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Charles Marvin Fairchild (SFS '48) Memorial
Gallery
July 5 · October 2, 2005
Home · Illustrations · Press
This summer, to
commemorate the centenary of the birth
of award-winning book illustrator and
artist Lynd Ward (1905-1985),
the Fairchild Gallery presents Lynd Ward: A Centennial
Appreciation (through October 5).
The Georgetown University Library is
the primary repository of Lynd Ward’s
personal papers and artwork, and this
is the third exhibition at Georgetown
University drawn from this rich collection
of materials (preceded by Lynd Ward:
A Life in Art in 1983, and Lynd
Ward As Illustrator in
2001).
 Lynd Ward was a prolific artist, author,
and book illustrator whose experiments
during the fifty years of his career distinguished
him as one of the accomplished craftsmen
of the twentieth century. He worked primarily
in wood, but also produced consummate
illustrations in watercolor, gouache,
lithography, pen-and-ink, and several
drawing media. Ward produced powerful
and dynamic illustrations that set new
standards for communication through imagery.
Ward was born in Chicago in 1905, in
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, where
they settled for a year and where Ward
studied at the National Academy for the
Graphic Arts, acquiring technical knowledge
of printmaking and bookmaking. Shortly
after their return to the United States
in 1927, Lynd Ward began his first professional
venture into wood engraving.
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 Celebration 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.”
In the 1970s, Lynd Ward and May McNeer
moved from their longtime home in New
Jersey
to Reston
in 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 the years that he lived
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. The artist's late widow and other
members of the family have continued to
provide support for Georgetown’s
Lynd Ward collection in the years since.
Intern Jennifer A. Zitner '05 contributed
to much of the research, writing, and
organization of this exhibition.
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