And her name was Teresa. During the early 60’s Francisco Rodon created his first and only woodcut that measured 22 x 30 inches. Most collectors till this date have no clue that such piece does exist.  The woodcut was an assignment by Lorenzo Homar when Rodon was studying at his studio in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

 

The woodcut won ” Mencion Honorifica” at the Ateneo in 1960, and have become extremely rare to find on the secondary market reaching price over $2000,00 dollars for one. Only a few example were sold since the artist never intended them to sell them at the open market in 1960. Only 20 example are known to exist.  It’s curious that the first time that an example of this appeared on the secondary market was in 2015 at a small auction in the U.S. reaching $1500 without the 23% buyers premium.

The composition was simple with just one color, “Flat Black” laid on rice paper. It showed a portrait of a young girl called Teresa, staring directly at the spectator.The white pattern on the composition is just the base of the paper giving light as if the white color was applied directly to the composition.

Its needless to say that a true Rodon collector will want one of this woodcut example of Teresa. The hardest task will be locating one since it would be a great investment due to the short demand of this particular piece… Thanks for reading and sharing

By Joey Medrano MD