Flight to Egypt

Flight to Egypt
Benjamin Miller
1924
United States
Woodcut print
Marian Library Art & Artifacts Collection

Benjamin Miller (1874-1964) was a well-known expressionist who was born and raised in Cincinnati. He received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1901 and later returned to Ohio to pursue a career as an artist. Traveling France and other European countries in the early 1920s, he discovered the post-World War I artistic scene which saw a revival in the practice of woodcut printing. Miller's prints are typical examples of expressionist art — a style strongly influenced by biblical themes, especially the tragic and heroic figures. From 1924 to 1935, he created powerful, emotionally charged woodcuts that received international acclaim. The Marian Library holds an extensive collection of his works.

Flight into Egypt
Martin Schongauer
18th century
Engraving
Marian Library Art & Artifacts Collection

Martin Schongauer (ca. 1450-1491), a noted early printmaker, was also a painter. According to R.J. Verostko in the New Catholic Encyclopedia, Schongauer's work “stands out for its precision and inventiveness" among the engravers of the Upper Rhine region. "He brought to engraving a painter's ability to articulate tone and spatial depth,” Verostko writes. “With the burin he introduced multiple tones and textures to the print by varying the mode, frequency, and kind of incision employed on the plate.” Schongauer’s work treated religious subjects, particularly the life of Mary and the Passion of Christ; About 115 plates bear his monogram. His engravings in the Marian Library were produced mainly during a revival of the art in the 17th and 18th centuries with the development of facsimile engraving in imitation of the Masters.