Frans Widerberg  1934 - 2017

Print Archive - 1950s

It was almost inevitable that printmaking would play a central role in Frans Widerberg’s artistic career. From 1953 to 1955, he studied book design at the National College of Art, Craft and Design in Oslo, the birthplace of traditional training in the graphic arts. His tutor, Ivar Bell provided him with a thorough grounding in printmaking techniques including woodcut, engraving, etching, lithography and linocuts. 

In 1956, Widerberg spent six months at the Bergen College of Art, Craft and Design studying under the well-known Danish woodcut maker Povl Christensen, who specialised in producing small black and white illustrations of well-known books in xylography or woodcut engraving. 

At the end of the 1950s and in the early 1960s Widerberg made a series of zinc etchings but they were completely overshadowed by his woodcut production.