pond in Central Park was once known for two different kinds of swans: both real and in boat form. These swan boats were a highly popular feature of the Pond from the 1870s through the 1920s, when the boats were removed. Today, the curved pond, though no longer home to swan boats, is home to ducks, geese, and other waterfowl.

Wolf depicts the Gapstow Bridge, seen here at night with a full moon. It is also called the "Vine Bridge." It is a remarkable example of his skill as an artist and as a technician.

Henry Wolf, born in Eckwersheim, Alsace, France in 1852, was the premier wood engraver working in America from the late 1800's through his death in 1916. He studied with J. Levy in Strasbourg, and came to New York in 1871, after exhibiting throughout Europe, Paris in particular.

He primarily copied the "greats" for publication in the three most popular literary magazines of the time, Century Magazine, Harper's Monthly, and Scribner's Magazine. The American artists he presented for public consumption included John Singer Sargent, Gilbert Stuart and Frank Weston Benson, the Europeans included Jan Vermeer, Edouard Manet and Jean Leon Gerome.

In the book The Life & Work of Henry Wolf by Ralph Clifton Smith, there is a quote from a letter received by Wolf in 1905 from W. Lewis Fraser, for many years connected with the art department of the Century Magazine, referring to Gerome, "'Many thanks for your letter. Gerome's expression as he looked at the proofs of your engravings of his paintings was 'they are beautiful, Mr. Wolf knew better than my brushes what I wanted to do.'" He began publishing original works of his own design, beginning in 1896 with 'Evening Star.' He worked until his unexpected death in 1916, at the age of 64.