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Patricia Curtan: linoleum block printsWe have framed shows of Patricia Curtan’s extraordinary prints for menus and illustrating Alice Waters’s Chez Panisse Vegetables and Chez Panisse Fruits. See both collections at Patricia’s website. 
“Grapes,” 2002. Image size, 5-1/4" x 7-1/2" (sheet size 10" x 13"). 12 color linoleum block print in an edition of 80, from Chez Panisse Fruit (2002, HarperCollins). Archivally framed in #14 Carved (Scallops) - 3/4" in stained walnut. 11" x 16-1/2" outside frame dimensions. $695. 
“Magnolia Menu,” 1993. Linoleum block print. Frame: carved and painted walnut mitered frame with lap-joined walnut flat. Call for price and availability. |
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The work of artist, printmaker & designer Patricia
Curtan draws on twin passions for gardening and cooking. She has a long
association
with Chez Panisse, involving
cooking and writing as well as artwork for menus and cookbooks – most
notably Alice Waters’s most recent cookbooks, Chez
Panisse Vegetables (1996, HarperCollins) and Chez
Panisse Fruit (2002, HarperCollins).
Each of Curtan’s linocut prints begins with a drawing which is then transferred to linoleum blocks made up of a compound of linseed oil and cork powder mounted to wood. The process requires a separate block for each color. (See an illustration of this.) The blocks are hand-carved to render a relief surface, then printed one block at a time on a 100 year old press. |
