Axes and timber harvesting in art

[wdmn]

Hi all,

On several occasions I've wanted to share a painting or other work of art that has to do with the axe or logging more generally. Having just seen a few works by the wood engraver Clare Leighton I felt inclined to create this thread.

Enjoy,

wdmn

cutting:

limbing:

landing:

loading:

resting:

breaking camp:

And one from a different series for those scythe users on the forum (she has quite a few with scythes, but this one also has a file!):

 

[300Six]

Nice! Winter scenes look suspiciously upper Ottawa Valley-like (or Algonquin Park?) or Saguenay River. The men-folks farmed and cleared land all summer during the 1800s and then spent the winters in the logging camps. Some life! For sure they were a real tough bunch of dudes and it's no wonder Bytown was such a lawless and reckless place when the feckless lads arrived with Philemon Wright and J R Booth paycheques in hand seeking wine/women and song.

 

[blanchardd75]

Is there anywhere to buy prints of these?

 

[wdmn]

@300Six; I'm not sure where she made these engravings - as a middle aged women she went to live at a logging camp for the season - but you're right, they are reminiscent of the operations in those areas. Definitely they are harvesting eastern white pine. Sure you're familiar with this one by Tom Thomson, which was def. painted in Algonquin.

The Alligator (a boat used for hauling logs):

@blanchardd75 it looks like some of her prints are available at this website: http://www.lissfineart.com/0art0_Clare+Leighton.htm
When I saw them they were in a book called "Clare Leighton: The Growth and Shaping of an Artist-Writer". This book is for sale on the site http://www.clareleighton.com/ though you might be able to find it elsewhere.

As a disclaimer, I have nothing to do with Clare Leighton or her artwork. I was shown these pictures by a friend who happens to be a wood engraver and aware of my interest in axes and forestry.

 

[Steve Tall]

With the thread titled "Axes and timber harvesting in art", these paintings would qualify:

Hudson River, logging
by Winslow Homer, 1897
http://www.wikiart.org/en/winslow-homer/hudson-river-logging#close

Logging
by Ivan Shishkin, 1867
http://www.wikiart.org/en/ivan-shishkin/logging-1867#supersized-artistPaintings-228798

Drawing of Man Resting on Axe and Carrying Part of Tree Trunk on His Back
by Katsushika Hokusai, 1760-1849
http://www.wikiart.org/en/katsushika-hokusai/drawing-of-man-resting-on-axe-and-carrying-part-of-tree-trunk-on-his-back

Lumbering
by Childe Hassam, 1903
http://www.wikiart.org/en/childe-hassam/lumbering

Lumbering
by Tom Roberts, 1894
http://www.wikiart.org/en/tom-roberts/lumbering-1894

 

[smith357]

This art was made from one of the tools.

Secret Carpentry
Maskull Lasserre
http://maskulllasserre.com/home.html

 

[Twoinch]

This art was made from one of the tools.

Secret Carpentry
Maskull Lasserre
http://maskulllasserre.com/home.html

that thing is wild!!!

 

[wdmn]

above: Jean-Francois Millet, The Wood Sawyers, 1852

above: One mean axe: Henri Bellechose, Martyrdom of St Denis, 1416