C. S. Ackley (Ed.), British Prints from the Machine Age : Rhythms of Modern Life 1914-1939, London, Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2009, 224 p.
- British Prints from the Machine Age is a profusely illustrated examination of the impact of avant-garde Continental influences on British printmaking in the years stretching from the First World War to the outbreak of the Second.
It features more than 100 lithographs, etchings, woodcuts and linocuts, ranging from radical geometric abstractions to forceful impressions of the first fully mechanized war and colourful Jazz Age images of sports, speed trials, and other contemporary diversions.
Clifford S. Ackley’s introduction takes stock of the art historical movement and is followed by lively, thematic discussions of the prints, an overview of the history and technique of the modern linocut, and short biographies of the artists. The images produced by these innovative printmakers powerfully embody the era’s preoccupations with speed, machines, urbanism and other exciting new facets of modern life.
- Clifford Ackley is Senior Curator at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
