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Lynd Ward (1905-1985). Illustration for The Story
of Siegfried, charcoal on illustration board, 37.3 x
27.8 cm. For the book by Angela Diller. Published by Cape
& Smith, New York, 1931.
The Fairchild Gallery presents Lynd Ward: A Centennial Appreciation this summer to commemorate the centenary of the birth of award-winning
book illustrator and artist Lynd Ward (1905-1985). The exhibit
will run through October 2. The Georgetown University Library
is the primary repository of Lynd Ward’s personal papers
and artwork, and this is the fourth exhibition at Georgetown
University drawn from this rich collection of materials.
Lynd Ward was a prolific artist, author, and book illustrator.
His experiments during the fifty years of his career distinguished
him as one of the most accomplished craftsmen of the twentieth
century. He worked primarily in wood, but also produced consummate
illustrations in watercolor, gouache, lithography, pen-andink,
and several drawing media. His powerful and dynamic illustrations
set new standards for communication through imagery.
Ward, son of prominent Methodist minister Harry F.Ward, was
born in Chicago in 1905, into a century destined for modernization,
cultural revolution, and war. Knowing from an early age that
he wanted to become an artist, he obtained an advanced degree
in fine arts at the Teacher’s College of Columbia University
in New York. After graduating, he traveled to Leipzig, Germany
with his young bride and eventual artistic collaborator, author
May McNeer. The couple settled in Leipzig for a year, where Ward
studied at the National Academy for the Graphic Arts, acquiring
technical knowledge of printmaking and bookmaking. They returned
to the United States in 1927, and Lynd Ward began his first professional
venture into wood engraving.
Lynd Ward, Seedling, 1949. Wood engraving,
20 x 15.2 cm. |
Among Ward’s most renowned books were
the “wordless novels” Gods’ Man (1929), Madman’s
Drum (1930), and Song Without Words (1936),
which represent some of the earliest examples of the graphic
novel format in the United States. Lynd Ward: A Centennial
Appreciation includes examples of the original wood-engraved
blocks from these landmark works, shown together with the
impressions made from them. The exhibition also includes
several of his watercolor paintings, drawings, and early
and limited edition books.
Ward received the prestigious Caldecott Medal, given to
the artist of the most distinguished American picture book
for children, for The Biggest Bear (1953), as
well as numerous other awards and honors. In 1949 he had
a solo exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution. Upon
accepting his Caldecott prize,Ward remarked, “The
book artist is of necessity concerned with making sense
and communicating with his fellow men. This not only makes
him a functioning part of the community but it makes him
feel that the things he is doing have value in the scheme
of things.” |
Late in Lynd Ward’s life he and
May McNeer moved from their longtime home in New Jersey to Reston,
Virginia to be closer
to their daughters and grandchildren. (On an earlier visit,Ward
gave a lecture to the Georgetown University Library Associates,
on November 12, 1977.) During his years in the Washington area,
until his death in 1985,Ward secured the friendship and acquaintance
of numerous artists and admirers of the graphic arts. In 1982,Ward
donated his papers, and his daughters donated much of his original
artwork, to the University Library. His late widow and other
members of his family have continued to provide support for Georgetown's
Lynd Ward collection in the years since.
You may visit the the Lynd Ward exhibit online at www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/guac/ward_05,
as well as a previous exhibit from 2001, Lynd Ward as Illustrator,
at www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/lynd_ward/index.htm.
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