Echinocactus

Born in Ukraine, to a Polish noble family, Hnizdovsky initially studied painting in Warsaw, but he had to flee to Zagreb due to Germany’s 1939 invasion and bombardment. He arrived in America in 1949. Though he was originally interested in portraiture, his meager finances led him to New York’s zoos and botanical gardens, where he drew the plants and animals. He was completely self-taught as a printmaker, and he cut and printed his woodblocks in his home studio. Echinocactus is one of fifteen woodcuts reproduced in Flora Exotica, published by David R. Godine, Boston, 1972. Hnizdovsky visited the Bronx and Brooklyn Botanical Gardens to find subjects for this collection of prints.