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10-color heliorelief woodcut with roulette work, printed from 20 woodblocks in two sections and then joined as one print.
After focusing on the figure during the 1960’s, Pearlstein returned to landscape subjects in the 1970’s, applying the methodology of his mature style to the rendering of landscape and ruins. Pearlstein’s fascination with ancient architectural sites was fueled by his time spent in Italy during a Fulbright Fellowship in 1958. Pearlstein travelled for the first time to Jerusalem in October of 1986 to make the 10 foot long watercolor for this monumental print, Jerusalem, Kidron Valley. At Graphicstudio, a new process was developed specifically for this project, photographic woodblock or “heliorelief,” which utilizes sandblasting rather than hand carving for the making of woodblocks. The artist transferred his watercolor to mylar sheets that were then used to make the blocks. Pearlstein further refined the imagery by handworking the blocks with a roulette. The print is made in two sections from ten sets of blocks of different woods—birch, walnut, cherry and gumwood. The transparent colors and white paper retain the feel of the watercolor as source for the print.
