Figure Composition

Max Weber

1919-20

A small vertical woodcut in which Max Weber reduces a standing figure to mask-like, geometric planes and decorative motifs, testing Cubist and folk-art languages in black ink.

You first notice a dark, narrow stamped rectangle against the pale sheet—interlocking carved shapes form a flattened, mask-like face and angular limbs, the woodcut’s rough texture lending an urgent, hand-made rhythm.

Produced after World War I, this print shows American modernism absorbing European Cubist and primitive influences and helped make woodcut printmaking a vehicle for avant‑garde abstraction in the United States.

Palette

Art Terms

Woodcut Relief print Print Cubism Abstraction Figurative

Exhibitions

Max Weber, 1881–1961: In Memoriam

1961

Recent American Woodcuts and Prints by Marin, Hopper and Weber

1952

Paintings for Paris

1937

Weber, Klee, Lehmbruck, Maillol

1930