Woodcuts, authenticated by Hanga House.

The oldest of the print techniques, woodcut is a relief process: the artist carves away everything except the lines meant to print, leaving a raised image on the block that is inked and pressed onto paper.

That carving leaves a distinctive graphic boldness and the visible texture of the wood grain, qualities perfected in the Japanese ukiyo-e tradition and revived by twentieth-century Expressionist and contemporary artists. Collectors follow woodcuts for their directness and for the labour visible in every block.