Frans Widerberg  1934 - 2017

Print Archive - 1980s

[Mara to suggest text please]  In 1960 Widerberg designed the book cover for UnicornAndre Bjerk’s collection of short stories. He met the writer possibly through his friendship with the actress Henny Moen who was married to Bjerke. In 1963 Widerberg was invited to illustrate Bjerk’s translation of Oscar Wilde’s one-act play Salomé, a symbolist melodrama which offered stirring possibilities for Widerberg’s melancholy and mystical art. 

He began work on the Salomé theme with three zinc etchings but returned to woodcuts and throughout 1964 made a considerable number of impressions in varying sizes and formats. Widerberg kept close to Wilde’s text focusing on highlights in the plot and on the important characteristics of the main protagonists. Using an interplay of light and dark cross-hatching, he achieved a heightened visual sense of drama. Twelve prints were selected for the book.