Jonny Hannah – Phares en Bretagne – Signed Limited Edition Woodcut 4/50 – Cakes & Ale Press – 2013

Description

A large and visually commanding original woodcut by Jonny Hannah, entitled Phares en Bretagne, dating from 2013.

The work measures an impressive 63.4 × 89.8 cm and was produced in a limited edition of only 50 impressions. This example is number 4/50, signed and dated 2013 by Jonny Hannah in pencil, with the Cakes & Ale Press imprint and edition device clearly visible along the right-hand margin.

The title translates as “Lighthouses in Brittany”, and the composition is dominated by a stylised lighthouse surrounded by maritime imagery, graphic lettering, birds, waves and directional arrows. Hannah builds the image around the large central wording:

PHARES
EN
BRETAGNE

with further lettering running around the border, including “FINEST QUALITY SARDINES”, creating the visual impression of a vintage French food label, shipping graphic, sardine tin or coastal trade advertisement.

Printed predominantly in turquoise-blue, dark brown and white, the image has a strong graphic presence and deliberately evokes the visual culture of Brittany’s fishing ports, lighthouses, canned-fish packaging and maritime commerce.

Brittany, Lighthouses and Maritime Culture

The subject is a natural fit for Hannah’s long-standing fascination with coastal towns, seafaring, fishing culture and vernacular maritime graphics.

Brittany has one of the most distinctive lighthouse landscapes in Europe, shaped by a rugged Atlantic coastline, offshore reefs and a long history of commercial fishing and navigation. Hannah does not attempt to document a specific lighthouse in topographical detail. Instead, he distils the idea of the Breton lighthouse into an emblem: a tall tower surrounded by waves, arrows, stars and fragments of commercial lettering.

This gives the print the feeling of an old travel poster or food label rather than a conventional landscape.

Sardines, Packaging and the Breton Coast

The wording “FINEST QUALITY SARDINES” is particularly important to the composition.

Brittany has a deep historical association with the sardine industry, especially through ports such as Douarnenez, Concarneau and Quiberon, where fishing and canning became central to local economic and visual culture.

Hannah’s design borrows from that world of tin labels, packaging, shop signs and coastal advertising, turning the print into an imagined piece of Breton commercial ephemera.

The combination of lighthouse imagery and sardine packaging is especially characteristic of Hannah’s ability to bring together place, trade, typography and popular graphic history within a single image.

Woodcut Technique

This work is an original woodcut, and the medium is central to its appearance.

The printed surface has the roughness and directness associated with relief printing from wood: broad areas of colour are broken by visible texture, irregular edges and traces of the carved block.

Those characteristics are particularly effective in this composition. The distressed surface gives the image the appearance of something older — a weathered label, battered tin design or maritime sign — while retaining the physical immediacy of an artist-made print.

The woodcut process also reinforces the boldness of Hannah’s typography. Letters, arrows, waves and architectural details are cut into strong graphic shapes, creating a design that reads equally well from a distance and at close quarters.

Typography and Composition

Typography forms the structural backbone of the image.

The title “PHARES EN BRETAGNE” is integrated into the lighthouse and surrounding design rather than simply placed above or below it. Additional lettering wraps around the border, giving the entire print the format of an oversized commercial label.

The restricted palette of turquoise-blue, dark brown and white gives the work a deliberately limited-colour printed character, strongly reminiscent of early packaging and poster design.

At nearly 90 cm high, the scale gives the image considerable presence and allows Hannah’s carved marks and printed textures to be seen particularly clearly.

Edition

This example is:

4/50

from a limited edition of only 50 impressions.

The early-numbered impression, large format, original pencil signature and date, Cakes & Ale Press imprint and strong maritime subject make this a particularly substantial example of Hannah’s relief-print work.

Artist

Jonny Hannah is a British illustrator, painter and printmaker whose work frequently explores maritime culture, hand lettering, folk art, old advertising, independent shops, popular music and vernacular graphic design.

His fascination with coastal towns and commercial ephemera is especially evident in Phares en Bretagne, where the visual languages of the lighthouse, sardine tin, travel poster and trade label are brought together in a single monumental composition.

Condition

Very good to excellent condition overall.

The turquoise-blue and dark-brown printing remains strong, with good contrast and excellent overall visual impact.

There is only light natural handling and paper irregularity visible, consistent with the large format and handmade nature of the work. The intentionally broken areas of colour, uneven ink density and visible wood-grain-like texture are intrinsic to the woodcut process and should not be mistaken for later surface loss.

The pencil signature, 2013 date and edition number 4/50 remain clear and legible.

Please study the photographs carefully as they form an integral part of the description.

Artist: Jonny Hannah
Title: Phares en Bretagne
Translation: Lighthouses in Brittany
Date: 2013
Medium: Original colour woodcut
Edition: 4/50
Edition size: 50
Signed: Yes, in pencil
Dated: 2013
Size: 63.4 × 89.8 cm
Imprint: Cakes & Ale Press
Subject: Brittany / lighthouses / maritime culture
Format: Original limited-edition artist’s woodcut
Unframed: Yes
Modern reproduction: No

Authenticity

This work has been handled, inspected and catalogued in-house at Hornseys before being offered for sale.

The pencil signature, date, edition number 4/50 and Cakes & Ale Press imprint are clearly visible.

It is an original signed and numbered Jonny Hannah woodcut from an edition of only 50, not a later reproduction.

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Explore our evolving collection of Jonny Hannah original paintings, signed and limited-edition prints, illustrated books and related artworks. His distinctive imagery, hand lettering and narrative style draw upon music, maritime culture, vintage advertising, folk art, popular entertainment and the visual character of British towns and seaside communities.

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