“Atlantis 4” (Element Fire) 2026

It began with an ammonite, 160 million years old. That span of time is almost impossible to grasp. Why is man on Earth, how vast is the universe, what does infinity mean? For me, all of it was mirrored in this small spiral. Over the years it grew into a whole cycle on the four elements: water in deep blue, earth in green as a sign of growth, air as a maelstrom of eleven printing blocks that took me nine months.

With “Atlantis 4” I close the cycle. It is the element of fire, and for me the most compelling of them all. We live in a time when everything is transforming, and fire is its sign: upheaval and warmth, not only threat. The basic form remains the ammonite, but now like a planetary explosion, a cosmic big bang, a new light rising. A transformation we stand in the middle of. And for the good.

Ten months to the final print

I painted the picture behind it in 2016. For a long time I left open whether it would ever become a print. The woodcut is one of the oldest techniques in art, and the hardest question was always how to bring the painting onto the wood. I thought about it for more than thirty years.

From a master block I transfer the drawing onto every further block, exact to the millimetre. Ten blocks, each carrying a single colour. Yellow, orange, violet, layer upon layer, and every colour changes the one beneath. I cut with more than a hundred chisels from Switzerland and print on an old letterpress from Ostdruck Rostock that I rebuilt for the purpose. Everything depends on this precision; a picture like this cannot be printed any other way. Ten months for a single sheet. And in the very end it comes down to the light: I keep working until it radiates.

“What mattered to me was that the woodcut should surpass the painting, that I gain one more intensification. That is only possible with these utterly clear colours. In the woodcut there is a light, exactly as I had wished for it.”

Olaf Hoppe · from “The Last Cut”

The making

The Last Cut

The Wismar TV film crew accompanied me throughout the entire making of this work, from the first idea to the last, decisive print. The result is the six-part documentary “The Last Cut”:

Johnny Baaske and Theodor Jelen, both from the Wismar TV team, assembled this series into a nearly half-hour feature under their own label JUNIMEDIA. It tells the making of “Atlantis 4” in a single piece and shows additional scenes; the continuous sound design is by Theodor Jelen.

“I dared to try one more time, and I got it done. I would not have believed I could. Now I only see the result and take joy in it. It is relief: I did it.”

Olaf Hoppe · from “The Last Cut”

The completed cycle

Four elements, one cycle. Over all these years I kept returning to it: water in deep blue in 2014, earth in green the same year, air in 2017. Fire, the most compelling element of all, I saved for last. With it the cycle is complete.

Water · 2014 Earth · 2014 Air · 2017 Fire · 2026

My last woodcut

I want to touch people’s hearts.

“At the age of 67, clearing that bar one more time was quite a challenge. But now it is enough; nothing more is needed.”

Olaf Hoppe · from “The Last Cut”

Atlantis 4 is, in all likelihood, my last woodcut. I am laying down my chisels at the height of a tradition I have perfected. A masterpiece like this will never be made again. Secure your copy from the limited edition now.