London - The National Art Library, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
London - The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE) Diploma Collection
Oxford - The Ashmolean Museum of Art & Archaeology, University of Oxford
Manchester - MMU Special Collections
USA
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, Ohio State University Libraries, USA
Downsized (Book: 1st edition)
The National Art Library, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
The Cycle (Book: 1st edition)
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, Ohio State University Libraries, USA
Runners (Limited edition engraving)
The Ashmolean Museum of Art & Archaeology, University of Oxford
Walking Shadows: A Novel Without Words (Book: 2nd edition)
The National Art Library, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
What's 'er names house (Limited edition engraving)
Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE) Diploma Collection
The Ashmolean Museum of Art & Archaeology, University of Oxford
A Load of Old Cameras (Limited edition engraving)
The Ashmolean Museum of Art & Archaeology, University of Oxford
"Downsized"
The National Art Library, Special Collections, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Downsized: An engraved book by Neil Bousfield.
Based on the day the studio downsized and I was made redundant along with my colleagues .. this wordless book unfolds through 22
engraved images, 14 pattern blocks, 4 poem pages and a gallery of 24 images of mug shots. Each image
was printed directly from the original block. The book is hard backed and hand bound and contains hand printed, engraved endpapers. I carried out all stages of the printmaking and bookmaking myself.I worked on "Downsized" for about two to three days a week, for a year
and made only ten copies for the first edition, one of which is in the V&A Artists Book Collection ...
so go and see it!
"The Cycle"
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, The Ohio State University Libraries, USA
The Cycle: An engraved book by Neil Bousfield
The narrative follows a couples’ struggle to raise two children on low wages whilst dealing with the realisation that their lives do not match up with what is presented to them. After several events, the brothers end up repeating the parents’ mistakes. After a chance intervention, one brother begins to make different choices and starts to change his life. The narrative is told within 187 engraved blocks, and the book uses a total of 200 engraved blocks. Each block took me one day just to engrave, with several months of drawing and preparation to reach that stage. “The Cycle” took me 2 years to complete and I made 12 copies, hand printed and bound by the artist (me) for the first edition.
The narrative follows a couples’ struggle to raise two children on low wages whilst dealing with the realisation that their lives do not match up with what is presented to them. After several events, the brothers end up repeating the parents’ mistakes. After a chance intervention, one brother begins to make different choices and starts to change his life. The narrative is told within 187 engraved blocks, and the book uses a total of 200 engraved blocks. Each block took me one day just to engrave, with several months of drawing and preparation to reach that stage. “The Cycle” took me 2 years to complete and I made 12 copies, hand printed and bound by the artist (me) for the first edition.
"Runners"
The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Oxford
Based on drawings made of my whippets, this engraved print is in an edition of 200. Each copy has been printed directly from the original engraved block. The design measures (mm) 245w x 360h and this edition is for sale at £85, unframed. If you would like to purchase a copy of this original engraving, please contact me.
"Walking Shadows: A Novel Without Words"
The National Art Library, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Editorial Reviews
The formal challenge of telling a book-length story entirely visually, without the use of words, has attracted a number of artists over the years, most notably Lynd Ward, whose six woodcut novels in the 1920s–30s were recently collected by the Library of America. Working solidly in Ward’s tradition is Bousfield, who here documents the cheerless lives of an assembly-line worker, his downtrodden wife, and their two children. The drudgery of his job and the family’s poverty lead the husband to desperation, while his wife takes solace in the bottle. Their sons seem destined for a similarly bleak existence, but one manages to break the destructive cycle. The slight, even banal story is redeemed by Bousfield’s graphically striking approach: like Ward, he uses a single woodcut image per page, each able to stand alone as an arresting visual. Bousfield may hew too closely to Ward for the work to fully resonate with contemporary readers—the social realism of the narrative and the expressionistic look of the woodcuts both seem of an earlier era—but his bold experiment is deserving of attention. --Gordon Flagg
About the Author
Neil Bousfield is a professional printmaker, animator, and teacher whose work has been exhibited throughout the UK. His engravings reflect his interest in social concerns and the use of visual art to convey a narrative story.
"What's 'er names house"
The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE) Diploma Collection
The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Oxford
