Beginning of the World

Medium: Woodcut
Dimensions: 7 5/8 x 5 1/8 inches
Artist details: English, 1833 - 1898
Date of plate: 1903

Recommended by Paige (Collections Manager):

"Beginning of the World was completed after the artist's death from a group of two hundred or so incomplete drawings of the story of Adam and Eve. Although the imagery is fairly traditional, the engraver relying on Chaucer to fill in the blanks, I find the piece unusually contemporary. To me, Eve is uniquely unapologetic and active as she turns to Adam while Adam's shame or disappointment is the most apparent. I appreciate this more modest, emotional, and shameless depiction of Adam, humbly holding his face as he walks hand-in-hand with Eve."