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Ink Paper Chisel Grain
  • Published: 1 December 2026
  • ISBN: 9780241682203
  • Imprint: Michael Joseph
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 416
  • RRP: $69.99

Ink Paper Chisel Grain

A Remarkable History of Woodcuts

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A dazzling exploration of the world's humblest art form - the woodcut - across 500 years of world history

This is a book about why the woodcut matters and why its power to shock, thrill and inspire has never diminished. From third-century China through to the present day, celebrated printmaker Paul Coldwell explores how we have used the medium to visualise ideas, capture key moments in history and help shape the society around us, telling the story of the art form itself in all its historical and intellectual significance.

Beautifully illustrated throughout, Ink Paper Chisel Grain is an ode to craft and care, conveying the marvel and excitement of seeing a woodcut for the first time – and what makes these encounters so unforgettable.
  • Published: 1 December 2026
  • ISBN: 9780241682203
  • Imprint: Michael Joseph
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 416
  • RRP: $69.99
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About the author

Paul Coldwell

Paul Coldwell is an artist, curator, researcher and writer who has worked with and studied woodcuts for more than fifty years. His work has been exhibited in numerous public collections, including the Tate, the V&A, the British Museum, the Musée d'art et d'histoire (Geneva) and MoMA (New York), and since 2001 he has been a Professor in Fine Art Printmaking at the University of the Arts London. He has been a regular contributor to publications including Art in Print, Printmaking Today and Print Quarterly, and he is the author of several books, including Printmaking: A Contemporary Perspective.
PC

Praise for Ink Paper Chisel Grain

Paul Coldwell is one of Britain’s most distinguished printmakers . . . in this beautifully illustrated book he sets out to show how the humble woodcut, which uses the simple elements of ink, paper and wood, has forged a central role in the history of art . . . Coldwell has produced a fascinating account of the hidden history of the woodcut . . . There is no doubting his passionate belief in the power of a woodcut to stir primal emotions in artist and viewer alike

Sunday Times