The Wood Engraver

1882

Charles Frederic Ulrich American, 1858 - 1908

On View

American, Level 2, West Wing

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Catalogue Raisonné

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About the Artwork

A woman in a black dress sits at a cluttered studio table fully absorbed in her work. Light filters through the stained curtain, glitters in a glass mug of water, and illuminates the tools of her trade as an engraver.

Charles Frederic Ulrich created this rare depiction of a woman artist engaged in the commercial practice of wood engraving. During the nineteenth century, affordable wood engravings were used to reproduce printed images in fast-paced magazine and newspaper publishing. Women artists embraced engraving as a career that, unusually, offered them salaries comparable to those of their male peers.

Title The Wood Engraver

Artwork Date 1882

Artist Charles Frederic Ulrich

Life Dates 1858 - 1908

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Oil on cradled panel

Dimensions Overall: 18 5/8 × 10 1/8 inches (47.3 × 25.7 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department American Art before 1950

Credit Museum Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Conrad H. Smith Memorial Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 2020.88

Markings

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Provenance

1884-1891, George I. Seney (1826-1893), Brooklyn, New York.
American Art Association, Madison Square Garden, New York, 13 February 1891, p. 237, lot 209, sold by the above.
Parke-Bernet, 31 May 1945, lot 14, sold by Private collection, New York.
Arlene Norman (died 2019), West Bend, Wisconsin.
2019, James and Nora Engelman, Port Washington, Wisconsin, bequest from the above.
2020, Private collection, by descent.
(Christie's Auction House, New York, New York, USA);
2020-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

"Detroit Institute of Arts adds works to Native American collection, new works by women artists." Artdaily. https://artdaily.cc/news/131545/Detroit-Institute-of-Arts-adds-works-to-Native-American-collection--new-works-by-women-artists#.YYQ0NWDMKUm. Accessed on: November 4, 2021.

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Charles Frederic Ulrich, The Wood Engraver, 1882, oil on cradled panel. Detroit Institute of Arts, Museum Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Conrad H. Smith Memorial Fund, 2020.88.