This is a linocut by noted American artist Howard Norton Cook. It is a linocut titled Snow and Adobe and dates from 1926 (although the information on the back says 1928, the pencil date is 1926). This is during Cook's first visit to Taos, a very productive and formative time in his career (see bio below). It is an image of Old Taos. The scene is very dark with a threatening gray sky. The buildings are dark with drifted snow against the walls. In the mid-ground a couple of wagons and a haystack are dimly visible. A ladder used in Taos to access the dwellings leans against building to the right. No humans are visible. The artwork radiates coldness--truly a night fit for neither man nor beast. The work demonstrates the masterly technique Cook employed in his printmaking. It is signed in pencil lower right Howard Cook with the date, 1926. A pencil title Old Taos is present in pencil lower center. (again information on the back gives the title as Snow and Adobe). I've not been able to find an image online to confirm the title or date. There is a dedication lower left for Betty (?) and Bill. The linocut is in excellent condition. The image size is given above. It is archivally framed and matted. The frame size is 17 x 19.5 inches. The print has not been examined out of the frame but no issues are noted on the parts that can be seen. There are good margins. No staining, fading, foxing, discoloration, tears or paper loss. A great example of Cook's early work from Taos.
Howard Norton Cook (1901-1980)
Howard Norton Cook was one of America’s pre-eminent printmakers. Born in Massachusetts, his formal art education began with a scholarship to the Art Students League in New York. He studied with several noted artists, but Max Weber and Joseph Pennell stand out given they were both accomplished printmakers. As was the case with many art students of the time, he generated income through illustrating magazines and billboards. He honed his printmaking skills creating woodcuts for national magazines such as Harpers Weekly and Atlantic Monthly among others. It was one of these assignments, creating illustrations for Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop that led him to visit Taos, New Mexico, an experience that changed his life in many ways. Most notably he met and subsequently married artist Barbara Latham. He also was immersed in the culture of New Mexico and created a series of prints depicting native American ceremonies, the architecture of the adobe buildings and pueblos, and the New Mexican landscapes. This culminated in a series of woodcuts of the Grand Canyon created in 1927 that were very popular and contributed to his rise as a noted artist. By 1935 his prints were chosen for 50 prints of the year 4 times!! He was a member of the Prairie Printmakers, one of the most influential artistic groups in the United States in the mid-20th century. In 1929 Cook and Latham traveled to Paris, and subsequently returned to New York City. He won two Guggenheim Fellowships. He ultimately focused more on painting, initially watercolors and ultimately oils. He and Latham moved back to New Mexico in 1935. He worked as part of the New Deal art project to paint several murals and in 1937 won the Gold Medal for mural painting by the Architectural League of New York. He served in the South Pacific in WWII as an artist/correspondent and led an art unit in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater. His team accompanied the U.S. Army's 43rd Infantry Division throughout the region, depicting that unit’s activity. After the war, he continued working and exploring new media (collage and pastel) and reinventing his style until he contracted multiple sclerosis. He received many accolades for his work including the SFB Morse Gold Medal in 1976 from the National Academy of Design, and several visiting professorships and artist in residence positions. His print work won many awards, including prizes from the Brooklyn Society of Etchers, the Society of American Etchers (twice), the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Philadelphia Print Club. His lifetime achievement in printmaking was recognized in 1949 by election to membership in the National Academy as a graphic artist. Four years after his death, a major retrospective of his work was exhibited at the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C. His work is held in most major collections, most notably the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the British Museum, and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. His work is actively sought by collectors.