Cyril Edward Power (British, 1872-1951)
Skaters (Coppel CEP 29)
Linocut printed in spectrum red, light cobalt blue and viridian, circa 1932, a good, strong impression, on tissue thin oriental laid paper, signed and titled in pencil, a proof aside from the edition of 60, framed

Block 198 x 316mm (7 3/4 x 12 3/8in)
Sheet 222 x 386mm (8 3/4 x 15 1/4in)
Footnotes:
The 1920s and 1930s were the heyday for figure skating, popularized by the glamorous World Champion Norwegian skater Sonja Henie. She incorporated ballet movements into her routines, which was certainly an inspiration for Power in producing this image of three graceful skaters. Power perfectly balances the composition, using sinuous lines to show the graceful dancer-like qualities of the figures and sweeping diagonals and curves to indicate their movement.

Power experimented a lot with this linocut to ensure the colours were correct. He noted that the red should not be too heavy as this could seep into the green or blue areas when the sheet was rubbed. Printing was done by rubbing the paper with a burnishing spoon, or with the fingers for particularly intricate areas and Power made a note to print the green over the red last to avoid the colour spreading. This impression is evidence of his care and attention during the printing process.