Jonny Hannah – The Drowned Lovers – Signed Limited-Edition Screenprint 7/50 – Cakes & Ale Press – 2011

Description

A large and highly atmospheric original screenprint by Jonny Hannah, entitled The Drowned Lovers, produced in 2011 through Hannah’s own Cakes & Ale Press.

Printed in a small edition of only 50 impressions, this example is number 7/50 and is signed and dated 2011 by Jonny Hannah in pencil along the right-hand margin. The sheet measures an impressive 56 × 76 cm, giving the image considerable presence.

The composition is one of Hannah’s more overtly narrative and folk-inflected designs. Against a densely worked dark-blue ground, two stylised red-gloved hands or arms appear suspended within a pale, cloud-like central field, separated by a black radiating form containing a small red heart. Around them, Hannah introduces fragments of decorative motifs, hand-drawn marks and small red figures, while the title is divided vertically between the words:

THE DROWNED

and

LOVERS

The lettering is characteristically irregular and hand-worked, with the red forms picked out against pink, pale green, blue and black. The image combines melancholy, romance and visual wit in a way that is highly characteristic of Hannah’s work.

A Folk-Ballad Sensibility

The Drowned Lovers belongs to a recurring strand in Hannah’s work in which folk song, popular storytelling, maritime imagery, love, death and old printed ephemera merge into a contemporary graphic language.

Rather than illustrating a literal scene, Hannah builds an emblematic image from fragments: hands, heart, lettering, decorative signs and rhythmic marks. The result feels part broadside ballad, part tattoo flash, part hand-painted sign and part modern artist’s print.

The title itself has the quality of an old song, chapbook or folk tale, and the visual treatment reinforces that association. The lovers are never presented naturalistically; instead, the image works through suggestion and symbol, allowing the central heart, submerged forms and broken-up typography to carry the emotional weight.

Typography and Image

Hand-drawn lettering is fundamental to Hannah’s work, and The Drowned Lovers is a particularly strong example.

The title is integrated directly into the pictorial structure rather than added as a separate caption. Letters become shapes within the image, while the irregular spacing, shading and colour give the text the feel of vernacular signwriting or old printed display type.

The restricted but highly distinctive palette of deep blue, pale blue, pink, pale green, red and black gives the work a rich, almost textile-like surface. Hannah’s deliberately visible marks, hatching and uneven printed textures reinforce the handmade character of the screenprint.

Cakes & Ale Press

The lower right-hand margin carries the printed Cakes & Ale Press imprint.

The Cakes & Ale Press is Jonny Hannah’s own publishing and printmaking imprint, through which he has produced limited-edition screenprints, posters, artist’s books and other printed ephemera. Works issued under the imprint are closely associated with his personal studio practice and often combine illustration, typography, folklore, popular culture and the visual language of older commercial printing.

Edition

This example is:

7/50

from an edition of only 50 impressions.

The low edition number, large sheet size and relatively small total edition all add to the appeal of the work for collectors. The pencil signature, date and edition number are clearly visible along the right-hand margin.

Artist

Jonny Hannah is a British illustrator, painter and printmaker whose work is immediately recognisable for its combination of hand lettering, folk-art influence, popular graphics, jazz, maritime imagery, vintage commercial design and imagined worlds.

His practice regularly crosses the boundary between illustration and fine-art printmaking, with screenprint providing an especially natural medium for his layered colour, bold forms and deliberately handmade surface.

Condition

Very good to excellent condition overall.

The colours remain strong, rich and well balanced, with the dark blue and red particularly effective.

The sheet appears clean and well preserved, with only very minor handling or natural paper irregularity consistent with an unframed screenprint of this size and age.

The pencil signature, date and edition number 7/50 remain clearly visible.

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

Artist: Jonny Hannah
Title: The Drowned Lovers
Date: 2011
Medium: Original screenprint
Publisher: Cakes & Ale Press
Edition: 7/50
Signed: Yes, in pencil
Dated: 2011 in pencil
Size: 56 × 76 cm
Format: Original limited-edition screenprint
Unframed: Yes
Modern reproduction: No

Authenticity

This print has been handled, inspected and catalogued in-house at Hornseys.

The pencil signature, date, edition number and printed Cakes & Ale Press imprint are all present and clearly visible.

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

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At Hornseys, we are committed to offering original paintings, signed prints, illustrated books and related works by Jonny Hannah that meet high standards of authenticity, condition and visual quality. Our collection has been assembled carefully over more than fifteen years and reflects our long-standing appreciation of Hannah’s distinctive contribution to contemporary British art, illustration and printmaking.

Every item is individually examined, researched and catalogued before being offered for sale.

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EXPLORE OUR JONNY HANNAH COLLECTION

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.

Whether you are an established collector, an admirer of contemporary British illustration or searching for an unusual and memorable gift, our collection offers the opportunity to acquire carefully selected examples of Jonny Hannah’s work.

Established in 1976 and based in Ripon, North Yorkshire, Hornseys is an independent gallery and bookseller specialising in original art, prints, design, collectable books and historic material. Every item is handled, inspected and catalogued in-house at our Ripon gallery.