$1250.00
E. Mervyn Taylor, (1906-1964). Wood engraver, book illustrator, designer, typographer, painter & printmaker
One of the most important figures in 20th-century New Zealand printmaking, Taylor is also considered one of New Zealand’s finest graphic artists of the mid-20th century. His engravings are held in Te Papa, major NZ libraries, and museums overseas. Along with artists like Leo Bensemann, Rona Dyer, and Margaret Taylor, he helped create a New Zealand-centred design language during a period when the nation was searching for cultural identity.
Reprinted from the original 1949 Boxwood block that was used for his book "Engravings in Wood". Two huia birds, male and female, perched among dense native foliage. The male has the short, strong bill; the female’s beak is long and scimitar-curved. The birds are surrounded by heavy leaves and undergrowth, every surface built out of short engraved lines rather than big black masses.The huia was already extinct when Taylor made this engraving. For Māori, huia tail feathers were prized symbols of status; by the mid-20th century the bird had become a loaded image of loss and national identity.
Taylor's working in wood engraving (end-grain hardwood, very fine tools) rather than rougher face-grain woodcut, but auction houses and booksellers often use “woodcut” loosely for all of it. He was a key figure in bringing Māori stories and New Zealand ecology into the visual culture of the time.
Frame measures 300mm X 300mm