The Bat-Wing Sail
- Date:
- 1920s
- Medium:
- Format:
- Oban
- Source:
- Victoria and Albert Museum
$1,000–$8,000. Common subjects: $1,000–$2,500. Key value factors: Phillips is highly collected in Canada. Mountain and lake scenes are most popular. Japanese-technique prints are more valued than his etchings.
Created in the 1920s, this print takes its title from the distinctive shape of a sail, the bat-wing configuration being a broad, angular form that spreads outward like the membranes of a bat's wing. Walter J. Phillips likely depicts a boat equipped with this type of sail on a Canadian waterway, the unusual sail shape creating a dramatic silhouette against sky and water. The bat-wing sail is associated with certain types of working vessels, including some Chinese junk designs and Polynesian craft, and its appearance in a Canadian context suggests either an exotic vessel encountered by Phillips or a colloquial term for a local sail configuration. The print's subject gave Phillips an opportunity to explore the geometric tension between the angular sail and the organic curves of water and shoreline. The woodblock medium renders the sail's flat surface and sharp edges with graphic clarity.
1940
Woodblock print
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
Boshu Taikai
1925
Color woodblock print; oban
September 1931
Color woodblock print; oban
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
The Bat-Wing Sail was created by Walter J. Phillips in 1920s.
The Bat-Wing Sail depicts seascapes and animals.
