Paul Gauguin discovered that the expressive quality of the woodcut was ideal for his planned book on Tahiti, tentatively entitled Noa Noa. The book was never published, but 10 color woodcuts and 30 more woodcuts as monotypes were finished. Gauguin made woodcuts as if they were paintings, scratching and manipulating the surface and then applying the ink like paint, leaving more ink in some areas and rubbing ink off in others.

Portrait of Teha’amana for Noa Noa. c. 1894. Woodcut; 13.75" x 8

Käthe Kollwitz is considered one of the great German printmakers of the 20th century. Her woodcuts have a raw power and edge to them that inspires and disturbs at the same time. Her tool marks and the light grays produced by the slightly lower areas in the print add depth and expression to her characters and the atmosphere of the funeral scene in this print. 

Memorial to Karl Liebknecht. 1919. Woodcut; 13.75" x 19.69"