Description
Do not be afraid, I bring you good news.
Through the starry night sky, angels appear to the shepherds in the hills of Bethlehem, inviting them to share in the joy of the first Christmas.
The Shepherds, 2023, joins Nativity, 2022, and The Annunciation, 2017, to complete the new Nativity Triptych, printed in vibrant, archival inks. This posthumous giclée combines changes Swanson made to his serigraph for this print edition with elements from his other serigraphs, giclées, and sketches.
I wanted to capture the surprise of the shepherds as they were awakened by the angels. Some of the shepherds are sleeping,
others are startled and look up at the beautiful angels. Even some of the sheep look up at the angels.
–John August Swanson
|
The Shepherds – History of the Image
The Shepherds was first drawn by John August Swanson in 1979 as an 8.75” x 5.5” pencil drawing to plan a scratchboard piece. It was later elongated to a 23” x 7” watercolor in 1983. Two years later, it was used in the creation of a 1985 serigraph, printed at Advanced Graphics Studio in London. And, three years after its printing, it became part of the Nativity Triptych in 1988, when Nativity, 1988 and Epiphany, 1988 were printed. The Triptych was further expanded to six artworks with the inclusion of: A Visit, 1995, Flight into Egypt, 2002, and Presentation in the Temple, 2004. In 2011, Swanson revisited The Shepherds and Nativity for one of one editions created for Juan Diego Catholic High School in Salt Lake City, UT. A scan was made of the 1985 Shepherds serigraph, and a single giclée was printed of the piece. Additional details were hand-painted on top of the print by Swanson for the school, and the Swanson Studio kept a digital record of the artwork. In 2017, Swanson published a giclée edition of The Annunciation, planning to develop giclée editions of The Shepherds and Nativity, to join it later. The new editions were to be based on the sold-out serigraph editions, and to incorporate the refinements made to the unique giclée prints made for Juan Diego Catholic High. In March, 2023 work began on the posthumous giclée of The Shepherds. This giclée edition has been sized to match the height of The Annunciation. It has added soft, warm skin tones and gradations, as well as features additional details in the plants and sky from Swanson’s other serigraphs, paintings, and sketches. Work was done directly on the digital record of the Juan Diego print to increase its resolution, to sharpen and refine its details, and to ensure there was no image degradation in the prints. This giclée edition completes Swanson’s planned Giclée Nativity Triptych, and finished printing after almost seven months on September 29, 2023.
|
||||
|
|
 The Shepherds, 1979 Scratchboard 8.75″ x 5.5″ |
|||
|
|
 The Shepherds, 1983 Watercolor 23″ x 7″ |
 The Shepherds, 1985 Serigraph 38.5″ x 11.75″ |
 The Shepherds, 2011 Print with Handpainting 38.5″ x 11.75″ |
 The Shepherds, 2023 Giclee 41″ x 12.5″ |
|
|
 Nativity, 1988 Serigraph 38.5″ x 11.75″ |
The Shepherds, 1985 Serigraph 38.5″ x 11.75″ |
||
|
|
The Shepherds, 2023 Giclee 41″ x 12.5″ |
|||
